Recent Trips...and other things

After a long time away from the old blog (pretty much my entire time here in seminary), I have decided to resume occasionally posting. To kick it off, here are a few pictures from my recent trips:

Boston - Oct 2011
Fenway Park


Israel Study Tour - May 2011
Dome of the Rock

Portland Pictures

Sarah and I just got back from a weekend trip to Portland, Oregon. We went with a couple friends for a fun weekend and a preview of Western Seminary. Here are a few photos:

The Willamette River in downtown:


Downtown:


MAX Light Rail Station:


Powell's City of Books:


Western's Classrooms:


Chapel:


The view from Western's front porch:

Trip to Delaware

I just got back from Dover, Delaware. I spent 5 days with my Grandma, Mom and Dad, and my brothers and sister. We flew out to attend my grandfather's memorial service on Sunday. It was a great trip; I enjoyed spending time with family and celebrating the life of my grandfather. Here are a few pictures from Sunday:
(Click on the pictures to see a larger view)

This chapel was built in 1780.





The next day, we drove to Philadelphia which was only 1.5 hours away. We did some touring and here are some of the pictures:

That's us in front of the Liberty Bell


That's Independence Hall
(Where they wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution)


That's me ordering a Philly Cheesesteak off the street
(The best sandwich I've ever had)


Here we are at the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the Rocky Statue


Here we are running up the steps of the Museum of Art
(Just like Rocky)


Here we are doing our best Rocky impression. I know, crazy tourists.


We had a great time.

Texas

Sarah and I are going on vacation in Texas this weekend. I know what you're thinking, Texas? Yes, we are going to visit my grandparents for the weekend.

Sarah and I were unable to go to Minnesota last summer because some other things got in the way (a wedding). So, we are going to go hang out in the South of Texas for 4 days.

My grandparents live at a place with a golf course and tennis courts, so I'm going to golf everyday.

Honeymoon Pictures...

We are back! I would like to post a few pictures of our trip to Cabo San Lucas. It was so much fun and it was a truely relaxing vacation.

Cabo

Its almost Saturday! I'm not as stressed out as I thought I would be. I have almost everything done, so I'm trying to spend a little time with out of town family and friends. Sarah and I are going to Cabo San Lucas for a week, so this will probably be the last post I write until we get back.

I've had so many thoughts and ideas in the last few weeks, but I've been too busy to post them. I'll catch up later.

Road Trip: Day 5

Sorry, I'm writting this a few days late. Here is the update for the last day of our trip.

What a long day. We arrived in San Jose at 7:30am on Thursday. That's right, 2800 miles in 3 days. I talked my dad into pulling an all-nighter to beat my mom and grandparents home (they flew back from Georgia on Thursday morning). At first, my dad didn't want to drive all night, but I tricked him into it. I told him he was right, we should stay at a hotel room because he was getting too old to pull all-nighters on road trips. I told him he couldn't keep up with me anymore. It worked.

So, we left El Paso, TX at 7:00am local time and headed toward New Mexico. We spent the majority of the daylight traversing New Mexico and Arizona. As we entered California, we decided to go all the way to LA. We didn't want to fight traffic the next morning, so we went through the city at about 10:00pm.

Ok, cool story. I learned some trucker language on Wednesday night. I was passing a trucker in a big rig when he flashed his headlights at me. I learned that this was the signal to tell me that it was clear for me to come back into the right lane. Well, if they can do then I can try it too. I purposefully went slower so truckers would have to pass me (I know, lame huh). When they signaled to merge back into the right lane, I flashed my headlights to help them out. To my surprise, the trucker flashed his tail lights at me, to say thank you of course. I felt like I was in a special club or something. Although that's not exactly a noteworthy club.

After getting through LA, we drove up to San Luis Obispo and took an hour long nap. Then we grabbed some more coffee and I finished off the trip by driving the remaining 3 hours to San Jose. My own bed never felt so good.

In conclusion, our trip was successful. We made it back to San Jose without an car trouble, major setbacks, or other problems. I'm still recovering, but it was fun. Thanks for following along.

Road Trip: Day 4

(9:17pm PST)
I’m now sitting in a comfortable hotel in El Paso, Texas surfing the web. My dad and I drove over 800 miles today from Shreveport, Louisiana to El Paso, Texas. At a cool 60 miles per hour in our rental truck, that translates to almost 14 hours of actual driving time, not counting stops to relieve ourselves and get some more food and coffee. We are ahead of schedule and I think we may get back to San Jose in 4 days instead of 5. We’ll see I guess.

