Top Ten People who Influenced My Life (Excluding Family and Close Friends)

10. Brian and Amy Knight- My youth pastor for three years and his wife. Regrettably, they left before we could get very close. He was a very nice guy and a great youth pastor who truly cared. She was also very nice and had a very funny and interesting sense of humor. My biggest memory with them was the missions trip to Tennessee. Most people that went on that trip remember it as a train wreck, but that was a time where I really got to know people in the youth group, and Brian and Amy. It was a very special time for me. I wish they could have stayed through my high school years as well.

9. Coach Balow- A man that I started out with an utter hatred for. My 8th grade basketball coach. He was the man who lambasted me in my first practice ever because I used my right hand for a layup on the right side. Every one was using their right hand at that time, but he chose me to attack, or I took it as an attack at the time. However, he is the reason that I can easily use my left now. That day I went home and practiced using my left, and I would practice it during lunch break, and I practiced it before basketball practice. Within a week I had it down so I could use my left fairly well. I promised myself I would become great at it just so I could prove to him I could do it. It was then that I realized he tricked me. THAT WAS EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO GET ME TO DO. After those first practices Coach Balow became one of my favorite coaches (although everyone else hated him). He would always single me out to show my weaknesses, but after every game he would single me out and congratulate me on my strengths. That, I will never forget.

8. Mr. Kjolhede- (Probably slaughtered that name). Coach K coached me two years in football and one and a half in basketball. He was another coach like Balow that had no problem laying in to me. I remember he ripped me out of a game in AYBT over the summer took me by the arm, looked me dead in the eye and said, "Murf. Are you even at the game? Quit thinking about the girls and rebound." Good ol Coach K, the guy who said I was either one of the best players he had coached, or asleep. One major moment that stuck out in my mind was when my team was in Iowa playing basketball and coach called a timeout. After giving us a thorough slashing about how badly we sucked, he took me aside after and said "Murf there are maybe two people on this team that can hang with these guys and you are one of them. So start playing like it." I'll never forget that summer. I don't think I have had a coach yell at me more than he did that summer, but he got so much more out of me than what I was giving. He was a great coach. Not a good predictor though. He told us one day, "Out of all my years of coaching basketball (which had to of been like 100) you guys are the second worst team out of all of them. 1 or 2 TOPS will make Varsity." Eight of us made varsity and we won the CMAC.

7. John Schlaack- He was one of the youth sponsors when I was in Junior high. I had talked to him MAYBE twice, until I wanted to go on the missions trip to Tennessee. One of the requirments was that we had to hand in a sheet of paper with answers to some questions on it and give it to one of the youth leaders. Well, I of course could not give it to my parents and I was still too scared of Brian, so John was my obvious choice. Because I was forced oout of my box I became friends with a truly amazing guy. John was a guy that was incredibly nice to me when I was so self-conscious because I was the youngest in the whole youth group. I eventually did get accepted to go to Tennessee, (I was the only junior higher) and the time that I had there was unforgettable. I frequently had talks with John about how life was going. My favorite memory at the Tennessee trip was when he asked me how we should relay a message to the kids. I was so suprised he would even care about my opinion, and when I gave it he said, "Wow Ben that is a great idea". May not seem like much, but to a self conscious junior higher it meant the world.

6. James Blasdell- Out of all the people on the list, this one is the most obscure. James is an assistant grocery manager at Kroger in Owosso. He was my main boss when I was promoted to grocery. He was by far the most suprising man I have probably ever met. 99% of the "lifers" (people who spend their whole lives working for a place like Kroger) hate their job and complain about how everyone hates them. James came into work everyday with such a joy. He loved working there. He told me, "This may not be the best job in the world, but if you don't try to love what you do than you are just gonna be an unhappy sourpuss." It was so odd to see someone who took such an interest in a job where every one else just counted down the days to vacation. When I tried to transfer to a different store James was the one who offered to tlak to the other store and let them know how good of a worker I was. My fondest memory with James was one of my first days in the grocery department. Someone from another department came and got me and told me that James had been looking for me for a while and was waiting in aisle one. So, I went to aisle one and there he was with a look that made me think I had just lost the store millions of dollars. He looked at me and said, "Ben do you see this?" I looked to where he was pointing and found a long row of neatly stocked items. "Yes" I replied. "This is what happens when you are amazing at your job" he says. I reply, "So let me get this straight. You look for me for fifteen minutes just so that you can brag about how awesome you are?" . he replys, "Oh yea"

