Think About It...

I have my sister to thank for finding this little nugget.

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
as I entered Heaven's door
Not by the beauty of it all
nor by the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
that made me sputter and gasp-
the thieves, the liars, the sinners,
the alcoholics, the trash

There stood the kid from seventh grade
who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought
was rotting away in hell,
was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, "What's the deal?
I'd love to hear Your take.
How'd these sinners get up here?
God must've made a mistake"

"And why's everyone so quiet,
so somber? Give me a clue."
"Hush, child," said He "they're all in shock.
No one thought they'd be seeing you."

Getting Jacked...

You want to know who's getting jacked (and doesn't have a lot of say in the matter), ME that's who. Well, me and the almost entire state of Utah.

We Utahans have sat by in the last couple of weeks and watched while gas prices all across the country have steadily dropped. The problem (and you can probably guess where I'm going) is that our gas prices have stayed about the same (maybe they've dropped about $.05 but that's all).

The Utah state Govnenor is at present investigating price gouging that might be occurring. Earlier this week the Govenor did some informal investigations and came up and with and I quote, "Utahans are getting shafted!" That's right!!! While the rest of the country has an average gas price of $2.44 the state average for Utah is about $.40 higher (NOT FAIR).

I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any stretch, but I have a theory now as to why are prices are still high in Utah. It's all Bush's doing!!!

See I was reading yesterday about how President Bush's approval rating is rising as the gas prices are dropping. Well the way I figure it what does Bush care about the gas prices of little ol' Utah I mean we're going to vote republican hell or high water. With the republican vote securely in the politians pockets for Utah it's not a large concern about appeasing us with lower gas prices. They're probably even subsidizing the nation's lowered gas prices with the higher prices that Utahans are paying.

So, I might not have any hard facts to back any of these raging allegations up with. I guess that's why it's only my theory (and probably not an even clever theory), but it works for me.

What do you think? I'd like to hear your explanations.

What Don't We Need...

I recently read where someone went onto www.google.com and started typing their name followed by the word "needs"

example:
Jenn needs

Then what came up first they would write it down and pass it along. Well, I was a little bored today and to kill some time between work obligations I searched the needs of some of my friends. Now if you're one of my good friends and don't see your name listed, don't get your underthings all in a bunch its just because your "needs" on google were pretty boring.

Jenn needs theological studies [hmmm...isn't that interesting i've been praying about that for months now]
Emily needs to be told, "NO, there are certain things that just are NOT allowed."
Brendan needs the undivided attention of his mother or father every minute that he is awake.
Stephanie needs some help Look at those pants!
Jake needs to Jack It Up.
Brent needs a date for our trip to Las Vegas.
Lana needs a boy her own age.
Jesse needs your help!
Lisa needs braces.
Mike needs a date!
John needs to get his patootie back here Chit Chat.
Joel needs to live with a family until he is old enough to look after himself.
Tommy needs your help to keep his mouth shut.
Josh needs a holiday or just a cuddle.
Dustin needs to hit the weights...his arms have always been skinny for his size.
Nate needs as many game situation kicks as possible in my opinion.
Kyle needs a strong male presence.

Well, that's all for now folks. I hope you enjoyed my little name show.

Family...

People are continually amazed when I tell them that I left all my family and friends back in Virginia and moved 2,000 miles across country to live in Utah. These same people usually ask the standard questions, "You mean to tell me you don't have any family out here in Utah?" or "Why would you move where you don't have any family or friends?"

I can understand where those questions are coming from, for I can't say that I haven't asked myself those questions a time or two. There have certainly been moments when I've been lonely for my family or the long standing friendships I have back in Virginia. There have been family events (like my Grandmother's 80th birthday party yesterday) that I've missed and felt lonesome for. I admit all this because I don't want you to think that my family is any less important to me for what I'm about to say.

You see, what I would tell all these people that think I'm some courageous young woman who gave up all her family and friends to move out west, is that I never really gave up anything. I drove across country and settled in Utah to find more of my family. And now that I've thoroughly confused you with my talk of not having family in Utah and then coming to find more of my family let me take a moment to explain.

