Kneeever been better!

Alex is right.  We should blog more about the late Mr. Updike!  So, since we’re talking about rabbits, oxycontin, hydrocodin, phenergan (for nausea) have kept this rodent living, loving, and living although he is no longer running.

 

Surgery (if you don’t know what kind, you can consider yourself worse than smithy) went well, although I discovered anesthesia makes me itchy.  Like pollen.  And cats.  I told that nurse I was allergic to cats.

 

I’ll spare you all the details, but there was a not so small (in diameter and length) hose that went under my ace wraps and into my leg a few inches under my knee that fed into a plastic container.  The container acted as a suction device that extracted the excess blood and liquids from my post surgery knee.  I would have to occasionally empty out the blood myself because blood makes Jesse feel weird.  Hassle.   

 

Rehab has been getting pretty intense and not as fun as I imagined it would be.  My exercises are simple, but painful enough to make me appreciate my patella and my brand new anterior cruxiate ligament.  This rabbit’s redux has been going well though.  To prove it, let me tell you about my visit to the doctor’s office last week.  My doctor is a very kind man and extremely encouraging.  He told me warmly that I’d be off my crutches by this weekend.  Bullshit, I said in reply.  And instead I got off my crutches two days ago.  So far, I’m 3 days ahead of schedule.   

 

I’ve included my knee log.  It is based on the degree to which I can bend my knee.  Golf rules apply.  

 

5/19: 180 degrees. (Perfectly straight)

5/20: 150 degrees.

5/23: 120 degrees.

5/24: 150 degrees.  (I dropped a bottle on my knee.  Hurt like hell.)

5/28: 100 degrees.  (The day I got off the crutches)

5/30: 89 degrees. (Andy’s birthday)

 

Additionally, I’ve watched the entire first season of Arrested Development, hung out with Jesse (age 9) a lot, and watched full seasons of Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and an assortment of Disney made for TV movies.  I’ve also been managing my WebKinz account on the side.

 

Thanks to everyone who prayed for me.  I love you guys and can’t wait to see most of you in College Station soon.

May I leave you with this:

"I knew three things.  Edward was a vampire.  Edward wanted insatiably to kill me and drink my blood.  And, I knew I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him." 

-Girl from Twilight regarding Edward after their 3 day acquaintance

My teen angst was a little different, but still relatable.

-Rabbit

2:15 College Station, Texas

Believe it or not after you left, there has not been too much to blog about. I decided to spare you what I learned during hours spent watching Planet Earth (did you know a blue whale's heart weighs 5 tons!), and what roads are currently closed for the never ending construction that defines transportation in college station (Highway 6 south near the rock prairie exit) .

The one speck of excitement on a horizon of mundane has been my father. As many of you know the man borders on paranoid at best. He has been trying to bribe me into taking a concealed handgun course all summer and is also the man who gave me my100,000 watt taser for my birthday, did I mention he also owns one?

The other day, in an overtake of paranoia my dad started to question the actual effectiveness of his taser and decided a performance test was necessary. Naturally the best place for such a test was the laundry room. Despite my mother's pleas of "don't be an idiot, Harry!" my dad tasered simply the TOUNGE OF HIS TENNIS SHOE. I heard a quick swear word from my father a scream from my mother and then a deffining crash (imagine dave's sound effect reindition of a refriderator falling down a mountain and landing on another car). What I walked in on was my dad laying spread eagle against a washing machine slammed halfway through the laundry room wall. Turns out the shock had sent him flying straight into the machine wich inturn had gone almost straight through the wall. My dad laid on the floor laughing for about 5 min. (I think to hide the fact that he couldn't get up). Apparently, he was unable to feel his fingers and toes for the rest of the night. My mom spent the remainder of the evening trying not to laugh and repeteldy reminding him that he was in fact, an idiot.

