Geology

My favorite class at Cedarville was Geology taught by John Whitmore. This article in the New York Times talks about him and other young earth creation geologists. I enjoyed learning in the classroom but really enjoyed hunting for fossils and glacial erratics. He had a contest to see who could find the largest glacial erratic in the Cedarville area. I loved driving around with friends and running into peoples yards to measure and take pictures of big rocks. Big fun.

Check out this Spice store

I'm doing one of my first advertisements ever. My mom's new store is up and running. Check it out. If you buy spices maybe you'll be interested. Please check out the site even if you don't buy spices because it will get her hit count up and help her out. I took some of the pictures of spices. I'm no Burrill Strong that's for sure. The site looks pretty good. The Hawaiin Black Lava Salt is really good. I'm going to use some of the white peppercorn today to grind up fresh for Thanksgiving dinner. So check out Cherry Valley Spice Company.

Stephanie's first Notre Dame game

We got to go to Stephanie's first Notre Dame game last Saturday. Justin came through and picked up tickets for me again. We didn't do any James Bond stuff like last year but we met and he gave me a tour of the Law School. Watching his kids run through the courtroom was big fun. After that we went and got lunch. If you go to Notre Dame make sure you eat before you go in the stadium. Student groups have many booths set up selling food on campus and they have very good food. I went with the traditional brat but Steph got a steak sandwich that made me very jealous. She said it was great.After lunch we became a part of the human tunnel that greets the players as they go from mass to the stadium. Last year when I did this I got a high five from Brady Quinn. This year we just watched them go by. Steph was amazed by how many people were there to watch them walk by.

When you finish watching the players walk by you should head over to watch the band play. It's fun to watch and there's a good crowd for it. This week they were playing songs from the original Mario Bros. I made a little video of the band playing a portion of the 1812 overture.

Our seats were pretty good. We were in the 19th row on the north side of the stadium. The student section started on the other side of the aisle. Getting to see all of the traditions was cool. It even was cold and rainy just like the old days when we had season tickets.

I even took a picture of the big guy. I'm hoping he can turn it around next year. Maybe recruit someone who knows how to pick up a blitzer or something.

Notre Dame won. They were ahead by enough at the end that they put Zibby in at QB. This didn't make the Duke defenders happy. Putting a safety in at QB is seen by some as rubbing it in. I think Charlie learned that move from Bill.
I don't know if I've ever seen a team that excited to get their second win. We had a good time. Steph's first ND game was a success.

Happy Thanksgiving

We're celebrating with family at my parents. They have High Speed Internet so I'll do a couple of posts. I hope you have a good time watching football, eating, playing games, and spending time with your family.

Rank Claire Markwardt up there with Derek Redmond

Derek Redmond has been a favorite sports hero of mine for some time. I even have preached sermons and youth group lessons using him as an example. I came across this article and video on ESPN's site. Claire broke her leg and still finished the race. I won't ruin it for you with details but please read the article. It's a very good story. Oh and the video isn't as scary as they make it sound. It's worth watching.

Oh boy here we go...

I'm the last to know this I guess. Some of you are already putting odds on which way I will go on this one and I'm just finding out. Laura wants to get her ears pierced. Stink it all. I've decided that I'm really not a fan of my girls growing up. I tried to convince her that it will hurt. She doesn't care. Heh. Now I'm becoming my dad and trying to convince them that they don't really want the things they want. I'll keep thinking about and probably post the pictures when I finally give in.

Roethlisberger burger

On Monday nights we've been trying to eat something from the city that is hosting Monday Night Football. We've had buffalo wings, Coke floats, and stuff like that. Last week we had Roethliburgers. Pretty stinking good. We changed the recipe some and here's what we came up with. First a big burger patty. Melt provolone and sharp chedder on it. Put barbeque sauce under it. Put bacon and ranch over it. All of that inside of the bun. It was much better than I thought it would be. Try it.

