Just One Guy

Catching Up

2011-11-13T14:03:00.000-06:00

So, it's been a while! That seems to be the trend on this blog. A lot has changed in our lives since last post, so I'm going to put this in list form. Also, I have a video at the end that you should watch that's unrelated to anything, but is really funny. Anyway, you all probably already knew most of what I'm going to say here, so if you want you can skip to the video. Here goes.

1) Rachel got a new job!
It's not really new anymore, but it happened after my last post. She is the Children's Ministry Associate at Westwind Church in Waukee. She is loving it.

2) I got a new job!
I'm no longer slinging insurance to old people. I'm now doing document creation for a software startup in Ames. It's probably the best place to work in Iowa. Not only is the culture really fun to be a part of, but the benefits are awesome too which is good because...

3) Rachel's pregnant!
She's due March 13th which is also our 2 year anniversary. For those who don't want to do the math, she's 23 weeks along.

4) We moved!
Into a townhome in Waukee. It was a mess getting in, but now that we're here we love it!

That's all I'm going to post about for now, so enjoy this video. Hilarious.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T22:15:00.001-05:00

This post is dedicated to my beautiful wife Rachel. Mother of one.

This is my first post since September, making this officially the longest I've gone without blogging since the creation of this blog. A whole lot has happened since I last posted and there's no way I'm going to be able to fit it all in here. I'm hoping to blog more and you can see a bit more of my life that way, but for now I'm going to share a story that has affected me more than almost anything else in my life so far. This is the first time most of you have heard this.

In early November, Rachel and I got some incredibly exciting news. We were pregnant and due in late July (and by we I mean she)! We had been secretly trying and after a couple of months got the second line to show up on the test. We decided to tell our immediate families as well as a few of our closest friends, but were going to wait until after our twelve week appointment to share the news with everyone else.

We were very excited and began taking secret trips to Babies R' Us and the baby sections at Wal-Mart, Target, and about any other store we went into. We talked about names (we had started calling the baby "Fido" after a conversation where my mom misheard what Rachel said and thought that was going to be the baby's name), debated whether it was going to be a boy or a girl, and laughed about how it was probably going to be a short little boy (Rachel's size) or a giant Amazon woman (Jase's size). We had a trip planned to go to California in January to see my parents which was right after the twelve week mark, and were so excited to celebrate with them.

However, in the middle of December, things changed. Rachel got home from work and immediately began sobbing in my arms about how she noticed some spotting (not a good sign) while she was at work and was really scared. We called the nurse on duty at Mary Greeley and she told us we didn't need to worry, that it was normal, but if it got worse to call back. That did little to calm our fears so we set up an appointment the next day at Rachel's new doctor in Des Moines (we were two weeks away from moving). On December 16th we went in for the appointment and got the news we'd been dreading; 8 weeks along and we had a miscarriage.

We were left in a room alone to decide what course of action we wanted to take. Rachel could either have a DNC (surgical removal of the fetus) or we could wait and see if it happened naturally. We sat in the room feeling numb as nurse after nurse walked by in the hallway. What had just happened? There were few tears at that point, more shock than anything. We decided to go with the DNC and they set it up for that afternoon. As soon as we got to our car the tears hit and wouldn't stop. For those of you who have never experienced anything like this, you can't even begin to imagine the hurt. For those of you who have, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

We cried for what seemed like hours and eventually called our parents to let them know. We drove around Des Moines aimlessly, just trying to pass the time until the surgery. It was torture watching the clock countdown the hours. 24 hours before we'd been so excited. Now, all the planning, laughing, and joking was over. Fido was gone.

When the surgery rolled around we were still numb. It hadn't really sunk in, and it all happened so fast it seemed like a dream. Rachel's parents were great and drove 2 1/2 hours to be with us. They sat and cried with me while Rachel was in surgery, and when she was out sat and cried with her as well. We got home late that night and just sat in a chair in the living room silently.

The next week or so was unbelievably hard. The smallest thing would bring back the tears. Rachel and I both took a couple of days off work. We prayed a lot, cried a lot, hurt a lot, but in the midst of that thanked God for the few weeks we had with baby Rohde.

Over the last few months, there have still been times where it hits us and we lose it, but we've seen God's hand in it so much that we know he has his reasons, even if they make no sense to us.