Dave I completely concur, we should spend as much time with our parents, "They are really interesting" but i don't know if I can say that "they always know more than we do"

katherine

Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof

An excerpt full of excerpts, read as you will:

May 20 , German Dance Lessons

At about 1 am in the student-club "Das Ding" ('The Thing') hanging out with my new friend Melanie on her birthday, and dancing next to my boy, Florian, to the Backstreet boys, I realized some cultural differences you should know about.

First, it is acceptable to dance by yourself in a corner even if you aren't waiting on your friend to get back from the bar. Second, a group of guys can still freak dance each other for a fifteen second gag as we (atleast I) used to do in high school. Third, if the music gets a little slow, it is acceptable to link arms with all your friends and sway back and forth in a circle. Fourth, if a rock song or another difficult-to-dance-to song is played, it is lots of fun to try and waltz to it!


May 25 , Hot Trains and Crazy Kings

Despite the great advances in alternative energy and energy policy in Germany, they still can't afford to air condition their trains (thank God in your prayers tonight for America's coal plants, I'll clarify later if you want). Thus Katie (who flew in on the 23rd) and I arrived in Fuessen Germany a bit hot and bothered. Two days later it was foggy and 50 degrees though, so we forgave Germany.

We saw the iconic castle, Neuschwanstein, (which means New Swan Stone) built by Ludwig the Mad. Swans were his favorite animal, and he also liked Lederhosen and Dark Beer, and looking at the Alps from his castle window. Anyway, Ludwig was assassinated by his psychiatrist in the middle of a Lake (for the good of the kingdom of Bavaria) but his castle remains one of the most famous in the world. All you Disney World people - does it look familiar?


May 28 , Glockenspiel and Mass

Glockenspiel - a large clock tower with dancing figures and bells (but no clock).
Mass - a large beer stein holding a whole liter of German Beer


Katie and I witnessed both of these large things in our trip to Munich. The glockenspiel takes 8 minutes and the Mass about an hour, but both leave you a little disoriented. For anyone seeking a cultural, historic, fun, clean, safe and beautiful city, visit Munich at least once in your life. It is a tie for my favorite city with London.


May 30 , Home in Hennef

And now we sit in the Kossmanns wonderful home, soon to play a rousing game of settlers of catan - a game I will bring home for us to all learn and enjoy together for hours of revelry and laughter. As captivating as four on a couch, brainy as Catch Phrase, and Strategic as Risk. Think about it.

To all our friends - we both miss you dearly. However I miss everyone about 11 days more than Katie does, if you were wondering.

To Texas - despite the great weather, I miss the Texas heat and swimming now and again.

To all those hitherto associating with squirrels, badgers or other animals - You may be drinking too much coffee and sitting too many hours in the dark corner of Starbucks with a raised eyebrow at all the animals. Be careful.

And to all who read this, Tschuess, Caio and Auf Wiedersehen.

With Love,

Thomas and Katie

Another Texas Escapade

It is 5:34 PM in Fort Worth, Texas



It is my pleasure to return to our omnipresent blog. I just got back from camping with my dad at a place called Caprock Canyon. It is just another checkpoint on my mission to discover all things great about our oh so great state.

I decided about 3 months ago that I wanted to take a trip with my dad because I felt like I was coming to a place where I was really starting to appreciate everything my dad has done for me and I wanted to just hang out with him for a while and soak in more of his fatherly wisdom. So, after talking for about 3 hours this past Friday night, we decided to go a place called Caprock Canyon State Park in the panhandle of Texas. We figured it wouldn't be too crowded and it wouldn't be too far to drive, but the scenery would still be amazing. We were right.



We got there on Sunday morning and began our hike to our primitive campsite with a thunderstorm threatening. We started on our 7 mile hike around 4 PM. We had seen a little spot on the map about halfway down the trail called "FERN CAVE". My dad made some corny joke like "Man, Fern must have done something amazing to get this cave named after her..." I replied that maybe there were ferns in the cave. But after being sucked dry for about 2 hours and seeing nothing but cactus, red dirt, and mesquite trees, we figured there was no way in hell that there were anything even resembling ferns in a place whose annual rainfall is probably beat out by College Station's humidity on any given day. Sure enough though, as we approached the sign that said "Fern Cave", we could see different shade of green up ahead. We walked into what was really more of an overhang than a cave. The walls were covered in ferns hanging upside down and there was water dripping out of the walls. It was like we walked into a rainforest in the middle of the desert. I guess because we did. It was gnarly. We hung out there for a while and then hiked back to our campsite.