The Great Turtle Race

No I'm not talking about myself. Sometimes I feel as slow as a turtle though. The name of the race on Mackinac Island is The Great Turtle Race. Apparently the island resembles a turtle. I've been training for this race for a while now and I just didn't feel myself getting faster so I was worried. My original goal was to finish in less than 50 minutes. As I trained I found myself thinking I could not come close to that. We went and met Dan and had a good time with the girls playing in the water park and eating at Mama Mia's. We got upgraded to a room with a private balcony overlooking the lake. But really what is there to look at? Ferries and a big hotel on an island. But it was nice anyways. The next morning we woke up and I had a light breakfast including a waffle and a piece of cinnamon toast. Then Dan and I went to catch a ferry. It was raining and chilly but the rain slowed down while we were on the ride over. It really turned out to be a good day for running. We met up with James over on the island and stretched a little. I get nervous before a race like this and end up going to the bathroom about 10 times before the race starts. When the race started we took off up the hill and I was going an ok pace. After the first mile I looked down at my ipod and noticed that I was on a 8:40 pace. That's kind of fast for me. It scared me and I slowed down. My second mile was 9:09 and I started thinking that I felt pretty ok. Maybe I should go faster. The third mile was 8:35. That was flying for me. So it scared me again. I slowed down. At that time a girl passed me. She was going the pace I wanted to go and since I'm not good at pacing myself I just followed her. She had a blondish pony tail so I told myself over and over to follow the blond ponytail. The fourth mile was 8:58. We came out of the woods there and ran along side the lake. Thankfully the wind was behind us. It would've been awful to finish into the wind. The fifth mile was 8:53. Blond ponytail started slowing just a tad after the completion of the fifth mile. I found out later that she had slipped in the mud earlier and fallen. I passed her when she slowed down. The last .7 mile was at a 8:34 pace. I finished 5th in my age group with a total of 50:03. 4 seconds off of my original goal. I'm happy since I didn't think I had a chance of being close. There were 16 guys in my age group and about 400 overall entered that race. I finished 106th overall. Here are the results. Stephanie and the girls made it about 5 minutes after I finished. Afterwards we showered, lunched, shopped, ate fudge and then left.

I'll post some pictures later.

Running update

Yesterday was 10 miles. I'm feeling good about the race next Saturday. I'm not sure if I'll get the time I want but I think I'll have fun. Since I got the Nike + thingy I've run most of my runs with it. I have a few runs that I didn't have it so those don't count towards my totals. I got the Nike + in January but only got to use it once. January and February were a combined 14 miles. My total for the year so far is 327 miles. That sure sounds like a long ways. That's like running from my house to Cleveland.

Bleacher butt!

For a few years now I've wanted to try and accomplish a college football double header. I've heard of guys attending two div. 1 games the same day before. But they always leave the one game early and arrive at the other game late. I wanted to be the first I know that attended all of 2 div. 1 games the same day. Dan was pumped about it as well and so we found a day that had Michigan playing at noon and Michigan State playing at 7. Interesting to probably only me was that Michigan was playing Purdue and State was playing Indiana. Friday night we had a Capture the Flag event at church and after that I headed down to meet Dan in Dexter. I got there about 1 in the morning and slept hard. We woke up and ran 3 miles and then headed to the stadium. The following pictures are proof that we were there before kickoff and stayed until the game was over. By the way, staying for the end of that game may have been the hardest part of the day. Michigan had the game well in hand but Purdue kept playing. Scoring a touchdown and even recovering an onside kick. I thought it would never end.

After the game we ran to the car and headed back to Dan's house to change into warmer clothes and get my car. We then headed up to Lansing thinking we had plenty of time. Steph and I have friends that live in Lansing so we met up with Lindy at a coffee shop. We didn't get to spend much time with her but it was neat to see her and to see her doing well. We headed towards the stadium after that. I inherited the lead and couldn't find a place to park. I was starting to get worried about time when we finally found a lot forever away that had shuttle buses. We got to our seats with 16 minutes to spare. Below is the proof.

I got home around 1 again so a nap Sunday was very important. It was very fun. As you can see from the pictures the onions and peppers were a great addition in Ann Arbor. East Lansing didn't have those but their buns were superior.

A Win!

Notre Dame won! The offense didn't do anything but it's still a win. I had to go old school for the game because it wasn't on t.v. here. When I was in high school I'd listen to some of the games on the radio with my headphones on in bed. Saturday I listened to the game on the radio with the headphones on in bed. It was great. The only bad thing was that the play by play guy kept interrupting the game to let me know that the greatest upset ever occurred when 44 point underdog Stanford beat USC. He even missed plays to tell me this. I seriously lost count of how many times he reminded me. I wonder if he's either a Stanford grad or if he had money on the game.

Migraine

My headache was so bad yesterday that I vomited twice and had to put my hands over my eyes because the light coming from around the blinds and through my eyelids was too bright. Excedrin migraine helped some and I'm feeling some better today but not 100% yet.

Cedarville's Mt. Rushmore

This year I celebrate 10 years from when I was supposed to graduate from Cedarville College. Some people will head down to Cedarville and have a reunion but I doubt I'll do that. Instead I'd like to acknowledge the guys who lived in my unit my freshman year. Almost all of us were freshmen and we didn't have an RA in our unit. So pretty much we had a great year. I want to thank each of these guys for the impact they had on my life. I'm convinced that my life has been influenced for the better by each of these men. So I've hunted down e-mail addresses for each of them and told them that this tribute is here.

Tom was a guy that loved God, his family, turkey hunting, and having fun with the rest of us. I remember Tom as participating in some of our better water fights in the bathroom and as being able to have serious talks as well. Tom goofs when it's time to goof and is serious at the right time as well. I'm still trying to learn that.