This weekend we were visiting Rachel's parents for Mother's Day and they bought a tree for us to plant in their yard. They said, "We want to plant a tree for each grand child, starting with baby Rohde." It was such an amazingly thoughtful gift. I know we're going to be filled with joy (and sorrow) every time we see it.

I know there's a lot of the story I missed, and I'm sorry this has been such a long post, but I wanted people to know. It's not something I want to hide. This is part of who we are. It's something that has affected our lives and changed us, and those who know us, need to know.

So, Rachel, Happy Mother's Day! You, babe, are the greatest mother in the world.

Yesterday's Post

2010-09-10T11:04:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to quickly respond to the responses to my response to the response of the Florida Pastor.

First, Joel, you tend to take things a little too personally, so yes, you are overreacting. Second, I never said this guy isn't a moron for doing it. It's a stupid stunt that serves not purpose. Third, the point of my post is that people are outraged, but if some random Immam (not sure how you spell it) in Iraq decided to burn a bunch of bibles our response would not be "Kill all Iraqis!" That's an absurd response. I feel that's the bigger issue here. Not some ignoramus burning Koran's in Florida that nobody likes. I agree, he's stupid and we should try and get him to stop, but if the media had just ignored him, no one would even know. They've allowed it to become the big deal he wants it to be. I think we should just ignore people like him. He wants attention, don't give it to him, and it doesn't become a problem. And most of all, don't get bent out of shape over it! It's his right, just like it's my right to call him a dill hole.

Burning the Koran

2010-09-09T10:39:00.001-05:00

So, I don't think I've ever discussed a political issue on my blog, but today I read a post by Abraham Piper (John Piper's son) about the Florida pastor who is planning on burning a bunch of Korans on the 9/11. I agreed whole-heartedly with his opinion on the issue. If you click the above link, it will take you to the post. While you're there, look for his other post on the issue as well. Anyway, I'm now going to paraphrase his opinion and add a little bit of my own.

1. While the idea of books is important, as is what a book says, a book is just a stack of paper. If someone wants to burn a book, don't get so offended by it. The hatred is in the man's heart whether he burns the book or not. As Abraham Piper says, there are two kinds of books that shouldn't be burned. One that belongs to someone else, or one someone is currently reading (you don't want to hurt them).

2. The guy is ignorant in thinking this is a good idea. What's he trying to accomplish?

3. Despite his ignorance, he has every right to burn the Koran, so let him do it.

4. This point is the one Abraham makes in his post and I find it very good. Several of Washington's big dogs (Obama and Petraeus to name a few) have commented on how the Florida pastor will be putting the lives of American civilians and troops in the middle east in danger if he goes through with this. They are assuming that if we offend Muslims, they'll get violent. If they're right, than our problem isn't an ignorant Florida pastor, our problem is a world-wide religion in which killing people is an acceptable response to a pastor in Florida being ignorant (Abraham makes this point much better, so read his post here!) So, either we're overreacting, or Islam needs to chill out. (By the way, I don't think we're overreacting. Insurgents are passing out flyers telling Muslims to kill American troops.)

Just to be clear, I don't have a problem with Muslims. Every Muslim I've known has been very friendly and nice. I have a problem with people who kill because someone offends them or believes something different.

That's all I have to say, please respond and let me know what you're thinking!

Ames Flooding

2010-08-11T19:30:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures of the Ames flood for those of you who don't know how to work the Google machine and look up professional pics. Enjoy!

Lincoln Way looking west towards campus

Target on the right in the background. Thought this was a funny sign.

The Target parking lot

Just south of University Village. The water had been up to the net.

Standing on Stange looking east just south of University Village. I believe that's a Chevy Blazer.

A hole at Veenker Memorial Golf Course just west of University Village

Rachel at the skate park at Brookside Park

Be mischievous while you still can! No rules!

There's a dumpster in the background there. We watched that floating on the water like a boat until it got stuck there.

The Shelter at Brookside Park

If that's not enough, you can see aerial pictures here.

Whatever

2010-08-03T15:03:00.000-05:00

I know I've said I'll blog more, and be using my other blog to do it, but I changed my mind. Seeing as this is my blog I can do that if I want to. So, I will continue to do my blogging here. If I decide to write a poem, it will be here. And I probably won't blog that often. So, that being said, here is an update of my life.

I'm still loving married life. Rachel is amazing. We just moved into a new apartment and it's super cool. I'll post pictures once we're completely unpacked. It's nice because this is the first place I will live for a whole year since highschool. I'm really excited to not move for at least a year.