Another cool experience of the trip was the lightning. Every night when the sun went down, there was lightning on the horizon. You could barely ever hear any thunderor feel any rain , but there was always lightning. That was cool. I also almost stepped on a rattlesnake. I also almost fell off the roof about two weeks ago while cutting down a tree (that's kind of beside the point, but I thought y'all might like to know).

I could write more, but that would be too much. I just wanted to write about the Fern Cave because it was so weird. The trip was a great experience overall. I had a blast with my dad. We talked about tons of things. The topics included but were not limited to:

1. Switzerland
2. Psychic powers
3. The United States transportation system
4. Indians
5. Presidents
6. Spinal Tap
7. The effect of refrigerated air on South Texas lifestyle
8. Lobotomies
9. Human reflexes
10. Peanut, Canola, Vegatable, and Olive oil
11. Popcorn
12. A gravity-suspended, earth-circumventing bridge (thank you Thomas)
13. Dream analyzation
14. Space stations
15. Different cooking properties of Cedar vs. Mesquite wood

In all, it was an awesome experience. I am lucky to have a dad like I do, and I suggest to all of you out there to hang out with your parents a little more and learn as much as you can from them, because they really are interesting and know a lot more than we do. Until my next hospital visit,

Dave "an alive and kicking squirrel" Burkett

A Heartbreaking Letter about Squirrels

It's 11:10 A.M. at The Bookstore.

Dear Everyone*,

The recent dearth of posting has been, at the very least, deplorable. "Execrable" may perhaps be more fitting, but I found "reprehensible" too kind for you villains. Indeed, each one of you is behaving like a gluttonous story-squirrel, burying away the chestnuts of narrative under the cold snows of selfishness. How am I to know, squirrel-friend, about the health of your whiskers? Or about the bushiness of your tail? For all I know, your respective trees have been logged and shredded, and you and your squirrel-family lie flattened on a highway, your once glossy fur now imprinted with the cruel treads of a tire. I can no longer stand the sense of abandonment. Therefore, I have decided to find new friends.

Looking around the bookstore, I see a myriad of options. First, there is Richard, who, like a wise and friendly badger, serves my coffee every morning with gentle questions and sound advice. Richard's flattop and his penchant for hearty fruits (he is always trying to sell me a fruit salad, which I occasionally buy) add to his badger-like appearance. Additionally, most of the badgers I have known allow me to write reviews for the books in their stores. Richard has kindly chosen to do the same, showing him a true badger. He is option #1.

My second candidate for friendship is a woman I shall call Luna, though I do not know her name. From time to time, Luna meets older, wealthy white women in the café and speaks Spanish to them for an hour or so. I assume that they are paying her for her services, though it is possible she is just extremely friendly. She is a lovely woman and says "¡muy bien!" so emphatically, and with such an encouraging warmth, that I have chosen to think of her as a golden retriever. Every thirty seconds or so, she must fetch the wayward sentences of these women and bring them back, clutched gently between her jaws to the mesa. She reminds me of someone I used to know, before the great blog-nut-fallout of 2009, but the name escapes me. She is option numero dos.

Another bookstore employee, Kathy, also promises potential. So often I have seen her fluttering about her corner of the store, taking frightened customers under her wing and gossiping loudly about the books she's read lately. This practice is made all the juicier by the area in which Kathy works: Romance Novels. The entire section is labeled "Kathy's Picks," because she has read every book, cover to glossy cover. Because of her rapid head-movements and feathered gray hair, Kathy reminds me most of a woodpecker. I have considered re-naming her section "Kathy's Pecks," but Richard has not yet granted me this measure of power. He will soon see reason. She is option # 3.