The family I've found here in Utah is blood of my blood through the blood of Christ. Each and everyone of us in this family of ours has had lives saved by the blood of our savior Jesus Christ. Each of us (wherever we found ourselves - in any circumstance or age) said to God I know you sent your son Jesus to earth, that he lived a life without sin, that he went to the cross with all my sin, and he overcame death to live again - that is when the blood of Jesus covered us and we joined the family of God with other "blood relatives".

Wherever I am, whether it's Virginia, Utah, Africa or Antartica when I meet someone who has accepted the gift of Jesus' saving blood, it is there that I found my family.

To share with you the special blessing that I've found in this family, I'm going to tell you about my day yesterday. On the whole yesterday was no different from any other day. I started my morning like any other Sunday and went around with a smile on my face. Though on the inside I was hurting; just sad and grieving. I couldn't help but think of a friend I lost two years ago to suicide. His death was a tragic loss of life, and made even more so by the knowledge that this young man not only didn't acknowledge Jesus as his savior but even turned his anger and bitterness towards God.

It was yesterday during church service when I was touched by memories of this friend and his death. I began crying uncontrollably during the service when we shared communion (a symbolic reminder of Christ's body and blood that was broken in death) together. See, for me communion is a bittersweet reminder of the life that Christ gave that I might have a life of my own. Jesus died that I might live, and I willing accept His gift and want Jesus (very much alive now) to be part of my life. Yet, as I shared communion with my family of believers I couldn't help but think of my friend now lost to us, that never really understood Christ's love or gift of life.

Now before you start thinking that this blog entry is going to be all "preachy" I'll get back to the idea of family. Atleast though you now have the context of how I was feeling and my need for comfort. That's what is so wonderful about the family of Christ, I had all sorts of wonderful comfort from a loving and caring family.

Even when I was crying at church there was a friend there to put their arm around me and let me know that they cared. After church services I had the wonderful distraction of going ice skating with five year old Savannah (her parents are friends of mine from church) who had never been ice skating before. After spending the afternoon with Savannah I was able to call a sister of mine from church, Becky, and she invited me to her home so I wouldn't be feeling sad and alone. Becky and her two sons took me out biking riding and then we had dinner together. After dinner when Becky's sons went to bed, Becky and I were able to talk and she even prayed for me as I was feeling loss over my friend's suicide.

I guess what I'm saying with all this is that even though I'm away from my immediate family in Virginia, who would usually be there with a comforting hug or a shoulder to cry on, I still have all those wonderful blessings from the family I found here in Utah. How thankful I am to God for providing a family that loves and cares for me when I need it most.

Nine Months...

I think I understand now the feeling I hear from most pregnant women as they approach their delivery date. No, I'm not pregnant. I'm not gaining empathy from that personal of an experience. My experience is a little less related, but somehow my mind made the correlation.

My experience revolves around a key chain that I've now owned for nine months (aha, correlation). You see I like this key chain, it was given to me by a good friend and reminds me to think of this person whenever I notice it. The problem with this key chain is its attachment. It simply doesn't want to stay attached to my key ring. Everyday I have to screw it on a little tighter for it to stay attached (atleast three times a day).

Whenever I pick up my keys I have to check my key chain and if I don't the key chain simply falls off. And I don't want to lose this key chain (again it reminds me of my good friend).

There's more to this correlation between pregnancy and my key chain than just nine months. I think it has to do with feelings and a need to be done. See, I've had this key chain for nine months now and as much as I like the key chain I'm ready to be done with it. It's something about the magic of nine months. You can put up with about anything annoying for about nine months, but when you hit that magic mark you can't take it any more.

Well, I simply can't take the loose key chain anymore. I'm thinking of giving it a special place in retirement.

Good friend out there don't be offended. You're special key chain is going to hold a place of honor in my home...I'm thinking refrigerator!!!

In On the News...

Okay, between receiving the Deseret Morning News (newspaper) at my home and watching the morning news on t.v. while preparing for work each morning, I'm fairly in the know. And all I have to say on the matter is how depressing. I know that's what everyone always says about the news, that it's mostly just bad news, but here of late that's been quite true (well at least in Utah).

