Alright, fine. Jessica, you win.

I have this policy against doing such things as these, but I decided I would oblige and respond anyway. But don't think I'm happy about this. Below are sixteen random facts about myself and then sixteen people that I think are awesome. That's the gist of this.

I wish there had been seventeen, I would have then made one ironic one which only said, “I am very long-winded.” Unfortunately, there are only sixteen, and I didn’t want to part with any of them.

One – Friends and family are what I cherish most on Earth. I love spending time with the people that are closest to me, talking and listening. I have one brother, two sisters, and two parents. My siblings are and always will be my very best friends.

Two – I'm majoring in Computer Science, and I'm just nerdy enough to work on side programming projects as well as the required projects from Cedarville. I also love web and graphic design.

Three – I love music. I love movies. I love literature. I consider all of these things art, and I love art. I love the meaning and the interpreting that can be drawn from good art, especially music, and I feel that good art is the most influential thing that can be used to sway a persons opinions and emotions. Just look at the Bible. It's magnificent literature is art. On that note, I'd much rather watch a profound, powerful movie than a movie that mindlessly entertains with cliche humor any day.

Four – I love a good debate, and I love constructive and creative writing. One of my biggest pet peeves is poor writing, especially when someone is trying to use their writing to prove a point. I refuse to listen to your point, no matter how good it may be, if you don't take the time to construct a proper sentence and capitalize your words.

Five – I love pizza. I could probably survive just on pizza (and die early from it) and be completely content. Also, I love soda. I drink it way too much.

Six – I have a tattoo with Greek writing on my wrist. It reads Doulos Xristou Ihsou, which translates to Bondslave of Christ Jesus; what I am to be with my lifestyle.

Seven – I played the violin for five and a half years. This one isn't nearly long enough, so I'm also going to throw in this one for free: I love small children, but unfortunately they usually don't love me. Babies cry when I hold them and as they get older they just seem to be scared of me. Junior and Senior High students, on the other hand, do tend to love me, and someday I want to work with the Youth Group of some church to affect the lives of the next generations as much as those cool twenty-somethings effected mine when I was in high school.

Eight – I really can't stand the cold, but I also hate layers. This is an extremely difficult contradiction when you live in Iowa and go to school in Ohio. Someday I'd love to live somewhere warm near the coast, such as Florida or California. The trouble is I can't stand the liberal whackos that live in California, and I don't think I could ever raise children in that environment.

Nine – On that note, I also can't stand the stark legalism of close-minded, judgmental, right-wing politics either. I choose not to advertise my political views, especially after this last election, as they generally appear to be contradictory to the stereotypical Christian standard. They aren't necessarily, but some people have a difficult time disjointing themselves from their own beliefs long enough to observe the perspective of mine. I guess what you could say is that I despise stereotypes in almost any shape or form.

Ten – I love complete strangers, and I love getting to know people. I'm generally not ashamed of making a fool of myself, so I'll gladly strike up a conversation with anybody.

Eleven – I love wit, sarcasm, and most of the genres humor takes on. Sometimes people don't get along with me right away (or at all) because they take me to seriously, but my motto is, "Only take seriously what life requires." By that I mean that there are certainly times when life requires you to be serious, and to joke around under such circumstances is completely inappropriate. Most of the rest of the situations life will throw at you are probably neutral, and I choose to take them as light heartedly as possible.

Twelve – I love photography and videography, both viewing and capturing. If you ever find a video that the editing and content are simply amazing, or a photograph that is breathtaking, feel free to share it with me.

Thirteen – I love a good adventure (I stole that right from you, Jenna). Whether it's risky, crazy, or just plain insane, I'll probably still be willing to do it. You only live life once, and I intend to take Ecclesiastes as seriously as possible while attempting to maintain a model of the character of Jesus Christ. I have a crazy sister named Jenna who has a nearly identical personality to my own, and we get along very well in this manner. Ashley and Andrew, my other two siblings, also have very similar personalities to each other. Ironically, Jenna's and my peronsalities are frequently in contrast to Ashley and Andrew's personalities, but we still get along great!

Fourteen – I've never been clinically diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, but every amateur test I've ever taken (and perhaps the inconsistent thought patterns I have) evidences that I probably have one of the two, which is probably why each "one" of these random facts is turning out to be more than one. I'm also highly obsessive compulsive, and I like my personal matters, physical and emotional, to be as organized as possible.

Fifteen – I love playing games if it means I get to spend time with you, but I'm really quite bad at them. Luckily, I'm not very competitive either, so I don't mind losing.

