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)

5 INTERESTING THINGS?!?

1. When I was in 7th grade my classmates called me "quads" standing for quadrilateral ...meaning four sides. My haircut was four very nice sides of hair. (of course I am somewhat helpless with out all my childhood pictures...sorry)

2. I have a metal rod inside of my Tibia Bone in my left leg. I broke both bones in my leg when trying to take a sweet shot during soccer (shin to shin with a defender) It goes off in airports and when I try to get into sporting events and I get the wand.


-now picture someone taking a hammer and hitting a rod into that bone....ouch!

3. I've visited 295 cities and 13 countries---U.S., Mexico, Canada, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, England, and Belgium.

4. I recently bought half-season tickets to the Colorado Rapids Soccer Club and joined a firm dedicated to rapids/soccer lovers. http://centennialfirm.com/
I have always loved sports and soccer has become my favorite (basketball lost after I stopped being good at it)


-This will soon be me...beginning on March 29 against the LA Galaxy!

5. I really love Philosophy. I can honestly say that NO ONE saw that coming if the knew me before college. but hence..I am a fan of many thinkers such as Derrida, C.S. Lewis, Leo Tolstoy (or at least his philosophy on life), Kierkegaard, Foucault, etc...


-Soren Kierkegaard (basically my hero)

6. I am one of the only people who has had only one car their whole life (granted...I am young...yet I know very few like me)


-here she is in British Columbia

7. I wrote my first check last Wednesday. Yeah...I know...how could you have done that???.... don't get me wrong I had a checking account, but mom always paid my bills and then took the money out of my account. Even worse the first check was a first time bill-----Rent!

8. I have lived with 23 different people in the last 5 years.

Vail (Thanks John)

-Doin some Carvin


-Me and Cousin Jason


-

Experience is Nice

In the past month I have gained many skills at work including sheetrocking, taping, texturing, cabinetry, trim work, concrete, and most recently tiling. I have never been so excited to learn as today. For some reason I just wanted to tile..so the good tile guy taught me how and let me go. I did pretty well.

Its nice to look back and appreciate the things I've learned, because it is usually really frustrating when I suck at something (aka sucking at _____ because its the first time I did it).

Sometimes it almost feels like I am in an apprenticeship.

Gotta love some experience:)

Not to say that I am the only one..

but its has been crazy how many people think I am way older than I am. I am pretty sure this past year has been nuts for that. At the beginning of 22 people confused me for an 18 year old whereas now most people I work with, and others, assume I am 28 or 29! What?? Seriously, I don't think someone can grow up that fast. Even my boss/mentor/friend-jason thought I was 28 or 29 today.

I bet if I shaved (not that I have much facial hair right now anyways) it would go back to the 16-18 year old looking thing again. dang..

ok...I'm done.

Air Force vs Colorado State

Well, I made it to my first D-1 basketball game. I can't say that I was blown away by the talent, but it was fun to watch. Sean got free tickets from his uncle and drove us down to Colorado Springs...so the whole thing was free. Also free: A back me sage at half time at a Chiropractor booth.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Last week I worked in an elderly African-American womens house fixing some plumbing and I found a Martin Luther King Jr. calendar of pictures and quotes....I wrote down my favorites.



"Everybody can be great, Because anybody can serve...You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically...Intelligence plus character - thats is the goal of true education."

Also...I listened to the sermon he gave the day before he was shot in Memphis (I was in my truck on the way to work) and it was amazing. I got the chills...


-Statue of MLKJ in Birmingham, Alabama


-MLKJ's Church in Atlanta


-MLKJ's Gravesite..

Rod-e-o National Western Stock Show

-yes...I did steal this picture from Angie...

Whohoo! Jon and Ang took me to the Rodeo at the Coliseum in Denver!

First Stop: Starbucks - to get some fuel for the show.

Second Stop: Meeting up with the Shaler's (jon's folks and granpa)

Third Stop: Sweet seats to the rodeo to watch bronc riding, bull riding, stagecoach driving, choreographed riding, and many other things!

Fourth Stop: Home sweet home to get ready for work on Monday morning.

Staining Doors and 9/11 calls...

Yesterday I installed a couple of new door hinges,some doors, and some other stuff in an elderly womens house. I ran out of time and needed to come back this morning and sand and stain the stuff I fixed. So after went to Home Depot (see entry below) to get the stain I went back to her house. I worked for an hour and a half and I was almost finished when her sister came over...and thats when things got interesting. Her sister (also very very old) took her blood pressure and it was through the roof. At the same time the lady turned very pale and was acting really weird.
I was around listening to them talk for a bit, when I came in the room and told them I was finished with the work I had to do. Her sister looked at me intently and said that it would be really nice if i could stay for a bit just in case. So, I stood around for a bit more...and the lady became to weak to move (which freaked me out hardcore)and her sister called 911. I helped the lady do a bunch of stuff and basically carried her to her sisters car. Then I shut all the lights off, locked the doors, told the lady I was praying for her and left. I spent about an hour helping her sister out and moving her around...and it was pretty intense most of the time.

The cool thing is that the lady and I talked about our faith the day before. She is a strong believer and has a good story to tell about her life. I hope she turned out ok.

umm...yeah.

This is the truck I have been driving while my truck is in the shop getting tires, a clutch, and some other things.