5. Mrs. Stevens- Mrs. Stevens was my favorite high school teacher by FAR. She is my second favorite teacher of all time. The memories that I have with Mrs. Stevens are endless. Most of them include Jordan Hahn, Ryan Schafer, and Bryce Smith. She was a very fun teacher and an incredibly nice person. None of this of course does anything whatsoever for my Spanish skills, but which is better memories or spanish. I will answer this before my father gets a chance. Memories. I will pick out two of my favorite memories with Mrs. Stevens. The first happened my junior year of high school. In Spanish III class with Bryce and we get this bright idea to boycott all Spanish lessons. (Dad you may want to stop reading. Or keep on because then things will make more sense.) We got this bright idea to trap Mrs. Stevens at her desk. We barraccaded her in by placing desks, chairs, stools, and her platform at the opening of her desk and the wall. SHE got a bright idea to email mr. borgman (our football coach) and tell him that we were boycotting her class and she felt like her life was threatened. Ahhhh high school. Mr. Borgman threatened to have Bryce and I run the full three hours of practice. Bryce was freaking out. I of course could tell they were bluffing. Mrs. Stevens would never want me to get in trouble because I was (and I quote) "Her favorite Student. The second memory came from junior year also. Ryan, Jordan, and I had sat next to each other for three years in Spanish. Ryan then got a bright idea to start dating someone in the class and left us to sit next to her. Jordan and I felt so betrayed. So we got this bright idea. Throughout the whole class period we talked to everyone in the class (without alexis and Ryan figuring it out) and we convinced them all that five minutes before class ended we would all break out in song of Ryan and Alexis sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. It was a great plan, but we were missing one vital part. Mrs. Stevens. I took the difficult task of convincing her to join in. I of course succeeded and sure enough, while she was teaching, five minutes before class eneded Mrs. Stevens just stopped and the whole class broke out in song. It was beautiful. Oh, and this should be making more sense now dad.

4. Jason Schlaack- Jason was a guy that became a youth sponsor while I was in high school. He kind of filled the void that was left by Brian and was affectively left unfilled by ahem ahem James. It was not until in between frshman and sophmore year of high school that Jason and I became good palios though. I, after not speaking to him in like a year, asked him to do a Bible study with me. That summer was a summer that I grew tremendously spiritually and Jason was a big part of that. I very much looked forward to our meetings and was always encouraged by his determination to always be persevering. We studied Ephesians and for anyone who knows Ephesians and also knows 99% of the people at Graham church, they will understand when I say that it was interesting. But, Jason lead that Bible study with love and caring and not with anger or a holier-than-thou attitude. It was always very evident to me where his love was and that was with Christ. He is a great guy and a good friend. I cherish everything that I took from that summer.

3. Coach Mitch- Coach Mitch was my basketball coach junior and senior year of high school. He influenced me a whole lot through basketball. Through him I learned discipline, hard work, and leadership. I have so very many memories with Coach, but I will narrow it to two. The first came at a pre season tournament at Hope my senior year of high school. It was our first game and I can out a tad less than stellar. Ok I was sucking more wind than a fat kid chasing a candy bar in the wind. It was bad. Coach called a timeout and was laying into us. And I mean bad. Although it wasn't really "us" because about two seconds into the speech he looks at me hits me square in the chest and screams "Come on Murf. You are a Senior. Act like it!" I was of course ticked. Why single me out? I may be playing bad, but I am not the only one. Clearly I had forgotten about Balow's tactics. I walked back out onto the court thinking "Fine. If he wants to single me out, I will show him. I'm gonna have the best flipping game of my life and then he will be sorry." I may not have had the best game of my life, but it was pretty darn near it. Every time the ball went up I raced after it like it was the ticket to the prom with the smoking hot girl (of course I am thinking of you Ashley. Sheesh). After the game Coach came up to me and said, "Way to respond Murf. You stepped it up just like a senior should." It was then that I realized I had been had. That was what he wanted the whole time. Instead of sticking it to him I played right into his tricks. The second story comes from senior year as well. We were playing at Bath. We had previously beaten Bath in double overtime at home earliear in the season and that was their only loss. The gym was packed even at halftime of the JV game. Coach came up to me in the locker room before the game. I had been coming off the bench the past couple games and I was sick with bronchitis with a nice fever to top it off. Coach came up to me and said "So what do you think Murf? You being my sixth man tonight?" "No way Coach. I want to start." I will never forget the way he looked at me and said "That's what I love to hear. I don't know, but there is just something about playing sick". We lost. I didn;t play horrible though. In fact, the guy who was taking pictures that year came up to me after the game and said "You were our one bright spot tonight Murf." That was such a fun season. I will never forget all the things Coach taught me, even if he did use his tricksy tactics.

