It's been fun having a blog over the years, however it's time has passed. I hope to start another one around different themes in the near future, but for awhile I plan to have no active blogs. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Quite a bit has happened since I last posted...

In June my cousin got married in Colorado. It was a neat ceremony at a gorgeous location (see below). The wedding colors were camo and pink and the guys were planning to go skydiving as the bachlor party (but it was too windy). It was a breath of fresh air to be around people that live life like that!















The day before the wedding, my cousin and his friends taught my brother, uncle, and I how to repel! Now I have another sport to satisfy my internal adrenaline-junkie! :)




















In July, I decided I was spending too much of my life at Cabela's and quit my position there. I'm really enjoying the new-found freedoms that I previously took for granted!

In August, I drove to Cedar Rapids with Brianna and Abbi for Cassie's wedding. It was wonderful to renew and further develop friendships with the LU crowd! I miss those people so much!

The next weekend, I moved to a different rental in town. My new place has a lot of character (including teal and lime-green shag carpet) and a lot more windows than my old place!

Six days later, Tobin and I moved into our new offices at the courthouse. From fraying orange carpet that we constantly tripped on to beautiful new modern carpet. From a make-shift work bench with no storage to a built-in bench with more storage than I know what to do with. It's wonderful!

Last week, the Husker football season began. I don't expect us to be amazing, but it's refreshing to have the traditions and, more importantly, hope back in the program! I'm excited to see what AD Tom Osborne and Coach Bo Palini do with the team.

This weekend, my brother's senior football season began. Most of last year's starters graduated and we switched to 8-man so we're unelligible for the playoffs, but it should be a good season anyway. He is starting on offense at split end and on defense at defensive back.

Psalm 23 (The Message)

God, my shepherd!
   I don't need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
   you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
   you let me catch my breath
   and send me in the right direction.

Even when the way goes through
   Death Valley
I'm not afraid
   when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd's crook
   makes me feel secure.

You serve me a six-course dinner
   right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
   my cup brims with blessing.

Your beauty and love chase after me
   every day of my life.
I'm back home in the house of God
   for the rest of my life.

Tornado Damage

I didn't make it to the areas with the worst tornado damage, but still got some decent pics last weekend.

This one is the workout building for an apartment complex:














The apartment building just northwest of this lost most of its roof and is completely ropped off.

The following pics are from Harmon park:














This is a common sight around town. The ground is so moist that fallen trees brought alot of sod up with the roots.

Here are two angles of a different tree:






























This is still a common thing to see - tree branches waiting for pickup between almost every parked car. Gee, I wonder why Nebraska didn't natively have many trees...

Kearney looks ok after the storm - the main things in the areas of town I frequent are missing signs and billboards, missing shingles and siding, lots of car damage, debrie on most streets, and large piles of branches waiting to be picked up. Cabela's finally got power back tonight, so that'll be really nice! (They were running on generator, but didn't turn on the a/c and a few other non-necessities.)

On another note, today has been wonderful! I officially have a new rental to move into, got keys to the brand new IT offices and server room, and got a new Blackberry. All are things I've been anxiously anticipating. :) I'll expound on these more with pics of the first two in the near future.

Tornados hit Kearney and Aurora Thursday Night

40 train cars derailed, buildings at the fairgrounds destroyed, $40 million damage at the airport, residence hall at UNK damaged, apartment complexes damaged...sounds like it was an exciting night in Kearney.

I drove to Omaha from Oklahoma yesterday, so I wasn't aware of the storms until I got a call from Grandma wondering if I was ok. She was with my relatives near Wood River (45 minutes east of Kearney) and heard that several tornados hit. Most of my friends didn't have damage to their homes or cars, but I still can't get through to those on the north side of town (but no injuries or deaths have been reported, so I'm not too worried anymore). Payne Aschwege was quoted in an article as saying "You start thinking about people instead of things," which is so true!

Articles:
Tornadoes hit near Kearney, Grand Island (Kearney Hub)
Tornadoes turn Kearney area upside down (Kearney Hub)
Storm Photos (Kearney Hub)
Governor Declares State Of Emergency: Kearney, Aurora See Tornado Damage (KETV)
Tornadoes Strike Kearney, Aurora (KOLN/KGIN)

Highlights from the last 1.5 weeks

A week ago Thursday, my car wouldn't start after lunch. A neighbor looked at it and we finally jumped it. (I knew my jumper cables would come in handy - they've been unused since 2000.) It could have been really expensive, but the car only needed a new battery! It was still using the original from 2002, so it did pretty well!

On Monday evening I went to my small group. It's an interesting group of people - all have huge tough things going on in their lives and I think it would be understandable for any of us to fall into the victim role on any given night. A new person came that was really having a hard time - her husband is in jail for molesting their 9-yr-old daughter (who is now in the foster care system), her son is in jail, and she's struggling with alcoholism while trying to parent her four other kids. The group surround her with God's love - not trying to fix her problems, but rather encouraging, empathizing, and pointing her to the only One who can help her! The group occasionally does this instead of going over a lesson, so it's not terribly unusual. But it really struck me on Monday that this is how the church should respond to people! (I love it that my church draws these "types" of people in instead of driving them away!! There's no need to put on a fake smile!) I had lots of energy when I got home and decided to go for a walk. I typically listen to podcasts while outdoors, but this time I just hung out with God. It never ceases to amaze me how me meets me where I am and doesn't wait until I am where I should be. As Joyce Meyer says, "He loves us enough to meet us where we are at, but too much to let us stay there!." How true...

On Tuesday I went to the dentist for the first time in 2.5 years. One of my good friends recommended this guy and he was awesome! My teeth were fine and he didn't think it's necessary to take out my wisdom teeth (both answers to prayer!). I even got to watch FoxNews and ESPN while they cleaned my teeth!