For starters, here's the story of a five year old girl that was starved almost to death by her mother's boyfriend. The mother had been deployed to Iraq and left her daughter in the custody of her boyfriend (whom she trusted from their two year relationship). The boyfriend was also given access to the mother's checking account to help the cost of taking care of her daughter. The checking account was bled dry for a drug habit and the daughter was starved. On t.v. they're showing pictures of this little girl's body and it's like seeing holocaust victims all over again.

So this next story doesn't take place in Utah and it's not as horrifying as a five year old being starved to death, but the news clip (on t.v.) did catch my eye. A reporter in San Diego uncovered a real estate scam and was interviewing one of the victims, when the alledged perpetrators arrived on the scene. If you could see this video clip you'd realize why it caught my attention, it was an absolute circus. The reporter was a professional in the face of all the abuse, but those bringing about the beating were ridiculous (acting like little children throwing a tantrum).

Of course Warren Jeffs (the leader of the Fundalmentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Days Saints) has been in the news. Since May, Jeffs has been on the FBI's most wanted list and recently he was arrested about five miles outside of Las Vegas during a routine traffic stop. Jeffs is being charged with the unlawful marriages of teenage girls (subsequently resulting in rape). At this time Jeffs is in solitary confinment at Purgatory (the name of the prison located in Hurricane, Utah). Now with Jeffs imprisoned the government is stepping in to make reforms in the finances of the FLDS organization, which holds about 100 million in assests (and yet relies on welfare to support their children).

I could go on and on about the depressing news I've been hearing, but I think I'll leave you on the positive note of Warren Jeffs incarceration : )

Personalizing Work Space...

Yippee...I actually have work space to personalize now. That's right I have a job now with my own desk. This might not seem like quite an accomplishment to anyone, but I've never had this. Sure I had my own work space before, but it was always a more communal area. Now I actually have my own desk.

I also plan to make the most of this desk. Already I have a drawer where I keep my little snack bars and other mid-afternoon treats. On Monday I plan to come to work with one of my favorite pictures in a frame, so that I might have something enjoyable to look at while working (at this point my desk faces a blank wall - i definitely need something to look at). And of course what desk (a girl's desk atleast) would be complete without a scented candle to light each day.

What can I say, how about this, "AHHHH...life is good."

President Bush in Salt Lake City

That's right President Bush arrived in Salt Lake City yesterday afternoon and is still here today. He met with the First Presidency of the Latter-Day Saints Church this morning before 9:00 a.m. and then it was off to his speak engagement of the American Legion. He was out of the city by noon today and off on a plane to who knows where (well I'm sure somebody knows, just not me).

And you're probably thinking what does President Bush's visit do with Jenn. Well, it did effect me, in the most insidious way. It messed up my drive to work this morning. That's right all the traffic was backed up and not much fun today because a good number of roads were blocked off for the President's security.

Okay, I'm going to try and not sound upset here, but let's do some math. Securing a road for 1 man vs. traffic and longer commutes for a couple of thousand. Hmmm, that math seems a little off. Boy, am I glad it's not every day the President comes to town.

I Did a First Tonight...

That's right, I did something for the first time this evening. I went to a movie theater by myself. You see, I sort of had this pass good for one free movie ticket and it was expiring today, so instead of letting it go to waste I thought I might as well use (even if it meant going by myself). I really didn't mind the whole experience either.

In the entire auditorum it was me and two other girls. I guess they weren't have a very busy night, or it could have been my choice in a movie (Material Girls). I thought the movie was cute and funny, not the best or the worst I've ever seen, but on the whole a good film.

It was the previews that really got me. One preview in particular. It was for an upcoming film called Flicka. I'm sitting there watching this preview about a mustang (for those of you who think that's a car in this case i'm talking about a horse) named Flicka and the young girl who tames it. The movie is also about the relationship between a daughter and her father.