So, squirrel-friends, if any of you are indeed still alive, I would consider your advice regarding my new companions. They seem like lovely people, the lot of them, and I'm sure that once we start chatting about John Updike's recent demise, the conversation will keep flowing, like a stream of pecans from a nut-laden tree.

Post, or I'll Flatten You Myself,

-A.

* This excludes you, Smithy.

21.25 Uhr auf Deutschland

Guten Tage Alles,

Ich bin jetzt sicher in Deutschland, und auch sehr muede. Jetzt schlafe ich.

Bis Morgen,

Thomas

And then there was one.

11.31 am: Right where I should be.

Now that finals are done and summer has officially begun, it's time to ask my favorite question again: what time is it where you are? It seems like it has been a lot less than a year when we sat around arguing whether we should call this blog "The Peda-files" or "Home Keys on the Left Hand" or something to do with Pangea (possibly my personal favorite.) Either way, the year is over and here we are again. I know that some people, including myself, have the distinct privilege of being in school for an extra year but no matter how you look at it, this is the last year where things will be how we have known them to be.

After this year, people start heading off in their own directions, getting jobs, getting married, or just getting old. All three for some.

After this year we will look back and say: "Remember when we were in college?" "Remember when we used to have pizza parties just because we could?" "Remember the foam party?" "Remember doing nothing all the time and thinking we were stressed?"

After this year afternoon naps become a thing of the past. (Unless you work for Google or Zappos, that is.)

So this year let Facebook talk to itself, let the rest of the Internet suck someone else's soul, and give your TV a break. Instead, let's make this year the year we look back on when we are old.

And with this post, let the blogging begin.


aaron

Screw you, we're from Texas

It is 10:53 in Fort Worth, Texas

It has been a long time since I posted, So I'll split my time up into four sections for y'all.
1) 2nd session at Camp Ozark
2) 3rd session at Camp Ozark
3) Brief intermission in Texas
4) mission trip to Guatemala

So, 2nd session at camp was the BOMB. I was a counselor for 15 year old guys (one of whom some of us met randomly at A-Fran's house right as we were leaving to go skiing, he was being tudored by Mrs. Francis). It was just like making 10 new friends, it was really easy. We basically just played hacky sack all the time and had raves in the cabin. AWESOME.

3rd session at camp... was a bomb. Not so awesome. I had some tough kids that were just mean to each other. It's two weeks of my life I would like to forget, as bad as that sounds. Highlight of the session- seeing John Alford and recieving a Drogba jersey that he bought for me while he was in Spain.

Now to the interesting part. The brief intermission in Texas. I was home from the July 13th to July 19th. I basically just hung out with Rob and Kelly. It was really just us (and Katie but she lives real far). The highlight of the break was when Kelly and Katie and Michelle came out to Rob's house to shoot with us. They got to shoot an SKS Russian Assault Rifle, an AR-15 assault rifle, a 9mm Glock, a .308 Sniper Rifle, a .223 Rifle, and a 12-guage shotgun. It was fun to finally show them what we do all the time. Shooting at Rob's house is to us as watching youtube is to Master Wayne. We just do it when we get bored. We also got to show the girls Rob's beast of a truck that is dangerously close to being done, and will display the RAW power inside in the next few weeks here. Anyway, It was just great being back in Texas. Arkansas got kind of old, like real old, like fast. But on July 19th I left the Great State again to head to Guatemala.