Sixteen – I'm the only person I know of that has ever successfully managed to be myself. All other attempts at being have not only failed, but have failed miserably, usually leaving the attempter as an emotional wreck. Please do not ever try to be me. Try to be like me, if you must, but don't try to actually be me. It can only end in disaster.

So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed getting to know me by reading a post instead of conversing with me in person :).

Jessica - Because you practically forced me to write this thing and would have sent me on a guilt trip if I hadn’t *glare*.
Krista - Because you and I share a common love for photography, camp, and Ben. And you’re one of my favorite people.
Ben - Because I love you and you’re not only the best boss anyone could ever ask for, you’re the best friend!
Tyson - Because you remind me of chicken, and I love chicken. It tastes good. Hey, no hard feelings about Ben being the best boss, right?
Joe - Because I miss our meaningful and deep discussions that we had so frequently this summer about.
Kylee - Because you’ve lived twenty minutes away from me for my entire life and I’m sad that I didn’t even meet you until last year, especially since you make such a fantabulous friend!
Emilie - Because you’re the most amazing Freshman on campus, and you also live just twenty minutes away from me. Whether you get to play a lot or not, I still think you’re the best at volleyball.
Kelsey - Because if it weren’t for you, I probably never would have heard about or come to the lovely Cedarville University. Thank you!
Kristi - Because you’re short and feisty, a great friend, and you give the best hugs.
Ryan - Because you have that adorable baby face and I always have a good time with you.
Dave - Because you’re the only person I could think of that would take the latter part of the seventh one completely out of context.
Griffin - Because you’re not in the book, and I just met you this year, so I thought you might be interested in the deepest, darkest secrets of my life.
Gabe - Because I just saw you walk by the Bible building and you’re such an attractive man.
Jenna - Because you’re the only family member that I figured would actually post a response to this yourself.
Evan - Because you’re coming here next year. You do realize you don’t have a choice, right?
Megan - Because you can’t eat Gluten and you let us use your house to cook anyway.

Tags: Me, Friends, Family

Jenna got me Domo for Christmas (yes, we did Christmas early this year at my house), so I decided to take him around with me to my classes and such.

Since Jenna has also granted me permission to guest post on her blog on the second of every month (in correlation with the fact that my birthday is on the second of November, I guess), and since today is the second of the month, I decided to photograph Domo’s and my adventures and blog about them for my post. You can view the first two chapters of our many escapades HERE :).

Tags: Jenna, Family, Domo

Dear Verizon Wireless:

My name is Alex Laird. I'm a 20 year old male student who attends Cedarville University, and I'm one of your loyal customers. I would greatly appreciate it if you would quit attempting to turn my own mother against me. Your conniving schemes to convince her that I am a lying teenager are quite childish and bothersome. I understand that you're the Wireless Giant whose lucrative business thrives more on loyal customers than on happy customers, but your sneaky methods are getting on my nerves.

I'm on your Family Share Plan. My Dad is the account head, and my mother, sister, and I are additional participants on the plan. For an additional $10 a month we can add additional lines to our Share Plan. For an additional $15 a month, I can add 1,500 text/picture/video messages to my line, plus unlimited messaging within The Network. I've done both of these things, so on top of my Dad's plan, you're making an extra $25 off of me every month.

Apparently this isn't enough for you, since the last three months you've charged my portion of the bill over $75.

It all started three months ago. Several applications were added to my phone against my will. You couldn't make it any easier to spend money on subscription services with your phone if you tried. All a customer has to do is browse through the applications list, select one, click "Accept" to the terms and presumable charge on his or her bill, and the application is downloaded. Some applications cost up to $20 a month! Applications, I might add, that do less for you and are less intuitive than any Freeware application I've ever downloaded on my computer. Yet still you manage to gouge the prices, and the reason you have success off of them is probably because people like me will inadvertently get them added to their phone.

After receiving a bill for well over $80 that month, I realized what had happened to my phone. I went onto your website and blocked all forms of applications, web services, or anything that could be added from my phone that would be charged automatically to my bill. I then went on my phone and canceled every subscription application that was on there. I then removed all the applications. I just told my mom to charge it to me, since it was my fault.

The next month my portion of the bill was hefty again, and again I received a call from my mom to figure out what the problem was. Wanting to give you the benefit of the doubt, I established that, since the applications were charged monthly, I must have been charged again before I canceled the subscription. Additionally, I had gone over my allotted 500 text/picture/video messages, so I upped my plan to 1,500 so that wouldn't happen again. Again, I didn't complain to you, and I told my mom to charge me for the mistake.

