holy cats batman…

It’s been over a year since I’ve blogged! There’s nothing important to this blog except to show everyone i still know how to do it. Whether or not I actually come post anything  is another story but hopefully, I will access this more than every 18 months, so keep an eye out (if you’ve ever read my blog…) because I promise to write something for real before the next 18 months!!!

random ramblings part….whatever part this is

I hit a deer!!!

I was leaving for school the other day and coming away from a 4 way stop when I saw a deer off to the right of the road. I glanced over at him and by the time I glanced back, there was a deer from the left who bolted in front of me. The only problem was that instead of continuing to run, he stopped right smack dab lined up with the middle of the vehicle. By the time I even saw him he was only 3 feet in front of me. In the time it took me to even move my foot from the gas to the brake, he was already under my vehicle. I felt him bounce 3-4 times and looked in my rear-view mirror to see his lifeless body laying there and blood pooling in the road. It was the first time I’ve hit a deer.

Missions update: I’m not going. My summer is too busy as it is plus the fact the I would have an online final for my graduate class the week we’d be in Honduras. That really was the kicker. Plus, the week before I think I am going to camp with the church now anyway so to do camp and come back and go to Honduras would be too much time away from my wifey and kiddo.

I am still going to Isle Royale this summer also and let me tell you, I think I am in for it on this trip. Jon and I figure the packs we’re carrying will range anywhere from 40-50lbs. give or take. We’re going to try and pack and travel light but we’ll see. So we’ll be carrying that and we’re hoping to average 6-8 miles each day while we’re there. The other week I took Joy-Bear and wifey for a hike to see some waterfalls. We just got a backpack to hold Joy in so we can hike with her so we figured we’d try it. With that pack, Joy weighs about 20-21 lbs. and with he being bundled up and the toys she was carrying etc…we figured it was about 23-25 lbs. We hiked only a mile and a half, a far cry from the 6-8 miles I’ll be hiking each day on Isle Royale and with 15-20 lbs. less! Well, my shoulders were pretty….really sore after just that short mile and a half, so I think I’m in trouble come the week of Isle Royale.

I just had a brain fart- I should name my blog “random ramblings” since that it pretty much all I do in here…

Joy is 9 1/2 months old now. She still has no teeth coming in but her hair is starting to grow a little! It looks like it is going to be frizzy and out of control like her mommys! She can pull herself up and stand on her own for almost 10 seconds and that seems to be getting longer and longer every day. She can walk if we hold her hands and help her along but not quite on her own yet. She says “momma” “dada” “bible” and “Jesus loves you” and “Ray-ray” which we’re not sure if she’s referring to her Uncle Ryan or Rachel, her babysitter. Even though Rachel’s only actually babysat once we see her and she holds her every Sunday in church.

We just found out that our car is going to cost $875 to fix. This after we put in $1,200 into it last summer. If you’re reading this, this has nothing to do with hitting the deer I referred to earlier. Actually, the deer did next to no damage. There’s a little plastic cover on the front that’s cracked and some fur that has become a permanent fixture on the metal underneath but really no damage to the vehicle from that…actually, two different vehicles!

I took the day off from work today! We get comp days if we do so many extra duty things that aren’t in our contract. The big one is supervising middle school and high school lunches. If you supervise 10, you get a free day off. So I alternate lunches all the time with one other teacher and have built up a few comp days and decided to use one today. Actually, I am also using two next week and the week after also. The extra time with Joy will be nice since I don’t get to see her grow up enough as it is. Yesterday she was 2 months and school was starting and now she’s almost 10 months so I am going to enjoy these days with her.

What’d you do for Mother’s Day? We made a DVD of Joy! It’s actually like a little movie, mom can pick different scenes to watch and it progresses Joy’s life during her first nine months of life. I thought it was a pretty neat idea….

Well, with my day off, I need to get back to Joy. She’s awake and ready to play so I am leaving the world of blog.

