Jack and Jill Again

I thought this would be my first weekend to skip Jack and Jill since my first time in 2010.  Again, Jack and Jill is a work weekend at Camp Barakel that focuses on bringing the Summer staff back to impact camp while enjoying a reunion atmosphere.

Well to spite the Jon Ford's weather forecast, the sun was out most of the day, but then some icy showers blew in and out a couple times.  My crew consisted of JD Stanton, Joey Winterstein, and none other than...... Mike Baker.  We were tasked with building a new Octoball ring in front of Boys Dorm on the West side.  By 2pm we were wrapped up with time to send the boys off, fix the door on Danny VanOrman's work garage and then a bit of cleaning to help Mike prepare for an upcoming group retreat. 

The rainbow lands on Ethan!

We're cleat brothers now or something.

The afternoon was capped off by a bit of an ultimate Frisbee game.  I didn't really plan to play any sports, so I was privileged to share one of Dan Krueger's cleats with him.  Never tried that before and it worked pretty well.  I enjoyed spending the evening with other Summer staff carving pumpkins, a little catching up with Mike Baker at his house, and finally a bit of frosty star gazing before turning in at the reasonable hour of 1am.

This pumpkin tried the microwavable cheese dip and then hurled.

Sunday turned out to be quite filled up.  Adela and I decided to hustle down to catch part of Hannah Ford's last soccer game at Delta College in Saginaw.  We were able to catch the second half, a point that left me fairly grumpy.  I like my itinerary going really well and not only did we miss the first half, but I took the wrong directions (didn't specify the correct campus or something) and ended up being an extra 10 minutes late.  After testing Adela's patience and using her GPS we were back on the right track before long. 

My attitude turned around about the same time as some of the girls almost got into a fight.  There was a hard foul (deserving a yellow card) that led to a tussle, then some other girls jumping in, and finally a couple red cards for the main belligerents.  The refs forgot about the original foul though, so I made sure they remembered it (although I think the ref on the line already was thinking about it). 

Beyond that excitement Hannah played excellently, and so did her friend Natalie.  Even if the skill level isn't perfect, it's fun to watch A) someone that has a great touch like Natalie, and B) someone that I trained with for years and then seeing them put together an excellent effort on defense. 

From there it was the usual.  Volleyball in Battle Creek, and then some tv with Adela before she scrambled back to Hope for classes on Monday.

Working with Mike always fires me up about camp.  I always try to keep myself open to Camp Barakel (where I think God might bring me more permanently someday), but in the meantime I am really excited about the work to be done in Battle Creek over the next several years. 

Thanks for reading and enjoy the Fall weather while it's back to being reasonable.  Not long and we'll be buried!

Busy Weekend for Real!

You can tell the Winter is coming because our Youth Group is at M-66 Bowling once a month or so.  This month was no exception.  I ended up rolling in a little late and not playing, but there are usually a couple kids that want a helping had for a throw or two.

 

This weekend was all setup.  Adela was coming and we already had plans that were complicated and filling up our Saturdays.  But I decided to fill it up to the brim.  Here is the breakdown:

Friday night I jumped at the chance to go to downtown (like usual).  It was the "Fall into the arts" event that filled up all of downtown.  The premise is that every business opens up its doors to artists to come in and display their work while offering their wares to the public.  We ate with Mom at Pastrami Joe's, got some cupcakes and walked the whole stretch and back. 

Saturday morning we went straight to Middleville for some breakfast with Adela's camping parents.  It was a pleasant country drive, a short visit, and a different route back to catch Maribel Cleland's last soccer game in Pennfield.  We hung around town for a couple hours, then hustled over to Charlotte to join in on a surprise dinner to celebrate by Dad's birthday coming up at the end of the month. 

After pizza we considered what to do next.  Adela was thinking about a haunted house and I knew there was a "good one" in Jackson.  I'm not a big fan myself, but I've never been to one so I figured we should go for it.  I hollered at Hannah Ford, knowing she lives in Jackson, and we caught dessert with her and Brad Smith.  After that we made our way to the "Jackson Underground" haunted house.

