Butter

Hops -

2009-05-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

I have recently found a new hobby....gardening. Laura and I have been working diligently on getting our soil ready for planting, buying some seeds and started plants, and finally putting them in the ground. It's almost addicting. I wake up in the morning and walk outside to see the new growth. I come home from work and take a look at the new growth. Weird huh?

This morning I planted 5 different hops plants. So here goes the variety of flora we've got going so far.

Tomato
Cucumber
Reb pepper
Jalapeno
Walla Walla onion
3 different varieties of beans
Blackberry
Strawberry
Raspberry
Rhubarb
Broccoli
Sunflower
Spinach
3 different varieties of lettuce

and now for the money...

Cascade Hops
Centrnnial Hops
Mt. Hood Hops
Willamette Hops
Zeus Hops

I ran into a bit of an obstacle trying to rig a system for growing hops to their full potential. After about 3 hours tinkering with different ideas, I settled for the twin and post rigging. Essentially, the hops grow up bamboo stakes until they reach the twine. The twine then climbs at about a 75 degree angle for about 7 more feet. The trouble with the whole angle and twine things is....the hops could potentially get HUGE, and if they grew vertically it would block all the vegetables in the upper tier of the garden. They would basically be in the shadows of the hops, which would be a bad thing.
Now that the hops have grown their highest, the twine then angles back to near parallel to the ground, and spans a 12 feet, over the deck, to the roof of the house.
During the heat of the summer, the hops should be GOING OFF and they should also provide some nice shade to sit under. Laura thinks the rigging will serve it's purpose, but we both agree this thing looks hideous and will likely come down as soon as the hops are harvested. The harvest should be mediocre with the second and third year producing the most!!!

Here are some photos, cause I know you wanna look at this thing.

Since getting the potted hops last week, most of them have grown about 8 inches. These babies, at the peak of their growing rates, could be growing over a foot a day. It is normal for these things to grow 25-40 feet in one year.

Engagement

2008-10-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

Not the rules of engagement or anything like that. This is the real deal. Sorry its taken so long but two weeks ago I got engaged. You know, to be married.

Shawn Johnson Statue : Made out of BUTTER

2008-08-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

Check this story!!!

Picture to come later

Wonderful Chaos.

2008-08-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

Those are the two words I choose to wrap up this vacation.....hardly a vacation, but we will go ahead and call it one. I sit here in Tigard writing this and I cannot help but feel incredibly grateful for the comforts I enjoy, and the freedoms I have. I would encourage you to do the same. It's not till you see how tough it could be, that you really understand what you've got going. You know what I mean?

Since last post we have driven 5,500 miles. What was I saying about vacation???

Costa Rica was....wet. Our plan was to hit the beach, go on a canopy tour, then start the return trip home. We booked a canopy tour. Canopy tours are just a maze of zip lines through the rain forest, on top of it, through clouds, and often hundreds of feet in the air over large valleys. Zip lines in the rain and clouds with no rain jacket are a blast, trust me. The first two cables were nice. The third to the fourteenth were wet. hahahaha. Waterproof boots are supposed to keep water out right??? Not today. So we really did have a blast, but clear weather is preferable. The last cable is more than a half mile long. At this point in the adventure there is lightning and thunder all around us and here we are climbing through trees loaded with metal cables, metal rails, and metal everything else, or so it seems. This is not the place to be in the middle of a lightning storm.

So, the last cable.....everyone is in a rush. Our tour guides are doubling people together and sending them over the 1/2 mile together, just to get people out of harms way. Tim and I are the last two people to go. Our guide is now strapping me in, I'm on my tip toes, rain dripping off everything.....when......ka - PLOW. Booom. Lightning. Suddenly, I feel a shock to end all shocks down the entire right side of my body. Bam. What was that? The poor guy strapping me up has apparently been shocked worse than I, he can't even finish his job. It was lightning, and it touched down on the last cable. Yeah, that's right. When lightning strikes the cable, you don't want to be holding it. I was. Crazy.

Since Tim is still blowing toilets to smitherines, and running a bit of a fever, we decide to stay two nights in the same place. Again, two nights in the same place.....

The trip north is a mixed bag for us. We are eager to head north, but it seems a little too large of a task. We go for it anyway.

Our path leads us back to the north where we will cross 5 borders in 5 days.

Nicaragua, check

Honduras, check
Guatemala, check
Belize, check
Mexico, check

One of the highlights of the trip was Tikal. Tikal is an ancient Mayan ruin that one of the largest cities of the Maya. It was nuts. We were able to explore Tikal for about 4 hours, climbing each of the temples (some over 65 meters high) and getting up-close and personal with antiquity. Pretty cool stuff. Tikal was also the site of a base in one of the star wars movies.

They speak English in Belize, so that was refreshing.

We then hurried to the Puebla, about a 4 day drive normally, but we managed to put it into 2, and picked up Jason and began our tour of Mexico rolling three deep.

We were then committed to getting hotels from here on out. Three people in hot pocket will not be possible. Jason is also 6'4", so spooning with him and Tim is out of the question, we need beds!!!

Day one takes us to Teotihuacan, home to the third largest pyramid in the world

Day two takes us to Qeurataro, and through our third and final dirty cop payoff....

This one only cost us 9 dollars. But it took almost 30 minutes. Initially, when we first were stopped, we did not have a cargo list (apparently that's a requirement the customs officials fail to mention)
We did however, have a cargo list. The policeman then quickly stated that we were in compliance now, but Jason and Tim did not have their seat belts on. huh? Ridiculous. What do you do when a cop tells you you didn't have your seat belt on, when you did? Do you argue in Spanish? Can you argue is Spanish? You can try. We did. it cost us $9. Oh well.

Mazatlan again, in search of one more day of surf. No luck there. We were able to get wet though.

North to Nogales, and we earned a secondary inspection of our vehicle by the US border patrol.

Phoenix is 112 degrees

Overnight in Flagstaff, AZ. Nice town

Grand Canyon - 50 minute flight tour of the Grand Canyon, spectacular

Hoover Dam

Las Vegas - 110 degrees

Boise

Home.

Hardly seems like enough.

Hay Muchas Cosas!

2008-07-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

Paid off dirty cops.......................check
Hidden money in my underwear to avoid paying off dirty cops..............check

The last week has been filled with excitement. We are currently in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Getting here (since last blogging) has taken us across the borders of Honduras (at night, and 2.5 hours total time waiting at customs) Across through Nicaragua, which is the easiest border by far, and into Costa Rica. We have again spent uber amounts of time in the front seat of the car, and not nearly enough time simply vacationing....My idea of vacation is not driving all day, sleeping in the hot pocket, and getting up to drive again.

We have officially reached our furthest point south and will begin making our way to the north in a day or two. We will be taking a route much further inland and seeing some Mayan ruins.

We have been 5,500 miles to this point, and been gone for 20 days. That's 275 miles a day. That's chaos.

My vision for the trip was pretty simple, but there have been many variables that have been quite different from how I pictured things...

I would have liked to take a leisurly drive, settle down for a day or two, possibly on the beach and surf with some locals, do some surfboard repairs, give away a surfboard or two, bless and serve people in anyway I can, and leave and head for the next guy, or gal, or family that I might be able to help out. I could really think of no other way to spend this summer vacation at this point in my life....It's deinitely my heartbeat and what I find total Joy in. That's the main reason I'm here....It's a ministry that I find TOTAL joy in!!!

I have found...

Camping on the beach, in the pourning rain, during a thunder and lightning storm is tough way to go, and it is even harder to meet locals during these times. funny how that works...people don't sit out on the beach when it's raining do they???

_____________________________

One of the things I have been able to reflect on is...

What does a ministry in this area look like in the future?

Though it hasn't been all like I thought, I'm totally pumped to be down here and am completely thankful for the way things have turned out to this point.

Feeling wrapped up in the goodness and the grace of God!!

Crossing the Border

2008-07-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

Man. Toady was nuts. After spending the last couple of days touring around Guatemala we decide to head south, scratch that....East. We have a hard time going too far south at this point. We really saw a couple of cool cities over the last few days. Santiago Atitlan, on Lake Atitlan was nuts. Mayans everywhere. The total cultural experience. Then last night we were in Antigua. Nuts too. I don´t really know how to explain Antigua. You may just want to google it or wiki it. That might do it more justice. Antigua had too many tourist though, so we bolted for El Salvador.

