The Weekend Waltz.

Weekends are always nice. Weekends with with Dan Kikkert and Austin Miedema are tons of fun!

We went to Coffee Culture, where we drank coffee and discussed life.
We went to a concert where Dan played (and played very well!)
We went to a playground and played grounder.
We went to a free BBQ where a certain vegetarian was unhappy.
We went to a convenience store to buy a lot of energy drinks.
We went to the Gateway and played hide-and-seek.
We went to the beach and fought each other after spinning.
We went to the park and discussed life, death, disease and poverty.

I feel as though these boys are like brothers. They remind me of my old band, my old football team, and even my old tenor section. It's nice to be able to be yourself among a group of guys who see you as one of them and not some sex object. Such a blessing.

I'm sitting here now, missing Redeemer very much and getting very excited for the fall. Also, and I am sitting here, I am noticing that my laughing muscles are once again quite sore. :)

GObama!

As a supporter of Obama (uh-oh, political views!), I've been following the election with crossed fingers for what seems like an eternity. I thought most Christians (even the most conservative) had put their hopes in him with his promise of change and his hopes for peace. I was proven wrong last night.

Erica: 'Barack Obama: Change we can believe in,' Aw, I like that!
Dave: Obama is the anti-Christ

Family Snapshot

(A song by Peter Gabriel).

My family is strange to say the least. But I love them. Here I present to you my sisters, Lisa (14) and Brookeley (21). Brookeley lives in Ohio with her boyfriend Bryan. Lisa (or Greaseball, as I call her) lives at home. These are my parents. (Kind of). Mom apparently eats in church. She also believes Elvis is alive. Allan used to be a DJ. He has provided me with more musical knowledge than any brain should hold.
These are my grandparents on my mom's side. (Kind of). My Grandpa is silly and wears wigs and army helmets just for fun. He also catches turtles and keeps them as pets for three days. My step-grandma loves to email me funny pictures, videos and stories.
These are my other grandparents on my dad's side. They like to eat pizza a LOT. They have a dog named Scooby and he loves to follow Grandma from the counter to the table over and over again. Grandpa has a slot machine in his office.
This is my "adopted sister" Amber. We lived together and I couldn't live without her. We enjoy fireworks, funny movies, road trips, David Bowie and basically anything we do together.

All This Talk of Getting Old...

I love music. If you love music, you should find the following five songs and listen to them. They are incredible.

Fall For Anything -- Jeremy Fisher
The Drugs Don't Work -- the Verve
Life Is Beautiful -- Ryan Adams
Hallelujah -- Jeff Buckley
Boats and Birds -- Gregory and the Hawk

As a side note, most of you know by now that I love volunteering. If you were unaware, you now know. In any case, the place where I have chosen to volunteer is the Freeway Cafe. I received a very saddening email this week about some changes about to take place in the coffee house. Due to financial problems, my co-worker Randy will no longer be employed there. He is one of our only two paid employees. He trained me and taught me so much about Hamilton, safe biking and standing for what I believe in. Please pray for him and his family while they make this difficult transition. As well, the Freeway may be forced to close it's doors either permanently or temporarily, as I understand it. Please pray that we will see God's hand in this situation. I truly believe that He values the initiatives behind the Freeway and I know with all certainty that He will take care of us. Thanks for the prayers.

I hope all of you with outdoor jobs enjoyed the rain as much as I did today! :)

PS: Anyone know how to get rid of fruit flies?

It'll All Seem Better Somehow, in Time.

I'm running out of gas.
I don't like biking to work.
I don't like working 10 hour shifts.
I don't like my current lack of night-life.

But praise God that I have a bike to make work possible.
And that I have a job.
And that I am alive.

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.
-Eric Hoffer

Summer Loving.

I've said it before... This house is incredible.
Here are some pictures from our amazing Sunday at the beach...
(Don't mind the rolls... I've worked hard on them and I'm not covering them up with a smelly old one-piece).



Check out Kelsey's and my sweet shorts tans. Yay for outdoor jobs!

It says 'friends'. Yay for friends!

The waves were over our heads!


Just a little bit of roomie love. Sometimes Kelsey keeps me up snoring. Other times we laugh so hard we nearly puke. It's a fair trade.




Tree looks like a sailor :)


Trust me, the ultimate fear on my face in the last one is well-founded.

Living is Simple.

(Yay for Switchfoot).
I always hear stuff about 'talking the talk' and 'walking the walk'.
In my self-examination, I asked myself how I live out my values.
Here is what I came up with.
I challenge you to do the same!


Peace:

Existing in a state of harmony.

I choose to live peace by creating.

Truth:

Extending honesty, faith and sincerity to reality.

I choose to live truth by writing.

Love:

Passion, friendship, self-sacrifice, affection and desire.

I choose to live love by serving.

Hope:

A belief in a positive outcome.

I choose to live hope by believing.

Justice:

An aversion of inequality.

I choose to live justice by helping.

Beauty:

Positivly reflecting the meaning of one's own existence.

I choose to live beauty by capturing.

Community:

Directing all intent, belief, and resources to the benefit of all.

I choose to live community by volunteering.

Authenticity:

Truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions.

I choose to live authenticity by playing.