Pax Christi

random update part 1

Today is the day I get to surprise my wife with a hike! Does it count as a surprise if I told her about it about an hour ago? I figured that if I completely surprised her, when the babysitter showed up at our front door, she’d get mad because we couldn’t prepare adequately. So I told her two hours in advance! Now we can get food ready for Joy-bear and toys and everything else…

I need to also make lunch before we go so this will be a quick blog most likely. If not- c’est la vie! I am planning a trip to Isle Royale this summer and am pretty excited about it! It’s the one place in Michigan that I’ve never been to that I’ve always wanted to go to. Jon’s coming up from Texas and we’re going to go backpacking and camping for a few days- hopefully seeing some moose and maybe even a wolf or two along the way!

There is one stipulation to the Isle Royale trip though. I was talking with Jon on the phone the other night and he is doing a mission trip to Honduras this summer, at least that is the plan. We were just in normal, random conversation and I don’t even know how it happened, but somehow the idea of me going with them came up. We joked initially but then he got a little more serious about it so I told him I’d pray about it and talk it over with the wifey. So if I DID go to Honduras, then we most likeyl wouldn’t be doing an Isle Royale trip this summer. The catch is that I’d have to raise a little over 2 grand in about 3 months. Not impossible through God by any means, but definately would test my faith and patience some. Anyways, I haven’t really prayed about it yet or talked to my wife about it yet, but I will be doing both shortly and intently in pursuit of answers.

In church in Wednesday this week, Pastor Ron (or Al, or Joe or Howard…I really don’t ever remember his name) talked about “praying through” even if takes you 6 hours, but praying until you’ve received your answer. I might do that, but that in itself would be a test of my patience, or really a lack of. I have a hard enough time praying through for 6 minutes, let alone SIX HOURS!

Anyways, I might do a mission trip to Honduras if I can raise a little over 2 grand in 3 months, I might just do a 4 day hiking/camping trip to Isle Royale but either way, I get to spend a few days with Jon this summer which is always refreshing for my spirit and gives me energy and renewal of life and I get to go hike with my wife and spend an hour with her this afternoon…wow, I don’t know that last time I spent an hour with my wife without a little Joy-bear around. I love the Joy-bear, but I love my wifey too and I think getting out will be good for her. So, I need to go make lunch now. for the 6 people that read this, please pray about the whole Honduras thing with me as I am seeking a quick answer and would need some quick financial help as well. Thanks and blessings to all 6 of you:)

Pax Christi,

Joel

my wife amazes me…

I’m not big on titles, never have been. I think it’s mostly because when I come to write something it’s more with the intention of just having random ramblings as opposed to writing with a purpose. If you haven’t seen yet, I’ve updated my profile so you can read all about me, even though you probably already do if you’re reading this

My wife amazes me! I could write about how she’s a stay at home mom, which as any of you that has kids knows, that is a pretty amazing thing in and of itself. If you don’t have kids, trust me- it’s pretty amazing. She pretty much keeps the house clean, cooks, takes care of our 7 month old girl (who by the way is absolutely gorgeous…and HUGE!) She vacuums, does dishes, washes the floor to keep them Joy-proof and is constantly picking up the things that Joy throws all over the floor. Then when I get home from work and see all she’s done, it’s pretty amazing. What’s more amazing is there are times she even goes out to shovel just so I can have time with Joy and she can have get some fresh air!

It’s hard enough to be a stay at home mom, but on top of it she has created an online store where she is selling (or at least trying to at this point) hats she knit, photography, and most recently prophetic art that she has recently gotten in to. As time goes, she’ll expand the things she sells on there. What also amazes me is that she really wants this site to take off, not so much so she can make money off it, but so she can use money she makes to bless others! Amazing woman my wife is!

I was watching Joy while she was making her last prophetic art drawing and it just amazed me the look of peace that was on her face as she was drawing. She says these drawings take about an hour but I can assure you it took way longer which makes it an even more amazing drawing in my book since she can often times only spend a couple minutes at a time on them while in between watching Joy, cooking, cleaning, etc…

Anyways, this blog is more so I can tell people that my wife absolutely amazes more and more every day. I know there’s only like 3…maybe 4 people that read my blogs but would you please keep my wife in your prayers as well as her etsy. I know it sounds kinda goofy, but this is really important to her and I would like to see her do well with it. If anyone has any suggestions how to make it better or get more traffic flow, we’re open to them. Again, it’s not so much so she can make money. She barely makes anything off whatever she posts and she contributes to three different causes (an animal shelter, unicef, and blood-water-mission which helps get clean water in places that don’t have any), so it’s really not about the money to her but rather about how she can use the talents God’s given her to bless others- both those that purchase the items and the areas she donates the money to. It is for this reason that my wife really amazes me! By the way, there are links to her blog and her esty both in my profile!!!