Today´s border crossing was enough to make me want to pull my hair out. Here are a few of the reasons.

1. the people speak ONLY spanish.
2. I try and speak only spanish.
3. Somehow my three spanish teachers forgot to teach border crossing vocabulary.
4. There are a ton of locals that try and help you cross the border...and they all want tips.
5. You have to beat them off like flys.
6. We have a truck, and that means lots of paper pushing
7. They wont do any of the photocopies for you, so you have to find a place to get photocopies.
8. Most offices have a photocopy machine, but they wont do it.
9. Tim is trying to get me to ask more questions.

This is enough to drive any man to drink...need I say more.

We crossed after an hour an a half and have found our way to La Liberdad, a small surfing town that we thought was going to blow up with waves. We find ourselves without good surf, but the prospects of linking with some locals remains very high. We are totally liking the flavor of El Salvador and are looking to stick around for a while.

Sweaty, but having fun still. The adventure continues.

Guatemala!!!

2008-07-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

We drove across the border this morning and are now in Guatemala. It´s been a little bit of everything trying to get to this point. Mexico was......crazy and......interesting. It´s a nice change of pace to be in Guatemala where the people seem even more friendly and the pace is slow. We could cross this little country in a day, so we are enjoying the opportunity to slow it down a bit. The beaches should be nice and may even warrant a couple of days of camping! So. We have come across some classic people, so great places, some that I hope to visit again, and others I´m thankful to have passed. Military checkpoints are a hoot too...one guy wanted us to sell him a mag lite. I´m talking a fully camo´d hat wearing, automatic weapon, (yeah, bigger than an m-16). We were haggling with a soldier. CRAZY. Another ranking guy at another stop wanted some cola...we only had some warm beer. Three soldiers took it. CRAZY.

Officially, montezumas revenge is over for me. Tim is on chapter two. We are eating good local food, talking with uber-nice store owners, and driving like we´ve lived here for a dozen years.

Since it´s rainy season it has made things particularly rough. The back of the truck, where it´s free to sleep, is somewhat uncomfortable.......SCRATH THAT........EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE! It gets to about 100 degrees (we think) and water condemses all over the canopy. We basically turn all night long and wake up in a pool of our own sweat. Putting up a tent is not an option, it would wash downstream in minutes.

We surfed a place two days ago called punto conejo, rabbit point. This was classic. The rains had come down so hard the last few days that we could not get to the beach, the rivers were too high. We ran into 4 other surfers, loaded their boards onto our cars, and had them stand on the tailgate. They then directed us through foot deep ponds and down miles 4 wheels drive beach driving, to one of the most beautiful empty point breaks ever seen. We surfed about 4 hours with just the 6 of us and had an unreal time. The guys were pumped because they were in a 2 wheel drive truck and there was simply no way they could have gone to the beach. So this was pretty fun. We almost got stuck in the sand too, which made things a little more exciting.

More to come later. We´re heading to Atitlan tonight and who knows tomorrow.

Hasta Luego

Acapulco

2008-07-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

So far.......DRIVING.

Tim and I have driven and driven and driven. It has been nuts.

Our journey through Baja was......lets see.....DRY. There are more cactus there than we ever care to see again. We drove 5 1/2 hours through a nutty mountain pass in the dark. It was about 50 miles, and took us all that time. We got a good bump on the bottom of the truck, and blew out a shock (the front right) but everything else is smooth. I will return to one place in Baja....Scorpion Bay, a perfect point break with a sandy bottom and perfect waves. They were about waist high, but I rode a few waves more than a quarter of a mile. It was nuts. By far the longest I´ve ever surfed continually. Scorpion Bay was full of American tourist surfers, so it wasn´t really the place that we were looking to throw down and camp.

We travelled south from there. Through La Paz, passing up Cabo San Lucas, and taking a 6 hour ferry ride with the truck to Topolombampo. From there, we drive along the coastal route through Mazatlan, Peurto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Zihuatanejo, today we arrived in Acapulco. We are hoping to to go south into central america, but have yet to hear from our insurance company.

So far we have been camping in the mountains, on the beach, sweating day and night (yeah, it´s that kind of heat), sleeping in the back of the truck, and cooking on the tailgate. We´ve taken hundreds of photos but are unable to post any at this internet stop...our first of the journey. We actually got a hotel two nights ago. We needed a warm shower, if you know what I mean. There was also some sort of tropical storm that dumped rain all night and tore down all kinds of electrical poles and signs, and tore off some roofs. Perfect night for a hotel.

We both wish a need more time to fully explore this land, but we are trying to get to some smaller towns along the coast to squat for a day or two at a time, plug in, hook some bruthas up, and dig out.

We are unsure what is ahead, but are pumped to be where we are, and are both thoroughly enjoying the trip.

We have been totally provided for, have not encountered bad cops, federales, or people trying to take advantage of us, and feel God has had his hand of protection on us this whole time!!

San Diego Update

2008-06-30T22:15:00.000-07:00

Arrived in San Diego with relatively few problems. Actually no problems. We did however get rear-ended. We also witnessed an armed robbery. All that aside, we have started this trip with many adventures.

We daparted T-town at around 9 am after filling up on some of Moms homemade cookin'. Starting a trip out in the right way is very important. We got on the road and headed straight south to Medford where our adventure was just getting started. As we were turning in to a small taco joint, the car behind us thought they would pass us but they actually ran into us....small problem.....the funny thing is, the guy sitting in the passenger seat jumped out and after looking at the damage his girlfriend had caused, he had the audacity to ask me this....

"Uh, are you going to pay for this out of pocket"

Huh? What? Apparently it was my fault he ran in to me. He claimed I didn't have my signal on, that my brake lights didn't work, and the list went on of why it was my fault. This 19 year old twerp almost got a backhand. Finally, after a witness to the whole thing emerged, the guy said he wasn't going to claim it. Classic

Later that evening after another few hundred miles we pulled in to a rest stop and gas station. We figured we'd give the truck a test sleep. While we were setting up for the inagural camp in the camper, we noticed three young men loitering in the back of Carls Jr. These guys looked quite suspicious. Even moreso was the running towncar sitting at the back of the parking lot, running, and waiting for them. We knew something was going down. These guys walked up to the front of the store, held a poor guy at knifepoint, and demanded that he hand over everything. Two knives, throat, gut, and a pat down. Apparently they only walked with the guys sunglasses, which were fake Oakley's. 15 minutes after this ordeal, the cops showed up, clued us in to what had really happened, and took our statements. Nuts. For the first day on the road, this is pretty good. Needless to say, we ended up moving the truck for a more favored camp spot.

More driving today and more surprises.... not in the landscape. It's flatter than eastern Oregon down here. We did however receive the gift of ELK. I love elk. They appeared about 100 feet from the road. Two large bulls and two cows.

We are in San Diego and heading for Mex in the morning!!!!

We are pumped and ready to roll.
Tim is the man and we are enjoying the trip, though it kinda feels like the trip before the trip.

1100 miles down, 8900 to go.

Updated Truck

2008-06-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

Tim's been tweaking the truck. Here are some updates.

You'll see that the bed of the truck has been transformed into a sleeper. This will be nice for beach camping, parking lot sleeping and the daily SIESTA.

There have also been extensions added to the rack that will support a tarp for shade on those hot days, and a hammock for those other days. A combination of the two is probably ideal.

There is much to be done in the next few days.

Thursday.
Tim arrives in the pm
My brother Matt arrives from Boston
Matt Hartzell bachelor Party

Friday.

Nuts

Saturday

Crazy

Sunday

Leave in the morning!

School starts August 25

2008-06-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

This means I have......68 days off

Sorry.

Truck Update

2008-06-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

The Truck is nearing completion. At least the work on it is....

Last week he mentioned that we should probably take the truck up to the mountain and scramble it. This means that Tim would put the truck through the ultimate off-road test, to see whether is was capable of sustaining a 10,000 mile round trip. The checklist for this off-roading excursion would include, but would not be limited to the following.

Standard test -

4 x 4 working.
4 hi
4 low
limited slip differential working properly
clunking?

Tim's Test - (now comes the good stuff)

Rock crawl
60 degree pitch ascent
try to get it high centered
try and try and try to roll the truck
circular burn-out in 4 wheel drive, to the left, to the right, to the left, to the right.......
hi speed reverse-to-180-and drive off
..and last but not least....
at least a foot of air

The truck stood up to the test. So the confidence level in our vehicular choice is now at an all-time high.