I've never done this before, but I started crying over this preview. I sat there and knew I was going to see this movie someday and when I did I'd have a box of tissues close at hand. You know if I have tears during a preview I'll be sobbing the film away. Boy, and I can't wait for that film to come out!!

Thoughts on Home...

Last evening I was drive home from a movie and my thoughts were centered around the city I was driving through. This happens to me a good deal. I'll be driving to or from somewhere and I'm impressed by all that I can see in Salt Lake City. It's more than just how beautiful this city is, it also goes to all it has to offer commercially as well.

As I was driving past all too many store fronts last evening (and all very closely located to my residence) I couldn't help but think how lucky I am to have so many options available to me. In fact it's way to many options, I haven't come even close to visiting all these stores or even knowing of their existence. Yes, finding a new store location happens just about every week for me. Here I am living in a city where I find a new store every week.

Even last night, the movie theater that we visited was somewhere I've never been before (and I've lived in this city for well over a year now). Now that movie theater is a good example of what I'm talking about here. I had never been there before or even thought of its existence, and then I step inside and I'm totally blown away. This wasn't just any movie theater it was a mall. It had 17 auditorms and it's concession stand wasn't just one food area, but a complete food court with tons of culinary options and plenty of seating to eat at. Just going to the movies became an adventure experience that I really enjoyed.

So it was with these thoughts that I was driving home from the movies. I was thinking how lucky I am to be living in a city that is a constant adventure for me, and that I have more options than I know what do to with. Of course I was thinking how could I ever leave this area (or who would ever want to leave).

Then I got home and got online to read some of my friend's blog entries. Brendan posted some updates including a picture from Highland County in Virginia. Oh Highland County!! My mother grew up in rural Highland County, so in my life time I've spent considerable time in that area visiting with family there. I remember times in my childhood that we spent a week or so visiting my grandparents in Highland County. We called in Camp Vance (their surname), for it was like a camp, lots of fun with swimming in the river and playing around outdoors.

Highland County certainly doesn't have that much to offer as far as commercial options or entertainment is concerned. No, it certainly doesn't have much of that to offer at all, but it does have adventure and plenty of nature to enjoy. I looked at that picture Brendan posted and immediately knew why people leave cities like Salt Lake, nothing will ever compare to country life.

A Little Humor For Ya....

Okay, I enjoy a good laugh just like the next person. Even if it is directed at my own gender. Well, I found this posting on someone's MySpace account last night. I can't remember who it was that had it posted, but I know I found them through the EMU alumni page.

Well, it doesn't really matter who it was that posted it, just that they have a good sense of humor.











Now, I do remember where I found the "Redneck Bear". That was on Richard's MySpace account. Now Richard is one of those old friends from high school, so it's not surprising that the "Redneck Bear" reminds me of home. Well, at least it reminds me of some good ol' rednecks back in Virginia.

Well, that's all for today. Maybe I'll catch you all up later with some of my favorite comics that I find online.

Sore Knees...

The last couple of afternoons (and evenings) I spent painting a coffee house. Not just any coffee house I might add, this is a very special coffee house. That's because it belongs to Discovery Christian Community church.

This very afternoon I was down on my knees painting for several hours in our new coffee house. You don't realize how much it affects your knees until it's all said and done. Sometime in the early evening hours I just called it quits on my painting for the day and went home. Upon arriving at my apartment I look down at my knees and they are all swollen and red (not fun).

An hour later, after some ice packs and relaxing by the t.v. I'm feeling 100% better. I'm not too worried about my knees, especially since I won't have to be down on them again for awhile (I can't think of any reason I would have to be any time soon).

It was while I was painting this afternoon that I had plenty of time to think. Funny enough, my thoughts centered around what I should write about on my next blog. Isn't that sad? I see the world through potential blog entries. Any time an event or thought takes place my mind wonders is this worthy of a blog entry, and how should I angle my writing.

Today I was thinking of how best to write about my phone conversation with Emily. It's quite a story. As it happens I had a terrible nightmare last night about Emily. I dreamed that she had been killed on her motorcycle, while she was turning out of her lane. I called Emily today to relate my dream and she tells me of how she never stops at the end of lane. She likes to check the traffic while she's driving and then continue easing out. Hmmm...maybe my dream was a warning!!!

