Sometimes it's about time, part 2

So... I guess the most recent news is... SHE SAID YES!!! But not only is that the most recent news, but that's just about the best news. I'd put it #2 on my list, behind Romans 3:21-26.


It seems a lot of people want details, but I know I can't tell the story the same way that Jen can. But I'll try....

Jen and I went to the Badger game on Friday because it's fun. (We were able to get tickets at the last minute from a friend.) The church was having it's semi-annual dance that night, and neither of us wanted to go, so it was an excellent excuse to avoid stepping all over her feet.

After the game, we didn't have any real plans, to we decided to go back to my place and watch a movie. I "forgot" that I had a bunch of camping gear all over my room because I wanted to use the tub that I normally store the gear in. I apologized for the messiness and asked for a minute to wash the tub before I put everything back in it.

Ah-ha... An opening.

Ever since I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Jen, I've only had one thought in my head about the proposal. I'm not into anything fancy or anything that requires a month of planning. I don't really understand the proposals that require the woman to hunt around town for little notes or flowers or whatnot; is that how he will woo her for the rest of his life? Doubtful, but they always make for an interesting story. I guess I'm a little more practical.

Instead of just washing the tub, I filled it with water and brought it back to Jen. I set it down and asked if I could wash her feet. Confused, I went on to explain that there are 2 great symbolic acts of love and service that Christ showed others: His death, and washing his disciple's feet. I explained that this is how I want to demonstrate my love for her through this act of humble service.

The irony is that early on in our dating relationship, she had asked me to wash my own feet. It was hot...I wasn't wearing socks all day... I'll agree that my feet didn't smell very good. But it was kind of humiliating.But now it was humbling.

As I washed her feet, I told her that this is how I want to offer my life to her, as a servant, for the rest of my life. And I asked her to marry me.

Fun, right? So I've been on cloud nine ever since, and I can't seem to get this smile off my face...

Kaboom! Sort of...

Saturday was the annual Rhythm and Booms event in town. Supposedly it's the biggest fireworks display in the midwest. How do they judge that? What's "the biggest" mean? Does that mean in terms of the number of shells they shoot off? The duration? The number of people in attendance? This has been going on for well over 10 years now, and I still can't figure it out.

So I decided to open up my house for a gathering before the show, not sure whether or not the fireworks would actually take place because of a 40% chance of rain. I can only think of one other year they've actually postponed the fireworks because of weather, but Sunday wasn't supposed to be any better. Anyway, during the day, the weather was perfect. Great for burgers and brats and a little bocce.

...And a nap, apparently...

Possibly the funniest event of the day was a result of some decision that couldn't be made about bocce. I don't completely understand it... But we all had a good laugh.



Eventually, almost 20 people showed up for the fireworks, which is a pretty big group. So we started walking to a good location, only to be told as soon as we arrive that the show had been cancelled.

Bugger.

Although, I guess it was probably a good thing when the 50mph winds blew through the neighborhood...

Emotional Peaks and Valleys

As you'll see, I haven't updated this whole thing in a long time. Maybe that's because I haven't had any interesting pictures to post along with a new blog, maybe not. But I've been really busy with work and homework, and dealing with a lot of personal changes.

God's really been working hard with my life, so the past couple months have been filled with a lot of emotional peaks and valleys. I guess it all started back before I made the decision to get baptized, which was the end of April. I had decided that I was playing a spiritual game and holding onto my religious pride and piety for too long. Pride and piety never saves anyone, so I don't know why I held onto those for so long. Once I made the decision to get baptized, I decided to give my testimony to all of my friends and family. I didn't do it because I was trying to change anyone else, but just to explain how God was changing me. So getting through that was somewhat of an emotional valley... I had to think about how I'd lived the past several years and how I'd talked the talk, but walked a pretty crooked walk.

But the baptism was amazing... It was actually more emotional than writing my testimony because I never thought about what I was really writing. But when it was read back to me before I was dunked, that was the first time that I really knew what I had written... So it was powerful. That, and the fact that my mom had a camera 2 feet from my face...

So that was a pretty big high, and God's still working on me. (He will until I die, because I'm nowhere near finished.) He's also been generous throughout this changing... I've got some really great friends out of the "ordeal" and He's even given me the opportunity to date an incredible girl. I've been really blessed...

I'm still working on getting a new job, but I'm definitely being patient. God's been really gracious lately, and a new job would be fantastic, but I also know that I haven't deserved anything that I've been blessed with thusfar. So whenever it happens, it happens. Until then, just keep plugging away at the whole school thing until I get that all-important piece of paper.

