"Every word right from the start"

550+ Blog posts later there's no letting up. This public journal is self-censored in many ways, but in the end, it is a journal rather than the media's version of a blog. There's little social commentary. Instead it's a document that says, "I was here." And furthermore, this is what my life consisted of.

Today my life consisted of very little work, then reading about Consumerism in a health care not an out of control shopper sense. All in all, my day was slow. I did get a tax refund of a sizable sum, which was very welcome. Now to pay a few bills, or save for a down payment or fees on rent or mortgage...these are the questions.

Finals week. The best week of the semester. You know, I was right, it is great to be paid for work. But they were also right, it was great not having the responsibilities of "real life." If I could only go back and do it again...only one year out, and that question is answered. "I wouldn't care as much." But the truth is, I would care just as much. I would work just as hard, but I think I would play a bit harder. I was always from the work hard/play hard school, but I do think I would focus a bit more on the latter a second time around. Much more would just be lying. I had a blast in school. That last semester was a little too much, but even then I made some lasting memories.

So in the end, which is still the very beginning, here we are. Good luck this week.

"Want to be your superhero"

What a wonderful weekend of relaxation. Today we got up early for the first service before spending the day walking around Plymouth with Grace, watching Spiderman 2, Amazing Race and The Sopranos, and having an all around relaxin day to begin a week packed with high-potential for entertainment.

Tuesday marks Jon McLaughlin's CD release, which we're looking forward to along with a 2-day only Dirty Dancing 20th Anniversary showing we may check out as it's one of Lisa's favorite movies. Next thing you know it's Friday and Spiderman 3 is coming to a theatre near you. We've watched 1 and are half way through 2 in anticipation.

We're considering a house in the Ferndale area. A nice big one with plenty of room for guests, animals, junk. Who knows what.... with 1500+ square feet and a basement, there's just plenty of room. And we might be able to get a good deal. We're going to take another look and see where the chips fall. If you think about it, say a prayer that God will keep us from error. Buying a house is a major purchase after all. I ain't spent over 100k on anything else yet...

Time to go play some Super Mario 64 and keep 24 Season 5 moving along before hitting the hay. I hope your weekend was as good as mine.

"Why wait any longer for the world to begin"

While this past year brought about a lot of change, this coming year seems as though it may make that change feel more permanent. Some friends will move away, some friends will stay away. My hometown will start to feel more like a place I love to visit, and my new home will start to feel more like home. Only one year out of school, time is still on the academic calendar year...

If it seems I write a lot about missing friends, it's because I think of you guys every day. Sometimes I pray for you as well. A big part of my life is four hours away.

Can you imagine a life without hope? A life where nothing mattered for more than a moment? Imagine only existing for oneself...with the infinite possibilities there is no agenda, but to do what you want without direction. And in the end, when you're about to leave life, you're left with nothing to take with you but a lifetime of memories and a feeling of emptiness. A life without hope seems to be the most tragic. Perhaps more tragic than a life without love?

"...He shall stengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord."

"Now ladies here we gizzo"

Yo, what up. R U down wit watt ben goin on wit Rosie. Miss O'Donnell is quitting the View. Perhaps, if Americans are lucky she will never again have a platform to speak from.

The search for an abode continues. Hopefully, we'll get to look at several more houses this weekend. So far, we've got our eyes on a big ol' 1929 build house in Ferndale -- a trendy suburb of Detroit. We'll see how it goes. Perhaps we'll have an Ah Ha moment and just know.

Currently Playing: Super Mario 64
Watching: Sex and the City Season 6, Lost
Reading: Nothing...
Listening to: Reggaeton (the genre, not a band)
Looking forward to: the weekend
Working on: finding a house

"No matter where I go"

This weekend was great. From beginning to end, it was nice. Saturday especially was nice as Rogers and I had a great lunch and ice cream run with some great friends before going our separate ways to hang out with our like-gendered amigos and amigas. 9 holes of golf with Wilbe and Parliament later, I was turning a bit red, but still ready to hit Broad Ripple with Ricker, Par and soon-to-be-graduating Josh and Deardorff. It was a good night. Glad to see y'all this weekend. Well most of you at least. Thanks for being great friends.