Since my visit, a lot of work has been done to the truck as well. Here's a good look at some of the latest additions to the truck.

1. lights on the rack. These are "illegal for road driving, they're just too bright." As you can see they look bitchin' too.

2. Spare tire mount. Now this is my idea of a Baja rig. We'll carry two spares, multiple fix-a-flat bottles, a puncture kit, and a small compressor that can run off a cigarette lighter.

Here's the bad and the ugly.....

Upper ball joint...must be replaced

center support bearing for the driveline needs to be replaced...it's gone...toasted

The bell sounded - school is over!

2008-06-13T15:23:00.001-07:00

The final bell has sounded.
The final card has been dealt.
The pencil sharpener has stopped.
The lockers are done opening.
The late work will not be accepted
The end had come.
Oh yes, the end is near.
It is clear, so so clear,
the sky that is, and my mind.
clear like glass,
clear like clear water
clear like the fluid in your eye.

uhhhh.

Excuse me if that makes no sense.

TRUCK

2008-06-13T08:14:00.001-07:00

A few pics from the trip to Idaho.

welding

This is my favorite: Tim just discovered that the original spark plugs are in the truck. Yes, that's 167,000 miles on the same 6. We rushed to Napa immediately to pick up another set of the same kind!
draining/replacing all fluids

Truck Rack - primed.....time to paint

we got a problem

water pump replacement

w t f ???

2008-06-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

What's the deal with us? We still burn coal to generate electricity? We still have coal miners? We imploded the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant? I just don't get it anymore.

I remember driving through South Africa. Every 40 miles or so (64km) there were strings of 3 or 4 nuclear reactors with huge steam towers. I'm not talking about 1 here, and 1 way over yonder. I'm talking about 3 to 4 towers right next to each other...like matches in a matchbook....like asparagus in a rubber band....like crayons in a box.....That's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about row or nuclear reactors and steam towers EVERY 40 MILES!

I remember watching the video of Trojan being imploded. W T H?

I remember hearing stories on the Japanese, and how they are something like 40% dependant on nuclear to power the country.

W T ? and What say you?

Surfing the web

2008-06-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

I was surfing the web today, "researching" surf spots in Central America and ran across this beauty. When I started planning for the trip, I thought the surf in Mexico and Central America was going to be weaker, considering the season. Apparently we are going to be there for the peak surfing season. Hopefully the surf isn't too large! If it looks anything like this undated photo of Sunzal, El Salvador, this trip will be epic!

"The Trip"

2008-06-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Trip:

A 6 week journey through Mexico and Central America
Surfing, Mayan ruins, fine cuisine, and adventure.

The Vision:

Doing board repairs, surfing with locals, making some new friends, giving away a few surfboards, handing out a few Spanish Bibles...

The Crew:

J Small, Tim Rousse (childhood friend and MacGyver), Jason Terwee (pick up in Costa Rica)

The Truck:

'92 Nissan hardbody extended cab 3.0 l V6 5 speed manual 4 x 4.

This weekend was the first weekend of "work" for the trip. I drove to Boise on Friday afternoon immediately following school. Laura stopped by and hooked me up with a ridiculous care package....mainly edibles to be consumed during the trip.....free good food (all using double letters) is very good!

After my first stop in the Dalles to urinate, I picked up a hitchhiker named Thunder. (I have a policy of picking up hitchhikers that I know I could throttle if it came to it). I didn't ask Thunder if that was his real name or not, I felt that would have been stepping over into his territory. Thunder it was. The peaceful drive to Boise was gone, and so was half my sub, an apple, chips, and many other misc snacks. Thunder passed out about 4 hours into the trip and caught his falling/bobbing/falling asleep head for the remaining 2 hours

Made it, a little over 7 hours and about $80 in gas. Not bad.

9 am Saturday began the work on the rig. Tim is not a mechanic, but I'm certain he could earn a healthy wage if he opened a small business. The great part about Tim travelling with me on the trip....is the fact that he can make anything run, blow-up, or die. I'm pretty excited about this!!! He popped the hood and within minutes, he knew the waterpump, timing belt, distributor cap, rotor, plugs, airfilter, pcv valve, vacuum hose, radiator hose, and all fluids were in sad shape. We replaced them all! I say we, but I mean Tim. My only contribution was the cash I payed for everything. It was a team effort. I buy, Tim install.

While Tim cursed and groaned on the truck, I was busy finishing a rack I've been working on for the past three weeks. I finished the welding, wiped it down with mineral spirits (steel is coated with grease so it wont rust) and primered and painter the rack. Together we think the rack could support about a dozen road killed deer, two dozen surfboards, 4 spare tires, 50 gallons of water, and 36.5 gallons of gasoline.....ALL AT THE SAME TIME.......this thing is BEEFY.

Tims best guess is this...Despite the truck having 167,000 miles, the spark plugs have never, repeat, NEVER, repeat, NEVER been changed. Yes, I say this thrice. Apparently the timing belt, which should be replaced every 60,000 miles is an original too. How this thing hasn't caused serious, ultimately fatal truck damage, is beyond Tim.

Other fixing options include, but are not limited to.....getting more than 1 speaker working, rigging up a locking method for the tailgate (it has no lock), buying one more spare tire, finding a trail jack, rigging up the bed and canopy for camping, and areas to hide either firearms or sharp cutlery. Crossing the border with guns and large knives....bad things happen.

We still need to collect a bunch of equipment for the trip, first aid, emergency road kit, camping gear, but after this weekend we are both resting a little calmer when it comes to heading south. The rig is nearly ready.

Soon I start shaping surfboards.

Ye of LIttle Faith

2007-12-06T10:06:00.001-08:00

I have a Christmas Tree!

Deracinated off of highway 26 during the monsoon. Smells great, looks great, and has 150 lights on it!

Picture coming soon

Aloha

2007-12-04T16:17:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not dead!

I will try and do this again. Sorry, Sorry

Arrival in South Africa - Pretoria

2007-07-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

After more than 24 hours of travel, we've arrived in Pretoria South Africa where we are staying with a local pastor and his family. His wife is in Brazil leading a team of 10 missionaries. Stephanie Brockett was on our flight to DC, we snapped a few pictures and wished her a great trip as she is heading to Europe for the next two weeks.
Our flight was pretty good. They have personal entertainment centers on the seat in front of you that offer games, movies. music, TV shows...etc. They even have these sweet Nintendo type controllers. Very nice. it was a total of 15.5 hours from DC to Johannesburg, so you can imagine there were a couple movies watched and many games played. I particularly liked the logic games, which made me feel good about sitting down for more than 15 hours. They made my brain feel good at least, the hind end was a little sore.
We narrowly missed an opportunity to exchange our direct flight to Joburg, for a roundabout...England to Joburg. The payoff was either 400$ or a free round trip ticket on South African Airways. Dangit. Considering we have an overnight in Joburg, it might have been nice to re-route through England in exchange for another $2500.00 ticket. What do you think?
Apparently Joburg is a dangerous place. There are lots of muggings, carjackings, and Willie, the pastor, his house looks bombproof. His neighbor has metal fencing that resembles hundreds of vertical SHARP spears, along with 5 electric lines, never mind the razor wire. We are not in the ghetto either. Willies house has steel bars over ever window, all doors and screens are locked separately - add steel bars too. His place has been broken into 3 times in the last year.
Willie and family speak English and Afrikaans, a derivative of Dutch and German that has been spoken here is South Africa for the past 300 years.
Started reading John Eldridge's book "Wild at Heart", midway through chapter two...a very good book so far! No, I haven't read it yet, despite it being quite old. It has great things to say as to the way we were designed as men and the passions of men's hearts. (He even mentions women's hearts too)
There is still a great sense of expectancy as we head to Malawi tomorrow. Once there we embark on an 8 hour van ride to Mzuzu where we will be getting dirty with building and working in some schools.
Please continue to pray for us as we travel, also that we may be changed!
Dankie - Afrikaans for Thank You

Malawi - ready to roll

2007-07-26T23:08:00.000-07:00

All packed and ready to roll. We're staying at Jen's house, getting up plenty early in the morning, and flying for an entire day.

