Road Trip to New Jersey: Day 4

We went to South Bend on Saturday for the Notre Dame football game. It was there home opener for the year and it is hard to describe. It was absolutely amazing and Craig and I showed up around 10:30 in the morning and walked around the campus taking in the sights. We saw the gold dome and the Grotto and of course "Touchdown Jesus". The whole day was so much fun and it made it even better to have Notre Dame win in the 4th quarter. I'll let the pictures speak for our experience.

Road Trip to New Jersey: Day 3

Today was a tough day of driving. We knew that we were trying to get near South Bend, IN for the Notre Dame game on Saturday so we were going to have to drive 15 hours. We woke up right by Mt. Rushmore and were on the road by 7:30. We first had to stop by a crazy town in South Dakota called Wall which has Wall Drug. It is an odd city but has some fun things to take pictures with. I'm including pictures from our time at Wall Drug. Friday I only took pictures from Wall Drug. The rest of the day was pretty boring and when we got into Minnesota it rained the whole time. Not a hard rain just more of an annoying rain. We got into Wisconsin and it was about the same as Minnesota and then once we made it to Madison it stopped raining. I had never been to Wisconsin before and I have to say it was kind of a nice state. Once we got into Illinois the only thing we could think of was Chicago and it was very late so we drove right through and didn't even take any pictures. I will be back in Chicago next week for work. I will update the blog tomorrow with our pictures from Notre Dame. Since I'm doing these blog updates a day behind I can already tell you that Notre Dame was amazing!!!

Road Trip to New Jersey: Day 2

Well we had another successful day of driving. We started out at Craig's mom's house in Spokane and left around 4:45am. We knew that we were planning on going to Mount Rushmore by the end of the day which was going to be a tough task. The driving was pretty good except for Montana. I'm not sure I like Montana much and don't ever plan on visiting. I guess the only place I might go in Montana is Glacier up near the Canadian border.
I do have to mention that Craig and I had to stop for gas in Montana and we just happened to stop at what is called the "Testicle Festival." We were very dissapointed to find out that it occurs in mid September. We took a few pictures and were back on the road.









We finally made it to Mount Rushmore about 9pm and had the whole place to our self as the last tour had finished up. It was a very peaceful place and I had know idea what was going on back in Washington. While Craig and I were marveling at the awesome artwork of stone, my Grandpa Verne breathed his last breathe. I really feel that God placed Craig and I at Mount Rushmore at that very moment because the last time I was at Mount Rushmore was with my grandparents on a roadtrip with my brother. While admiring Mount Rushmore I couldn't help but think of our trip and all of the good memories. My grandfather was a wonderful man and I will miss him a lot! He is up in heaven and looking down on us with no more pain. I love you Grandpa!

Road Trip to New Jersey: Day 1

Well today Craig and I set forth on a cross country road trip to Princeton, NJ. In case you don't know Craig is my best friend and he is a very smart but nerdy Christian who loves to talk about things such as exegesis and Thiselton's book on Hermeneutics. He even brings his Greek bible to church because it's "fun" and gives him a challenge. I can barely understand what the bible is trying to say to me in English. He is going to be starting at Princeton Theological Seminary in a few weeks in September and will be getting his Masters in Divinity. He is amazingly smart and sometimes I am kind of jealous of the talents he has.

Craig loaded up everything in his Blazer and mounted his motorcycle on the back. I looked out at the car and was a little unsure that it would be able to withstand all of the weight in it. I was pleasantly surprise that we made it safely to Spokane for the first leg of our trip.

Craig has been an amazing friend to me and is even responsible for Mandy and I being married today as he is the one that introduced us that wonderful day at the Ascent conference. He has become another member in Mandy and my family and we have spent many nights with Craig BBQing and hanging out. I know I speak for Mandy in saying that we are both very sad to see him leave.

Craig leaving for Princeton is bittersweet. On one hand I know this is what God is calling for him and his life but on the other hand it sucks because I won't have my best friend around to come over for a beer or scary movie night.

I know it's a different kind of long distance relationship but I am entirely convinced that God can keep friendships strong. Mandy and I are a living testament to that as we spent the majority of our relationship away from each other.

Well it's 11pm and we are getting up tomorrow at 4:00am to start Day 2 which consists of us driving from Spokane (or as Craig always calls it: Spokanistan, Spokompton, Spovegas) to Mount Rushmore. Google tells us 13 or so hours but I guess we'll see how that turns out. I'm excited to see Mount Rushmore again but am most excited about Saturday.......the home opener of Notre Dame football. Craig and I will be there in South Bend and will publish another post with some more pictures.

Golf: Loving it amongst the frustrations

Mandy and I went out for a round of golf with our friends Bart and Brian at the Golf Club at Newcastle. It was a great day for golf but it was a little muggy. Golf is a sport that both Mandy and I love but we play two different games. Mandy plays golf and it doesn't matter what she shoots. She is just happy to be outside with friends and playing a sport she loves. I on the other hand play golf and expect to play well every time. When I don't I get frustrated and very negative. I get down on myself and have a tough time putting the last shot behind me and focusing on the next shot. I know this is a problem but it is something I've really been working on and trying to get better at. I have made great strides but still have a lot to figure out. I love spending time with my beautiful wife and friends and I love golf. It can be so frustrating but yet so rewarding. How do I have fun no matter what? How do I laugh off a flubbed chip or a hooked drive? Or a missed 2 foot putt for an eagle? I only pray that God would help me concur this problem of mine. I know I can't fix this on my own.

Camping - Kitsap Memorial

Mandy and I went camping to Kitsap Memorial State Park this weekend. It was a great weekend of rest and relaxation. With the popularity of camping during the summer we didn't have much of a choice on where to camp.
We spent Friday and Saturday night there and we had a couple of nice fires with smores, good conversation and relaxation. I'm not sure if Flip Flop liked camping since he got cold quite a bit at night. He ended up sleeping in Mandy's sleeping bag the first night and mine the second. It wasn't very comfortable considering we both had mummy bags. We thought there was some hiking until we get to the end of the "trail" about 200 yards from the start. Overall it was a good weekend. Unfortunately we've got to get back to work tomorrow!

Flip Flop's Second Birthday

Well it's been two years and we've loved every day that we've had our dog, Flip Flop. I still remember the day that Mandy and I bought flip flop. We had played golf that day and had been talking about buying a dog and Mandy suggested we look for a pet shop. We didn't know of any places so we called our good friend Craig and he gave us directions. We went to Absolutely Puppy (which has subsequently closed for puppy mill practices) and looked at all of the dogs. We saw the litter with flip flop and there were about 6 that all looked like him. We weren't sure how to pick from the six and Mandy decided to pick the one that was the shy one not jumping up. We laugh now because he's a wild dog that always jumps up on people. I can't imagine a day without our dog. He still likes to chew on everything, especially Mandy's flip flops. He's been a great dog and we celebrated his second birthday with a bratwurst for our favorite dog.