2. Anna Dippold- Anna was the lone bright spot for me in one of the toughest times of my life. I don't know why, but junior high was horrible for me. I was just a sad kid. And it was not because I didn;t have friends. I had awesome friends. I just liked being sad. I know what your thinking. This kid sounds suicidal. It is true though. I took pleasure out of being sad. PSYCHO. Anyway, while I went through this I am a sad poor boy stage Anna was the one who was there spiritually for me. I was an incredibly knew Christian and Anna was someone who helped me along. She gave me verses that had inspired her and comforted her. She was always there to listen when I needed to talk. It is weird the types of people that God sends into your life that have exactly the right personality that you need, and strengthen you in ways that only they could. Anna was one of those people for me. Back then I was totally in love with her, and boy am I happy that she did not feel the same way. God had someone else that was perfect for me in that way. However, I thank God for Anna and how he used her to help me in a very difficult time. Although, times do change a lot. Because if Anna does not hate me now she definitely should. And here is one of the best stories of all time. Last Christmas break I took Ashley to Asian Buffet. A delicious Asian restaurant. Well when we went there I noticed that they had a new policy. Any food you don't eat will be charged as leftovers. Being the cheapskate I am I instructed Ashley to take bare minimal and then just go up for seconds and thirds. Well, Anna and her family came in about halfway through are meal. I went up for what I believe was my thirds. Anna was getting her firsts. We met in the middle and I looked at her plate and she had a nice helping. Thinking of the new policy I worried for her financial situation. I thought to myself, "I must say something so that she does not lose money to this evil corporation." ALthough it instead came out as "WOW. That is a lot of food". Poor Anna.

1. Mr. Goniea (or however you spell it.)- Mr. G was another one of those people that God sent into my life because he was the perfect person to help me where I was. Mr. G was the very first person I ever told that I had asked for Christ's glorious gift. He is and always will be my favorite teacher of all time. Once again, most everyone else hated him, but I absolutely loved him. After he found out about struggles I was having in school and spiritually he would frequently ask me "Hey Ben how are you doing?". He gave praise when I needed praise and he challenged me when I desperately needed to be challenged. When most people saw me at the time it was kind of like they though just wait till he is out of this funk and then we will try and get a hold of him. Mr. G challenged me when I needed to be challenged most. It seems that the most influential people are the ones that can make you feel so horrible about yourself, but at the same time always make you feel good about yourself. They are the ones that you always know will be there for you no matter what. Mr. G was there for me when I needed someone the most. And THAT is why I will never forget him. He didn't just help me with school and sports, but he helped me spiritually.








P.S. It is 1 in the morning so this thing has so many grammatical and spelling errors. Do your best to ignore them as I have.

The Definition of Irony.

So in 2006 Brian Kelly leaves CMU for Cincinnati. Butch Jones replaces him. In 2009 Kelly leaves to go to Notre Dame. Who replaces him at Cincinnati? YOu guessed it. MR. Jones.

I can so see Kobe doing this

Awesome Vid 3

Star Wars Bloopers

#2

For My Brother

Practically the first of three of the best videos ever. Bloopers to star wars. Awesome

Terrible Sports Lady

This is just horrible sportsmanship. I can not believe she did not get kicked out of the game or even get a card. Clearly the ref didn't see. Luckily sportscenter did.

What My older Brother is Like

Thats Right I said it. This video is totally the way my older brother would go about picking up the ladies. BAM ROASTED. Oh and flippin hilarious

Vegetarianism is the only thing that can help us

Apparently this "Chief of Climate Change" did not read reports on Climate Change. If all of us become vegetarians than the amount of cows in the world goes up. Meaning that the second leading cause of global warming (A cow farting) will go up as well. Leading to more global warming and the end of the world. In short, eating cheeseburgers is destroying the World.

More for My Papa

The only thing worse than being crammed onto an airplane is to have to WAIT to be crammed on an airplane. According to my father some horrible places to fly in and out of are JFK and Atlanta. I believe the airport in DC he does not like because the runway is so short (if memory serves correctly). ANywho this article is for him because I know how he so much loves when planes are delayed. (Like a redeye that leaves even later than is scheduled). On the plus side DTW has some of the lowest average delays for a big city.

For My father and I

A new seating arrangment has been introduced to change planes. Hey, if it fixes the fact that I have no bloody leg room than I am all for it. Will it? 99% sure that it won't.

How to get on Someone's bad side

Think this guy got in trouble. Yikes.

