Just another day at work...

Today the Brothers summer staff went out for a day away to enjoy some of God's creation and do some team building. We went to Saint Mary's Glacier about 1 hour and 15 minutes away to do some hiking and fishing. Jason did the fishing and everyone else did the hiking. After hiking the mountain I sat on a ridge and looked down the crazy steep snow sticking to the side of the mountain and wondered if I had enough ______ to Glicade (Spelling? Meaning:slide down on my butt) down it. So, after about ten minutes of debating and looking over the edge (which I might add had no paths down it) it leaned over and slid down. The video shows some but the crazier part was farther down where there was only a 15 foot gap between two boulders that I snuck through. Steve and Nate followed after they saw I made it to the bottom alive.

Definitely not a regular day at work...but I sure learned a lot.... Every test we face makes us stronger (as long as we live to learn from it).

I love you all.


-checking out the Saint Mary's Lake...below the glacier(which is actually a snow cap)


-Sarah (nate's girlfriend) nate and steve checking out the view.


-What a view.


-Messing around on a ridge.


-The slide mountain..


-Standing on the edge debating whether or not to go down (and Praying).

Jefferson Lake

This past Sunday and Monday I went to Jefferson Colorado and did a bit of hiking and some camping with Steve (summer staff and in the same grade from Dordt) and Noah (roommate at Dordt and Home Maintenance and Repair at Brothers). It was a bit cold because we were camping at about 10,000 ft, but we remedied that by sleeping in the back of Noah's van. Initially I did not like the idea of sleeping in a van while camping, however, after a bit of time I realized that its already 15 feet away from the site...so we might as well stay warm and sleep in it.


-Steve, Noah, Me in front of Jefferson Lake.


-the campsite (we slept in the back of the van because it was warmer and less work)


-Noah hiking around the lake.


-Standing in front of the lake

New Things

As some of you know, yesterday a "apartment cleaner dude" rang the doorbell and asked if I wanted to take the desk that the neighbors left in their house when they moved out. I of course said "sure....well, let me look at it first". When it was all said and done I acquired a queen size pillow-top bed with a box and frame, a lamp, corner table, two crappy paintings, a garbage can, and of course a sweet desk. Here are some pictures of the items.


-The bed, box, and trash can.


-The lamp and corner table.


- Here it is...my new - Free - Desk.


-Ohh yah, I bought a bike last week...its a cheaper one...but its still nice for my standards.


-The Bike 2

I hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all..

I love the park.

This past Saturday Ryan and I went up to Rocky Mountain National Park and did some spring hiking. We had to go through a lot of snow, but on the way down it was a great deal of fun to slide on the snow (though we fell quite often). Thank goodness I finally got up to the mountains..I was beginning to think I would go crazy; seeing them everyday and not being able to climb them.











-ryan


-Ryan and me on one sister..

In other news...A friend gave me two free tickets to the Colorado Rapids Game last Thursday and I got a free ticket to go the Rockies Game today with Jason, Jamie, and another one of our friends. Soo...I have been really blessed lately to be able to enjoy some of the things Denver has to offer with out breaking the bank.

Crazy Historians...

Check out what I found when I was cleaning out the old Dordt email:





Last Spring the Senior History Majors staged an overthrow of the Dordt History department...and took these fun pictures in the process. I am pretty sure there was a article in the Dordt Diamond about it....the Zircon if I remember correctly. Hope you enjoyed them.

ps...don't email me at my Dordt account anymore...

Back to Castlewood Canyon and the Rock Wall

This past Saturday Sean, Brett, Me, and Nicole (a volunteer that worked with me last friday) went down south to do some Sport Climbing with cousin Jason. The weather turned out beautiful, everyone was in a good mood, I am still sore today, but more thankful to Jason and Jamie for taking us out for some sweet climbing. Here are some pics...


-Brett on the wall


- Nicole (from NE Iowa..Bellevue) who came with us.


-Sean hanging on the wall.


-getting up there...on an easier climb


-Brett hanging on for dear life (not really)


-I made it to the top of a pretty tough crack to climb.

Moab, Utah, and Arches National Park

This weekend Sean, Luke, and I, decided to go to Moab, Utah, to do some spring camping. We left on Thursday afternoon and got back tonight at five. In between....well it looks a bit like this...