Anyways, I think I've left you with enough for today. You have everything from sore kness to motorcycle crashes, that's what I call blog entertainment.

Too Much Information...

I'm a little afraid that there might be too much information out there on the world wide web about me.

I was made aware of the fact when this evening out of the blue I received a phone call from a long lost friend. Okay, this isn't bad because I knew this guy and he's completely trustworthy(even someone I was happy to talk to). I was just a little perplexed when he called me, especially on my land line phone, which isn't known by too many people. So I asked the question on the top of my mind, how did you get this number.

His response, "Oh, I just looked your name up on the internet and I got your number and address." Being that his response alarmed me somewhat I decided to try this for myself. I went to a online phone directory site and typed in my name and state. One simple click and I had my phone number and address on the screen (minus my apartment number - so I felt better about that).

Another click away and some exchange of money and I could have easily gotten a background check on myself.

Well, to turn the tables a little bit I typed in my friend's name. John Guengerich I know where you live!! (Not that I didn't know that already).

Learning to Save...

A couple of evening ago I wrote out this really neat blog entry about my new experiences with MySpace.com. Come to find out later there must have been a glitch, because my entry didn't post. Of course, I wasn't too smart, for I didn't save my work. That's something I'm going to have to work on; I'm sure it'll improve my health by keeping my frustration and blood pressure low.

Well, on to the cool world of MySpace.com. Over a year ago one of my dear friends told me about this "evil" thing called MySpace. She said that people who were up to no good went to MySpace and did their no good deeds. Well, I figured if it wasn't wholesome then I'd just ignore it.

Periodically in the last year I would hear from other friends about them joining MySpace, and the long lost friends they reconnected with there. Eventually curiosity got ahold of me and I checked it out. Not only did I check it out I started myself an account. It's been pretty neat! I've looked up old high school and college acquaintances and reconnected again. I've enjoyed reading from their profiles where God has lead them and what they've been doing.

The only harmful aspect of MySpace (that I've found true for me) is how addicting it is. On the other hand I know what my first friend was saying about it being unwholesome. She saw it for what certain people were using the site for, but I've learned that it's what you make of it.

Okay, on to other news. I've cut back on eating meat. No, I'm not a vegetarian, but I've been concerned recently about the lack of efficiency in using our world's finite resources. It's some reading I've been doing that lead me to understand how meat products consume more resources (land/water) than are necessary. If the same land and water were used to feed human need (with grains and such) it would far more efficiently feed people than the animals raised on that same land and water.

Don't worry I'm not preaching to anybody or telling them that they should follow suit. It's just my own conscience that lead me to give up the large quantities of meat I consume. I figure I'll still eat meat on occasions, but if one less person needed as much meat than maybe more of our resources could be used to displace hunger somewhere else in the world.

You know, it's been fun so far. I've enjoyed trying new ideas, replacing fruits or vegetables in items for where I use to place meat. Like for example my favorite sandwich is turkey. Anything with bread turkey and cheese and I've got myself a fine lunch. So today instead of turkey I had bread, mushrooms and cheese. It was really good!! The day before I had bread, apple and cheese. That was even better!!!

You should try it yourself sometime. I used some honey wheat bread that I made late last week. Sliced an apple in fine strips and used some Brie cheese. I made it just like a grilled cheese sandwich and with the bread toasted with butter and the melted cheese I was in heaven. The tartness of the apple with the cheese was excellent.

I'm sure by now I've got your mouth watering, so you should be going to make yourself a grilled apple cheese sandwich. ENJOY!!

Mother's Daughter...

I have become my Mom. That's right, I'm definitely my Mother's daughter. Today I went to Home Depot got some paint samples and then studied them for over an hour. I did have a reason for doing that, it wasn't some bizarre action on my part.

It just so happens that I'm in charge of a decorating project at my church. Well, it's more than just decorating, I'm actually coordinating the addition of a coffee house for the church.