www.etsy.com/shop/laughingwatersup

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who walk out the door and get on by their lifestyles.” – DCTalk (old-school!)

it’s a beautiful morning…

actually, it really is a beautiful morning. Joy’s jumping around in her little jumper around thingy and it’s gotta be…oh, 20 degrees outside. It’s supposed to be in the mid 30′s this week! and rain! I kinda want to go out today and chop down our huge piles of snow and spread it out, hoping the warm temps and rain this week have an easier time getting rid of it. Check that, I just turned on the weather channel and it’s 33 degrees!!!!!!!

I’m going to try this paragraph thing and see how it works. My basketball team went 0-3 this week but they, for the most part, played hard. A team that beat us 61-7 earlier in the year we played semi-decently againt on Friday. We were tied 6-6 with a minute to go in the first so definately a little better offensively and way better defensively! Unfortunately I have three players out for various reasons (all starters to boot) and we just got way too tired. They opened the scoring up a little in the 2nd quarter and still went on to win 63-16 but our effort was much improved. We now sit at 1-14.

Did I mention it’s 33 degrees outside! As I look outside I can actually see the icicles dripping which means they’re melting! I feel blessed as Joy’s jumping and laughing and smiling and Erin gets to sleep in a little- though I’m sure she’ll still be up within the half hour. We tried to find a onesie for Joy the other day but I guess they don’t make them for 3 year olds. Despite being only 7 months, she is currently in 3 yr. old clothing.  They may make them but we couldn’t find any. Yesterday was also a special treat as she pooped so much that it went all the way up her back- THREE TIMES! It’s not uncommon for her to do that, babies poop and it goes up their backs, but she usually has one every 2-3 days, sometimes even a little longer. I think since I was home all day yesterday, she thought it was a special occassion and did it three times for me!

It’s a beautiful morning! It truly is. I need to go shower and get ready for church though, otherwise I might write more. Actually, I’m not so sure I would. As I finish my coffee, I think I’d be getting ready to go chop those snowbanks down. As it stands, church it more important that chopping down snow banks hoping to get rid of them quicker. Our Pastor’s in Haiti this week, thought I’d throw that out there. Alrighty- off to shower and get ready. Pax Christi (or something like that…not sure what it means but my sister puts it in all her blogs)

random ramblings

not really sure where this blog is going to go… It’s going on 11:30 and I can’t sleep- which is unusual. I used to be quite the night owl but not so much anymore- especially with Joy. In fact I’m very seldom up even after 10, unless there’s a game but even then not past 11 so to be up now at this hour is truly a mystery to me. Random thought: do you ever go to type one word and something completely different comes out and you pause momentarily and think to yourself “where in the world did that come from?” Well as I went to type “seldom” in a couple sentences prior, I actually typed the word “gave” instead. Putting the word “gave” in their would make no sense, even if we changed the sentence…”In fact I’m very gave…” and it doesn’t make a difference how I’d end it- it just wouldn’t fit. So there’s my randomness for the night. Things like that happen when it’s past your bedtime like this. For those of you who’ve never really read anything I’ve written, it’s probably because you’ve only known me 10 years or less. I’m going to clue you in on something that’s going to be critical if you’re going to keep up on my blogs: I don’t use paragraphs- never have. Again, random but at least this was semi-useful. Ok, not really……

As I think about this blog and what I want to write in it, and how often I want to write, and what I hope to accomplish through it; I really don’t have any answers. I’m not one to write with a purpose most of the time, when I write it’s usually pretty random- just my thoughts of the day, week, months, etc…On occassion I will write with a purpose. Give you a nice intro, body and conclusion and tie it all together, but for the most part you’ll get random thoughts and stories I just happen to think of as I’m writing. In fact, often times I’ll begin a blog with the intent of writing about one story and completely writing about something different…So anyways, here’s my random thoughts for the night:

