The Night Before

Last night was the second Iowa City Salt Company of the school year, and I got to put myself on a very exclusive (I'm guessing) list. I was on lyrics, and got to start my own "God Story" video. There were a couple surprises because of this. One was the crowd laughing at points. I didn't think of it until actually seeing it that some points are kinda hilarious.

The big surprise, though, was the people coming up to me afterwards and commenting. I wasn't expecting strangers to come up and compliment on my life. I'm a shy person, so attention is not something I'm well-equipped for, not to mention that they were talking like something I did was so great. From my point of view, I was just swept along in events, especially those in the video. It was all thanks to God (and some of his wonderful servants) that I am able to look back and tell my story with a smile instead of shame. Some of those servants were mentioned by name in that video, but there were many others whose contributions were less quantifiable. The old saying "it takes a village" normally applies to raising children, but it also applies very well to God stories, and not everyone is going to have the big part in the story. Some are going to be the "dozens of people" praying. Some are going to work the soil for years and still see no fruit until nearly 5 years later, when they get a facebook message telling that the soil they worked so hard on has finally borne fruit. Yet the story would not be complete without each and every one of those that tended that soil.

And now that I've gone and gotten all misty-eyed thinking about all the people that helped lead me to God, I've got to go to class in 20 minutes, so I better stop here and compose myself so I can be ready for Physical Chemistry.

New Apartment Tour

Okay, I know I said I'd have this up a couple days ago, but life got in the way. As I type, I'm using the time after a short lab period before my next class, which is about my only unspoken-for free time today. Anyway, two days ago was the first Iowa City TSC of the year. We had ~200 people there, and I found out that there are a grand total of two people that are trained on either lights or lyrics (and are official lights or lyrics people, not sound guys or our bearded leader/drummer) that can actually make it to the practice time--and therefore can actually do lights or lyrics.

Anyway, on with the tour. Firstly, I apologize for the quality of the photos. They were taken with an iPod by someone who isn't a very good photographer. We'll start with the kitchen and work our way from there. Here's a couple shots of the kitchen, complete with the sound system.

Next to the kitchen is the first choice: go upstairs to where my roommates (who share a first name) dwell, or go to the living room. This tour won't be going upstairs, sorry.

Then there's the living room, with seating for a few people (the couch currently there will be replaced, and will move downstairs to the "game room".

And opposite the seating is the entertainment wall.

Now, in case you can't see in the above picture, here are some closeups of what's there: an NES, a Super Nintendo, an N64, a Wii, and a Sega Saturn.

To the left of those is the movie collection, and to the right of the TV is the deck. The view from the deck is of this beautiful pond/lake, and beyond that the Fareway parking lot.

Finally, we turn around, and see some more stairs, leading down:

At the bottom of those stairs is the "game room", which is fairly empty at the moment. We're waiting for the replacement couch for the living room, and to hang the dart board.

The door in the above picture leads to my room, located under the living room. Across from my door are two doors: the left leading to the basement bathroom, and the right leading to the laundry room.

Well, that's all the important parts of the place. There is another bathroom up on my roommates' floor, and near the front door the maps for the nearby bus routes are hung. If you want a slightly more thorough tour, you'll have to drop by, but for now you'll have to settle for this.

Sad Day

Well, I intended to make another "Tour of My Apartment with Pictures" post, but apparently, I forgot the cord to plug my iPod into my computer, so that will have to wait until tomorrow--or this afternoon, if my place finally has internet (the neighbors are going to get it set up and give us the password, but this was supposed to be done on Friday, so we'll see when it actually happens. On a happy note, Salt is TONIGHT!!! One "bad" thing about Salt is that of the 4 people in Veritas who are lyrics people, only one can actually do setup and be at practice.....so it looks like I'll be on every week until I train someone else--or until September 20, when I have a test and can't make it. I'm okay with that. At least it means I know what I'm doing every week--and I'm still one of 4 people for each Veritas lights and lyrics, so I may be busy.

Also, I'm one class away from being done with my first two days at Iowa. I've got an hour and a half before Spanish, and if you'll remember, I have almost no gaps between classes. However, I have a 3-hour lab class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which I might get out of early a lot.

Well, I need to get back to wasting time before I have to go back to class, so I'm going to end this post here.