Check out the letter I found on the wind shield of the work truck when I came out of home depot this morning...

Hey loser,
Um Yeah, don't park this ugly truck next to my nice truck EVER. This is gross and it might touch my new paint with your old nasty paint. You ought to be ashamed.
Signed, Better than you.



I pulled it off the windshield, read it, and laughed....what was I suppose to do...that is ridiculous.

Snow+Traffic= FUN!!

While driving home today in the snow/traffic/low vision I thought about my "favorite" driving experiences.
-Driving a stick (after only driving one a few times before) for 3 hours in Frankfurt, Germany, through think post-soccer match traffic with tons of road work.
-My first day driving in Southern California traffic, getting cut off 5 times, and not knowing where I was going.
-Driving around without a clue where I was in Vancouver getting bullied around all over the place. No one would let me in or even look at me or my car. They were brutal.
-Driving home from Washington coming down a mountain 6% grade in Montana, going 90 miles an hour and having a Semi pull out in front of me...slamming on my brakes and nearly hitting the trailer.
-Driving on I-25 in Denver in heavy rain behind semi's and not knowing where I was in the lane ..yet traffic stayed 60+.
-Driving 4 miles in 3 hours in Ontario, California, on highway 60.

Thats about all I can think of at the moment... not that anyone really cares.

I have entered what is considered to be "real"

I have my diploma, huge debt, a new job, a new apartment, bills to pay, and that makes it official; I have entered what the youngsters call the "real world". If I'm lucky I'm looking at retirement in about 45 years. I guess thats not so bad.

All things considered I am sitting pretty darn good. I have food (which I just bought), friends, great support in Iowa and all over, some money (well, at least I hope so..I haven't started work yet), a really nice place to live, and a savior who loves me unconditionally (can't get any better that).

So, as for the pictures...here they are...Denver, Colorado, my new home.


-The new neighborhood


-The apartment num 99


-Living room tv - 60 inches (2nd Floor)


-Living Room (second floor)


-Kitchen (2nd Floor)


-Brett's Room (3rd Floor)


-Third Floor Hallway


-Sean's Room (and mine) Third Floor

The Beauty of this life...

is that "nothing gold can stay".

In light of today all i can do is chuckle at yesterdays post.

I chuckle...
because I put my car in the ditch driving home during school to get a Nooma video about anger. The truth is...I was furious.

because I went to the Barbee house to say hello to the volunteers and make sure everything was going smooth and I gashed the crap out of my finger trying to do a cut out cardboard that was covering a vent. I was bleeding everywhere.

because I just finished a book (the alchemist) that spoke about reading the omens that God's hand reveals... and the joy and peace I felt yesterday was flogged by todays events.

Thats the truth of this life...one minute things are going great, and the next your in a ditch.


I suppose thats why God tells us that no matter what....

we need to seek after Him,

and be faithful to Him.

There is something about this place..

Honestly, I can't quite put my finger on it.

It could be the cozy feel I get waving at everyone I don't know,
It might be the people I've come to care so much about in so little time,
or is it the blazing sunrise and sunset that remind me of the painters hand,

It could be the snow falling lightly outside the window while I sit by the fire,
It might be the tree full of decoration filling the main room,
or is it the depth I feel when I open my book and dream of new worlds,

It could be the way the season reminds me of my youth,
It might be the warmth of the car when the cold threatens and bites,
or is it the joy I have seeing friends follow the Lord.

Update

Saturday was very productive!

Dad got the furnace in and the heat on. He also got the plumbing all set up for water. The rest of the volunteers got a ton of work done around the house, from ripping the entire bathroom down to getting the north side of the house 3/4ths sided. There was probably 25-35 people that worked on the house!!!

....if only I were a Cowboy....

O well, Mark is... and he lets me ride his horse.



-I love this picture


-in the pin


-ridin

Project: Barbee House

When I signed up to student teach in South Dakota I knew that I was supposed to be there. Except, at the time I thought it was only to develop as a teacher and be with close friends.

As it turned out, God had bigger plans for me in South Dakota.

The Barbee's, Matt, Suzanne, Maggie, Abigail, Matthew lester, and Naomi, were put in an unusual circumstance a few months ago which God revealed his desire for them to be in a place besides Sioux Center. Upon visiting the Ruter's in South Dakota they felt the pull to be in Platte.


-The fam


-I love this picture too much not to post it... Matthew lester getting a Bull Ride from a real bull rider- Mark.

The community responded by setting things in motion to get them there ie: housing, jobs, school stuff, etc. The biggest undertaking being the House. The house that the Barbee's found is in really bad shape, and it is going to take a ton of work to get the place done by the time they want to move in (dec 16).

What needs to be finished you ask? WELL...all of the heating, all of the water, propane stuff, all siding, all windows, tearing off the porch, redoing a bathroom, redoing a lot of electricity....and shingling. Most of the high part of the roof was shingled yesterday by volunteers (Platte community) and now the rest of the project will commence. MUCHO WORKO FOR THE RUTERS/JOHN DEAL(the house caretaker)/ CHAD and anyone who wants to volunteer!! Pray for the project and the Barbee's!




-the HOUSE


-eastside of the house


-Northside of the house


-NorthEast side


-South Side of the house