Things I should...

write about:

-Forgiveness

-Fundraising

-Jobs

-Tires

-Math

I doubt this will work, but what would you like me to write about? Leave a comment and I'll see what I can do. :)

Wednesday

I know it's not Wednesday, but I want to tell you about Wednesday. On Wednesday, Amos and I decided to go on an adventure. We knew about a used bookstore in Pasadena that sold almost exclusively Christian books, so we decided to check it out.

First we went out to breakfast at IHOP. I ordered a waffle, and Amos ordered a blueberry pancake combo. We were doing just fine until our friendly waitress came back and informed me that my waffle would take longer because no one had plugged in the iron that morning. If I wanted to wait, I could still have the waffle. I decided to wait, though later I wished I had ordered something else! I felt really bad that Amos spent money on my plain, chewy, small, belated waffle. Next time, Amos, let's go to Denny's. ;)

After that misadventure, we headed down to Pasadena. The bookstore was pretty easy to find, and we spent about two hours perusing the books. I got an Elisabeth Elliot book, and Amos got about five books! He had a really good time wandering around. Amos found a really funny book about going on dates (one of the suggestions was to play in the mud; ummmmmmm, let's skip that one). I found a really stupid book about dating lots of people just for fun. We left both of the books at the store.

Next we drove to Old Town Pasadena, which is basically a street with expensive shops and restaurants. I didn't want to have an expensive lunch, so I bought Amos and I gelato from a gelato shop (dessert first, meal later!). My flavor of choice was strawberry lemonade and Amos' was peanut butter. We walked along the street, ate gelato, and discovered a fountain. Then we saw a big church, so we decided to check it out. Then we saw the beautiful City Hall and had to check it out. We walked around the complex and tried to climb up to the dome but couldn't. We wandered across the street to another church and some fountains with weird sculptures of frogs, snails, turtles, and dragonflies.

After more wanderings, we considered finding lunch. However, I had to be back to tutor some students, so we had to wait till we got home. Amos left to do a few things and hang out with the guys, and I left to go tutor.

All in all, it was a very nice Wednesday, besides the parting of ways in the afternoon. No, I did not take my camera *gasp* but I will probably take it next time!

This is me...

Well, a pretty good description of me...more could be added, I suppose... ;)

Mom and Brenda put this together for me when I was up last time.

I'm trying...

to think of something interesting to say that won't take that long to write...

Nope, don't really have anything.

I'm eating dinner as I type. Yes, I know it's 10:30 pm. Yes, I know it's weird. However, it's nice that Amos doesn't eat dinner at 5:30 at night, either; otherwise, one of us would always be hungry when we hung out in the evenings.

That's all. Happy weekend!

[Blank]

I'm not sure what to say. I could say a lot of things, but I don't think I want to tell them to you. ;)

I'm going to an India meeting tonight. Should be good.

I've read some good books lately!

I really liked Let Me Be a Woman and Quest for Love, both by Elisabeth Eliot. (I know, Quest for Love sounds like a really bad romance novel...but it isn't.) These books gave me a lot of insight on a Christian's perspective on relationships. I like Elisabeth Eliot because she is challenging, yet she never loses sight of the fact that people are people. Yes, Christians need to follow all of God's commands, but they have personalities and stories and strengths and weaknesses; they are people. God knows that we are dust, but some Christian authors like to ignore that fact and pretend that nothing in the Christian walk is hard. I don't like reading Christian authors who ignore that life is tough. It's like some authors don't live in the real world. They live in a world without problems, doubts, misgivings, uncertainty, pain, frustration, etc. So I, who lives in a very real world and deals with all of the things listed above, don't want to take those authors seriously because their theories just don't match anyone's reality. Elisabeth Eliot acknowledges and addresses the real facts of life in her books. She doesn't hide anything from her readers; she tells it like it is. It's uncomfortable sometimes ("oh, I really didn't want to read that...now I have to think about it and deal with it in my own life"), but at least she's REALISTIC, convicting, AND encouraging.

Anyway, I really liked these books. They helped me sort out some things that have been rolling around in my head. I think I read Let Me Be a Woman over two days. That is good for me. (I usually read pretty slowly.)

I also liked Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie is famous for her murder mysteries. I remember watching a Poirot movie one night with some friends in college, but that was the extent of my exposure to this interesting author. Unlike most of her books, this book was about her time in Syria with her archaeologist husband, Max. Let me tell you, after having been to the Middle East, this book was hilarious! Even if you haven't been to the Middle East, I'm pretty sure you will still like it. (I sound like the guy on Reading Rainbow: "But don't take my word for it!")