"Something to talk about"

Please note that we will be in town on Saturday if folks want to hang out. Nate Deardorff is graduating and moving to California so I'm hoping to hang out with that guy on Saturday night for one last night on the town. Anyone else available?

In other news, Rogers and I visited two houses tonight, both of which had their pros and cons. I'll tell you what: Paying Taxes on a home is going to break the bank. Some areas around here (including areas with more affordable housing that we're considering) we could have to pay $250 - $300 a month in taxes. Can you imagine? At the same time, right now we lose $1,000 a month on rent. We'll see...

Time for bed. Soy Tired.

"Lost without you"

Why Andrew's back scratches will never add up

Andrew: *Scratching Lisa's Back*
Lisa: *Trying to direct my scratches* "Ah Marilyn's Grove, Marilyn's Grove!"
Andrew: "What the heck are you talking about?"
Lisa: You know where that JFK guy died.

Rogers on current events

Lisa: "Ask me who Tony Blair is."
Lisa: "You don't even have to ask me because I know the Prime Minister of England."
Andrew: "Who's Saddam Hussein?"
Lisa: "That guy who died that we caught in a fox hole."
Andrew: "What country did he lead?"
Lisa: "Umm. Iran?"
Andrew: "Who's the leader of Iraq?"
Lisa: "That guy we can't find, with the beard. Who bombed us."

Andrew on fashion

Lisa: "I can't believe you know Chanel's first name."
Lisa: "What's Dior's first name?"
Andrew: "Christian."
Lisa: "Oh my gosh, I married a gay man."

Always better when we're together.

Tomorrow night: Tigers baseball game!
Friday night: We're hitting A-Town. We should be around Saturday.

"Long days came"

It's been too long. Thursday Rogers and I traveled to Fabulous Ferndale to see Mr. Jon McLaughlin perform with Matt Wertz (including Chad Kenner on drums for all you Andersonians) and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. We left before Stephen Kellogg, b/c Rogers had to get up early for work and wasn't up for too late of a night. But not before we got some nice shirts with the state of Indiana right on the front...and saying hi to Jon's wife Amy for a minute. Unfortunately this is the second time I've missed talking with Bob as he seems to be busy doing managerial types of things.

The weekend was...slow. Which is good, I suppose. Unfortunately Rogers had to work both Sat. and Sun., but fortunately I did not have to work so I chilled. Went to see Grindhouse yesterday, and it did not disappoint. Planet Terror was just the type of film we've looked to rent many times. Made to look poorly made, with tons of blood and some squemish scenes -- just what the C no D horror movie fan ordered. Death Proof on the other hand was more of an action type of movie. To be very specific, it was more of a chase movie. There wasn't a lot going on in it. Both entertained, as did the over the top trailers in the middle. Way over the top.

Otherwise, I tried to catch up on 24, take care of Grace the Dog, play some Super Mario 64 and eat a lot of pizza. It was good. But it would have been better with Rogers.

"So smooth"

I've been sucked into American Idol. It happened from the first episodes of the season, when I decided that it was the funniest show on television. Now I tape it on Tuesday and Wednesday and then fast forward through one or both episodes on Wednesday night after Lost to catch the highlights. I don't care too much, but I care just enough to want to keep up and watch it rather than read about it. I want Blake to win, primarily becauase I think I would like his CD.

In other news, Rogers and I will journey to the Metropolitan Detroit suburb of Ferndale tomorrow evening to enjoy the music of Jon McLaughlin, Matt Wertz and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. Jon and Matt put on a great show in Ann Arbor in February, so it should be fun. I've never heard of Stephen Kellogg until now, so we'll see about that. Unfortunately, they're headlining...but I guess we can always hit the road if we want to seein as how it'll be a late night anyway. Although now that I'm listening to their music via their Web site, I think I might enjoy that as well. Enough about that.

Enough about anything. I'm tired and should hit the hay. Read my girlfriend's Blog linked on the side of the page (my left your right). It's got some great stories from work. And those are the best of all.

"We have forgotten"

Ah Easter in Novi -- there's little like it -- OK, I guess that's not correct. It's like...well it's not like a holiday at all. Aside from the cards from my mother and grandmothers, Easter could come and pass without me knowing the difference. That may in part be because I neglected to give up anything at all when asked at church two weeks ago. On the flipside, I am listening to Sixpence None the Richer right now, which is classified as "Gospel & Religious" on iTunes.