Here is where I found Tom

Dan and Tom were roommates. He invited me to his house during Christmas break of our freshman year and I fell in love with New York City at that time. I've been back a bunch of times since then and even got engaged in Central Park. I remember Dan as a guy who wanted to learn more about God and about how to teach others about Him. Dan also introduced me to the game of Canasta. He taught me the importance of taking time to spend with the guys even if it's only time enough for one hand.

Here is where I found Dan

Stew was my roommate freshman year. Matt was a guy who always knew he was going to succeed. He was a guy who was fit and made me want to be that way as well. Matt was a guy who loved friends and loved hanging out with them. I won't be surprised when Matt is governor of Indiana. I learned from Matt to set my sights high.

Here is where I found Stew



Mattman opened my eyes to many new forms of music. I actually listened to They Might Be Giants as I wrote this about Mattman. Really what Mattman taught me was the value of things that are different. People, music, art... things that are different aren't to be looked on with disdain but are to be appreciated and enjoyed.

Here is Mattman

Tobin and Mattman were roommates. Two guys that were totally different than anything I knew before then. They were a ton of fun. Tobin is a guy who helped me learn the value of traditions. Tobin is a fiercely loyal guy. He taught me the value of hanging on to family and friends. I haven't been the best with that lesson, but I'm trying. Tobin was the constant through college. He was always there for me and with me and I truly enjoyed every minute of it.

Here is Tobin

Here is where I found Josh

Josh is a guy I should've tried to get to know more. He had a love for music and especially worship music. I grow to appreciate worship music more each year and I really appreciate the people that can lead us into worship. Josh always seemed to want to lead people into worship.

Here is where I found Dave

Dave and Josh were roommates. Dave taught me a lot about trust. Dave trusted us and I took advantage of that far too many times. Sorry Dave. Dave was the only one of us that wasn't a freshman but he goofed with us all the same. He was a lot of fun.

Forget the echoes...Wake up the offense

I went to the Michigan Notre Dame game Saturday. I wore my jersey. I knew it was going to end up like that. Seriously, I was predicting an outcome that was close to what happened. At one point in the game Notre Dame had more than -50 yards rushing. They just cannot seem to block. A blitz absolutely confuses them. I don't see it getting any better soon. So I'll endure a rebuilding year. For some reason I'm not ready to give up on Charlie. I'm not ready to give up on Jimmy. I'll keep wearing my jersey and watching the games. I'm a fan. Maybe a dumb one, but I'm a fan.

Anticipation

I think you can find last Sunday's sermon here. I've been listening to Saddleback's Daily Drivetime and he had a great one on the rapture so this wasn't an original thought. I wonder if I've had an all the way original thought...

Football!

My running schedule has been messed up lately. I knew I was supposed to run 8 miles yesterday but I hadn't run in a while and I wasn't sure how that would go. But I did it. I was pretty sore last night but it felt good to get back on schedule. The iPod said I burnt 1200 calories. As I laid on the couch being sore I watched the first football games that meant anything. Preseason NFL doesn't count. But college football started last night. Two blowouts but I loved them anyways. Bring on the Notre Dame game Saturday!

Tornado

We had a tornado warning yesterday. It turns out that the tornado was about 15-20 miles away. I went running after the sun came out at our house and could hear the tornado sirens in the distance. That was a little weird. Oh and mom I ran East. Towards the storm.

Ron Paul?

I've not been interested in politics for years. I haven't had t.v. for the entire summer. So when I saw multiple bumper stickers promoting Ron Paul for president, I was confused. I'd never heard of the guy before. I then heard him on NPR's show "Wait wait...Don't tell me!". I was impressed immediately by his introduction. The guy turned down the congressional pension! So I got on the internet and read more. Here's what I've found from his site. www.ronpaul2008.com

He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

Plus he's Pro-Life.

Talk me out of it. What's not to like about this guy? I'll give you a week to talk me out of it and if you don't I'll probably buy one of his t-shirts.

Back from Iowa

We just got back from our mission trip to Iowa. It was hot. We did a lot of work. But it was a good trip. The kids enjoyed it and learned. I'm glad to have my bed back. And...Directv is turned back on! I watched the Colts last night.

I'm getting closer

Last night was a pretty good run for me. I was supposed to do a warmup mile a cooldown mile and 4 miles in between at a 9:50 pace. I ran with James. We started out a little fast and James started to slow down. Usually I would slow down with him but I pushed harder when he slowed down. So the first faster mile that I ran with James was 9:33. The second mile when I left him was 9:25. The third mile was 9:16. The fourth mile there was a big hill that killed me and I did it in 9:30. I felt pretty good. I cramped up a couple of times last night in bed but I'm getting faster. Now if only I can get through the fall without an injury. I could be doing decent come October. Man it still seems so slow compared to real athletes.