I went with my church from Fort Worth as a leader on the high school mission trip to Guatemala. It is really the only thing I have to compete with all of y'alls "studying abroad" and what not. It really was an amazing experience. We landed in Guatemala City, then traveled to Antigua, then Panajachel, then Santiago Atitlan. It was in Santiago Atitlan where we did our mission work. We worked for four days building houses for widows, and working on a christian camp that is being built by our sister church down there. It was really cool to be able to finally use that Spanish that I have been learning for oh so long. I talked soccer and construction with one of the elders of the church we were working with, it was great. Highlight of the trip was a USA vs. Guatemala soccer game during which yours truly buried a goal from about 15 meters (A-Fran, you would have been proud). The people there were great and the Holy Spirit was very active and God definitely is making his mark on the town of Santiago Atitlan. In all its glory though, Guatemala sure as hell wasn't Texas, and when asked what my favorite part of the trip was, I would say that seeing the Texas Coastline as we passed over it on the airplane trip home.

That is basically my summer in a nutshell. I didn't really see the cool places that a ton of y'all did... I didn't hike the mountains of Spain, or drink a beer in Germany, or have wine in Milan, or tour Manchester United's stadium. But I think I'll just agree with Alex and say that frankly I don't ever miss anything much except you guys and Texas. I can't wait to see everyone again. The historic district of College Station is about to get rocked... until then

Screw them, we're from Texas

The Hills are Alive with... Rain

Dear Dear Friends (bah - dit - tuh - dum - duh ["hotel song" anyone?]),

I arrived in Vienna today on from Salzburg, and, yes, the hills are still there. In fact, I had a series of "Sound of Music" songs stuck in my head for the two days I was there.

So I woke up after my first night to a rainy day. It rained until noon, and then there was a break. Naturally, my optimism led me to believe it would be a good day for a three hour hike up the Unterberg past the ice caves to a plain on top where I could behold the hills in all their beauty. Well the bus ride to the bottom of the mountain went fine, and the first hour hiking was actually pretty enjoyable, but optimism cannot tame mother nature. Luckily, as the downpour began, I noticed that all the trees had wet trunks except for one strong evergreen tree down the way. I figured that the dry tree would be my best bet, I totally felt like Bear Grylls because I stayed dry, and made it down the mountain alive. I could have also felt like Survivorman if I wanted to, but I would have had to stay in the rain and build a shelter and then try and fish but not catch anything.

On my way back to town I stopped to see Schloss Hellbrunn, where part of the legendary "Sound of Music" was filmed. I got lost in a little town at first, and then decided I didn't mind being lost because the town of Anif was so pristine in the mountain mist - so I wandered - and after an hour or two happened upon the castle.

Anyways, not alot happened in Salzburg, but I wanted to let you all know that you should visit it, especially if it is sunny - i'll certainly come back some day.

Twenty, going on Twenty-One,

Thomas

An Open Letter

It's 11:45 P.M., Tallahassee time. 

Dear Europe, 

Let me be frank.

I don't miss you. 

Sure, you make a mean croissant, and really, I was fond of your liter-and-a-half-big-mamba-jahamba-bottled-water, but...I don't miss you. It's true that, during my time living abroad, I enjoyed a few glasses of wine and two espressos each and every day. It's also true that I spent four weeks in Barcelona hitting up Buenas Migas and uncorking uncorkables atop monumentos nacionales. It's, furthermore, true that my only class-related responsibilities were taking photos of old people and charming alleyways, but... I don't really miss you. 

You've got a point when you mention my going to Venice, and scoring a genuinely Italian bed and breakfast with Max & Cody. Your argument continues to be strong when you remind me of the gnocchi we ate there and of the breakfasts we lingered over each morning, but...I don't miss you.

I am nearly convinced of the tiniest twinge of longing when you recount my week in Paris, France, where the wildly entertaining Andrew Threlkeld and I had the most fabulous quiche of Julia Child's afterlife, and, yes, I do remember the uncannily-named "Old Man Tea" we enjoyed. It's true that I bought four kinds of coffee there, and it's also true that a French McActualperson recommended a White Bordeaux for a picnic we bought at an open air market, and it's even truer that I got to eat at Chez Gladine twice, Katherine...

But, gosh, I just don't miss you.

Amor/Amore/Aimer

-A. 

Well, When I lived in London..

11.38am. Somewhere between London and Manchester, UK.