HILARIOUS COMMERCIAL

This is why I love Brett Favre. Obviously he can laugh at himself.

What a Great Sport

This Comprehensive look at all the doping cases in cycling is why I love the sport. And it still amazes me that after all these people are caught, new people still deny and are awestruck at how it got in their system. What a great sport

Another One Bites the Dust

Former Giro winner Di Luca has tested positive for CERA. HE is now in the "caughter" section of the peloton instead of the "Not caught" ( Terms I stole from my father that are incredibly accurate). Does he deny ever taking it? Of course.

Beckham is a Stud

The dude has amazing aim.

Talk About a Painful Crash

The Worst Excuses in Sports

Top ones on this list are bikers and people getting caught with drugs. Tyler Hamilton's "Invisible Twin" excuse is my favorite.

What does in Jesus name mean? EVERYTHING

A Difficult Question Answered by good ol John

God's glory is something I hear about a million times a day. Saying exactly what it was would still have been difficult. Thank you Mr. Piper.

High Five Montage.......... DC style

HIGH-FIVE INAUGURATION! - watch more funny videos

The High Five Montage..........Hollywood style

HIGH-FIVE HOLLYWOOD! from Will Ferrell

What I would be Like If I was Single

What a sad person I would be. And also, The best use of the word A-hole

Cycling Update_7

One Down already and the raace hasn't even started. I love this sport.

Cycling Update_6

Now who in the world could have seen THIS coming? I can assure you that I did not.

Cycling Update_5

LANCE ARMSTRONG IS ON HIS WAY BABYYY!!!  Lance Armstrong won one of the premier races leading up to the tour.  The race?  Ummm..............The Nevada Classic.  Or Nevada City classic.  One of the two.  Anywho he broke away from the pack and even beat his teammate Levi.  This clearly shows that Lance is ready to dominate.  LOOK OUT CONTADOR

Cycling Update_4

Belgian rider, Tom Boonen, (my father pronounces it Bow-nahn) is banned from the Tour this year.  Oh well it is not for the usual.  They still haven't caught him yet.  BUT he was slapped with his second failed drug test.  What was the drug?  Well it was the universal drug most riders use to make them ride super fast................Cocaine.

Cycling Update_3

Lance's cycling team (or is it Contador's?) ,Astana, has had a whole lot of financial worries this year putting their tour status in doubt.  Alas, they will be racing.  Should be quite interesting.

Cycling Update_2

Update number two.  Tyler Hamilton, one of Lance's top domestiques from 2000-2002, has accepted an 8 year ban from the sport because of two failed drug test.  Hamilton stories is unique because he got caught blood doping because he had someone else's blood in his blood.  oopsies.

Cycling Update_1

As the tour approaches I have been reading more and more about the interesting stories surrounding the sport where ONLY cheaters win.  First off is a story about how good ol Alexandre Vinokourov will not be racing because he was caught cheating a few years ago.  One rider down.

People are Bloody Morons

Heidi Montag, a woman that got famous from being on some stupid reality show, has decided to pose nudey for playboy. Now why am I giving the latest updates on playboy? Well Mrs. Montag or whatever says that posing nude does not conflict with her religious beliefs at all. And to top it all off, she gave this gem of a quote:

"I'm more of a modern day Mother Teresa. I would take things with moderation. I think God created the body. I think we're born naked. We die naked.I don't think its something to be ashamed of. I think the body is a beautiful piece of artwork that God created.  I have nothing to be ashamed of."

Did Mother Teresa pose for playboy?  I didn't realize all you had to do was strip down and BAM,

Mother Teresa status.

The thing that gets me the most is that her husband is totally fine with and encourages it.  

The One Person I Would Not Want to be Right Now

Marian Hossa. Passed up a 5 year 35 million dollar deal with the Penguins because he "wanted to win the stanley cup in Detroit". DOT!!!!!!

Family Guy and Rush Limbaugh

Family guy gets Rush to make fun of........himself in this clip.

Captain Compete saves USC fotball

Two of the Best Things ever. Bear and Will

Sad Sad Sad

Think fans in the U.S. are crazy?  Times it by a million and you have soccer fans all over the world.  Which is why this is so sad.  In reaction to his favorite team losing a man drove into a crowd of Barca fans celebrating the win.  Killed 4.  Sad

For you Papa

This article is for my father.  My father enstilled in me a love for cycling and a love for watching cycling.  I very much enjoy chatting with him about who has won the recent races and who is getting caught for the drugs.  This article is about how Tom Boonen, after testing positive for cocaine..........again, is going to try and do his best to race in the Tour in July.   My favorite line from the article:

The team has described his cocaine use as "occasional'' and certainly not a dependency

Hilarious

Why I hate Serena Williams

This article right here is the exact reason why I hate Serena Williams so much.  She is so stuck up on herself and I have absolutely no idea how anyone could enjoy watching her.  Serena is known for saying that her opponent did not beat her it is just that she lost.  What a cocky sticking stuck up woman.  Pitiful.