On Thursday I looked at an apartment that I really liked. I decided to take it, but am not sure when I'll move yet. For the last few months, I've been casually looking for a cheaper place to live - thankfully I'm on a monthly lease! I love my current home, but I'm away so much that I might as well live in a smaller place and not pay for all the nice perks I have now.

On Thursday evening, I found out that I got a promotion at Cabela's. I know I'm qualified, but didn't know if the hours, training, etc would take away from my primary job. God took care of all those things and I got the position!

And now I'm on vacation! I drove to Oklahoma last night, will drive to Omaha on Thursday, and will return home Sunday morning. There's little planned, so it will be nice to hang out with friends and take a break from the rest of life.

In honor of the Red and White Game tomorrow (the Husker football pre-season scrimmage), I'm posting an email a co-worker sent me. This year begins a new chapter for Husker Nation with new head coach Bo Pelini at the helm! Go Huskers!!


Game Summaries for Next Year:

San Jose State -W- 77-0 Joe Ganz intercepts his own pass for a TD.

New Mexico State -W- 56-3 Bo Pelini pulls starters with 1:13 left in game for allowing first points of season.

Virginia Tech -W- 35-31 Bo Pelini tackles VT kick returner running down sideline to save the game for NU. Bo Pelini fined $10,000 by NCAA and must sit out 2 game suspension.

W. Michigan -W- 88-0 Tom Osborne reinstated as interim coach until Pelini comes off suspension.

Missouri -W- 42-7 Chase Daniel has 4 picks, (2 int, 2 nose) the second interception returned by a player with the name Bolini written by a Sharpie on the back of a plain white t-shirt. Bo Pelini was unable to be reached for comment after the game due to his suspension from coaching duties.

Texas Tech -W- 70-10 Bo instructs the defense to allow TT to score 10 points in the final minute to avenge 2004 game.

Iowa State -W- 93-0 Bo asks T.O. if he has the power to kick ISU out of the Big 12.

Baylor -W- 4-0 In preparation for next week's game against Oklahoma , Bo gives the offense the week off and enlists NU band to take the field. ESPN runs human interest story on the day. Defense holds Baylor to -56 yards with two safeties.

Oklahoma -W- 28-27 Bo sends busload of NU sorority girls to Oklahoma's hotel. When asked by ESPN to comment on the move by Pelini, Bob Stoops admits it was a good coaching move, and that he honestly should have thought of it first.

Kansas -W- 51-10 During half-time, Pelini tells his players "I'm thinkin' National Championship." Mangino tells him: "I'm thinkin' Arby's"

Kansas State -W- 70-3 After the game Pelini rushes to the other sideline and yells at Prince for allowing him to run up the score.

Colorado -W- 69-14 Pelini has each player go over to the Colorado sideline and tell Hawkins that bowl cuts are out of style. Coach Hawkins goes to the locker room to cry it out and his son stays to console him most of the game.

Texas- Big 12 Championship -W- 34-21 Pelini sneaks into Bevo's stable and cuts out major organs, feeding them to his defensive players. PETA bans Pelini from the state of Texas.

Florida - National Championship Game -W- 45-17 In his half-time speech, Bo tells a story from his childhood, how an alligator killed his father and ran off with his mother and all he ever wanted was revenge. The Huskers respond by scoring 45 unanswered points.

The Legend of BO PELINI!


Bo Pelini doesn't read offenses. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

Before Chuck Norris goes to sleep at night, he checks his closet for Bo Pelini.

Bo Pelini once played 18 holes of golf using a 12 inch strip of rebar and a sun dried tomato. He shot a 54.

Bo Pelini could kill Chuck Norris nine different ways with his headset and four different ways with his play chart.

Bo Pelini sleeps with a night light. Not because he is afraid of the dark but because the dark is afraid of Bo.

Superman wears Bo Pelini pajamas to bed.

Bo Pelini didn't hang the moon. He stared down an asteroid and it stopped in it's tracks.

Bo Pelini's calendar goes straight from March 31st to April 2nd; no one fools Bo Pelini.

Bo Pelini was originally cast as the main character in 24, but was replaced by the producers when he managed to kill every terrorist and save the day in 12 minutes and 37 seconds.

Bo Pelini doesn't cut his grass, he dares it to grow.

Bo Pelini used to beat the sh1t out of his shadow because it was following him to close. It now stands a safe 30 feet behind him.

They say that Superman's only weakness is kryptonite. Bo Pelini laughs at Superman for having a weakness.

Bo Pelini's dog is trained to pick up his own poop because Bo Pelini will not take shit from anyone.

Bo Pelini's wristwatch has no numbers on it. It just says, "Time to kick butt."

To commemorate the end of snowboarding season, I bring you a video of the 3-man tandem snowboard in use. Unfortunately, I can only find it on AP's site, so I can't directly link to it. Go to http://www.associatedpress.com/ovn/index.html. Under the Feature Video From Your Site heading, search for "snowboard."

Snowboarding is hard enough with only my body to content with. I can't imagine having two more people strapped onto the same board! Somehow they only fell 3 times going down.

(Thanks to Tobin for finding this!)

Inspiration

My brother inspires me! I took him snowboarding this weekend for his 3rd and 4th days on the slopes. He went on his first blue and his first black on Saturday! (Greens are the easiest, then blues, then blacks, and then double blacks are the most difficult)

When he falls, it's never a weeny fall...it's always spectacular, complete with a cloud of snow! But within a second, he's on his feet and flying down the mountain again! There's never any sulking/pouting/etc from this guy!

As a side note, he mentioned that he felt old. I remarked that I did as well - "Only 3 years until I'm 30...and only 3 years until you're 20!" I'm not sure which amazes me more...it seems like just yesterday that he joined our family and now he's looking at colleges!