Last weekend Rachel and I were homeless for a few days. We had to be out of our apartment on the 29th of July and couldn't move in to our new apartment until the 1st of August. During this time we stayed with Rachel's parents (thanks Jeff and Becky!). On Friday night we went to the Hancock County Fair and got to go to the rodeo there! Neither Rachel nor I had ever been to a rodeo before so we were pretty excited. It was a great time. My favorite part, however, was not the bulls, the blood, the dust, the mud, the roar of the Friday crowd. It wasn't the white in the knuckles or the gold in the buckles. It wasn't boots, or chaps, or cowboy hats, spurs or latigo. It wasn't even the ropes, the reins, the joy, or the pain.

That's right, despite what Garth Brooks says, none of those are what made my night. In between events, the main clown would try to be funny with skits, jokes, or games. Most of it fell flat, but one of the games had me gasping for air I was laughing so hard. The clown asked for two couples to come play a game. Rachel and I were wearing flip-flops and didn't want to walk barefoot through cow manure, so we didn't volunteer. Instead two other couples volunteered. One couple was a guy and girl probably about high school age. The other couple I'm assuming were married, but were still pretty young. They were also very large. The game was basically a dizzy bat race except after the guy spun around 10 times, the girl was supposed to hop on his back and he had to carry her around a cone and back. Here's where it gets good. The big guy spun around 10 times, then tried to run with the large girl on his back and couldn't. So, the girl got off, and the guy got on her back and SHE carried HIM. It was hilarious. Maybe you had to be there...

The End.

New Blog

2010-06-25T11:31:00.000-05:00

Okay, so not really new, just revamped. I've decided that my blogging has become stale, and after a conversation with my brother, decided I needed to create some consistency. Because of this, I have decided to write much less on this blog, and much more on my poetry blog. The idea is that I'll write about what's happening in my life, but rather than just writing about it, I'll place it in (loose) poetic form. I say loose because this is not exactly artful poetry. More Shel Silversteinesque rhymes about my life. I hope you enjoy it! Head on over to Rhyme and Meter to check it out!

As requested by Jake

2010-06-23T11:19:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry friends. I realize it's been an insanely long time since I last blogged. I haven't forgotten about it though! I often think, "Man, I need to blog again." But then I never do. Well, now I finally am. It just took a little prodding from my brother. So, in an attempt to not bore you with months of details, here is a top ten list of things going on in my life.

Top Ten Things Happening In My Life or That Have Happened Since My Last Real Post on March 4th

10. I got married! I'm assuming if you read this, you're aware this happened, but if not, now you know! Marriage is super fun. Also, incredibly time saving and convenient. For instance, I probably save about an hour per week not having to go somewhere to visit Rachel. She's just here! Also, for the last two months of school, I couldn't tell her, "I'll do my homework when you leave." Which helped out with my grades.

9. I'm finishing up my internship at the end of July. I'm leaving 180 ministry but joining up with IFC which is the International Friendship Connection. Rachel and I are going to host a family group which means we'll get to bring international students into our home on a weekly basis and speak truth into their lives. Totally pumped for that!

8. Rachel and I had a sweet honeymoon. I won't give many details, but we drove to North Carolina. On the way down we spent a night in St. Louis at the Westin (it was ridiculously nice), then while we were there we stayed in a cool cabin her second cousin owns. Then on the way back stayed in St. Louis again.

7. Both of my brothers-in-law are getting married this summer. Jamie is marrying Sheila next weekend and Zach is marrying Amber in September.

6. I went to camp with 40 jr. high students. It was an amazing weekend. I discovered that Cornerstone jr. high students are way more mature than a lot of other jr. high students.

5. We moved in May. We were kicked out of our apartment because we're not students anymore. Lucky for us, one of my best friends has some legit connections. We're living in a great apartment now.

4. We're moving again at the end of July. Just to another apartment. It's super inexpensive. So we've gotten that going for us, which is nice.

3. Rachel got a sweet job! She's working at Child Serve in Johnston, IA. She's the lead teacher in the infant room. This job was definitely a gift from God. It's not common at this point to get a great job, in your field of study, directly out of college. Especially when your field of study is Child, Adult, and Family Services. She's really enjoying it.