Love for My Sister

As always I am starting a new thing on my blog.  A series called "Love for".  In this series I will be giving my love to people who, you guessed it, I love.  I will be starting off with my dear little sister.  Kelly, my beloved sister, is now no longer a young girl, but is becoming a young woman.  No longer playing with barbies she is now dating some homo named.....hmmmm......... lets just stick with homo.  What are big brothers for besides to attack little sisters boyfriends?  Anyway, here are some memories with my favorite little sister.  Kelly loved to climb things.  If I recall she broke her arm climbing on the table, used to climb on my mother's stair-master, and is the reason we got rid of the pool because she climbed everything.  One day we were sitting in the living room and we heard a loud THUD and Kelly scream.  Being the incredibly sensitive person that I am I raced to my sisters rescue.  I burst into the room to see Kelly pinned down beneath her dresser.  I ran to her grabbed the dresser and lifted it so she could get out.  I don't recall if I got a special hero luncheon for that or not.  BUT this is not about me.  Another memory I have of Kelly is how giving and caring she was and is.  Growing up with three older brothers I can only imagined how she was treated.  We would always be asking her for something and begging her to make us food.  And to her credit, most of the time she did everything we asked and never complained.  Of course, as she got older and wiser she stopped doing less and less as our requirments kept getting crazier and crazier.  I believe one of us once yelled for her to come down to the basement so that she could grab the remote for us.  We were kind of lazy.  Nevertheless, Kelly was almost always willing to serve.  Even now, as I am 20 years old, I will still ask Kelly if she can make me a sandwhich or get me a soda.  Or, I will ask her to come watch a movie with me even though she is busy.  I am very confident that she will make some man a great wife.  She has a servant's heart and love's to make you happy.  Perhaps my favorite memory of Kelly is the football memories.  Since I was a young lad and Kelly was barely old enough to walk I loved to play football with Kelly.  I never was a very good football player in high school, but man could I hit my little sister.  I recall one instance where she was trying to run past me and, being the loving brother I am, I waited until she was running alongside the couch before I blasted her right into the couch.  But I guess my adrenaline was pumping a little too hard for an indoor game of football with a little sister because I creamed her and her legs went straigt up into the air.  Her head went barreling into a "non softer" part of the couch.  I felt horrible.  She looked at me and said "OOuch".  30 seconds later we were at it again.  Another memory I have of Kelly is when Matt and I had once again hurt her feelings and she went into her room crying.  We heard small whimpers from the room, but I think Kelly knew she was not getting her point across because all of the sudden it sounded like someone was murdering an animal in her room.  "WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH".  right after that she started laughing though and ruined her chances of us feeling sorry.  The memories I have with my little sister are very long and always fun to revisit.  Yet, all I will say now is that I love my sister.  I am so thankful that God blessed me in having such a loving, caring, and fun little sister to grow up with.  I will never forget all the memories of Kelly and all the times we have shared and will continue to share.  So Kelly, there you go, I dedicated a post of my blog just for you.  I love you so very much sis.  

P.S. To Kelly:  We'll IMPROVISE!!!

This Ticks Me Off

A man on a sports team is driving drunk and kills a pedestrian.  Every time someone drives drunk it is innocent people that suffer.  It is something I see at college way too often.  People just think they are invincible and it won't happen to them.  Anyway, this sports guy will probably get about a tenth of what I would get if I did it.

I Love Colbert

A very good video about Mr. Colbert's power over the people who watch his show.

HILARIOUSLY FUNNY COMMERCIAL

A Funny Twist on Christian Bale's incident

I do love the way that Family Guy trashes pop culture.  I thought this was a funny twist.  "Boy you are gonna owe a fortune to the swear jar".