Knowing that you all feast upon my every word, I must first apologize for my lack of posting. I hope that you can understand that I have been very busy living experiences as opposed to writing about them all the time. I'm sure we will all have plenty of time to recount our favorite "Well, when I lived in [London | Barcelona | Florence | Flint]..." stories. That's not ever going to get old. (I wish there was some sort of sarcastic font I could use.) Anyway, when I lived in London, it was amazing.

Right now I am traveling from London to Manchester by way of a Virgin Rail train. Usually, I have lecture everday for three hours (from 2-5) and class in the mornings for and hour (11-12). As you might guess, this leaves very little time for tomfoolery during the day, and indeed excludes the option of a long weekend thanks to Friday class until 5. We did recieve a warning on the day of our orientation that this was not, by any means, a holiday. Great! But I decided that since I haven't yet missed a class, I deserved at least one, especially to tour Old Trafford: The Theatre of Dreams.

I really have learned a lot in my class (Judgement and Decision Making for Managers) but have learned as much or more in the pubs. The pubs are a huge part of their culture and I wish it was the same back home. Here are some things that i have been taught by my friends from around the world.

Americans love marshmallows.
We love PB&J.
We dress poorly.
We don't know how to dance properly.
We are loud.
Many Europeans pay more attention to our politics than theirs.
George Bush is a Methodist (They really pay attention.)
We are narrow minded.
Obama is everyone's favorite.
Everyone in France knows about Paris, Texas.
Most people love Texas.
Texans often say, "Hey y'all why don't you come to my ranch and eat beef jerky."
Also, "Later Alligator."

Those are just a few of the many things the Europeans have told me about the US and Texas. It's fun to hear what they think about us, although its not usually very good, but perhaps very true. The pubs generally lend themselves to great conversations, I don't know what it is about them but that's how it seems to work. For example, I was at the pub the other night with Dixie Houser, Abbey Konz (who were both traveling through), and some of my friends from the LSE. Two of the people there were Alexander from Spain, literally one of the coolest people that I know, and his equally cool girlfriend Anna, from Canada. They met in Paris while they were studying two years ago and now both live in Spain, no big deal. We were talking about her thesis on religion and propaganda in politics when the conversation turned to each of our religious beliefs. Both of them, being terribly smart, were asking very deep questions and were genuinely interested because they had never really heard it before. The level of questions was that of Predestination vs Freewill and the Perseverance of the Saints. They kept saying things like "You don't have to talk about it, if we are offending you by asking please let us know." Very cool. They just kept asking and asking and we got to tell them all about Christianity and the whole Gospel story over a beer (don't tell Grandma.) The funniest part was when they asked if we believed in abstinence and we said yes, Alex put his hands up and said "Wait wait wait, you.. (pointing at me) you believe in this?" I had to laugh while saying "I do indeed." It was a really fun conversation and they seemed genuinely interested. Amazing how God works.

Although class takes a lot of my time, I've managed to still have fun. I've seen all the touristy things, I've played soccer in Hyde Park, I've gone shopping, I've gone to Hillsong Church London, and I've hung out a lot with my friends. Sunday, while taking a stroll through Hyde Park I happened upon Speaker's Corner, an area of the park where people stand up on small ladders, or hang from lampposts (pictured) to rant and rave. (They stand off the ground so they can talk about the Queen. If they speak poorly of the Queen while on British soil, they can be arrested.) It's a really cool place. I walked up on the first speaker (the one pictured) screaming in a Middle Eastern language, turns out he was screaming about politics in the Middle East. I walked about to the back to take some cool pics when one of the men pointed at me and shouted something in his language. At that point, all of them turned and looked at me. So there I was, most obviously an American, with my camera, and around 100 Middle Eastern men looking at me. Having no idea what was just said I did the only sensible thing: slowly raised my hand and gave a sheepish wave. Something else was said and everyone laughed. I left shortly after that.