2. I graduated. That's right, I've even got a diploma to prove it. When I got my diploma, for some reason in made me think of the Boy Meets World episode where Eric thinks he got into some college that doesn't actually exist. When Mr. Feeney finally convinces Eric the college is not real, Eric says, "That girl over there thinks she got into some college called Yah-lay (Yale). Do you want to tell her or should I?" The end. Maybe you had to see it.

1. I GOT MARRIED!!! I know, I said this twice. It's just that cool.

It's been awhile

2010-04-28T10:54:00.000-05:00

Don't get your hopes up, this isn't a real post. I just wanted to let you know I wrote a bunch of new poems and revised some old ones yesterday. You should check them out here.

Just Ranting

2010-03-04T11:31:00.000-06:00

Hello folks. I'd like to rant for a minute. Please feel free to stop reading here as this probably won't be of interest to anyone. I feel like the take home point from the majority of my classes this semester is "Isn't that interesting?" I've looked at more research articles than the previous 7 semesters combined and have found almost nothing that is applicable to real life. All we do is read an article and talk about how fascinating it is. What good does that do me in the real world? That's all. I'm done.

It's been a while!

2010-02-25T12:01:00.000-06:00

Hello faithful readers. All 5 of you. It's me, Jase. Remember, we used to be friends. I realize I've been gone a while, but I've honestly been busy. Please forgive me. I'll try and come around more often. Anyway, there's been a lot going on in my life. I'm getting married in 16 days. Really! Only 16 days. I cannot wait! Also, I've been interning with Jr. High students at Cornerstone Church. It's been quite a ride! I also have 16 hours of class a week, and homework on top of that. But alas, here I am, posting a new blog post. If you wish I would update more, perhaps you should follow my new poetry blog. I update it at least once per week, sometimes twice. In fact, I just posted a new sestina. If you don't know what that word means, you should look it up on Wikipedia. It's a difficult style of poem, but I like what I came up with. Click here to check it out! There's one questionable poem on there that was an assignment, but I tried to make it as unquestionable as possible. I love you all! Have a great day. See you soon (hopefully).

New Poetry Blog

2010-01-14T02:36:00.000-06:00

Hello once again! I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm in a poetry class again this semester and we are supposed to keep a blog with our poems on it. So, if you're interested in reading my poetry, go here and follow me! Thanks!

My Life According to Frank Sinatra

2009-12-17T01:03:00.002-06:00

I used songs recorded by Frank Sinatra. That doesn't mean he wrote all of these, but he recorded all of them. Every one of them.

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. You can't use the band I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)"

Pick your Artist: Frank Sinatra

Are you a male or a female?
"A Fella With An Umbrella" (1948)

Describe yourself:
"Half as Lovely (Twice as True)" (1954)

How do you feel?
"I'm In The Mood For Love" (1953)

Describe where you currently live:
"On the Sunny Side of the Street" (1961)

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
"Over the Rainbow" (1945)

Your favorite form of transportation is:
"The Train" (1969)

Your best friend is:
"The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" (1966)

You and your best friends are:
"Too Close for Comfort" (1958)

What's the weather like?
"Oh What A Beautiful Mornin’" (1943)

Favorite time of day:
"When the Sun Goes Down" (1950)

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?
"Every Day of My Life" (1939)

What is life to you?
"Life's a Trippy Thing" (1970)

Your relationship:
"Isn't She Lovely?" (1979)

Your fear:
"Dancing on the Ceiling" (1955)

What is the best advice you have to give?
"Don't Sleep In the Subway" (1967)

Thought for the Day:
"I Could Write a Book" (1952, 1957)

How I would like to die:
"Looking at the World Thru Rose Colored Glasses" (1962)

My soul's present condition:
"Jesus is a Rock (In a Weary Land) (1945)

My motto:
"I Will Drink the Wine" (1970)

Famous (But Not Really)

2009-12-01T09:00:00.004-06:00

Thank you! Thank you! I'll be signing autographs after the show. I'd like to start by thanking my parents for all their hard work in raising me. I know I was a handful sometimes. Next I'd like to thank my beautiful fiance for encouraging me in my blog following. I love you babe. Finally, I'd like to thank...wait...what was that? The exact same number of people are aware of my existence today as yesterday? No, that can't be true. I won an SCL drawing. Now EVERYONE knows who I am. What do you mean that's not the way it works? Get my manager on the phone!