My first concern is getting the room painted, which explains my obsession with paint samples. As I stood in the room, of what is to become our coffee house, and held up paint samples to the wall; I was struck by the fact that this was behavior I use to watch my Mom exhibit.

Mom I love you, but I'm about tell on you. She use to have these paint samples and would ask everyone in the family what we thought about her choices. She would ask, and she would ask, and she would ask. Truthfully, none of us cared. It's just that my Mom has such good taste in colors and design that whatever she picked always looked nice.

And here I stood today, looking at different paint choices and gripped with indecision. Man, if someone else had been in that room with me I'm sure I would have annoyed them with constant, "Are you sure it looks okay?"

Yes, I'm definitely my Mother's daughter. I LOVE YOU MOM!!!

For the Bike Movement Guys...

Guys, here's that photo you wanted to see. For everyone else that's a photo of Nathan Maust feeding an ostrich in South Africa.

Bike Movement....

Now if you've had the chance to read my previous entry then you already know of my intent to talk about Bike Movement. I first heard of Bike Movement from my good friend Mike, who had known that our common acquintance, Nate Maust, was biking with the group. I was interested in what Mike was sharing about this group of young adults biking from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans.

Mike went ahead and forwarded to me the Bike Movement website. As I read who was involved with this movement and why they were taking months from their summer to cycle across the country I was hooked. Just about everyday I went online to see where they were at, read their journal entries, read forums, or just look at their really cool photo gallery.

Even today I went online to see how things were progressing with the group. I learned that today they were attempting to set a Bike Movement record, and were in the process of biking a double century (200 miles).

Though I know that each one of them enjoys biking and is taking something from this experience, what's really awesome is what they giving to this movement. It's sort of a two fold effort here (and they explain best at their website). As they travel across the country they're creating dialogue and community with other young adults from the church. It's about each voice being heard and the church learning from each other as they grow in relationship with Christ. They're stopping at Mennonite (and sometimes non-Mennonite) churches along the way and meeting with people and creating dialogue. They're encouraging others to join them for any length of time as they (like how I went and spent and evening fellowship). And they're keeping a VERY up to date website that has a really neat forum that allows people from their own homes to join in the dialogue.

I did say that this movement was two fold. Their other effort is to create support and funding for AMIGOS. They are in the midst of raising $50,000 to help support the effort of sending other youth and young adults to Mennonite World Conference, so their voices can also be heard in the church. The way they estimate funding is if they're able to receive $15 for each mile that they're biking across country then they'll have reached their goal.

I know there is a lot of worth while causes in the world; heartbreaking concerns that we choose between when giving of our blessings. The question I'd like to present to each of you is this; have you ever felt that no one was listening to you, or that you weren't even present to have your voice heard? Just know that you can affect someone else's ability to have their voice heard.

When I look at how the Mennonite Church has grown around the world, and how dynamic it has become in it's diversity, I can't help but desire that we continue in that direction. For that reason it is important that every voice have a chance to be heard no matter their financial circumstances. I like to ask you each of you to consider giving to AMIGOS, that more voices would have the chance to be heard.

If your wondering how you might give just visit Bike Movement online. They have information concern donations by mail, and they've made it possible to make a donation online with your credit card.

While your online making your donation please check out the participants page. I'd suggest thinking of these young adults and keeping them in your prayers. It's not always easy out their on the roads, and sometimes even dangerous. I'm sure they'd appreciate your prayer support as well.

A Driving Marathon...

July 28th, 2006

I woke myself up at 7:00 a.m. to finish some last minute packing, and to get in a shower and breakfast before meeting up with my traveling companion. At 8:30 a.m. I'm at Discovery Christian Community church picking up my traveling companion Julianna. Her nickname is actually just "J", so J. and I left the church shortly after to drive down to the airport to pick up our rental car. Getting a rental car became an adventure in itself. After finding a parking space for my old college car and then taking the airport bus across the expansive parking lot and then waiting on the rental car to be delivered it was an hour before we were actually on the road again.