Small World is an understatement

On saturday, I had the opportunity to hang out with a friend I've known since 7th grade. We used to go to the same church, and hang out all the time. We even used to visit each other while in college, which didn't happen with any other friends from high school or church. She got married a few years ago, moved around, yadda yadda yadda... Anyway, her husband is overseas serving in Kuwait (Go Joe!) and she's been...bored.

Ditto, here.

So we spent the day catching up on about 5 years on missed communication, which was cool. Throughout the day, we talked about church, both past and present. Out of nowhere, she starts spouting names of people she knows from somewhere, and I happen to know the same people from my current church. Weird....

We end up at the bowling alley that night. The 20-something group was throwing an event that had something to do with trucker hats and mullets... I looked pretty dapper in my mullet, if I do say so myself. (Probably the only time I will every voluntarily cut my hair into one of fashion's biggest blunders.) But as my friend and I are sitting around and talking to everyone, I get a tap on my shoulder because I'm about to be introduced to someone.

"Nate, I'd like you to meet..."

"Wait, I already know you!"

It turned out to be a girl who I used to be friends with WAY back in the day. Our families went to the same small church until I was in 6th grade, and there were only 3 people in my sunday school class. Her family even lived close to us, so we were at their house all the time. I really hadn't heard anything about her family for years. (I ran into her mom once while shopping, but that's about it.) This friend had moved to Zoo York and had spent quite a bit of time there. She moved back recently, Googled churches in the area, and ended up at Blackhawk. How weird is that? An old pastor I knew would call that a "God Sighting" and I don't think I could disagree.

As if that's not enough, my mom wanted to go see "The End of the Spear" this weekend. I knew it was about missionaries in Ecuador, and knew a little something about the story, but nothing significant. After 27 years of life, my mom finally tells me that I was named after one of those missionaries: Nate Saint. Of course, after seeing that flick, I apparently have HUGE shoes to fill. And I'm trying to find a new pair of checkershoes!

THEN... tomorrow night, I show up at church and find out that one of the 2 new members of my small group lives a block away from me. Seriously?! I figured that I was the oddball of this 20-something group and my small group because I was the only person from the Eastside, let alone the Northside.

It's a small world after all... Just never go on that ride at Disneyworld; you'll go crazy halfway through.

Frat Rock

Throw your phones up in the air, and wave 'em like.... I just don't care.

I've been to a few concerts in my day, but two things have finally gotten on my last nerve: people who use their cell phones as lighters during rock anthems, and people who decide to call some unfortunate soul who couldn't make it to the concert just so they can hear a part of the concert.

The pseudo-lighter effect is just plain cheesy. Hundreds of blueish LCDs don't have the same ambiance as the butane glow that's persisted through decades of rock legends. Fire is a symbol of life, of something natural, of rock's undying spirit. Sure, rock music has evolved, but the spirit is still the same. Cell phones only represent a materialistic nature, which is more like pop music; one hit wonders deserve a cell phone glow because, like materials, they'll be gone tomorrow.

Can you imagine being the poor soul getting this call from your friend who's at a show you only wish you could be at? Wouldn't you just want to reach through the phone and throttle your friend for basically saying, "Here's what you're missing, SUCKER!"? Not only that, but isn't it essentially stealing? I'm not allowed to bring a recrding device because they want everyone to pay for the experience. But Joe Fratboy gets to bring his cell phone to call all of his already-paid-for-friends...? How is this different from bringing a recording device? Sure, phone calls can't be mass-produced and sold, but you are still providing a service to those who cannot pay to attend the concert in person. Not to mention that the person on the other end of the phone cannot really hear what you want them to hear; all they really hear is noise. Joe Fratboy's a real friend, isn't he...

Put the phone away; I'll see you in the pit.

Into Indo

Oh, the sunsets... If only all the sunsets during the trip were like this. Actually, I can only remember 3: the night of my brother's wedding, the night at Tamahlot, and the night at the dirty beach. I know there were sunsets on the other nights, but I just don't remember them. Chris and I had to ham it up for one of these pics, because I think we needed to release a bit to energy... We rushed to get to the beach to see the sunset, so we were still a bit hyper.

The first place we really visited was Taman Mini, which was basically a "little Indonesia." It showed us a snippet of the different island cultures and things to see and do while in Indonesia. My grandmother got a kick out of the pseudo-Tigger, who apparently was very "gabby."

We also went to the bird park located at Tamah mini. I was the only one who really wanted to go in, but was able to convince my mom and Chris to join me. Everyone else in my travel group was afraid of the bird flu... nuts to that. If I'm going to get sick, I'm going to get sick. And I don't remember hearing of any cases in Indonesia, let alone in an entirely enclosed bird sanctuary! But whatever...