Okay, so I'm really no more famous today than I was yesterday. But, what IS neat is that thousands of people will read my name today and not even realize it. I was randomly selected as a winner on Stuff Christians Like to win The Bible Experience. Now I can hear the bible being read by the likes of L.L. Cool J, Samuel L. Jackson, Tatyana Ali, Denzel Washington, and more! I was excited to be a winner. Don't really know what I'm going to do with it, but maybe now I'll listen to the bible while I'm driving instead of *NSync's No Strings Attached album (sorry Justin, Joey, Lance, JC, and Chris. You guys need to make way for Cuba Gooding Jr. pretending he was a disciple (I don't remember one named Cuba). Alright, enough of this nonsense. Just thought I'd share that with you all. The End (As spoken by Malcolm Jamal Warner, who you might know as Theo Huxtable).

P.S. Song of Songs is Denzel and Pauletta Washington. That's pretty neat I guess.

Engagement Pictures!

2009-11-23T15:21:00.001-06:00

Here they are folks. http://www.keepandshare.com/photo/view.php?u=334627&fv=y

Our Wedding Website

2009-11-19T00:10:00.002-06:00

Hey, just so you know, our wedding website is www.theknot.com/ourwedding/RachelNielsen&JaseRohde . Go ahead. Check it out. Soon there will be engagement pictures. I'll let you know when they're up. Invitations will go out sometime after Christmas. Be ready. They're sweet. I designed them myself. "You're so good at stuff." - Direct quote from Rachel Nielsen.

Peasant's Wedding

2009-11-12T16:41:00.005-06:00

So, I know I've been doing a lousy job of posting. I didn't even finish my series of five posts. But, alas, here is another poem I wrote. My professor showed us the picture below and we had to write a dramatic monologue. Basically, just a poem from the perspective of someone else. She assigned us each a person in the painting to write from the perspective of. I was assigned the drunkard on the near side of the table staring at something on the wall. She gave us about 7 minutes in class to write a rough draft. The poem below is what I came up with in seven minutes, completely unedited. Most people don't think in rhyme, so when they only have 7 minutes, don't come up with anything that sounds very poem like. However, my mind is weird, and I can't write poetry unless I'm thinking in rhyme and rhythm. So, here's what I came up with in 7 minutes.

I think this chair's broken or breaking.
It didn't wobble like this before.
But I swear if I don't stop my drinking,
this chair will dump me on the floor.

There was only one torch hanging there on the wall
when I sat down here hours ago
but now there are two, and they're spinning around
and my head's spinning a little bit too!

This party is great! What's the reason again?
My mind is a little unclear.
There's a bride, but no groom! Wait! He's right over there!
Passed out on his fat groomy rear.

Shucks! My wine's almost gone and I still feel my toes.
I need more if I'm gonna forget.
Bartender! Pour me some more of this junk.
Oops! I spilled and I got you all wet!

I think I'm gonna puke. Better get out the door.
Get out of my way 'fore I blow!
Can't you people be quick? I'm about to get sick!
Ah! You're moving fast now. There we go!

Oh, it came out my mouth and it came out my nose.
I'm surprised that none came out my ears!
That's a whole lotta puke. Whoops! I'm gonna pass out.
Guess I'll see you all later! Cheers!

Speaking of peasant weddings, my wedding date has been changed from May 29th, to March 13th at 7:00. Be there.

#3 (of 5 or 6) My Fiancee

2009-10-25T13:08:00.003-05:00

When I wrote #1 I thought there were only going to be 4 posts. It's looking like there will be more as I continue to think of new things to write about. This one is about Rachel.

She and I went to Joel and Pam's a couple weeks ago. I have some pictures. Also, she's neat. I'm excited to marry her. We've been playing the Monopoly game at McDonald's in hopes of winning some money so we can get married right away. That would be nice.

Me and Rachel at Lock and Dam No.16

Sweet Sunset at No.16

A beautiful girl I saw at No. 16

Us, as we left (I was actually driving while taking this).

#2 Cornerstone Church

2009-10-25T12:48:00.005-05:00

Wow! The church I go to (and work for) is really neat for a lot of reasons. I'm going to highlight two sweet things in this post, but know there are many many more (most of which are more significant than the first thing in this post).
First, this weekend was opening weekend at Cornerstone for the new auditorium/foyer/children's ministry area. When you look, at these pictures, pray for the new people who are coming every week, that they'll be drawn in to communion with Christ.

This is the new Cafe area outside of the auditorium. The "cafe" that used to be outside of the old auditorium didn't have any seating. There was also very little space outside the old auditorium to meet with each other after the service. There's a lot now.