-This sign tells a true story...only because Arches has many great places to climb apposed to hike...and climbing is a bit more dangerous.


-Entrance to Arches National Park and visitors center.


-Our Campsite in Devil's Garden Campground (we woke up early and got there at 630 to get it..first come first serve)


-My new SWISS ARMY tent.


-me and Luke right by our campsite and the trailhead


-Pine Tree Arch


-Landscape Arch


-If you look close you can see me under Delicate Arch.


-a bit of the landscape by Delicate Arch


-Sean and Luke by Broken Arch.


-Climbing on Broken Arch


-Sean and me near Partition Arch


-Climbing near Partition Arch


-Sean by an Arch


-Luke on the edge near Delicate Arch.


-After we raced to the top of a short climb near Delicate Arch


-Climbing using the walls near Devils Garden Trailhead


-The dudes..

Books... Cheap Books!

I thought of a new personal introduction:
Hello, My name is Chad and I am a goodwill book shopping addict.

I have been telling myself that I go there just so my car does not sit for too long...but really, I know.

Books I have bought since Jan: Salt, Kite Runner, Undaunted Courage, Wild at Heart, The Journals of Lewis and Clark, Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, Angela's Ashes, Citizen Soldiers, Tomcat in Love, and 1984.

Since mid-February I have been chipping away at Undaunted Courage; Stephen Ambrose's detailed book of the Lewis and Clark story, focusing on Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American west. It's about 500 pages which is why it is taking so long, but I love reading it. Fortunately for my co-workers I share some of the interesting facts I learn from the book. ie: Did you know that most of the Corps of Discovery had VD's, and that Meriwether Lewis lived in the white house with Thomas Jefferson (a family friend) for 2 1/2 years?



The beauty of the book buying addiction is that the books are a dollar each and I have only spent around 12 Dollars on all of them.

Crazy Week

I'm exhausted. Since last Thursday I have worked with and hung out with Dordt students 24-7. I had never really thought of Denver as a spring break location, but this year it sure seemed to be one.

First the Dordt PLIA team came to Brothers help out with our volunteer program. So during the days I supervised their work projects which included cleaning out the Yard, Painting two mobile homes, and building/staining four small decks/stairs. Thank goodness the group worked very hard and made my job much easier! Yet, those of you who supervise/teach know that it is much more taxing to keep other people busy/focused/efficient than it is to just do the job yourself. Also a note of little interest::: The one game of Settlers I played against the Dordt team I won :)

So those are the week days,

and the weekend/nights.....

Well, we had another "team" of Dordt students (friends of ours)that kept us busy after work. I believe we had a total of 12 people staying at our townhouse for 10 days. Thursday night: Dart Tourney, Friday Night: Dart Tourney, Saturday: St Patrick's Day Parade Sunday: Rest, Monday night: St Patty's day party, Thursday night: NCAA Tourney Began and my 23rd Birthday party, Friday/Sat: Pack up the troopers and CLEAN!!


-Me Liz,Ryan, and Sean.


-Tim and Me with a dude in the parade

Also, Luke was actually able to unload his stuff from his car today. Which is really nice for him! Now pray that he will be able to get a good job in Denver!

On top of all the fun...I am pretty sure somewhere along the last 10 ten days I picked up strep throat. Thus...the sleeping I would be doing to recover has been less than amazing. I should probably go to the doctor. Maybe I will just go to the pharmacy and see what they can do for me.

Denver Nuggets Game

I finally made it to my first NBA game! I have wanted to go for many many years...probably more when I was a kid than now, but hey, better late then never. Since Luke R and Dan G where in town we decided to watch Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony take on the L.A. Clippers. A.I. had 38 points and melo had 27 in the win.

Honestly, I was not all that impressed with the entertainment factor for a regular season game (even though the nuggets NEED to win the rest of their games to ensure a playoff spot). I would rather watch a Indoor/outdoor lacrosse game or for sure a Rapids game and save a ton of money and not sit around during a hundred timeouts. I am glad I went, but I don't feel bad about not going all the time anymore.


-AI at the line


-myself and luke in the only non-blurry picture I could get.


Now...if I can only get cheap tickets to the Avalanche (highly unlikely)