Welcome to Bali! Thanks to Chris and Val for traveling to Bali with us; they were the greatest friends, interpreters, and guides that we could ask for. I should bake them pies...

The first day we were there, we went to the popular town of Kuta, where they had a Polo store every 100 feet. No joke. But just about everything there was really inexpensive; I got a huge bottle of water for what was basically 15 cents. T-shirts were around $1.50, nice luggage for less than $30... Good thing I only walked out of there with the water.

The following day we went on a big tour of the island. Our first stop was the biggest Hindu temple on Bali. I think this was also the biggest Hindu temple in Indonesia, but don't quote me on that. Big was a bit of an understatement... And even though it was rainy (check out my mom in her "poncho sarong"), the visit was really cool. The temple is on the tallest mountain on Bali, over 3000 feet above sea level, which afforded us some great landscape views of the whole island.

Val and I ended up breaking away from our big group and somehow ended up with a guide of our own. (Don't we look cute together in our sarongs?) Along the way, I learned the difference between bale, bole, bali, and bule. Bahasa seems easy to learn, I just wish I would have had more time to learn. (Bahasa is the official language of Indonesia, and the word "bahasa" translates into "language." So if anyone says they can speak the bahasa language, they're being redundant.)

Ah... lunch. Maybe it' s because I was really hungry, but the food at the Dirty Duck Diner was some of the best I've ever had. Not just in Indonesia... But I can have the same opinion about freeze-dried food after a long day of hiking. I was so hungry and the food cost so little, that I asked for everything on the "special" menu. The honey basil prawns were possibly the best part of the meal... But the entrees were delicious, too...

Afterward, we all went to the beach to watch the sunset, which was a surprise because it had rained all day. The next couple of days were spent relaxing, swimming, snorkeling and whatnot. Overall, a great time. I just wish I could have stayed longer.

O brother, what a wedding!

Congrats to my brother and his new bride! I thought she was taking enough of a risk by marrying him, but then she stepped it up by dancing with him! I guess he remembers a lot of the moves from his days in show dance... yes, I remember and we still have the video tapes. Maybe that will be my belated wedding present...

The wedding itself was really great, at fit the personalities of Tim and Rina. I don't know much about Indonesian wedding traditions, other than a really big reception. Apparently, Tim and Rina had to "trick" people into showing up for the wedding instead of the reception, because they wanted people to attend the ceremony more than the reception.

I guess the other Indonesian tradition is that the groom will pick the bride up at her house the morning of the wedding. This conflicts with the western tradition that it's bad luck to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding. Oh well... bad luck either way? Nah... What God has joined together, let no luck put asunder.

The day itself started off well...very relaxing. Tim, Chris and I opted not to do all the things that the ladies were doing: cream baths, facials, massages, haircuts, etc. Therefore, we were left with some free time to sleep or listen to Chris sing showtunes. We were supposed to meet up with Rina and her immediate family at the photo studio for some family pictures before the wedding. I think there's a good reason why I never hang around when women are getting their hair and makeup done: I don't recognize them in the process... Sometimes even scary...

I recognize these people...sort of...

Ah... Now isn't that better? Chris was religated to using my camera to take some pictures, and must have been a little bored because I ended up with several pictures of Chris. Weird; anytime I try taking a picture of myself, I end up with one of those arm-extended-toward-the-camera pictures, but chris manages to avoid that... Maybe he's just too sneaky.

One of the highlights was the Newlywed Game. The new bride and groom were pulled on the stage with 2 other couples, and were asked questions about each other. I guess the winner was supposed to ask his/her partner to dance... I still don't know who came out a winner on that deal, but at least it was entertaining.

I guess Tim and Rina will move back here in the summer, so I'm looking forward to seeing more of them.

Sometimes, it's about time.

So the biggest news in my family is that my brother is now engaged. Yup, it's official.

The couple has set a date of Dec. 4, which might not seem like a lot of time to plan to most people. I'm not sure if I feel that way, too. But I know I need to get my passport and try to figure out when I'll fly out there. From what I'm seeing, most of the flights to Indonesia take 2 days (mostly because we'd pass the International Date Line and lose a day in the process). Although, there are some cheaper flights that would involve almost 24 hours for a layover. I don't know if the airline would spring for a hotel in that instance, or I'd have to crash in the airport. My guess, probably the latter, which wouldn't be fun. I guess I'd spring for the hotel anyway, just for a good sleep and to get out of the airport. I mean, 24 hours is usually a good amount of time to catch some sights, especially in places like Seoul. So I'll have to put a bid into Priceline and see where my flights take me.