PDX to Washington DC = 4:45
DC to Johannesburg = 15:15
Jburg - Malawi = 3:00

Sounds fun!

My brother Ben helped me pack up some gear early on and decided he wanted to take the trip with me!

Try to post from Malawi.
Keep Prayin'
J

Big Wave Surfing

2007-07-17T16:36:00.000-07:00

Though surfing big waves is not my passion. I deeply respect guys who charge, especially considering the punishment they receive when the don't make it.

Fireworks

2007-07-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

After a little prodding from Ian, we met in Gresham and left for The Dalles. Actually across the river from The Dalles. We went to buy fireworks from the Indians. You know, the kind that you don't find here in Oregon, Boregon when it comes to fireworks. No, we are not in high school anymore, but can't men get into some fireworkage? I certainly think so.

Made the drive, rounded up the necessities..

Not enough money.

Back to The Dalles to withdraw more, +$2.50 service fee. ah

Now back to the reservation! At one point I busted out the line "What kind of stuff do you have under the counter". This brought back memories!!!

The drive back is the weird part of the story. Everything going great, we get back on 84 and head for Portland. We'll Ian never bothered to check the gas. We're on E...actually, well below E, and apparenlty we had been for some time. 40 miles from the nearest gas station, what to do? After about 30 minutes at 60 mph (the speed at which we thought we would get the best mileage) we pulled into Multnomah Falls and begged several people for gas. None had any! We got back onto 84.

Then we see the sign for Corbett, low and behold, there is a gas station in Corbett, albeit 1 1/2 miles straight uphill. So off we go in search of gas for a truck that has gone way too far already. Little did we know the gas station was already closed. It was actually a convenience store with a half pump in the front by the porch.

Decided to ask some locals. Ran into a fire chief who was mowing his lawn with his last tank of gas....no dice there either...

Enter Steve.

Steve pulls up on his cherry red Titan motorcycle. Very nice! He is a rock sold believer, works 50 yards from Ian, and is excited about cruising to lunch with us in the upcoming weeks! Steve calls his girlfriend, her cousin jumps on his Harley with a gallon of gas in his side bag, rolls over to us 20 minutes later, tops us off (not really) with this gallon, and sends us on our way!

Steve is my man of the week.

Despite the trip taking 5 hours with no food. We realize the trip was a total encouragement to us and Steve and a confirmation that Braddah J.C. is large and in charge.

I'm amazed at God's provision and the Body of Christ.

Braddah J got a job

2007-06-21T23:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the prayers! It's now official. Jon is gainfully employed with the Banks School District. He will be teaching mathematics (most likely Pre-Algebra, Algebra, and Geometry classes), he is also the new head wrestling coach at Banks High School! Stay tuned for updates.

Mahalo Ke Akua

Grad Party Time

2007-06-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

Invited: EVERYONE
Day: Saturday June 16th
Time: 5:00PM - Whenever
Address: 15435 SW Hall Blvd. Tigard
Menu: Hawaiian style: BBQ Chicken, Burgers, Mac Salad, Rice, and many appetizers

POTLUCK: If you would like to bring a plate for everyone to share, that would be much appreciated.

Wear your finest Aloha wear (Hawaiian Clothing)
(If you have some)

BYOB

Malawi Africa 2007

2007-06-01T00:11:00.000-07:00

It's official. We have tickets, and we are going! I'm stoked on the trip for many reasons, here are a few...

1.) God has called us to Go to the nations.....
2.) I've had a desire to go to Africa since I was little.
3.) I feel called to the mission field in some way and hope to refine this calling.
4.) We will be working on a building project to help the local people with several microenterprises and a start-up internet cafe.
5.) We will be training teachers new and effective ways of reaching children in education.
6.) We get to spend time in Kruger National Wildlife Park
7.) C'mon, it's Africa
8.) There are many others

Here's what I'm not excited about...

1.) Getting all my immunizations, but will do so regardless.

Please check out this video I put together that details the upcoming trip.

Thanks for reading, Jon

Graduation

2007-05-22T14:02:00.001-07:00

Well. It's not official, but it seems this is the way Pacific University does things. They have you pay almost $100.00 for a cap, gown, tassel, and hood, never mind the $20.00 red thing hanging from my neck (I don't even know the name of it-anyone?) then they sit you in a two hour ceremony, give you a bottle of water, march you across the stage, toss a hood on you (which is kinda funky) then have the nerve to give you an EMPTY diploma holder. Then they schedule a class the following monday??? Are you kidding??

Ok, despite how bizarre that sounds, I actually had a great time. Two work samples to go, and a reflection. Stay tuned for the Grad Party in early June!

Mahalo Ke Akua

King Herod 's tomb found

2007-05-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

This is cool on many levels. First of all, it's always neat to find old things, I mean REALLY old things, particularly those that have not been seen since they were buried and have been for centuries. I equate it to finding GOLD or DIAMONDS. Secondly, Israel is a hotbed of historical and achaeological digs, and people routinely find ridiculously neat artifacts, which are Priceless. Thirdly, It validates what the Bible claims through the uncovering of TANGIBLE historical evidence.

MY NEW HOUSE!!!

2007-05-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

I'm so stoked on how God is just hookin it up! Check this out all yall. Braddah J just scored a new pad. I will be house sitting indefinitely. This thing is sick. There are 10 acres in the back yard, No close neighbors, and it's gonna be unreal come BBQ time. If I really owned this property, I'd be set for life. The owners are considering selling since their father just died, but that might be two years from now. So, in the meantime...Who's ready to roll?

Kitesurfing

2007-05-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

I have a new hobby. Kitesurfing. Last night, I picked up two used kites and a bar and lines from a friend of a friend. I have a slight problem...no board to ride on. Looks like I'll be picking up a blank in the next few weeks and start mowing some foam. We'll be rolling out with 11.o and a 13.5 meter 5-line kites. They are last years models, so they are equipped with many new safety features. I'm stoked. Better learn how to fly'em.

For TERRY

2007-04-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Despite what some post about...

The Department of Defense has announced its recruiting and retention statistics by the active and reserve components for the FY 2006 recruiting year.

Active duty recruiting. All services have met or exceeded their recruiting goals for fiscal 2006.

Active duty retention. Overall, the active duty services exceeded retention goals across the board. The Army, Air Force and Marine Corps exceeded fiscal 2006 retention goals in every category. The Navy retained in high numbers at the outset of the year, but a focus on physical fitness test performance led to an increase in disqualification among first-term sailors.

Reserve forces recruiting. Two of six Reserve components met or exceeded their accession goals for fiscal 2006, while two other Reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard were close to making their end of year goals.Although the Army Reserve fell short of its annual accession goal, the U.S. Army Recruiting Command achieved 99+percent of its annual recruiting goal.

Reserve forces retention. Losses in all Reserve components were within acceptable limits. However, enlisted attrition through August 2006 is higher than the same period reported last year, but lower than the same period in the base year of fiscal 2000. The U.S. Naval Reserve presents a concern with its increasing attrition rates. We expect September 2006 to continue the current trend. (Note: This indicator lags by one month.)

Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is not included under the DOD statistics below (because the Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security), but the Coast Guard met its active duty recruiting goal for FY 2006, recruiting 3,992 enlisted members out of a goal of 3,950 (101%). However, the Coast Guard fell short of their Reserve goals, recruiting only 924 out of a goal of 1,390 (66%).

Fiscal 2006 Enlisted Recruiting from October 1, 2005 - September 30, 2006:

Recruiting Statistics

Componant	Accessions	Goal	Percent
Army	80,635	80,000	101
Navy	36,679	36,656	100
Marine Corps	32,337	32,301	100
Air Force	30,889	30,750	100
Army National Guard	69,042	70,000	99
Army Reserve	34,379	36,032	95
Navy Reserve	9,722	11,180	87
Marine Corps Reserve	8,056	8,024	100
Air National Guard	9,138	9,380	97
Air Force Reserve	6,989	6,607	106

Good Friday

2007-04-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

In a recent e-mail from my old friend, he reminded me of something significant.

While I was busy getting the kids off to school,
Jesus was busy staggering his cross to Calvary.

While I was busy at the store buying my bitter herbs,
Jesus was busy being nailed to the cross.

While I was busy choosing the Caddish wine,
Jesus was rejecting the wine with gall.

While I went through my busy day - doing both good and evil -
Jesus hung on the cross and took it all.