I didn't know what to expect exactly, but it was pretty fun.  I go through these things so differently than most people.  I'm analyzing hiding spots, checking corners and inspecting every shadow.  Oh, and also walking as low as possible to get under the fog.  I was never scared, but there was some cool stuff.  My favorite was the star tipping tunnel that makes you lose your equilibrium.  All said, Brad was the point man for the most part, yelling at the props and people for being unsanitary and doing illegal things, the girls screamed a lot, and I took up the rear, ignoring the chainsaw people that kept jumping out of the shadows.

The next day we went to Cornwell's Turkey Farm to check out the Haunted Adventure after church.  Most this weekend was either unplanned, or planned at the last possible moment.  I was also trying to keep Adela in the dark for the most part, trying to keep her on her toes.  This was the main surprise I was planning, especially because I had roped Emily and Xavier into coming over to check it out.

Our first stop was the haunted barn which had the same type of star tipping tunnel, only much slower.  It's still very disorienting and hard to stand up straight. 

Following the haunted house we went to the free mini train rides, stopped through some of the shops and eventually took the hayride to the corn maze.

The corn maze could have been more difficult, but it was good for daytime and a comfortable walk around. 

It was so much fun to see Brad, Hannah, Xavier, and Emily.  We also saw her family, celebrated with my family, and supported our church family all in one day.  I love looking back at a day that we were able to see so many people, and cover so much ground.  I've been hoping to see all these people and I'm thankful that everything kind of came together on its own. 

The biggest news is that we set the date of June 7th for the wedding, and we are aiming at Midland.  It's not my ideal timing, but it's fantastic to be able to start planning.  Don't get your hopes too high yet cause I don't know about numbers or people or anything.  I wish I could invite anyone and everyone but that's not quite how it works.  I am very grateful for all of the folks that I'd like to invite.  I'm thinking of you as I draw up my lists of people.

Well now that a date is set I can finally start to get excited and jump on some of the planning details.  Hopefully we'll have jet skis, sleds, and ultimate Frisbee!

Most Beautiful Day of the Year

If you're like me, you've found yourself saying it over an over again this Fall.  This is the most beautiful day of the year! We had multiple chances for that this week.  But let me back up a bit before I get all the way into that. 

First, major schedule changes taking place now.  I may have mentioned it already, but I'm playing Sunday night volleyball at the Y.  It's the best volleyball I can join in on and I'm thankful for a team that let me jump in with them.  So far we're undefeated and it's been a lot of fun to play. 

Then on Mondays and Wednesdays I offered to help with Learn to Swim classes at Harper Creek.  One of my favorite things to do and something that I missed a lot at camp. 

On Tuesdays I've joined in on a pick up basketball game at Pennfield High School.  It worked out that I was invited through some people at work and now I'm in.  And although people may think I hang my hat on my athletics.... I'm seeing the wear and tear on my knees and it worries me sometimes.  Then again, maybe it was being out of shape.  Either way, that sets me up for some good athletics to help keep in shape from week to week.

On Thursday our church had one of my favorite Youth Group activities of all time.  A downtown scavenger hunt.  Tim scattered some food for the kids to pick up and took pictures of them to use as clues.  We made our way from one end of town to the other.  I rode my bike to it and was distracted in the middle by parent teacher conferences at the Math and Science Center.  Fun to roll in and say hello to any teachers that weren't chatting with parents.  The building is beautiful!

Thursday was truly an awesome day.  Perfect temperature all day, yet a crisp touch to the air.  Youth Group ended at the Math and Science Center where Tim spoke about spreading the Gospel in practical (and impractical) ways.  Anything could be just the trick, from inviting someone to Youth Group, to throwing a message in a bottle.  Even TV pastors can be the push in the right direction!

I know a lot of folks avoid and dislike Battle Creek but I still have hope for the place.  Like the whole world it needs a lot of redeeming work, but this city is just the product of those that will invest and take part in it.  If everyone keeps their distance and hides in the country (or in Kalamazoo) then there will never be any improvement.

Anyways, being downtown was a blast and I'm happy the downtown area is growing up and that the most intelligent kids in the county are joining in on it (whether they like it or not).

That's the weekend crew.  I joined Dad, Brenton, and Grant for the Camp Barakel Men's retreat.  We all drove up together but I cheated because Adela also came up with some of her friends to volunteer in the kitchen.  The weekend was also gorgeous up at Camp Barakel.  A little chilly here and there, but by and large another perfect Fall Day.