So by 10:00 a.m. were finally leaving Salt Lake City traveling east on interstate 80. At this point you're probably wondering where I'm headed. Destination is Muddy Gap, Wyoming. If you've never heard of Muddy Gap, Wyoming your definitely not alone. I learned later in the day that Muddy Gap isn't actually a town it's just a junction or a fork where three roads meet. There happens to be one service station there and not much else.

Now comes the why. Why was I headed to Muddy Gap, Wyoming? It just so happens that on that particular day there was a group of Mennonite young adults biking through Muddy Gap. If you've never heard about Bike Movement then you should look it up online at www.bikemovement.org

Of course I'll tell you about Bike Movement at a later time, because it's just that cool and you can be a part of it too.

It was a five and a half hour drive from Salt Lake City to Muddy Gap, Wyoming, but it was really pleasant with J.'s company. We arrived at Muddy Gap in the middle of the afternoon and were looking forward to meeting up with Bike Movement. As it happened the cyclists had a change of plans because of an incident on the road earlier. They had moved on to Casper, Wyoming and there was no way of me finding that out at the time. J. and I drove around the area hoping to find them, but eventually we gave up our quest and headed back home. I decided since we had already come that far we should take a more scenic route home and we got to see some pretty spectacular sites in Wyoming.

We reached Salt Lake City around 11:00 p.m. that same night. If I had been wise I would have headed straight home after dropping J. off at her parent's house. Instead I came inside and stayed visiting with Stacey, J.'s mother, until about 2:30 a.m. Once I arrived home, for some reason I decided to check my email before falling exhausted into bed. Here comes kicker, I had received an email from Alicia Horst with Bike Movement. She related the incident and the fact that they were now in Casper, Wyoming.

Well, I thought to myself, Casper isn't that far from where I had been. I also had no pressing plans for Saturday, why not make a return trip. My next dilemma was over sleep, or lack of it. It's 3:00 a.m. on Saturday, the Bike Movement group would be moving out early Sunday morning. It was a six hour drive to Casper and the same returning and I would have to be back by early Sunday morning for Church services in Salt Lake City. Okay, so here's the quick (and not so thought out plan I devised):

3:30 a.m. sleep
8:30 a.m. awake and get on the road
After some stops along the way that took longer than I expected didn't arrive in Casper until 4:00 p.m.
Spent time with Bike Movement (and I'm sure to share more about these amazing, dedicated persons at a later time).
By 10:00 p.m. I was settling down for sleep with with everyone else.
At 2:00 a.m. I was waking up by myself (well Alicia woke up with me to say good-bye and then went back to bed).
By 9:00 a.m. I was back in Salt Lake City and getting ready for Church.

Of course I spent the Church services trying to keep my eyes open. As a tribute to Pastor Steve's sermon I heard everything he said about being lost and afraid, and that was with my eyes closed.

Here's some random statistics from my driving marathon. During a 54 hour period I only got about 9 hours of sleep. During that same 54 hour period I got in about 23 hours of driving time (and I was the only driver). And to top off my random statistics during a 54 hour period I hit and killed to bunny rabbits with my car (trust me it was horrifying - and by the way Wyoming jack rabbits are stupid creatures that don't have the sense to get off the road).

Everyone with Bike Movement seemed so impressed that I went to the trouble driving to Wyoming and then did it again the next day. This is the way I figure it, at the end of the day I can say that the reward was greater or equal to the cost than I'm happy with what I did. Let me tell you I went for two days with little sleep and drove around an excessive amount, but meeting up with Bike Movement and being part of the dialogue was well worth it.

In my next entry I'll tell you more about Bike Movement and how you can join the dialogue. I hope you find it as rewarding an experience as I did.

So much to share...

Oh boy do I have stuff to share with everyone. It's been awhile since I've posted an entry, so I'm going to make this one a long one, to make up for lost time.

There are a lot of reasons I haven't posted an entry recently. For starters, my keyboarding wasn't working early last week (what a frustration) but my brother fixed it (YEAH Brent). Then I didn't get online to post anything because I was busy playing with my brother, he came to Utah from Virginia and spent about four days with me. After my brother's visit I was busy making up time at work or spending time with my Utah friends that I had neglected. And now since Monday morning I've been trying to get my email account with AOL working, but it's a server problem so I gave up on that frustration and have decided to work online with things that do work, like my blogger. By the way, if you were expecting an email from me on Monday (prayer and support team or online biblestudy) all your email addresses are stored with my AOL account so I'm stuck until AOL starts working for me again...sorry...have patience with me.