While the kids were packing up there school supplies,
Jesus was commending his Mother to John.

While I was busy picking up the kids, Jesus was busy dieing.

While I went about preparing our Seder Dinner,
Joseph of Arimathea was negotiating for Jesus' body.

While our family celebrated our simple Seder dinner,
Joseph and Nicodemius buried Jesus in the tomb.

While I was busy washing the dishes the authorities were busy sealing His tomb.

It was a very busy day.

May the Lord bless you and keep you and yours during this sacred season, and may his countenance rest upon you for all to see,

Job Offer

2007-04-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

After spending the entirety of Tuesday at the Oregon Professional educator fair, I scored four interviews. Three down, one to go. I just got a call, and was offered a job in COMPTON! Yeah, Compton, California, you guessed it..."C-O-M-P-T-O-N, and the city they call Long beach" - Dr. Dreahaha. I got a week to let them know I probably wont do it, but the offer sure is nice!

So stoked!!!

2007-03-28T23:10:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days, I've been able to start talking with an old friend from Pacific University. While a freshman at Pacific, my next door dormmate, a Montanan and I, hit it off right from move in day. Since we lived next door to each other at this new place, it was easy to get to know each other quickly, class together, yada yada yada. A long story short - This guy was into some pretty crazy stuff, he loved booze, and loved women. He ended up having a child, later got married, and I haven't talked to him in 6 years. Well, I was able to meet up with him this evening at Beaverton 4 Square church for their midweek service, and later retreat to his house with his wife and two children and talk to him about his story, about how he met and fell in love with Jesus, and how it's changed his life. As I walked in to the sanctuary this evening, I was literally moved to tears to see him and his wife standing, with raised hands, worshipping.

NCAA Basketball Tourney

2007-03-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

So far so good. Over the last few years, my buddy Titus and I have tried to pick the winners for the NCAA Basketball tournament. Titus follows the game a little more closely than I do, and every year to date, I've lost, and lost BADLY at that. This year we are going to have a new champion. Out of the 60 Games that have been played to this point, I have chosen 49 of the correctly. 49/60 or 82%. I'd take that to the free-throw line in overtime. Had 10 of 16 in the sweet 16 round, 8 of 8 in the elite 8 round, and now sitting pretty with 3 of 4 in the final 4 round. If any of you are wondering who will win, Jonny Boy picked Ohio State - Titus threw his cash on the Georgetown Hoyas......and with 82% correct so far, I'd throw your money down on the Jon and the Buckeyes.

Global Warming Debate....???

2007-03-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

After Watching the ENTIRE thing, I felt compelled to post it. Very well done!

It's about that time!

2007-03-21T21:21:00.000-07:00

Who's ready to have a BBQ?

Class

2007-03-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

What had originally been a class scheduled to meet on Mondays, has now turned into a class that meets on Tuesdays, which I don't particularly care for. Paul and Merideth have been way too kind in opening up their house, feeding Matt, Joel, Dan and I some great food, AND DESSERT, all of which is usually homemade from scratch! It's unreal, the food is great and we get to spend a little time together as a band. The thought of missing out fills me with loathing. Tonight we are recording Matt on drums and trying to get this CD thing kicking! Maybe we'll throw a few bass tacks down...

.....So, here we sit in class.

No Food,
No Band,
We are learning about troubled students, and...it's troubling me!

Ahhh.

3.6.07, 3.7.07, 3.8.07

2007-03-09T14:53:00.000-08:00

The last three days are all a haze as I look back on them. It’s vacation right? I’ve neglected posting anything due to lack of time, and lack of internet availability here on the island, yeah they’ve got it, but it’s mostly dial-up. I often think of my “hi-tech” friends and how they would struggle with dial-up. It continues to be variable winds, which is great for surfing (wind=BAD, unless it’s offshore). Wednesday eve is prayer meeting at Calvary, followed by a potluck, so I scored again.

Here’s a small centipede -

The cultural significance of food is very noticeable over here. When I taught at Moloka’i Christian Academy I would often be shocked at how students of all ages were taught to share their food as there was need. For instance, I was sitting at the lunch table with many of the students one day and a student did not have a meal. The other students responded by offering portions of their lunch. It’s not just a pre-school or even a high school thing, it’s ingrained in most of these students and they take joy in knowing they can provide for others who may or may not have. Sharing food is like sharing a part of their heart. Here are some of last nights people at the table.

Angela, Candace, Megan, Teva, Nicci, and the Pou boys….Taoatua, Hoarai, Pi’itoa, and Noho’ari’i, (sons of Nicci and Teva – they are Tahitian.) We were even able to meet up with Atoa, a former Moloka'i Wrestler.

We’ve dawn patrolled a few times since last writing. Yesterday I drove up to Kalae to pick up Clint (the Moloka’i wrestler who got hosed in the state finals) and we paddled out at Kawela at about 5:55am to score some waist high rights. He had to be at school by 8:00, so time was limited, but we had a great time nonetheless, and he was only a few minutes late. I would seriously be in trouble if I grew up here and knew how to surf. There would be patches of absences on my record due to the surf pumping.

The last two days I’ve been helping Teva with a bit of remodeling at Auntie Gloria’s place. My hamstrings are sore from working on the floor, but I’ve got a little extra scrod to work with. I was also able to stop by All God’s Children Pre-school and help out for a few hours just playing with the kids. It’s hilarious to hang with little kids like this (three and four years old) and hear them talk Pidgin Hawaiian, total slang for these little guys. Here’s a few examples; “Uncle Jon, you when get da stuffs?” And “Uncle Jon, can push me next?” And I’ll never forget…
Me – “What’s your name”
Kid – “Braddah Nick”
Me – “What?”
Kid – “Braddah Nick”
Me – “Braddah Nick???”
Kid – “Yeah”
Me – “hahahahahahaha”

In the few hours I hung out with them, there seemed to be and endless line of kids waiting for me to push them on the swings. There were a few criers, but for the most part, they were happy to wait in line and snag a turn when they could. A few were so stoked, they stopped and threw up da shaka (hang-loose sign).

The pre-school is on the same grounds as the Christian Academy, so I was able to see the improvements they’ve made to the school

and even take a seat in my old classroom.

Another trip to the beach to teach Stephanie how to surf….She ended up riding this one all the way to shore, jumped off, and cut up here knee. She was done after that.

A developing story : Since I arrived on Moloka’i my left bottom wisdom tooth has started hurting, toothaches are BAD!! I finally cracked yesterday due to the fact that it was not getting better despite the unhealthy amounts of hot saltwater I was gargling. A 5 minute seat in the community health center dentist’s chair revealed that I have a hideously infected wisdom tooth that NEEDS to come out, all the while, the infection has spread down into my neck, this would explain why it has been increasingly harder to swallow and chew. I got some antibiotics, plus a bunch of codeine, the latter I haven’t had to use yet. The pain has subsided a lot.

It many regards, I’m looking forward to coming home. I’m stoked out on Ethnos and the potential there is for the body to grow in size and depth. I’m also a little bit guilty of being gone for so long considering school and other commitments I’ve made. On the down side…There are a friends and family here that I dream of seeing more often.
Ahhh.

3.5.07

2007-03-09T14:47:00.000-08:00

Awoke this morning with just enough time to get out of bed, brush my teeth, and swig a smoothie, before heading down to the wharf to head out and fish for the day.

The water was sheet glass the entire time we were on the water, a rarity for Moloka’i, as the wind is usually blowing 10-20 mph, and the winter swells make it a little rough. It was calm a creamy all day long. We had trolled down the south shore of the Island for about an hour,

and I was listening to a story about the fish that had been caught in this particular location…meanwhile, a 100 pound Marlin was busy chomping at one of our lures.

Yeahyeah! I grabbed the reel and started reeling, before Stephanie was able to get seated, and ready to fight the fish herself. It was going to be a hard fight, as the reel was slipping on the pole…it was a two-man ordeal after that! The fish was on, the reel was smoking, and we were stoked once again! The stoke only lasted about 5 minutes though, after the thing jumped out of the water, ran further, and finally took advantage of a little slack in the line. Soo, it was pretty fun while it lasted, and we were happy to see some fish action,

but…it would have been rad to actually land da bugga! So, after 4 more hours of trolling for nothing, we headed back to the wharf. The rest of the evening was spent hanging with old friends, eating, and laughing.