Now I'm reading three books. I'm reading Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie, and From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman. They are all pretty good, but right now Thomas Friedman's book has the majority of my attention. Friedman is a journalist who was stationed in Lebanon during the 1970s and 80s to cover the conflicts for the New York Times. He writes about the crazy time he had as he worked first in Lebanon and then in Israel. It is interesting because he writes about the Middle East (one of my favorite regions of the world) as he is explaining the political situation and the reasons behind it. Don't tell my old professor, but I didn't learn much at all in my History of the Modern State of Israel class while I was at IBEX. I like this book a lot because it is explaining the recent (as in the last thirty-forty years) political situation in the Middle East, information that I probably should have picked up from the class. Ooops. Unlike my class, however, the information is presented in a personal and gripping way. It's more about the country, people, and situations in Lebanon than it is about boring, political statistics and timelines. Amos and I found the book at a Salvation Army the other day, and he bought it for me for $1.00 (list price is $12.95!). Score one for us! :)

Well, the time has come for me to leave for my India meeting. I hope you liked the post, even if it was about books...again.

Fertagraphs...

I like this kid. :)

I like this guy, too. I think he's kinda cute.

This map was at the school where Drew and Michelle had their reception.

Drew and Michelle Longacre!

Apparently people in SoCal say "fertographers" instead of "photographers"...or so one photographer told me... ;)

Another weekend, another wedding

So many weddings. This weekend was no exception. Amos and I drove up to Central California to see his roommate Drew tie the knot with the lovely Michelle.

Friday: Try to find air to fill up the tire on my car. Three gas stations later, the tire was filled. We took a nice drive on 198 in Central California. It was a two-lane road that wound through hills and past valleys. We took a few pictures, then continued on to Santa Cruz to find some pants for Amos and to see the little town of Portola.

Rain was pouring in Santa Cruz. We went to the mall (so fun! :P ) to find Amos some pants, then remembered that we only had one part of our present for Drew and Michelle. So we bought them a present, Amos bought me Starbucks, and we continued on to Fremont. No time to sightsee.

We drove through the Santa Cruz mountains in the rain, winding around in the mist before coming out near San Jose. Fremont was our final destination, and we arrived at Nanie and Grampa's house just before 7:00pm. We had dinner with Nanie and Grampa and heard more of Grampa's theory about gravity. (Grampa is very smart, but don't ask him about gravity...or radiation.)

Saturday: Got up, had breakfast, got ready for the wedding. On the two-hour drive to Hickman, we passed through the Gotham-esque city of Modesto. After driving through a really pretty area (not Modesto), we started looking for Hickman Road. It was nowhere to be seen. Amos was pretty sure that we had passed it, so we turned around and went back. It turns out that Hickman Road was marked as F Street. :P We made it to the wedding, changed, and went looking for Amos' tie. Apparently it was buried in a car, but our friend Ernie gave Amos his tie.

Then the tie had to be tied.

Drew tied it around his own neck, but Amos has a big head. It didn't fit, so Drew tried it again.

It was too short.

So I tried tying it on Amos.

It was too short.

So I tried tying it on Amos.

Dr. Halstead said it was too short.

So I tried tying it on Amos.

It was just right.

Most of Amos' job of ushering was taken care of because we were later than we wanted to be because of a train in Modesto and the wrong directions. We sat with our friend Melyndee and listened to Drew promise to "be the driver of our family and to remember to close doors" and listened to Michelle promise to "cook hot meals with red meat and to be patient when [Drew] forgot to close doors." It was a very nice wedding.

After the wedding, the reception, and a lot of confusion regarding cars and rides, Amos and I hung out for a while before heading back to Fremont. The last week had been very busy with a lot of frustrating points, and I wasn't going to see him for a few days (I was going to NorCal, and he was going back to SoCal). It was so nice just to be still and to talk about things. We weren't on our way to an event, we didn't have to figure anything out, we didn't have to talk to other people, we didn't have to clean anything or find anything or pack anything or cook anything or fix anything. I think it was one of my favorite times we've had so far. Amos is my favorite. :)

We had to head back at some point; we got back to Nanie and Grampa's house around 10:00pm. We had dinner and watched the end of "The Ten Commandments" with Nanie, then talked to her for a while. I accidentally left my Bible in SoCal (I was going to take my backpack then changed my mind; my Bible didn't get the memo :( ), so Amos read me the account of the crucifixion and resurrection in preparation of Easter Sunday!

Sunday: Time for church. Some of our Master's friends attend a church in Walnut Creek, so we headed up to their church. We had a hard time finding the church because google maps decided to send us a weird way, and I only looked at the directions, not the map. A few geese decided to hang out in the middle of the intersection, so Amos honked at them to move. Really, why can't the geese just take the crosswalk?! We went back down another street, still looking for the church. We were trying to decide between continuing on the street or making a u-turn, when I looked to my right. There was the church. Man, we are really intelligent. ;)

We talked to our friends after church, then headed to Fremont once again to eat lunch, pack our stuff, and take a nap. Nanie and Grampa made us packs of food to take for our trip, and we headed out.

Amos and I stopped at a gas station to fill our respective cars and to say goodbye. Amos headed south to work, and I headed north to family.

That was my weekend. I hope you had some Easter candy to tide you over while you read this tome. Pictures to follow! :)