Texas is a huge state. We spent the whole day driving and there were only oil wells and scrub brush as far as the eye could see. It also rained all day today. We drove right through a major storm system that was moving east. It poured for hours at a time and there was lightning occasionally. It seemed that every time we got into some heavy rain I was driving the truck. When my dad drove, the weather was pleasant and we didn’t encounter any nasty rain. Oh, well. Our plan is to get to the border of Arizona and California tomorrow. I think we may even get farther than that if we can keep that same pace we had today. I’m going to take a hot shower and go to bed. Good night.

Road Trip: Day 3

(12:42pm PST)
We are just about to cross the Alabama/Mississippi border, Ya’ll! After getting started this morning at 8:30am Eastern Time, we have driven almost 400 miles. We gained an extra hour of time when we crossed into the Central Time Zone. We expect to make it to Shreveport, Louisiana tonight. I haven’t acquired a southern accent yet, but its on the tip of my tongue. Well, more to come tonight.

(2:48pm PST)
I just finished watching the movie Unbreakable in the truck. I brought my computer and I let my mind take a vacation while my dad drove us across the state of Mississippi. Its just about dark here and we are going to switch drivers here soon. I’m gonna need a good cup of truck-stop coffee to gag me awake. I am going to keep writing updates as we travel since I brought my computer. My next update will be from Louisiana. That’s all from Mississippi, ya’ll.

(2:52pm PST)
Oh, I almost forgot. This trip has given me the opportunity to think about stuff and clear my head. Thus, I’ve discovered a new passion of mine: southern sweet tea. That right, this beverage is amazing and I’d recommend driving to Georgia just for the sweet tea. Its worth it.

(8:29pm PST)
Its 10:30pm here in Shreveport, Louisiana. We made our goal and we are tired. I drove the last 150 miles to arrive here and I think my dad and I are going to go to bed soon so we can get up at 5:00am and get on the road by 6:00am. We’re hoping to get all the way across Texas tomorrow. Its weird because we went across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana today and tomorrow we are going to spend the same amount of time going across most of Texas. Anyway, I’m going to bed, I’m tired. Oh, the hotel we are staying at does not have internet access so I’ll have to upload this tomorrow (I know what you’re thinking, “What! No internet! How can that be!”). Apparently, there is no internet in Louisiana. Luckily, tomorrow we’ll be in Texas. I here they have the internet there.

Road Trip: Day 2

(9:48pm PST)
Today is finally over. I thank God I’m still alive after all the work we did today. I’d like to say that this was the hardest day of our trip, but I don’t want to speak too soon. We packed up the rental truck with stuff from 9:00am – 10:30pm (with breaks for lunch and dinner of course). Then, to top it all off, we hooked up the trailer which we will be hauling my Mom-mom and Pop-pop’s Ford Crown Victoria on. Let’s just say, the truck moaned and groaned a lot when we pulled out of the apartment complex to drive over to our hotel tonight. We finally finished getting everything set up at about 12:30am. What a day. I’m going to bed because we are going to try driving 700 miles tomorrow and hopefully make it all the way to Shreveport, LA. I know, crazy eh. Well, more to come tomorrow.

Road Trip: Day 1

(1:46pm PST)
Today is a travel day. My parents and I left the Bay Area at 9:00am this morning. Our flight made a connection in Denver Colorado. I got the window seat and I must say, the Rocky Mountains are one of the most beautiful things God created. The snow looked like powered sugar on the mountain tops as we sailed thousands of feet above the Rockies. It was a brisk 30 degrees in Denver, but luckily we didn’t have to leave the airport terminal.

Our plane left Denver and we headed to Atlanta Georgia at about 1:30pm Mountain Time. Currently, I am cruising at 563 mph at 39, 777 ft. in a Frontier Airlines A319 Airbus. Not that this information is important at all, but there is a cool flat-panel screen on the back of every seat that shows a live map with a little plane showing where we are right now. As a matter of fact, we are right over top of Wichita, Kansas right now. I’m excited, how about you?