3.4.07

2007-03-05T19:31:00.000-08:00

Arrived to Moloka’i with no trouble whatsoever. Chris dropped me off, boarded the plane, left Honolulu (HonoZOOlu), and touched down at the Moloka’i airport at 7:35 am.

I sat there for about 5 minutes, soaking up the silence. There were no cars driving, The sun was just over the eastern mountains of the island, and I could hear no one. Just like that it was easier to breathe! I was picked up shortly after by Candace, Aisha, and Megan and we all cruised up to Coffees of Hawaii to score some coffee, grind some poi bagels and talk story.

These girls are great!!!! Megan and I cruised down to the “Wherehouse” (Calvary Chapel) and met up with all the old Moloka’i church Ohana. (Ohana = Family). I was stoked as stoked gets!!! I’m tellin’ ya, these people great!! My cheeks hurt from smiling too much…and I like smiling, so…I’m talking LOTS of smiling! Yeah. I was stoked to hear Teva and the Band layin it down with the worship music. These guys have a deep pocket, and Teva is an incredible worship leader! I haven’t been able to clap my hands while singing for the past several months, seeing how I’m playing bass and all, Worshipping without the bass guitar in hand was nice! I’m always amazed at the simplicity of things over here. Most people can hear God’s voice a little more clearly on Moloka’i, being that the “neon” of the city is gone, and we get to see the simplicity of life as it used to be. Following church, I met up with Teva and Taoa (his boy) and he headed to Halawa Valley,

surfed there for about an hour…it was junk, so we left and headed back to Rock Point

where the wind had just turned off-shore, and the waves were firing. I got doughnuts on the first two waves, but it was fun anyways. We ended up surfing for about 3 hours, until the sun started to set. We loaded up and headed back to Candace’s house up in Kawela. The pad is sick, with an unreal view of Lanai, Maui, and about a 5 mile stretch of the south shore of Moloka’i.

Aloha again!

3.3.07

2007-03-05T19:23:00.000-08:00

Today was the final day of the state tournament.

There were some major thrills, but overall I feel a little bummed out. Over the past three seasons Moloka’i high school has put together a pretty solid team, considering the size of the island, and how popular wrestling is. One of the toughest kids I’ve coached to date is Clinton Manley, a senior at the high school this year who has taken 2nd in the state the last two years.

This year he was going for another finals berth, and hopefully a victory in the last match of his high school career. After his near upset in the semifinal round, (where he was trailing 5-1 going into the third round, and came back to win it in overtime) he made it to the finals where he faced a really tough but beatable kid. He was trailing in the match, when he was almost put on his back (BAD), but inverted (a great high school and college move), but he received NO points, not even an escape. This might sound foreign to most people reading this, but let me tell you this……He should have received 5 points for that. The problem is, Hawaii officials lack the skills to officiate a match properly. They rarely see higher-level college competition, and rarely call a match right. Well, unfortunately, Clinton lost the match, and for the 3rd straight year, he was the runner-up. The entire crowd thought the referee in the match was ridiculous. I must agree. Following the tournament, we were able to share some laughs, some great food, and talk story with most of the kids from the team. Clinton’s dad, a pastor, and the coach of the team this year, was taxed. It was an exhausting day. To go from anticipating a champion, to settling for second again, carries with it a crazy swing of emotions. I’m bummed.

3.1.07 & 3.2.07

2007-03-03T03:07:00.000-08:00

3.2.07

Dave’s little apartment is SICK. So simple..clean, and the view of the north shore is great! Instead of getting up pre dawn, I slept till 7, mosied out of bed, got my shtuff together, and headed out. Here’s the best part of the morning. A typical bachelor in Hawaii does not eat breakfast at home. They go to the gas station or 7-11 to get some morning grindz. So we stroll in to 7-ll, get some breakfast plates (which were good) some water, and a bar of surf wax. David was already standing in line near the front. There were two checkers working their own register. Since we were together, and paying together, I just threw my stuff with his, threw down some cash, and waited for the lady to ring us up and get us going. Meanwhile this conversation ensued..

The next guy in line – “Bra, what, you don’t have to wait in line”
Dave – “Bra, we’re together”
That guy – “So…you don’t have to wait in line”
David – “Bra, we’re together”
That guy – “Well I was in front of him”
David – “I was in front of you”
That guy - …
David - …

It was almost fight time or this guy. Heaven forbid two people pay together. Hmmmm. This guy was struggling!!! So we drove to Lani’s equipped with a beefier board, and jockeyed for position once again. There were a handful to good waves snagged.

Here’s the view of the north shore, looking south.

The first reason why I’m here was the state wrestling tournament, and it has begun. Several kids I once coached have qualified and are wrestling quite well. At the end of Friday’s round there are 5 of 8 still in the tournament. I’m back at Chris’ house for the eve. No surf, only semifinals in the morning!

Aloha

3.1.06. Dawn Partrol on North Shore

This morning Chris and I awoke at 5:30 to take the hour long drive up the North shore, or the country. Traffic had already started at around 6, so it took just a little longer than expected to get there. We surfed Pupukea, about 100 yards north of Pipeline. This stretch of beach is far and away the most popular and sought after surf spot in the world. By the time we paddled out, there were about 10 people in the water, within 30 minutes, there were about 30 people in the water. Surfing in a crowd is not fun. When your all by yourself, you get the pick of the litter…waves roll in, and you paddle where you want, when you want. You actually get to pick and choose. Now, when 30 people jump in the water, and try to surf the same wave, you can imagine there is quite a bit of jockeying for position, though there is a surfing etiquette that is usually followed that lets the guy closest to the breaking part of the wave have priority. Anyway, The larger sets were about shoulder to a foot or two overhead. A good size! Google some pictures from pipeline and that should give you the idea that this was a smaller day. It was nice. There was one bad part…I was riding a 7’2”… 7 freaking foot 2. Are you kidding me? I eat boards bigger than that for breakfast. This was like a paperweight compared to what I’m used to riding. I was afraid the board might get lost in the water or something. I mean, I ride longboards for the most part, and this board had only about ¼ of the float ability of what I’m used to. So in regards to the board, it could have been much better! But I do believe there is nothing better than Dawn Patrol any day of the week. The rest of the day was spent visiting with old Pacific Wrestling Alumni at a local restaurant just north of Honolulu. There were around 20 people in all, including two former women's wrestlers at Pacific. Lots of new introductions were made, and to stick with the age old saying….good times were had by all!!

Pictured are…Jon Small, Poncie Raguindin, Old Coach Mike Clock, Kurtis Saiki, Billy Veninciano – The Moloka’i Connection

With a late night drive back to the north shore with David, The stage was set for another great day…Surf in the morning!!!

2.28.07 Aloha from Oahu

2007-03-01T14:39:00.000-08:00

Made it to the airport with nothing more than two sore butt-cheeks. Flight was good. I sat next to a very interesting 26 year old gal from Hillsboro who was reading about Zen, Falling in love, and insisted on talking about how bad George Bush was and is. She could not believe it when I told her I support him. More questions pursued about the things I like about him, or rather, the things that he has done that I approve of. I listed many, she had a hard time rebutting some of them. That was interesting. I sat around the Honolulu airport for a couple of hours waiting for my old wrestling coach to arrive. I’m struggling with what to call him. It sounds weird to me to call this guy my friend, and, clearly he is. He has been my wrestling coach all through college and I enjoy traveling and chatting it up with him. The weird part of this is the simple fact of age. He is 70+ and I’m 26. So I was trying to explain what I was doing on Oahu to this girl, and she was confused when I said “my old wrestling coach.” Seems I should be calling him my friend, but I don’t want people to freak out when they see him, that he’s 70 and all. Hahahaha Wed evening was spent up at One Love Ministries with my old pastor Waxer Tipton. He’s doing his route 66 Bible study…that is, teaching through the 66 books of the Bible in a year. That’s nuts if you ask me. He is an amazing speaker. As with the current tradition of eating out after our gatherings at Ethnos, A bunch of the mid-20’s crowd went to a bar to eat following the Bible study. I had left my computer and bag in David’s jeep, only to find that his jeep had been towed in the hour it took to eat and visit. I thought it was stolen. That would have sucked. This is the second time this has happened to me…..IN THE SAME PARKING LOT. The last time was with my buddy Chris. And again, the last time I had all my gear in the car too. This time it cost $182.00, and it was only gone for an hour. Dawn Patrol tomorrow morning! Aloha

My boy Chris Wallick

Speaking of Butter

2007-03-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

Shawn Cardwell wolfing down Butter with Breakfast

Hawaii - Moloka'i

2007-02-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

I'm heading to Hawaii on Wednesday for the State Wrestling Tournament. Actually, this is one of many reasons why I'm going.