Two of my favorite things. Star Wars and my fiance

This semester I accomplished something that I thought was utterly unattainable. I love star Wars Battlefront 2. It is my favorite game of all time. And this semester I got my fiance hoked on it. When she started out she was not the greates and a tad unorthodox. YEt, she is a quick learner because she was soon getting more and more kills. I must say though she was better than my mother. I recall when Matt and I got my mother to play halo and the next thing we know Matt is mercy killing her with a blast to the back of the head because she was stuck walking into a wall throwing grenades at utter nothingness. But back to the story. About a week or two ago Ash and I were playing and on this one planet I killed her about a dozen times. IT was bad. And to add fury to the fire every time you are killed your controller shakes and it says something like "Murf KILLED you" and then the camera points right at the person that just PWNED you to kingdom come. Needless to say after a dozen times she was a little testy. After that she looked me dead in the eye and said "If you don't get me that sweet gun I'm never playing again". See, if you get enough kills the game rewards your efforts with a gun that kills in one shot instead of 5. This makes it even easier for you to kill countless people. So I spent the next week playing on Ashley's profile trying to get enough kills for her to have the gun (keep in mind, especially mom and dad, that I was still diligently doing my hw and only did this with free time). After a week I finally got her the special gun. So, we started playing again. She was ecstatic that she finally had THE GUN. BUT, the excitment wore off after I killed her like twice. My fiance does not like to play on my team because there is no challenge. However, when we play against each other she gets angry when I kill her. So we came up with a solution. We do not kill each other unless it comes to the end of the battle and we have to kill each other to win. Once again, this lasted about two battles before we made it all the way down to where it was just me and her. And I waited around corner and as she rounded it, blasted her right in the face (with all the love possible of course). I once again got the death stare, but she agreed that it was what we agreed upon. Then, on the last battle of the day, we played on a map that is set up so that all your forces are caught in one area. That means that 50 people with rifles, shotguns, grenades, tanks, bazookas, and every other explosive weapon is caught in an open field trying to take over one little base. As you can imagine it is easy to mix people up. I was running across the field when all of the sudden BAM my guys is blown 20 feet in the air. My controller vibrates like it was just in the middle of an Atomic Bomb and in big red letters it says "SCOOTER KILLED MURF" (Scooter is Ashley btw). I look at her appaled and she says "Oops I'm sorry babe". Frustrated as I was I forgave her (mainly because I have accidentely killed her like a hundred times). So, I respawn and run back into the chaos. As I am trying to take over the base again I realize a tank is shooting at me. Being the scrappy veteran that I am I start rolling and jumping like there is an army of ants in my pants. Just then though I look at Ashley's screen and she is in a tank shooting at a person that looks possesed. He is jumping and rolling and diving. And then it dawned on me. I looked at her and yelled "What are you doing you liar". As I finish my sentence my controller is the one possesed now and those damned red letters go across my screen. I pause the game. Now the only thing that is red is my burning face. "what are you doing?!?!" I ask ash. She looks at me with an evil grin and says "Oopsies". I un-pause thye game. IT is now on. She asked for it. I switch to the heavy trooper. Which is like General Patton on prozac with a bazooka. It is time for revenge. Now, a side note, I never die more than twice. I rarely die more than once, but on rare occasions I do die twice. Ash RARELY dies more than five or six times. By the end of this battle I have died and eight times and Ashley has died seventeen times. It ends with me blasting one of her guys with rockets from a tank. As the screen fades to show us our stats Ashley looks at me and says "I think we need to take a little break". So we did. We had some dinner did some homework. Within an hour we were back to it again. And THAT is why I love Star Wars and my fiance. I hope you enjoyed that window into our life.

My Favorite Will Ferrell skit

Very Funny

Why I Hate this Bloody University_1

I am now going to relate to you why I hate this bloody Central Michigan University.  It is the time in the semester when I have to schedule for classes for next semester.  I was checking the class schedule for next semester and realized that they did not have a lot of classes that I need for my major.  No problem,  they must just offer them in the Spring time.  So I check my schedule for this semester and realize that about half of them were not offered in the Spring semester either.  It is very frustrated when the University wags their finger at me and says "You HAVE to take these classes" and then they don't even offer them.  MORONS.  That's ok though bc I can just email the head of the department and he can let me know what classes that they DO offer I can take instead.  Problem averted.  So after two days of scheduling (which means only graduates and a handful of seniors have registered for classes) I check the availability of the classes that they DO offer.  Guess what?  All of them have less than 10 open seats left.  If I would have not been in a computer lab I would have thrown things and probably would have said things that no mortal person should ever hear.  So, naturally, I call my fiance, and she says that some of HER classes only have 10 seats that are available.  And she has been trying to get into those classes for 2 years.  Ashley comes to find out that apparently Central is known for this.  One of her friends from another University said that was the reason she did not go to Central because there are a lot of Majors that you just can't get into your classes.  And THAT is why I hate this bloody university.