This is the auditorium before people came in. There are 1040 seats on the lower section. The upper section will have 750 more seats when funding comes in. Right now, there's just giant concrete steps up top.

This is about 10 minutes before the service began (Cornerstone attenders notoriously show up exactly on time). We had the entire bottom section filled in both services today with more sitting in the section above without any seats. Praise God!

#1 Football

2009-10-25T12:38:00.003-05:00

With any luck, I will be posting four different posts throughout the day. Why?
1) I haven't blogged for an enormously long time.
2) I am going to blog about four different things. By doing it in four different posts, you can easily skip to one you care about.
3) There were really only two reasons, but lists look stupid if they're only two items long.

So, here goes #1:

First, let me start by saying, even though I'm a huge Iowa State fan, I realize we're far from being a good team. That being said, we're currently 5-3 which is the best start we've had in awhile. When Gene Chizek (our "savior" from Texas) started coaching here, everyone expected him to change the program around immediately. He had the talent on his team, but didn't do much with it, coming up with a total of 5 wins in the two seasons he was here. When Paul Rhoads came in this year, no one really had high expectations. I would've been satisfied with 3 wins his first year, and very happy with 4. We currently have 5, which is super exciting (We tried to lose against Nebraska, but they would have any of that). That's about all I have to say about that.
Second, along the topic of football. My intramural flag football team is currently undefeated. We have a potential double header this evening. Our first game is at 4:00, and if we win, we play in the championship game at 5:00. Now, this might not seem like a big deal, but if you win an intramural sport at ISU you get an Intramural Champions t-shirt. This is one of the most coveted pieces of clothing on the face of the earth. I've been waiting four years for this. Also, ISU is the number one intramural sport in the country, so if we win I think it makes us the number one flag football team in the country...right?

The Watchman

2009-09-22T04:47:00.002-05:00

This poem is called a Sestina. Basically, it's six stanzas, with six lines each, and the final word of each line repeats in a different order in each stanza. It then ends with a tercet or a couplet. This hasn't been perfected by any means, but was certainly more fun to write than free verse. What do you think?

The Watchman

Everytime I went to that part of the square
I had to keep my eyes peeled for the watchman
He never slept, or so, to me, it seemed
He was always there, selling his wares
If all I wanted to do was pass
I had to be stealthy and sneak

He looked corrupt, maybe a sneak
Always prowling around his square
Waiting to pounce on those who pass
unaware of the creepy watchman
who would try to force upon them his wares
no matter how pushy, to them, he seemed

The watches he sold, so cheap they seemed
but out of curiosity, a glance I would sneak
perhaps I had misjudged the peddler's wares
some watches were round faced, some were square
still, something was off about the watchman
so, after a short time, I decided to pass

Then a beauty walked by, and he made a pass
at her. As urgently as she seemed
to try, she couldn't shake the stares of the watchman
who alongside her did sneak
all the way across the vast square
momentarily distracted from selling his wares

He followed her, but I did not see where
as out of my sight they both passed
Together they left the square
were they arm in arm? So it seemed.
Perhaps I had misjudged to way she sneaked
maybe she was say "come hither" to the watchman

whatever the case, I have not seen the watchman
for months now, but travelers beware
because maybe he'll come back and sneak
another beauty as into his sight she passes
It wouldn't be as safe as it seemed
if the watchman came back to his square

But for now, the danger of the square seemed to pass
until the watchman decides to sell wares as he sneaks again.

Beautiful Prisoner

2009-09-03T03:02:00.002-05:00

This is the final product of the poem that sprang forth from my previous prewriting (did I just say sprang forth? I've got to pull myself together!). Just a disclaimer, I wrote this in about 15 minutes at 3:00 in the morning, so it's probably not my best work. Also, Megan, It's still about the prarie, which I know is a boring topic, but I promise, I'll find something new soon. It's all I had to work with for this one. Anyway, here goes nothing.