I got a call from old Brian Roberson today. It had been awhile. Three months and five days to be exact as the last time I talked to him was on the early morning of New Year's Day.

Life rolls on and on.

Perhaps not too unlike my friend and yours Nate, I'm growing restless. As I told Lisa before she left for work, "I'm going to...look for houses in the area and jobs in Indianapolis." Not that I want a different job, but I do want desparately to be in Indianapolis. Unfortunately, at this point the job is more important than that desire. Nevertheless, I'm restless. I too want to do something great with this life. But I neglect to do so on every given day. What did I do that was great today? I took a two hour nap.

Isn't the preparation period of my life over. Isn't it time to move? (Of course I mean in the "Dare You to Move" way not the "I Moved to Detroit" way.)

Happy Easter to all and to all a good night! If you are reading this, you are missed.

"This house is not a home"

Trying to find a suitable place to live is no easy task. Is it time to buy or safer to rent? What town, neighbordhood, street are we looking for. How much can we afford? How much space do we need? It's a daunting task. We're going through it right now. The good news is, this year we have more than 2 days to find a place!

On that subject any of y'all that are looking for a place to live in Anderson, here are the details on my sister's condo. It's one or two doors down from where Eileen and Kyla used to live on High Street. They will sell for a firm $56,000 -- won't go a penny below. But others in their building are going for $60,000 (I think). If you prefer to rent it is maybe $600ish. However, if you find a loan calculator on the internet you might find that even with $0 down you could potentially purchase and only pay $450 or so a month.

There are condo association fees -- maybe $100 a month (too much if you ask me). Let me know if you want more info. They also have somebody lined up to rent for the next school year, but they really want a whole year lease. If a couple of you want to buy some time while looking for a place to buy, you may be able to rent just for the summer. With two or more people $600 to $650 ain't too bad.

Just wanted to pass that info along. Also, they are giving finder's fees -- $200 to anybody who identifies a buyer. $50 or so for a full year's rent.

"Dinner at eight"

Life keeps on rolling on. Each week seems to go by quicker than the last. I'll be 25 before you know it. For those keeping track at home that'll be June 2, 2008. I wonder what I'll have accomplished by the time I turn 25. I've only directly shared the Good News with folks on a few occasions and when it comes down to it, ain't that all that matters? That and nothing else. I think there's a bit more than that. And that bit more is loving. Loving our neighbors. Showing love and giving love. Sharing the Good News by exemplifying love. Hopefully, I'll have accomplished that consistently for most of my life by the time I turn 25. It's a daily challenge.

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In other news, having Jason and Eileen visit was great. I'm glad they could make it up. While Rogers had to work on Saturday, the three of us had a good time visiting the book signing of Mick Foley (Mankind) -- although Jason decided it wasn't worth it after waiting for an hour and being nowhere near having his book signed. Then after eating Coldstone we debated going to a movie (in the running were Premonition, TMNT and Reign Over Me) before deciding to save our money and rent Little Miss Sunshine, which was simply great. When Rogers got off work, we scoped out Birmingham in hopes of stumbling across some Wrestlers in the nicest area of Metro Detroit. Instead we got dinged with $10 each cover charges and hit the road quickly.

Aside from the frightful scene of having 80,000 people in downtown Detroit for Wrestlemania, Sunday was a blast. We scoped out the town and ate some good Mexican food at Locos. Then Rogers and I had a blast at Snow Patrol while Wrestlemania went down a few blocks away.

This has been a step-by-step run down of our weekend in Detroit.

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Currently Watching: Entourage and American Idol
Listening to: nothing inparticular...Regina Spektor
Working: Plenty

"Let's not talk about growth"

Five scary things about Detroit the day of Wrestlemania:

5) A mass of people 80,000 strong all going into the same building at the same time.
4) 98% of those people either dressed up like a wrestler, carrying a championship belt or wearing black shirts.
3.5) 75% of those people are what some would call "uneducated." Even scarier? 25% of those people are eductated!!
3) Teenage girls passing out free Insane Clown Posse CDs with liner notes that are scary just to look at without even reading the lyrics.
2) People carrying metal chairs around town and on the PeopleMover.
1) Eileen and Jason were in the middle of it all in the brightest flourescent yellow shirts you can imagine. (Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see them on the DVD.)