Stupid Psychologist

I really hate psychologists.  I think they are absolute morons who are the biggest softies that have no discipline so no one learns.  My fiance used to not want to spank our (hopefully) future children.  Of course THAT was a terrible idea and she now has seen her ways.  When I was younger spanking was the reason I would never do a lot of things and I personally think it is good to raise kids the way God raises us.  DISCIPLINE DISCIPLINE DISCIPLINE.  Anyway Mr. Piper obviously is a smart man and agrees with me.

The definition of Irony

People gathered to protest Global Warming the other day. Signs full of "Global Justice" and "NO Coal". Yet, in the absolute beauty of irony D.C. was hit with its worst snow all winter. BA HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH. I give all the glory to God for sticking it to those Tree hugging, save the whales, hypocritical, kill the babies, protesters. Ok maybe that was not what he was thinking, but that is why I am not God.




"The snowy scene, with temperatures in the mid-20s, was reminiscent of a day in January 2004, when Al Gore made a major address on global warming in New York -- on one of the coldest days in the city's history."


"The snowy scene, with temperatures in the mid-20s, was reminiscent of a day in January 2004, when Al Gore made a major address on global warming in New York -- on one of the coldest days in the city's history."

Alex Rodriguez's Answering Machine

A very funny video about the recent A-Rod news.

A Nerd's Nerd

I love Star wars. By far my favorite movie's and books. Yet, even I think this guy is a total nerd and has gone waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too far.

What My Parents Always Worried About

Thats right. I am positive that while I was growing up and my love of star wars increased exponentially this kind of video is exactly what they were worried of finding one day. Except I would be the kid.

Analysis of Bear Grylls

A very funny analysis of one incident with Bear Grylls on his show.

Oh Good ol John

John Piper can create such a majestic picture of God. Although I think this is one huge struggles of mine. Wimpy Christianity. I tend to believe in Piper that the further we go (especially in this culture) the more we will need steel.

Oh Demetri how I love you

I have gotten ashley hooked on good ol Demetri Martin. So I put this up for her.

Love the Office

I found this online.  Absolutely hilarious.  I laughed so hard.

Top Ten Scariest Animals......according to live science

My top ten would be a tad different. Great White Shark would probably be at the top. They scare the crap out of me. Probably was because of Jaws. Or maybe a TRex would be at the top.

Demetri Martin explain his policies

HILARIOUS

Top 10 Family Vacations of all time............ assuming I didn't forget some.

10.Silver Lake- Silver Lake is a lake in Michigan that gets very deep very quickly. It also has some huge dunes on one half of it. My brothers and I (and of course Mitch my best bud) would climb the dunes all day and then run down them onto the water that went from 4 feet deep to 12 feet deep in just one step. One time mitch, matt, and I decided to walk on the other side of the dunse where there were more and more dunes. We walked a whole lot farther than we thought and by the end of it I thought I would collapse from thirst. BUT my most memorable moment was when mitch and my cousin John started wrestling which ended with John getting numerous sand wedgies while screaming for more. Hilarious.

9. Colorado- We took a trip when I was in 7th grade to the United States Air Force Academy. We were going to my cousins graduation and Colorado is absolutely gorgeous! The Academy is so awesome and any time that I am with my father's side of the family it is so fun. It was really an awesome trip. And watching Get Smart for twenty straight hours wasn't too bad either.

8. Washington DC and Gettybsburg- When I was in elementary school we visited both of these places. Gettysburg was by far my favorite of the two. My father would tell us all these different stories as we walked around the battlefields and the two main hills (their names escape me big round top and little round top maybe?). It was very cool to listen to the stories of Pickett's charge and the Union general's (his name also escapes me) final bayonet charge. DC was also very cool. Seeing all the monuments and visiting the smithsonian was very cool. My most memorable thing from this trip was looking out over the large field where Picket made his charge and wondering to myself "Man that would have been easy to shoot them".

7.St George's Island in Florida- When I was a freshman in high school my family took a trip down to St George's island in Florida. We stayed at an absolutely awesom beach house. It was so cool. possibly the most memorable thing from the trip was having my cousin John (from Canada) go with us. IT was a very fun trip. Staying in a huge beach house with our own pool and jacuzzi (which was colder than the pool) for a whole week, the beach a stone's throw away, Awesome Awesome trip

6. Destin, Florida- I do believe I was in 8th grade when we went to Destin. We stayed at the Jetty East condo's. This was also an amazing trip. This time we flew down instead of driving. The condo had just a couple bedrooms, but it was very roomy and comfortable. The pool was just three floors down and the beach was right outside our door. We also had tennis courts that lighted up which was sweet. The most memorable thing from this trip was Matt's obsession with collecting crabs, and Badger telling everyone that he would willingly sunburn himself bc he claims he would have a sweet tan after. The last half of his vacation was ruined because he couldn't move he was so red and burned.