Gone Retreatin'

Yesterday I got back from the ICTSC Leaders' Retreat (and this time, I was actually invited as a leader, and not just someone who was willing to carry things). It's weird (to me) to think of myself as a leader in Salt. All I do is help setup/teardown and run lyrics or lights--I don't run a connection group or anything like that. But it was a good time: getting to know people that I hadn't met before and getting to know people I already knew better, realizing after walking back out of a lake that my iPod and phone were still in my pockets (both are fine, and my iPod had to have been underwater at some point), working with my team on strange challenges (and still getting 3rd out of 3 teams, sadly) including pushing a car and throwing a frisbee at a stick, eating 13 slices of pizza for dinner on Monday (if you're ever in Corydon, Iowa, hit up Breadeaux Pizza), riding home in a car that kept bottoming out (somewhere around 15 times), and stopping at Pizza Ranch on the way and noticing their vision and mission statement for the first time.

And now for upcoming events, it's now 4 days until we expand into all three major sections of the room we have Veritas instead of the normal two. It's 5 days until I start attending the University of Iowa, and 6 days until the first Salt (and the release of This Hope). That's an exciting 3 days right there.

Fast Times in the IC

So, a lot has happened since my last post. There was buying Microsoft Office for $8.50 and hanging out with people until late on Saturday; there was church--where at one point, I lost my footing and crashed to the ground, hurting my knee--walking for an hour and a half, swings, croquet, and sand volleyball on Sunday (my knee was killing me by the end of the day); there was the job interview--I didn't get the job--killing ants, and more hanging out on Monday; and yesterday was chilling with my dad after he brought me a dresser and a microwave, then clearing my stuff out of the room at the bottom of the basement steps--except for under the stairs. No longer is it impossible to walk a straight line from my bedroom door to the downstairs bathroom.

Now for one of the big things. On Saturday, I had planned on going to a wedding, but the person I had arranged a ride with was working--which I found out on Sunday--so I couldn't go. Instead, I decided to go downtown to get internet, since I didn't want to go to the coffee shop nearby and feel like I need to buy something to justify my existence there. So I hopped on the bus, and promptly put my bus pass in the wrong slot, where it was eaten and lost to me. To punish myself (and save the 75 cent return fare), I walked home. I found a bridge over a wooded valley, got stopped by a train, and saw my former roommate--but then, my path home did take me right past his fiancee's house and his new apartment. I couldn't get a replacement pass until Monday, and it would cost $2, so the bonehead move ended up costing $3.50--including a one-day pass on Monday to get to my job interview.

Lately, I've been hooked on an album. Here's a link to it on youtube. My three favorite songs on there are: The Motions, I Will Rise, and Strong Tower, but the whole album is amazing. It's all I've been listening to for the past few days, but I still can't wait for the Adoleo album. Less than 2 weeks!!!! I may end up juggling the two albums for a while after This Hope comes out.

Anyway, school starts in a little more than a week and a half, and I still haven't wrapped my mind around the fact that I'm going to be a Hawkeye. I've got my schedule all printed out, I'm using their wireless internet, and I've got a student semester pass, but it still doesn't seem real. God really does take you to places you never before thought were possible.

I have returned

I moved back to Iowa City yesterday. My dad and I were able to get everything from my old apartment to my new place in just 4 trips. Luckily, 3 of these were just from the church storage unit to my apartment--only about 2 miles. After getting everything moved in, I set up my futon, then hung out until evening. At that point, we headed out for a farewell barbecue. After all the food was consumed, the younger of my roommates (the other one won't be around a lot until the school year) and another guy went for a swim in the river. They stopped about halfway across because they found a submerged tree. My roommate was trying to stand on it, but he couldn't find a large enough branch and he went under, swallowing some water. He struggled trying to get back to shore, and another guy had to jump in and help him to shore.

After all that excitement, we went to watch the Veritas softball team play--including the other roommate, who is only a few months younger than I am, but still makes me the oldest. They won 17-11. Then it was home to the new place to figure out plans for today and sleep.

This morning after my shower, I went out and sat on our deck, looking over the pond/lake and the Fareway parking lot beyond while reading my bible and listening to music (the first song was, of course, Lookin' Out My Back Door). I spent about an hour out there, nearly fell asleep a couple times, and basically had an awesome time.

We bought shower curtains, a toaster, a cookie sheet, and a frying pan today. Yes, for the second time in three years, I had to shower without a shower curtain. Well, I just swung into a coffee shop to get an internet fix. (We don't have that set up yet)

Oh yeah, if y'all are around and want to visit, check the book of faces for my address--or simply go to the Kum & Go on Mormon Trek and call me (I live almost directly behind there). However, I might not be there. I am taking 17 credits this fall.

And I have a job interview on Monday. It's at ACE hardware on the other side of town from my new place. I doubt they'll still want me to work there after learning of my real availability (I believe they just have my availability from the beginning of the summer) but that's okay. I'm not really sure I can handle what's already on my plate without adding more. Especially if I continue to have this desire to be in a relationship. 17 credits plus volunteering at church plus (potentially) pursuing women is going to take up a lot of time.