When I first arrived on Moloka'i, it was rough, it was a new place and I only knew two people (a relatively high percentage considering there are only 7,000 on the entire island). Here's a brief snapshot of Moloka'i.....There are two gas stations, Subway is the fastest food, no stoplights, has a leper colony, one highway, there's no building taller than a palm tree, and tourism...what's that??? Through a bizarre turn of events, many things came a tumbling down. A relationship - over, Finances - GONE, a foreign place, new culture, and the emotional swings of being a first year teacher. I'm tellin' ya, it was RIDICULOUS!! As I look back in hindsight, I can see God's hand along each step of the way, and I'm grateful for ALL of those hard times. Having seen the depths, it makes the heights that much sweeter!!

Well, with few options in a new place, I needed to stay occupied...Seriously, I couldn't sleep well, I didn't have ANY money..... I needed to dive into something for sanity's sake. I started helping at Moloka'i High School as an assistant wrestling coach. Practice each day of the week, a core group of guys (and two girls, Hawaii has girls wrestling too) who wanted to get better, the sport I love, and off-island travel on weekends, It really did help me battle through some hard times. That first assisting position led to a head coaching position for the following two years as well as lots of blood, sweat, and tears invested in teaching students a great sport which I am particularly fond of, but also a sport that most often times pits you against yourself, teaches you not to give up when you are one your back, and puts you in matches where you are facing a highly favored opponent, but you enter anyway to fight. That particular group of freshmen students (whom I first started coaching) are now seniors, and they will be competing in their final State tournament this upcoming weekend. It's very important to me to support them. I'm willing to put school on the back burner for a short time.

Alright, so a week-and-a-half is a long time to spend at a wrestling tournament right?

After the tournament (on Oahu) I'll be heading to Moloka'i for a week to visit friends, my old church family, and.....S U R F!
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrf!!!
Baby, I can't even wait. Surfing on the Oregon coast doesn't even come close.

I hope to keep the blog updated each day with the latest pics and some stories...for all four of you that read this blog once a week.

E olelo au ia oe i'ka la'apo'po

Learning vs. Rote Memorization

2007-02-09T13:23:00.000-08:00

After reading Dan's blog, I feel compelled to say something on the matter of memorizing something for the purpose of spitting it back out on a test, only to be forgotten an hour later. The question of the year is this....When do you REALLY learn something??? Must you do something with the information other than regurgitate it? Do you have to practice it? Where do you draw the line?
This has been a perplexing question since I started this ED program at Pacific. There's all kinds of people studying it, but there still seems to be only grey.
That's all

Joy?

2007-01-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

What to say about the pursuit of JOY?

Snowman

2007-01-17T18:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I awoke to 2 inches of pristine white fluff. This meant 1) I didn't have to go to student teaching at Tigard High School, and 2) There was a snowman to be made with Titus. We started rolling, and within 20 minutes we had a snowball that was far to big to lift. It was actually too large for many grown men...I'd guess it was in the vicinity of 600lbs. We rolled it to the front yard (barely), and began making the other parts of the snowman. Completion took about 2.5 hours. This snowman pictured is approx. 9.5 ft. tall, and it comes fully equipped wearing a blue colored stocking cap with matching bluish gloves, and is accessorized with coal eyes, teeth, and buttons. It also is sporting a zucchini nose, handmade wool scarf, and maple arms. It was a good way to spend a few hours.

Since building this BEAST, we have been amazed at the numbers of people it has drawn. For hours on end we have sat by the front window and watched as people park outside the house, exit their cars, and take pictures with their children. 85% of visitors use camera phones. Though a photographer from the Forest Grove News Times did indeed stop by, take many pictures while we were constructing it, and scribble down our names. Even in the evening hours we can see flashes inside the house from both people walking and driving by. I'll keep you posted for further developments.

What the heck...Why doesn't anyone make snowmen anymore?

Justin's NEW YEARS Jowl

2007-01-10T00:48:00.000-08:00

My Favorite Snack: BACON WRAPPED BACON

2007-01-10T00:39:00.000-08:00

While in Sunriver over the break. I was able to cook my favorite snack ever!!!
A Palatable treat!

Matt: here's the infamous picture

2007-01-08T10:24:00.000-08:00

Notice: The Stone Face Killa. hahaha. classic

Unreal ah?

2006-12-25T23:13:00.000-08:00

JESUS and the Chrismas Story is: FOR REAL

2006-12-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

No joke about it...

Check out some of these OT prophecies fulfilled by JESUS.

The Smiling Box Epic Saga

2006-12-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

Two videos we made last night! Check um out!

Milk: It does the body GOOD!

2006-12-12T12:53:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest on the milk dilema...

We've always drank milk - THEREFORE - we haven't evolved!

This is just common sense.

Among many other health benefits...

Here's one I really like:
Milk contains about 85% water. It thus supplies both food and fluid.

The King

2006-11-30T22:11:00.000-08:00

After playing the new Burger King video game, I felt compelled to post this video...watch, and be ready!

Dead Sea Scrolls - Seattle through Jan 7.

2006-11-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

I'll be leaving later this evening for Seattle to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. They were found in 1947 near the Dead Sea. The scrolls, also called the Qumran texts are dated two centuries or more before the time of Christ. They are on display at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle through January 7th.

Here's the thing about these scrolls. Over the centuries, it has been a common question as to how a book written so many years ago - The Bible - can have withstood the test of time as believers claim. One typical responses to a claim would sound something like this.

"There are countless passages in the bible that have lost the intended meaning through translation."

Which passages? What intended meaning was lost? If there are ‘countless passages’, surely people could find at least ONE illustrated point. Moreover, where is proof? Can you produce or point to ancient biblical manuscripts in the original languages with a different intended meaning? While there are many atheists that try to press that canard, there is an overwhelming amount of manuscript evidence supporting the reliability of Scripture.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, which have many fragments of ancient manuscripts, included a copy of the entire book of Isaiah (dated 150 B.C.) that was essentially identical (no loss of ‘intended meaning’) to the earliest copy that had been in our possession prior to the discovery (dated to AD 900). There are also thousands of partial and complete ancient New Testament manuscripts that have literally identical verbage and meaning. Since these ancient manuscripts can be inspected, you may want to consider that there would be a deafening cry of ‘fraud’, by biblical and secular scholars who can read the original languages, PARTICULARLY if there were linguistic deviations in the more recent manuscripts, BUT THERE ARE NONE!!!!!

So, here's what I would kindly suggest (if this is you), is that you rely on the results of reliable scholarship rather than the oft-refuted assertions of pedantic athiests who neither exhibit interest in learning the ancient languages themselves nor offer proof of their fabrications.

Nothing has withstood the test of time and utmost vehement hostility towards what it claims other than the Bible. The dead sea scrolls are more than enough to authenticate the historical accuracy of the Bible. The proof is in the pudding.

CS Lewis - Standing strong 43 years after his death

2006-11-17T00:34:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the greatest form of irrationality is to believe in rationality when that rationality was supposedly ultimately produced by non-rational random combinations of chemicals. The great English writer and converted atheist, C.S. Lewis, pointed this out

Monkey madness

2006-11-13T17:23:00.000-08:00

by David Catchpoole

When arguing that life could have arisen by chance, evolutionists will often state that—given enough time—anything could happen, regardless of how improbable it might seem.¹ For example, prominent evolutionist Julian Huxley (1887–1975) said that, given enough time, monkeys typing randomly could eventually type out the complete works of Shakespeare.²

Since then, others too, such as Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins, have made similar pronouncements about monkeys’ random typing being able to produce one of Shakespeare’s sonnets, or at least a sentence from one of his plays.

But when Plymouth University (UK) researchers installed a keyboard and computer screen in the monkey enclosure at Paignton Zoo, home to six Sulawesi crested macaques, it didn’t result in a nicely typed set of the complete works of Shakespeare. Neither did they get a sonnet. Nor even a single word of Shakespeare.