So that brings me to the present, where I'm now currently updating my blogger with my most recent exploits. I'm going to start with some pictures of Brent's visit to Utah, maybe you'll get envious of the scenery and want to visit Utah for yourself some time.

This picture was taken from Moss' Ledge in the Big Cottonwood Canyon just east of Salt Lake City. I know you can't really tell from this photo but this is a small waterfall that at this dry time of the year people are actually able to climb up without injury (from rushing water). I had climbed about halfway up when I took this photo. It really is a gorgeous place to visit and have a picnic or short hike up the waterfall. Great views from up top too. I recommend not wearing flipflops though. I made the mistake not thinking we were actually going to climbing up the waterfall. The real kicker is that I had strapped sandals back at the car (they were so close yet so far away).

Anyways, flipflops or not it was still manageable and I had a great time.




The next day Brent and I went back up into Big Cottonwood Canyon and checked out Mt. Olympus and found Hidden Falls. As you probably guessed it the photo to your right is of Hidden Falls. It was a nice secluded waterfall that happened to be real close to the road, but you would never have seen it from the road (ha..."hidden" falls).

When we got to Hidden Falls three women were harnessing up to the left of this photo (I didn't photograph them) to do some rock climbing. They were actually geared for leading climbing and it looked like a right nice place for the climbing. Brent and I took off though before they actually started their climbing (we had some hiking up Mt. Olympus to accomplish).





This photo I took from a higher elevation off of Mt. Olympus (in the Big Cottonwood Canyon). I took a lot of photos from this elevation, but this is one of my favorites. It was great because you'd be hiking along and if you just turned yourself around from the direction you were hiking in (you know looking over your shoulder) this is the view you would see. It's all so absolutely breathtaking. What a wonderful Creator God we have to lovingly give us such beauty to enjoy.




On the third day of Brent's visit we traveled around town (town being Salt Lake City). This photo was taken at This is the Place monument. I've been to that historic site more times than I care to admit, but it does seem to be quite the place to take visitors. It also seems every time I go I take my camera with me. This time I decided to try and take some more unusual photographs while I was there and diversify my collection. Here is just one of those photos I took (you'd probably get bored if I should you all the rest of the photos...pretty standard stuff).









On Brent's last full day in Utah we actually took a short day trip west of Salt Lake City into Nevada. We across the Great Salt Lake Dessert into the border town of Wendover. It was on our way there that we passed this art work out in the dessert along I-80. It was built in 1986 and is known as Utah's Tree - the metaphor.

From a distance Brent and I were perplexed as to what it really was. The closer we got the more perplexed we were. It was just this large thing out in the middle of no where. It wasn't until we were in Nevada and I found a postcard with the metaphor and it's history on the back that I realized what we had actually seen.

It's pretty cool, ain't it?




My brother left to begin his drive back to Virginia on Friday morning. On Saturday night I was astonishingly not scheduled to work at Chili's and I took the evening to enjoy a campfire with my young adult group at Discovery Christian Community Church. It was great, we took a drive out into the western canyons and brought a bunch of food with us. Cooking over a fire, enjoying one another's fellowship and I can't forget the s'mores.

I had a lot of great laughs that night (just remember when a bat flys really close to your head LAUGH).

Hmmm...I could probably go on with a lot of different subjects, but I've probably written enough for one night. I guess I'll wrap this entry up right now...BLESSINGS!!!

Computer Frustrations

Hey there world. If anyone of you out there knows how to make a keyboard start typing again please let me know. My computer stopped working this weekend. It lets me use the cursor and gets me online, but I'm able to get any letter or words from my keyboard to appear.

Just leave me your comments and suggestions. Like I said I can read my emails, but I just can't respond. And if you're going to tell me to restart my computer I've already done that.