The next thing I saw was a man in a wheelchair doing the ol' fire and brimstone speech. He had engaged two or three Muslims and was telling them how they were sinners. I stopped to listen for a bit and more and more people gathered until there were about 20, mostly men, mostly Muslim. At one point a Muslim man name Arif said "Well even you're Bible says that Jesus was a sinner," to which I had to speak up and say, "Excuse me?" From that point on it was me and him for about 2 hours, with up to thirty Muslims looking on. It was so much fun! He was very polite and we talked sensibly for a very, very long time about Jesus and what they believe. I will tell you what, they know the Bible in a way the few Christians do. He was quoting, referencing, and giving me history of the language of the verses. I was amazed. It's a shame we don't do the same, but that's a whole other post. Somewhere in the conversation he half jokingly said, "I hope you aren't an American, because I'm an Iraqi." I said, "I am, and I'm from Texas!" He laughed and patted me on the shoulder, someone in the crowd formed their hands into dual handguns* and made shooting noises. God bless Texas. Needless to say, he didn't convert and neither did I, but hopefully I left him with some things to think about, as he did for me.

I later got into another discussion, this time about 10 clearly Muslim men surrounding just me as it was getting dark. All in all a pretty good day and something I'll never forget.


For those readers who are still with me, I hope you have enjoyed my recounting of a few of my adventures. Soon I will be posting pictures of my trip to Manchester and the tour of the stadium. I'll also keep you updated about Monty Python's Spamalot, which I am going to see on Thursday. I can't wait to get back to school, I hope you all plan on coming back early so we can party like its Freshman year. I'm so grateful for such a solid group of people surrounding me, I have indeed missed that.

To all you lurkers: come out of the woodworks, I miss hearing from you.




Until the next time I see you,

aaron




*get it?

Waiting to Exhale

Gentlemen and Ladies,

Well, it has been quite a long time since my last post and for that I apologize. My lack of recording my thoughts onto bloggerfreak.com reflects in no way their existence. It's funny how time flies isn't it though. I remember the morning I left for Afreeka with Maxwell. Now we've been back for 18 days. Time flies. No longer friends, colleagues, mates are we where we were. No, no we are where we are.

Friends, we have been everywhere. We still are everywhere. This is a summer of stories. Mamma Mia! This is the season we will never forget. We have danced. And drank. And ridden trains. And laid on beaches. Had our language critiqued by the Dark Knight. And been driven up the Wall-E by each other's stories. And oh!, how I have Wanted to see each one of you so badly. I would Journey to the Center of the Earth just to Meet Dave somewhere...anywhere. Now friends when I discuss our friend group to outsiders- which often occurs- it seems to refer to "us" by anything less than The Golden Army is heresy. See I think so highly of each you, it is hard to explain to anyone the depth of this feeling. It seems I might have to jump around like a Space Chimp just to get my point across. But my real point is Golden Army, that though we are continents apart, we truly are together. I have tried and tried to explain this concept and I can only make it crystal through these words by Mr. Stevens from a song titled "John Wayne Gacy, Jr."


"And in my best behavior I am really just like [them]
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid "

Though these lyrics refer to serial killer turned pedophile (shout out A-Tone), let us not harvest from this area of our crop lest our bounty still be underdeveloped. We shall mature past to this point. Even at our best, underneath it all, though worlds apart, We are the Aggies the Aggies are We.

So I charge you to remember this. Wherever you are. Wherever you are going. Represent our family. Because underneath the floorboards, we are really just the same...

gn

that what happens if you don't sign out from my laptop

Lieber Thomas,

du hast dich leider nicht ausgeloggt aus meinem Notebook! ;-) So today, when I came back from the Kossmanns and from shopping with Travis and Max, I checked my computer and you were still signed in on blogger.com! You should better be vorsichtig! Ich hoffe, du hast eine gute Reise und noch ganz viel Spaß! Und nochmal vielen Dank für deine Hilfe! Es hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht mit dir zusammen in der Kirche zu arbeiten und auch abzuhängen! Gott segne dich!

hihi

Regina

Christmas Cheer

Beloved Friends,

It is a cold and rainy day in Germany, a cold and rainy day which reminds me of a late October day in Aggieland, a late October day where I would think to myself, "Today feels like Christmas. I should probably listen to Christmas music."