(2:12pm PST)
I broke two records today. Are you ready? I traveled at 650 miles per hour in an airplane today and flew at over 40,000 feet. Crazy huh. I think it’s amazing that I am moving at over 600 mph and I feel the same and as when I sitting still. By the way, I’m fascinated with Einstein’s Theory of Relativity (just ask Jon Renfro). By the way, Little Rock, Arkansas is coming up on the right. That’s all for now.

(8:15pm PST)
Its 11:15pm here is Perry, Georgia. We just arrive about 30 minutes ago and spent some time at my Mom-mom and Pop-pop’s apartment before we checked into the hotel. Just to back-track a little bit, we landed in Atlanta, GA at about 6:30pm local time. We then got out rental car and headed for Perry, GA where my Mom-mom and Pop-pop live.

Ok, funny story about the rental car situation. If you know my mom at all, she can get a little worked up about things when you throw her a curveball. My dad and I are only going to be here for one day until we leave with the rental truck, so my mom is going to fly back with my grandparents and take the rental car back. Since my dad didn’t want to pay the extra money to add another driver to the rental contract, my mom was the only one who could drive the rental car. The twist comes because the rental company did not have anymore full-sized cars at the cheaper rates, so the rental company bumped us up to a luxury car. My mom is now the proud renter of a brand new Chrysler 300 and she is driving at night on highways she is unfamiliar with. Fourth of July came early this year because there were fireworks as we navigated through central Georgia.

Tomorrow we’ll load up the truck and get everything prepared for departure. We have a 16 foot truck and a trailer that we will tow my Mom-mom and Pop-pop’s Crown Victoria on. Should be fun.

Oh, I almost forgot. My palm-pilot was stolen on the airplane today. I'm sad, but not because of the Palm-pilot. The Palm was a six year old model and I got it for free from a friend of my dad. I didn't use it very much. But, what really kills me is that I had a very sentimental token in the leather case of the palm-pilot. Greg Marcelo gave me some money from Puru when he went on a missions trip there a few years ago. That bill from Puru was very meaningful to me and now its gone. Well, I guess there's more to life than Palm-pilots and money. Life goes on.

Day Three in Minnesota

From Sunday

It wasn't as cold today. The temperature was about 35 degrees. What great weather!

This morning, we went to church with my family to Faith Church. It is the Evangelical Free Church in Wahpeton, North Dakota. I enjoyed it a lot.

Next, we went to lunch with my grandparents, my cousins, and my aunt Jan. Then, we packed up and met my parents in Fergus Falls, Minnesota to drive down to Minneapolis to catch our plane. We left Minneapolis at about 9:00pm local time and arrived in San Francisco at about 11:20pm local time.

I enjoyed our trip. I don't know what it is, but I still feel like Minnesota is home. I have some weird connection there and I love being there. Call me crazy, but Minnesota is one of my favorite places.

Day Two in Minnesota

Again, I wrote this a few days ago.

Well, I’m on the road right now between Fargo, North Dakota and Wahpeton, North Dakota. We had a very busy day. Here’s how it went:

1. We left my aunt and uncle’s farm in Northern Minnesota in the morning to go to Grand Forks, North Dakota to go to my cousin’s college football game. He plays fullback for the University of North Dakota.

2. We watched my cousin Trent play his football game that afternoon. We made big poster-board signs that read, “TC=TD” and “Trent, you’re my hero!” (his full name is Trent Christensen for those that didn’t make the connection that TC was his initials.) He loved the signs and they made his teammates laugh.

3. We then went out to dinner at The Royal Fork restaurant in Grand Forks, ND. It is kinda like Fresh Choice in San Jose.

4. Now, we’re on the way to my other aunt and uncle’s house in Wahpeton, ND.

I must say, I love Minnesota and North Dakota. Some of my favorite people live here. It’s interesting to hear people out in Minnesota say, “The weather’s not too bad right now; it’s only 20 degrees outside.” I hear the same thing in San Jose, just with a 50 degree difference in temp.

I love hanging out with my cousins. We have such a great time together. We only see each other once a year, but we pick up right where we left off. We laugh and hang out and I have such a great time with them.

That’s about it for today.

Day One in Minnesota

I wrote this post a few days ago while I was in Minnesota. I couldn't get internet access, so here it is.