No, when the researchers gave six monkeys one computer for a month, what they got was … a mess.³

The first thing the lead male did was to find a stone and start bashing the computer with it. Subsequently, the younger ones came and pressed some of the keys. But most of the macaques’ time was spent sitting or jumping on the computer, or using it as a toilet. (The computer was protected by a transparent plastic covering in such a way that the monkeys could nevertheless hit the keys with their fingers.) After one month, the monkeys had produced five pages of text, composed primarily of the letter ‘S’. But there was not a single recognizable word in sight. The letter ‘A’ was the only vowel to be used, and it did not make an appearance until page 4.

Despite the outcome being gobbledegook, the combined efforts of monkeys Elmo, Gum, Heather, Holly, Mistletoe and Rowan have been made available for sale in a limited edition book, bound in the style of a Shakespearean play, entitled Notes Towards the Complete Works of Shakespeare.^4,5

Towards Shakespeare? Hardly—evidence for evolution, the monkeys’ performance certainly isn’t. And, as calculations have shown, even if monkeys could type randomly at a rate of one key-strike per second, without ever stopping, then to get a simple line of intelligible text would take many billions of times longer than the assumed evolutionary age of the universe.¹

Addressing the idea that time plus chance could have created life, Sir Fred Hoyle said, ‘Now imagine 10⁵⁰ blind persons [that’s 100,000 billion billion billion billion billion people—standing shoulder to shoulder, they would more than fill our entire planetary system] each with a scrambled Rubik cube and try to conceive of the chance of them all simultaneously arriving at the solved form. You then have the chance of arriving by random shuffling [random variation] of just one of the many biopolymers on which life depends. The notion that not only the biopolymers but the operating program of a living cell could be arrived at by chance in a primordial soup here on earth is evidently nonsense of a high order.’ [Emphasis added.]

References and notes

Grigg, R., Could monkeys type the 23^rd Psalm? Creation 13(1):30–34, 1990.
Sunderland, L., Darwin’s enigma, Master Books Inc., Arkansas, USA, pp. 70–71, 1988.
Adam, D., Give six monkeys a computer, and what do you get? Certainly not the Bard, The Guardian, 9 May 2003, p. 3.
Also can be viewed at the website: , 15 May 2003.
It is not altogether clear what the researchers were trying to achieve in this exercise. Associated website documentation says that Notes Towards the Complete Works of Shakespeare was produced in response to the ‘familiar idea’ that monkeys with typewriters will eventually produce the complete works of Shakespeare. ‘[The project] aims to raise questions in the minds of viewers … as to the role of chance in evolution and the creative process. An orthodox Darwinian view of evolution is that … only the fittest survive and produce offspring. This not only oversimplifies the issue but also makes an unacceptable political metaphor—where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. … The project aims to address these ideas, … and in turn provide a much more acceptable political metaphor.’ , 15 May 2003.

More on the Evolution Train, Let's think it through!

2006-11-01T18:44:00.000-08:00

Similarities don’t prove evolution

Charles Darwin believed that similar structures in different animals strongly suggested a common evolutionary ancestor for them.

‘What can be more curious’, he said, ‘than that the hand of a man, formed for grasping, that of a mole for digging, the leg of the horse, the paddle of the porpoise, and the wing of the bat, should all be constructed on the same pattern, and should include similar bones, in the same relative positions?’¹

Darwin concluded that this similarity was, as he quoted Professor Flower, ‘powerfully suggestive of true relationship, of inheritance from a common ancestor’.²

This idea that a fundamental similarity in structures is due to common descent is called homology. But this still-common idea is not in the slightest a proof of evolution. It is simply an assumption by those who reject creation.

Darwin revealed this was his position when he said some believe ‘that it has pleased the Creator to construct all the animals and plants in each great class on a uniform plan’. He finished that sentence by saying, ‘but this is not a scientific explanation.’³ He was therefore ruling out the possibility of creation based on a common plan by implying it was not scientific, so he wouldn’t believe it whether it was true or not.

In many cases what are called homologous organs are produced by the action of different genes.⁴ For example, you could change by mutation the gene that governed the development of the alleged ancestral vertebrate forelimb a million times and never produce, say, a seal’s flipper or man’s arm. Their development is controlled by different genes.⁵ (See ‘A serious problem for homology’ also in this magazine.)

Even similarities among somewhat similar creatures reveal that the differences are more important than the similarities. For example, look at the hands of four primates: tarsier, gibbon, chimpanzee, and human. Despite the similarities in their hands, the differences are what makes each most suitable for its way of life. The tarsier leaps and clings, and has large finger pads to help it do this. The gibbon swings from the trees, so has long, strong fingers for swinging. The chimpanzee may be able to manipulate very crude tools with its stubby thumb, but the human’s thumb faces the forefinger, which provides dexterity for countless purposes—from threading a needle to mountain climbing…from carving wood to buttoning a shirt.

So-called homologous structures are no proof of common descent, so are no proof of evolution. Darwin’s approach—to reject the creation explanation as unscientific because you don’t want to believe it—is not rational. This is particularly so when the facts are readily explained as the product of a Designer who created each unique structure to fulfill a different purpose.

Work Tonight

2006-10-31T22:47:00.000-08:00

Gotta work in 5 minutes. Work consists of an hour, every Tuesday evening. I know, it's a stretch, but it's about all we can handle for now. Last week some of my fellow employees had an interesting discussion on evolution and the origin of life. Many of them claim that evolution is "provable", so tonight we might not go there, if you know what I'm sayin'. Pacific is a place where post modernists rule. It's pretty much a free for all. It's always fun, and always keeping you on your toes. More later.

2006-10-26T17:56:00.001-07:00

Victor Wooten & Matt Small

2006-10-26T13:26:00.001-07:00

Matt Small, Spreading the Butter with Victor Wooten

Butter

2006-10-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

Re: 2 posts ago...

free
food
dinner
bbq.......
BUTTER

yeah baby.

More Butter!

2006-10-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

This has been an interesting week. So far so good, but the chaos, ahhh. You gotta basque in it sometimes...and that's the way I'm feeling. School is dragging on, at a crawling rate and it seems it'll never finish. Been talking about checking out Seminaries, seeing what's out there and what to do. Do I really wanna teach for my entire career? Has God called me to something greater? Not that teaching isn't great, naw mean? What to do???

On a lighter note, this is Joel Mulkey. Joel is learning to love to spread the butter. This was from the innovative Evangelism Conference. Joel routinely takes mediocre sound systems and trasforms them to amazing ones. Job well done Joel. Also pictured is Matt, getting ready to grind some early thanksgiving dinner at the conference. Way to go Matt.

Sitting in class...ahhhhhhhhhh

2006-10-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

In class this morning, ah, I've pretty much checked out for the day already, there's all kinds of things that need to be done, and school and more homework is towards the bottom of the list. Whadduhyoudo in a situation like this? On to other things.....June Come Fast!!!

There's no band practice this week, Paul and his family are heading to North Carolina to do something...I think he's tried to explain it a few times, but many things with Paul start and stay in the realm of the ABSTRACT. I get a kick out of him trying to articulate (in words) the sounds he wants to hear in the band. We'll be practicing, and words like "hollow", "open", and "you know what I'm sayin'" are frequently used, but rearely understood.

Paul: "Jon, what I'm hearing is something a little more ringy and open."
Jon: "Ok, so what do you want me to do?"
Paul: "Leave it a little more open."
Jon: "OK, got it" (not really)
Paul: "Do you know what I'm sayin?"
Jon: "Kind of, but not really"
Paul: "Just do some of the stuff you were doing before, but let it hang a little"
Jon: "alright, I'll hang a little in the verse??? Then hammer it in the chorus?"
Paul: "Totally"
Jon: "OK"

It's this kind of dialogue that makes it so fun!!

It's comic relief, I love it!

Tuesday, instead of practice, Matt and I will be heading to Changs!!!

And by the way...............
What do the following words have in common?

FREE
FOOD
DINNER
BBQ

Ahhh, more food on the mind!

2006-10-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

Getting started again....

2006-10-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

After a long delay, and a little peer pressure, We're giving the blog another try... The last one died, actually it's still going, but I can't remember the login or the password. I guess that's what to be expected. New computer, no new posts in over 6 months...go figure. Who's gonna keep me accountable on this one? Shoots!