5. Hawaii- My 6th grade year we took a trip to Oahu. Awesome Awesome trip. Climbing Diamond head was very fun, and of course the beach was amazing. Pearl Harbor was a very sad but awesome experience. Still being able to see the ship floating in the shallow harbor was kind of scary. The 7 hour layover in a freezing LAX airport was not very fun but still worth the trip. The most memorable thing from this trip was two things. 1.) I was introduced to snorkeling on this trip and wow is it amazing. You have not snorkeled until you have in the coral reefs at Hawaii. And 2.) We were driving in the car and Badger tried to punch my leg, but punched his own leg instead and yelled "Oh my gosh that is the hardest I have ever been punched. MY leg hurts so bad right now". he finally felt how I felt. Still didn't stop him.

4. Vermont- When I was told that we were going to go on a trip to Lake Champlain with a couple of my Dad's brothers and their families I was not so pumped. And after seeing that the camp had no power I really was not excited. Yet, once I started to hang out with Tim, Aaron, Jake, Pat, my little bro, and all the rest it was so fun. Fort (Mckinley I believe) was really cool to see and going swimming in Lake Champlain with my cousins was awesome. I think my two favorite memories from this trip were 1.) Every night we would have at least three or four skunks in our camp. One skunk went into my Uncle's tent, but they were like used to people or something. And 2.) Following the ways of my father and telling Corn Man stories (Like Ghost Stories, its an inside thing) was very fun. Also this trip made the song Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard for me.

3. Camp Pendelton- Any time I go to California and see my father's family is always memorable. This trip was so fun because all day we would go to the beach and run around like chickens with our heads cut off. We would always meet at least once a day with everyone else and talk. The waves were huge ( I was in elementary school) and hanging with the cousins never gets old. This is where I first fell off of a bunk bed while I was sleeping. My most memorable moment from this trip was that one night everyone went to the beach to meet and talk with each other but, of course, no one told me. I got stuck looking for them with a beach cop or something and when we finally found them I had to stop my crying and climb out of this cop car to get to them Imagine my shame.

2. Petoskey- Since like Elementary school my family makes anually trips to Petoskey Michigan. Petoskey is absolutely gorgeous. Riding to Petsokey one day is always fun. We usually make a stop to run up a flight of stairs in a park that go up this big hill. And also riding into harbor Springs which is the rtichest city I have ever seen. Parts of it I am not high class enough to even look at. There are so many different memories from Petoskey that I am going to have to make a seperate post about it. Stay tune.

1. And the number one best Family Vacation is ................ California- Every year when I was little we would go to California in late summer and spend boat loads of time. We would stay at wrightwood where we would daily go swimming and go climbing in the Mountains. The cousins would get into groups and then perform skits for the uncles and aunts. The year that we had a forest fire and my mom found a leaf that was pure black and ash was falling everywhere and I thought it was snow. Or sometimes we would go to Yucca Calley and play hide and go seek in my grandparents huge backyard. There were hills (as a kid they were mountains) just outside the front door. There was a museum in the valley that was really cool. Making trips to Joshua Tree and exploring was soooooooo much fun. All in all my fondest childhood memories were sculpted in California with all myh cousins and siblings. BUT my most memorable moment out of them all was playing Bonanza with my cousins and siblings in the back of my grandparents house in Wrightwood. One time this guy came over and yelled at us because we were apparently being too loud. I could come up with a thousand more and if I have time and some motivation I may just add another post about my times in California as a kid. That would also be long and would include things like sleeping on the deck as the older people ate root beer floats. Or the time that a cactus got hooked to my leg. OOOOOOOOO thats a good story. I will save that for later. Matt saved my life though. Or at least thought he was. What a nice brother. I'm getting a happy feeling just thinking about all these trips. I am extremely happy that my father and mother took us on trips. It is something I will definitely continue if God ever vlesses me with children.






Unfortunately I must come up with my least favorite family vacation. Of course, this vacation was the only one that I can think of that was not all pure fun. And that is.........................................Interlochen. Interlochen is a campsite on Duck Lake. Don't get me wrong I used to love going thre, but then I got swimmers itch, (as did my mother) and that was excruciating. I hated it. We have not been to Interlochen since. BUT thank you Dad and Mom for allowing me to have so many awesome memories. It is a huge blessing.