Today, I arrived in Minneapolis, MN at 6:00am. My sister Ruth and my brother Brad and I took the red eye flight from San Francisco last night. My parents picked us up at the airport because they were already here. We immediately drove south to Rochester, MN to visit my grandmother in Mayo Clinic. She was hospitalized again because she developed an infection in addition to her disease. But, this morning right as we arrived at the hospital the doctors came into her room to talk to her. What they said was amazing.

They told her that after all the tests they have done on her, the disease she had somehow practically disappeared. They told her that it hadn’t spread to any other parts of her body and that it is pretty much gone! They will be taking her off the medication she was on, which was making her very sick. This is a huge answer to prayer. Praise God.

I’ll never forget the look on my grandmother’s face when I walked into her hospital room today. She had been worried that she would never see us again. This disease had caused her to question whether she would even be around to see us this weekend. When the doctors told her that the disease had been halted and we showed up to see her, she couldn’t contain her joy. I practically burst into tears when I saw the pure joy on her face. She reached out frantically to give me a hug and I embraced her praising God that I got to see her. Today was huge for her because the news about the disease subsiding gave her hope about the future. She was talking about being able to see Greg’s graduation and the rest of her grandchildren get married, etc. I can’t explain how emotional this morning was.

So, I’m on the road right now on the way to meet my auntie Konnie, my uncle Kent, and my cousins Trent and Trevor for dinner in Grand Forks, North Dakota. I’ll publish this as soon as I can get internet access. Stay tuned for day 2.

Plans

I know this album came out a while ago, but I just listened to it in detail. Death Cab For Cutie's album Plans is amazing; particularly, the song "What Sarah Said". It seriously made me cry.

My grandmother was just in the hospital for about a week because she was diagnosed with a crazy disease that killed her kidneys. She is much better now and is home from the hospital, but I still remember the feeling when I heard that her life might be in danger. I got home from church on Sunday two weeks ago and my dad told me that her condition had worsened. He told me he wanted me to talk to her on the phone (implying that it may be the last time I talk to my grandma). It was all I could do not to cry while talking to her. Memories began coming to mind of summers spent at my grandparents' lake cabin. I remembered her kind smile as she called me in from the lake shore for dinner. I used to sit next to her in the car every chance I could get when I was young. She is such a comforting person. The thought of never being able to say, "I love you, grandma" choked me. Talking to her for those few minutes that day was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I can only imagine how hard things must be for my grandfather. This song is my way to understanding how he might feel.

I thanks God that she is doing better. I'm going out to Minnesota in a few weeks to visit her.

Urbana 2006

This December, I will be going to St. Louis to attend the Urbana Conference. This conference is a gathering of missions organizations and young adults who have a heart for reaching the globe with the hope of Jesus Christ. I am looking forward to the speakers and the opportunities to see what God is doing across the globe. It isn't for a few months, but I will be updating my blog with what I experience at this amazing event. Please pray for me though, because it costs about $700 and that a lot of money for a college student.

Sweet Home Minnesota

Well, I just got back from a week in Minnesota with my whole family. It was so much fun. I must say, Minnesota is still home for me. Here's a rundown on all the fun things I did while in MN:

We arrived at 6:00am after a red-eye flight from San Francisco to Minneapolis. We immediatly met my great aunt and great uncle on their boat for breakfast and a tour of downtown St. Paul and downtown Minnneapolis from the Mississippi River.

We spent two days in my home town: Winona, MN. I saw my place of birth and my old houses, schools, and church.

We drove to my aunt and uncle's house in Wahpeton, North Dakota to have dinner before we drove to my grandparents' lake cabin just outside of Lengby, MN.

We spent the rest of the trip at the lake cabin while we celebrated my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. All my paternal extended family was there. I rode my grandfather's jet ski and ATV. I waterskied and kneeboarded and we swam a lot.

The only downside was that the weather was not ideal. It was jsut as hot in MN as it was in San Jose last week. The temp in Minneapolis the day before we left was 103 degrees. We did get to see one of the coolest thinderstorms I've every seen one night. For 15 minutes it was like daylight outside because there was so much lightning happening all at once. Also, we saw the Northern Lights in the night sky. If you don't know what the northern lights are, just search google images for "northern lights". This phenomenon can't be seen in San Jose.

Well, I am back in California and I miss Minnesota already. The landscape and culture speak to my heart. I love going there because I love the outdoors. Maybe I'll live there at some point in my life. We'll see. By the way, GO SIOUX!