Thus, today while we continue painting the church building of Christus Gemeinde Siegburg, Regina and I will be listening to Christmas music. Undoubtedly this will lead to me pulling out the Christmas music back home earlier than usual, but you will just have to bear with me and enjoy the holidays!

Tomorrow I leave for Rostock to meet up with Victor, a man I have been in touch with who is helping plant a church up there. Then I will head to Salzburg and Vienna to see my sister a few days after that.

So, much love from Germany, and Christmas cheer to you all.

"God Bless us, everyone",

Thomas "tiny tim" Deetjen

pausing in the whirl wind to reflect and give thanks

Friends! I have not forgotten about any of you. I actually think of each of you often. Thinking is something I have learn how to do this summer. There is a difference between idle thinking and purposeful thinking. You know like instead of just humming to the song that is playing, I'm actually focusing on what the words are saying or instead of just thinking about my friends, thats you by the way, praying for you all and giving God praise for each of you.

Anyways, I have typically been reading the blog quickly on the weekends, laugh a lot to myself cause no one ever understands when I try to explain things, and then have to turn the computer off and go back into the isolated world of camp! Camp is done for me this summer and I have learned some of the biggest things ever that I haven't fully processed. First of all, when I arrived at camp for orientation, I wondered what I was doing there. I was at a completely different camp this year without the comfort of familiar faces and friends to lean on. It was just me and God. Also, I learned what God's love is and how he loves. I haven't fully grasped it but it is something that has stuck with me. Just think about this: Why is love a commandment? and What do you mean when you say 'I love you'? Those hit me hard, spent a week wrestling with these questions and focusing my energy and thoughts on God. It was neat. So neat that I started wondering to myself why I don't do that more often.

My last week at camp I learned the Bigness of God. Don't know if that is truly a word but it is what God truly is. As my last week approached, I became very sad about leaving and threw a pity-party for myself. Sorry, I would have invited you guys but I didn't think if would be very much fun for you. Anyways, I was convicted on thinking about myself and instead I decided to give everything to the Lord for my last week. He had been doing great things during camp for the campers and in my own life. I was now expecting more change then ever in just one week that I had. So, I find out for the last week I have the one age group I have never had and that I would consider the hardest for me to have patience with and that is the elementary group. As I read about these "brand-new" to camp 3rd graders, I see that none of them have accepted Christ. I took a deep breath and again, prayed for BIG things. God did more than what I could have ever expected. Guys, all of the campers in my cabin accepted Christ that week. It truly wasn't 'just the thing to do' either. It was for real. As I asked one of the campers why she wanted to accept Christ as her Lord as savior, she said she wanted to know Him more! An 8 year old said that! God wasn't done quite yet as I had been praying for a specific family whose father is currently in Iraq. This family has a daughter who will be at A&M in the fall. Her mom had shared a few things with me and my heart broke for her and this family. On friday, after all the parents had prayed for her, this sweet new sister in Christ accepted Jesus as well and was baptized along with the girls in my cabin. I was crying for joy and for glory to our Father.

This story is more indepth and I would love to share it with any of yall when I see you but I just wanted to share with you what I have learned this summer and to ask each of yall for encouragement and accountability that I never lose sight of how great our God is. We don't have to be a camp to see great things happen or to refect on Him always, I want to be able to do this with my friends.

I wasn't sure where this post was going to be lead when I first started typing but I do want you to all know I am thinking of each of you and have enjoyed hearing about your travels. I'm off to Alaska in the morning and don't worry, I will have pictures to add onto the others that yall of shared to show the glory of God's creation. Thank you friends, brothers and sisters.

"Therefore if there is any encouragment in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose." Philippians 2:1-2