Beautiful Prisoner

GRIND, CRUNCH, BOOM, SHOUT
buzz...sway...brush...chirp...
ever growing sound and noise
softened by the smell of rose

a reconstructed eden waits
as man encroaches without angst
it's competition at its worst
but lies content within itself

the alien scape created by man
encroaching on the calm of life
the life that abounds within its space
but is detained as seasons pass

a captive locked behind unseen walls
of concrete, sprawling, ever stretching
reaching out, yet reaching in
as if to strangle what is left

Poetry

2009-09-01T03:23:00.002-05:00

Do you ever have one of those moments when you finally feel like you've got things figured out, then life throws you a curveball? Well, this blog is going to feel like that. You thought this was a nice safe blog, very low on the cheesy scale? Sorry, but your perceptions are about to be shattered! I enrolled this semester in a class called Creative Writing: Poetry. This means that twice a week I meet with the poet laureate of Iowa, as well as about 17 other students and we write poetry. "That's not so weird," you might say, and you might be right. However, the weird part is that I will be posting all of the poems I write on this blog. That means you are going to have to suffer through some very mediocre poetry if you continue to be a faithful follower of this blog.

Anyway, without further ado, here is my first "poem". It actually was just a free writing exercise, so it only resembles a poem a little bit. The more brutally honest your feedback is, the better I'll do in the class, so let me know what you think!

Free Writing:

Amidst the constant grind of machines and mankind there lies a forgotten, manufactured eden. While the cars surround the land like sentries, the bees buzz on. Unaffected. Buzzing, buzzing, ever buzzing. Is that the bees or man's phone? Buzzing, buses, buses. Can't focus on the bees when the buses go by. Breezy, busy, buzzy. Which is it? Can't escape. Scrape, scrape, scrape. Boots on concrete or ants on plants? Torn in two, tranquil and tumultuous. Tearing, tainting, terror. Sounds just beyond my reach, like a word on the tip of your tongue. Almost there, but just outside my grasp. Groaning, gripping, gaining. The gap is growing. Which is real? Ripped.

Whaddya Think?

Excuse me, Ma'am? We're in college now.

2009-08-27T14:31:00.004-05:00

If you're looking for my engagement story, it's the post below this one.

Disclaimer: This post is written purely out of frustration with an intent to be mildly humorous. Many of the things I say in it are not thought out and definitely not as loving as they should be. Please don't judge me based on this one post.

As I was sitting in my class the other day, I found myself extremely offended by the professor. It wasn't the fact that the entire class is about evolution, and how it's really the only explanation that could POSSIBLY be true. It was the way she treated us like children. She spent almost an entire hour lecturing us on proper study techniques.She was talking about how we should print off her power points and put them in a binder so we have them organized. This wasn't a requirement, just some helpful advice. She also clued us into the fact that we should spend two hours outside of class for every hour of class time. Along with these "helpful" study tips, she announced that she was going to be taking attendance every class, because we're not responsible enough to show up if she doesn't.

These are my objections. First, by this point in our lives, we've split ourselves into two groups. Those who will study for their classes, and those who won't. Those who plan on studying for this class already know how and don't need a teacher wasting class time by holding our hand as she walks us through. Those who plan on not studying have already made up their minds and don't give a rip what advice she gives. They're not listening anyway. Secondly, I have two professors, this one and another lady, who have the exact same attendance policy. This professor's policy upsets me, while the other one doesn't. Why? In my other class, we are constantly working in groups and pairs, and if someone doesn't show up, it has a negative impact on someone else. The two excused absences are generous. However, in this class, our attendance in no way affects anyone else. WE'RE IN COLLEGE! We're paying for this and if we chose not to come, it's our own fault. Give us a little credit. Maybe some will slack off and they'll fail the course, but for the majority of us, grades matter. Give us a break.

There's another thing that upsets me about this professor as well. She couldn't figure out how to get her computer to work, but when a student tried to help her she snapped, "All of my computers have been acting up lately, I think it's broken. We'll just move on." Now, I highly doubt that the four different computers she uses all just happen to be acting up at the same time. More likely she just doesn't know how to use them. Ma'am, we've all been using computers since we were in elementary school, maybe longer (Jake, when did we have that duck tales game?). We know more about computers, just learn a little humility and allow us to help. Your mistake will take approximately 15 seconds to fix and then we can move on as scheduled. Please.

Just a couple more things and you may go on your way. First, today in class she took a swing at right wing ideology and called us fascists (but in a really clever way where you couldn't really interrupt to question her), and second, she said "Homo-erectus" and I giggled. Don't tell anyone though. It was kind of immature. I think it had to do with watching Joey and Rachel on Friends laugh when Ross said it.

If you like her then you shoulda put a ring on it...