For the first time ever as a coach I suspended a player yesterday. Well technically it’s the 2nd but the first time I don’t really count for a couple of obscure reasons that I won’t get into for a lack of…well, no reason really other than it’s my blog and I really just don’t feel like explaining it all out. Maybe if I just rephrase it and say I suspended a player for the first time ever on MY terms and for MY reasons (not the schools reasons), then that should be clarification enough. Speaking of my teams- we did in fact win our first game last week, 35-26! I still remember my first win ever. In fact, I still have the game ball from it. Even though it was at a place I’d soon rather forget, it’s my first win! It was 70-36. I took a team that had went 2-26 the year before and helped them to a solid 9-16 record. Not great by any means, but a definate improvement. This year I take a team that over the last three years was 1-47 or something like that. I know I got the one win part right and the 47 is give or take a couple. While we may be 1-11 right now, it’s an improvement and I know we’re going to win AT LEAST one more, if not 2-3. Little improvements, right? One step at at time. Next year might actually be a little worse as I have nobody coming up and am losing three seniors. Hopefully though they keep their hunger. I can’t sleep. I’m not sure if I mentioned that in the beginning of this blog or not, and quite frankly, I’m just too tired to look. Speaking of being tired, this has nothing to do with it, but Jon and I are planning a trip to Isle Royale this summer. Very much looking forward to it. Never been there and definately love my outdoors, though I don’t get to spend nearly as much time there as I’d like- probably becasue of my biggest fear in the world: MOSQUITOS! I’ll let everyone (all 2.6 people that read this) in on a secret moreso becasue Erin would spill the beans anyway, but I am deathly afraid of mosquitos. I whine like…..hmm, I’ve actually got a pretty good analogy for that but I can’t technically use it because I’d have to disclose (is that the right word there?) the name of one of my student’s, which I don’t think I can legally do. Anyways, I’m a big baby when it comes to mosquitos. I whine and cry and pout and throw temper tantrums if there’s too many out. I burn citronella like….well, I don’t have a good analagy for that but i do put candles around me in a circle to try and make a protective circle that the mosquitos can’t theoretically get in to. It is for this one reason- my fear of mosquitos, that my wife thinks I won’t make it on Isle Royale. I’ll have to carry 2 packs- one for essentials and the other with citronella candles. Actually, what works better are smoke bombs, but they are more temporary and die off quickly so I’d have to have tons of them. Anyways, it’s getting late. It’s still way past my bedtime and I am overly tired. This is one of my more random writings but hope you enjoyed it anyway. By the way, a paragraph ago I spelled one word two different ways and you didn’t even catch it: analogy and analagy….one with an O and one with an A towards the end. Go check if you don’t believe me. 3.2 out of the 2.6 people will go back take a look at that. And with that I’ll leave you with my thought of the day: “Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first”

Firsts

This week has been an exciting week for me, filled with some “firsts” that are the start of many exciting things to come. Joy rolled over and bumped her head, leading to her first shiner! While it was only a little one and is now completely gone, at least we know that she can withstand an occassional bump in the road! As a parent, it’s important to know that your child is able to make mistakes and bounce back from them. Resilient little buggers, children are. The next day she had her first taste of solid food. We weren’t sure how she’d react but she seems to like it really well and we’re looking forward to trying different flavors of food. At school, I took over a girl’s basketball program that’s only won once in the last three years. To make things better, the top two players from last year both decided to not play this year, making an already pretty bad team even worse. Needless to say we won’t contend for any titles or championships, but we got our first win of the season last Thursday!!! We now sit with a gaudy 1-11 record! This isn’t the first blog I’ve ever done, but first in at least the past 10 years! This will be my blog. nmy sister has encouraged me off and on for the last 10+ years to write more and I either never wanted to, had a desire to, had time to, etc…so anyways, here’s a start to my first real blog. If you’re reading this, you already know me so I don’t need to bother you with details, but this will be a means so hopefully people can stay updated on the things going on in life, and hopefully a means for me. I used to love to write and got away from it- probably because I never thought I was that good at it. Who cares though right? It doesn’t matter if you’re good, as long as you enjoy doing what you do. Hopefully this will spark something in me and get me going again- only time will tell. I hope this is the first of many blogs to come. Read as you will, comment if you like but regardless; this is my first blog, which ends my exciting week of other firsts!

p.s. wouldn’t it be super cool if we checked Joy tonight and she was getting her first tooth?