Although it was nice to be able to hang with the guys and then switch over to see Adela periodically throughout the day... I probably won't go for that at a Men's retreat again.  I pretty much want to spend all my time with her, so it can potentially defeat the point of a Men's Retreat.  I think we balanced it decently, and I was excited for the opportunity to be together to see the camp staff.

The weekend speaker was Tom Harmon and he focused on "But He Giveth More Grace", which is not only scripture, but the name of his latest book.  I don't think anyone would have been talking about the Tom Harmon books 10 years ago.  Times change though.  Lots of good wisdom and fellowship with other believers.  I'm very blessed to call the weekend a reunion with staff, a Father/Son retreat, a Men's Retreat, and a Couple's Retreat all at once. 

That being said, I'm looking forward to a weekend where I may be able to catch up with different staff for lengthy periods of time.  In the meantime I'm hoping my muscles and sleep schedule recover from this fun filled weekend.

God Bless!

A Visit to Midland

This week at Clubhouse I spent a lot of time trying to conquer my camera setting for the gym type lighting.  It's shut me down on indoor pictures for years.  I know camera nerds conquer this in moments, but I was pretty excited to get it to work.

Otherwise this week was a blur.  I remember riding my bike downtown and around town in general.  It kind of makes me sad sometimes.  Battle Creek was so nice and it still has signs of life, but it's never going to be what it was.  On the way through I stopped and spent some time creeping on the new Math and Science Center downtown.  Yep.  I'm that guy walking around the building at 6pm, creeping out whoever the administrator people that were there.

I should also mention my new volleyball shoes as they were a big part of the week.  I decided that I would look into getting some real men's volleyball shoes.  Well they showed up and were awesome.  Like playing on clouds.  Great traction and flexibility.  The only thing left is to see if they last.  Pretty exciting so far though.

Then I travelled with Adela and her roommate to Midland.  It was a bit of a botched trip because the goal was to take her sister home, but her sister took a different ride and we decided to go visit anyways.  One of the spots to visit was Dow Gardens, which I'd been told I would enjoy but had never visited.

Then I asked Adela to marry me there.  No big deal... right?

Here's a quick summary:  I had been picking on her about her other rings and had somehow managed to confiscate 3 of the 4.  While at the gardens I lagged behind and she came to get me like I was a 5 year old.  Which is about par for the course for us.  I made her come all the way to me, and offered her a Vera Bradley box to put her last ring in (with the others).  She said thanks, but no thanks and started to walk to catch up to her family.  I grabbed her hand and helped her take off that last ring and then gave her a Taco Bell hot sauce packet that said, "will you marry me", as I also got down on one knee.  Since I couldn't conceal the box casually I had the ring in my camera bag and whipped that out at the same time.  She was mostly confused.  She asked if I was joking (which I'd be ok with except I had the ring out, so that should have made it pretty clear).  I told her it was real, asked her to marry me and while still in shock she said.... yeah.  About like that too.  Yeah.  I offered to put the ring on and we carried on from there.

I'm thankful for her parents for jumping in to help me find a spot while preserving the surprise of the moment.  And to Hannah, her photo taking roommate who essentially took care of engagement photos on the spot.  She did a fantastic job and had no clue what she was going to be getting herself into.

A couple thoughts on getting engaged:

1)  I don't know what I'm supposed to feel like exactly, but it's not much different than before.  I treated her and her family like they were my family before all this went down.  Yes, I suppose it's much more firm now, and other people can consider our relationship more permanent.  Adela and I have been in it for the long haul from the moment I said I love you on her trampoline one night months and months ago.  Or maybe even weeks before that when I told her "my ship is sunk". 

2)  Everyone wants to know dates!  I understand that, but it's going to be a couple weeks to narrow these things down.  I'd love to set a date, but apparently I need to consider what Adela wants, and we need to consider what our families are up for.  I feel ok telling you it could be anywhere in the next 7 months.  We need to consider our living situation, her schooling, and try to find the time that makes most sense to make it happen, all while keeping God first in this engagement.

Beyond that I think everything is still up in the air.  I could see us having a private, very small scale wedding followed up with a couple receptions aimed at different groups in our lives (one for extended family, one for friends, or some breakdown like that) OR I could see it being traditional from start to finish. 

So hang on!  We're sorting it out!

Finally I'd like to thank all our friends from over the years!  Many of you have come right out of the woodwork to say congratulations, and we appreciate it. 

Fun times!