2009-08-21T15:44:00.003-05:00

So, the news I've been withholding about my China Trip is that I fell in love with my now fiancée on the trip. By the way, the dude is a fiancé and the chick is a fiancée. So, here's the story, but we have to start about two years ago. If you don't want any of the background information, skip to the paragraph that starts with "If you skipped, start here!" to get the engagement story.

At the beginning of my sophomore year, this captivating girl named Rachel Nielsen transferred to ISU from UNI. I knew immediately that this was a very special girl and I wanted to get to know her better. We ended up dating for a little while that semester, but we broke up just before Christmas. I really feel that it was right to not be dating at that point, but I didn't handle it very well at all. I had very little regard for her feelings in the situation. Over the next year and a half, we continued to grow closer as friends, even though we had broken up. She was always over at my room, and just refused to let me go :). People always told me that they thought Rachel and I would get back together, but I was stubborn and felt that to get back together with Rachel would mean having to admit that I was wrong before. So I continued to be her friend, but went on a few dates with girls in the mean time.

The whole time we were not dating, Rachel continued to like me, but didn't let herself think about it much. It was hard for her to see me going on dates with girls, but I was still being selfish and not really considering her feelings. Around spring break I began to realize that maybe something would happen with Rachel and I again. I talked to my closest guy friends, as well as my mentor Mike Easton about us. Rachel and I were going to be on the same China team, and since China is definitely something I'm looking at for the future, I decided that this summer would tell me whether she was the girl for me. Needless to say, after only two weeks observing her with the girls there, I was convinced that she was the one. Ben Jensen handled it very well, and let us talk about things, but not date while we were in China. It was handled so well, because being able to talk about stuff helped keep it from being a distraction and our ministry was blessed because of it. By the end of the summer, I was ready to propose, but we weren't really dating yet. She wanted me (and I wanted) to talk to her parents about us before we officially dated.

We spent two weeks after we got back to America with her in Iowa and me in California. She thought I was coming back on the 19th, but I surprised her and came back on the 15th. We hung out that evening but I told her that Joel and Pam were coming to get me and take me with them the next day. She assumed that I was going back to their place, but instead, they took me to Pam's parent's house which is very close to Rachel's parent's house. I went and talked to Rachel's parents and they were very excited and far less shocked than I thought they would be when I asked if I could marry their daughter instead of just date her. By the time I got back to Ames on monday, Rachel had left for a retreat, so until the time she came back tuesday I planned our engagement (with much help from her now matron-of-honor Sam Young).

If you skipped, start here! I picked Rachel up for a date around 4:00. I took her to a park called Ada Hayden just north of Ames where there is a beautiful lake with a walking path around it. The intention was to fly kites, but God thought it would be funny to mess with me by making it completely still outside. I think he was testing my improv skills. Instead of flying kites, we went for a wonderful walk around the lake. After we left the lake we went to El Azteca, which is her favorite restaraunt. I didn't really eat much. It was either nerves, or my entire biology changed overnight. We got done with dinner earlier than anticipated, so I took her to another park called Moore Park. There is a tower there that you can climb into that looks out over all of Ames. It's very beautiful. Finally we headed towards our final destination (not the movie, a place). I took her out to Cornerstone Church which is the church we belong to. They've just added a new edition on, and there were ladders leading up to the roof. It was right about sunset and we climbed the ladders. When we got to the top, there was a blanket set up with rose petals, chocolate covered strawberries (made by yours truly), a bottle of wine, and candles. We ate some of the strawberries and then walked to the edge of the roof to watch the sunset. About this time, she thought I was going to be asking her to date me, but I had other plans. As we watched the sun go down, I turned to her and said, "Rachel, without you knowing I went to talked to your parents this weekend. I was wondering, Will you go out with me?" Just as she was about to say yes, I dropped down on one knee and pulled out the ring and said, "Forever." She was so surprised and said yes (sweet line wasn't it?). Our friends Ben Jensen and Sam Young had helped set up everything, so they came out of hiding and ran to congratulate us. After that I told Rachel I wanted to go on a walk on campus. We parked and began walking. I led her to the Memorial Union. As we were walking up the staircase to the MU terrace, there were about 70 people waiting to congratulate us there. Tim Young and Jessica Schmeckpeper texted everyone for me and invited them to an engagement party, and a lot of people showed up. It was very fun, and even Rachel's family came down for it. It was great. And now, I'm engaged!

So far the responses we've gotten are "Is this a joke?" or "I didn't know they were dating!"