Little did she know...

Coffee in the morning Photography: that is, looking at other people's and trying my hand at it every now and then Blog stalking Hot showers EMS Time with family TRAVELING My brother's couch (seriously) Christmas letters! Wireless internet Music: multiple genres and artists who provide the soundtrack to my life My phone Friends to laugh, cry, argue, tease, and be purely random and spirit led with New things and Old things I learn from God's Word Journaling Singing when ever it so happens to want to burst forth from my lungs Laughing...

Thanks to New Daniel (smile) I've gotten in the habit of labeling most everything as awkward whether or not it applies. Since my brothahs were giving me a hard time about not posting in a long time I thought I would dedicate this post to them:

a little bit of somethin, somethin from my road trip from NE to SoDak: Emptiness Sugar beats Hawks Creepy, mostly toothless hitch hiker in the middle of the road Antelope Hundreds of turkeys Zero cops Quite possibly speeding NPR, the Bridge, KLOVE, random country..? (did I just admit that?) Thoughs and non-thoughts Prayer Singing (loudly, quietly, in tune, and quite possibly out of tune)

This is the time of life where family and friends converge on the tiny little town of Dix Nebraska for down time, coffee, computers, laughing, games, randomness, food, football, and all around LOVE. There's tons I could say that I'm thankful for... I mean, really, if you're having a hard time thinking of something to be thankful for then you have issues. But this year the crowning thing would just be time with family, both blood and spiritual. What a blessing to be given this gift of love that is only possible because of the love of God! Even though my siblings span continents we can still get together and conversate (is that a word?) through skype whether it be chat or "face to face" (computer to computer?). Oh, and Aunt Mary's Salad? What is that, you say? Well, tomato, salsaish, jelloish type of stuff in a pan with slimy white stuff on top. Have you even tried it, you further ask? There's just some things in life that you don't even have to try to p...

Just a little bit of stuff overheard at the Blue Bison that somehow uniquely summarizes this summer :) "You've got it all wrong, Graham. The right pedal is only for going uphill!" -Cindy's hilarious description of what it's like driving in this town. "If you can't deal with change, then you are gonna have a hard time living in this world." -one man's amazingly applicable statement of what is going on in my life right now. He also gave two things to do in life: 1. take control of your education. 2. Never get into credit debt. Follow these and you'll have success in life :). "What, is that supposed to be a challenge? I put away half a gallon a day." - a couple of the big, tough bikers who are everywhere these days, who scoffed at our ten scoup super sunday. *sings* "Come together, right now!" -the Mexican bikers who couldn't really speak English, but knew the Beatles' song that plays EVERYDAY. Somehow we communicated...

So my brother Arnie got to come home from Mozambique, S. Africa for a two month recovery time after he almost died from cerebral malaria. I praise God for his recovery and great health, and also the opportunity to SEE him and HEAR him, and just know that he's actually alive :). Some days i wondered if i did actually have a brother way over there on the other side of the world because of his lack of communication skills. Anyways, all that to say that he flew back to Mozambique on the 14th and i got to go down to Denver with him and the fam to send him off. Usually this is a time of late nights, talking, playing games, swimming, talking, and just good family time. And this was the same. We got a hotel and everybody just hung out, crashed, and then somehow woke up in time for the shuttle to the airport the next morning. Well, he was supposed to be at the airport at 5:30 am, but we took the shuttle at 6:40. And his ticket wouldn't go through, and wouldn't go through, which del...

I get asked every day at the Blue Bison about the hot springs of Hot Springs and where they are, and can you go soak in them, and typical touristy questions. Usually i say "um, well, there's Evan's Plunge, or the Bath House", but the other day... I renamed this podunk place. Because, actually, i don't think there are any HOT SPRINGS any where around here. If there are, they are well hidden from the public eye and disposal. So, i no longer am residing in Hot Springs. I live in Warm River, South Dakota. Come visit! It's a great place to bring the fam, and I know of a great little ice cream shop that sells soups and sandwiches....

So every few days when I get home, the scruffy, and sometimes underwear clad neighbor kids holler across the street at me, sometimes just yelling "hi" but most times following that with a stream of questions. "What are you doing? Where were you? Where are you going? Where's your friend? How come you park there? Why aren't you at work? Is this your house? Where's your dog?" And most times I don't have time to sit and converse for a long time, but since i've been missing kids this summer, I've decided to befriend these eager Mc beaver neighbors of mine. Today they had all their clothes on and were just out biking around, so when i came out with the dog a few minutes after getting home to play catch, they took the opportunity to come racing over on their bikes and make friends. They're all "k" names and are nine and under, another broken home. But we sat and talked for quite a while about not much of anything, and took pictures wit...

One thing I LOVE about this summer in SoDak is the random group of friends that are here in Hot Springs with me. We get together at least everyother night usually for nothing more than sitting around and talking. We hang out while swimming, walking, hiking, cooking, tanning, movie watching, and the list could go on... I'm thankful for this group of friends that can sit around watching Rescuers Down Under one minute and be discussing our outreach opportunities the next. Peace, love, and randomness...

Hello world. I guess this is something I've always wanted to do, so here it goes...