Then came last month. Again, I was charged over $75. Again, my mom called me. This time, I was beyond unhappy. I went onto your website and reviewed the bill myself. For my portion of the bill, I was charged over $40 for mysterious data charges. On your website, you have a section that will list every single phone call, every single text message, and every single data charge for the entire month. I looked at this section. For every single data transfer on my phone, the charge was $0.0. Yet somehow this added up to $43.68. Perhaps this is some new form of Calculus that I have not yet taken in my college career, but I was not aware adding zero and zero multiple times ever resulted in anything other than zero.

On top of the data charges, I had been charged for another overage of text messages. I had used significantly less than 1,500, but significantly more than 500.

Just these charges alone would probably be enough to make anyone upset, but I haven't even mentioned the most frustrating part yet.

We finally decided to call and complain, since the charges on our bill last month were without sufficient explanation. My mom called. After getting off the phone with your representative, my mom called me. The text messages were an easy fix; you had forgotten to apply my new texting plan. That was $35 back. What about the remaining $43.68?

"Well, here's what I found out," she said. "He said that the reason we were charged is because of applications that are on your phone. Mobile Email. Wikipedia. WeatherBug, etc. Do these sound familiar?"
I was frustrated beyond belief. "Mom, these are the applications I removed two months ago. They should have completely cleared the system last month."
"Well, he says they're still on the account and that the only way to get them off is by canceling them on your phone."
"I can't cancel them on my phone. They aren't on my phone anymore." I wasn't mad at my mom, but to anyone listening it may have come across that way. I reassured her. "I'm sorry, I'm not yelling at you. I'm yelling at stupid Verizon. This is not the first time they've done this."
"I know. Did you remove them from your phone or from the website?" she questioned.
"Both."
"But you're sure you removed them from your phone?"
"Positive."
"Because he says that some people think they remove them when they block them on the website, but they have to go through their phone manually and remove them as well."
"Mom, they're not on my phone." I tried not to sound peeved at her. She was doing the best she could.
"Well," she reasoned, "Why don't you hang up the phone, check in the Get It Now section of your phone really quick, and call me right back. Just to make sure."

I ended the call and browsed the Get It Now section. There were four items in there: "ozforms," "OZHTMLWIDGET," "OZWIDGETS," and "Mobile IM." The OZ ones seemed like they were probably helper files for the menus on my phone, and they weren't applications I could open (I tried), so I targeted Mobile IM. I tried removing it. It said "Erased:" still there. I tried removing again: still there.

There certainly wasn't any Mobile Mail, Wikipedia, WeatherBug, or etc. I called my dearest mother back.

"Okay," I explained, "Here's what I got. Write these four down, call him back, and ask him if any of these are what I'm being charged for. If so, I'll cancel them, but I think they're just helper files, and Mobile IM doesn't work anyway, so I don't think it's really on my phone anymore."

Twenty minutes later, my mom called me back again.

"Well, they're gone," she cheered.
"Wait, what's gone? I didn't remove anything."
"I know. But the lady I talked to said they're gone now," Mom answered.
"But what about those four things in the Get It Now menu I mentioned? Am I being charged for those?" I was confused.
"Doesn't look like it. She said there are no longer any subscriptions attached to your phone. They were all just removed."
"But ... I ... Didn't ... Remove ... Anything ..."
"You know what this looks like, Alex." Yes, I did. "It looks like I'm a naive mother who believes her teenage son who's lying to her. I know you're not lying to me, but they think I'm silly for trusting you."
"My generation is stupid," I interjected. Amen.

My mom and I continued to talk for a bit longer before I realized exactly what had happened. It was when I realized that she hadn’t talked to the same Customer Service Representative when she called you the second time. The second Representative told Mom that just minutes before, all the applications had been removed from my phone. But I had no applications on my phone. I had looked. How could I remove them if they weren't being shown on my phone? More significantly, how could I remove them when I removed them two months ago?!

I understand my generation loves to lie and twist the truth. I understand there are a lot of parents out there that are naive and don't fully understand when their children are taking advantage of them. But I would like to point out a few things: I'm not a teenager, my mother is not stupid or naive, I love my mother (and we get along great), and I don't lie to her!

Here's what I can only assume happened. The first Representative my mom talked to thought I did have applications on my phone and that I was lying to my mom about it. He then realized something after looking at our account history: I had tried to remove the applications two months prior, just as I was saying. They had removed themselves from my phone (rendering me helpless when trying to remove them manually) but for some reason were still attached to the account, thus charging me. The first Representative tells my mom that only I can cancel the subscriptions directly from my phone and that they're still on there. After she hangs up and calls me, the first Representative manually cancels all the application subscriptions himself, even though he specifically told my mom he couldn't do that (and she had even asked him to).

Now, how does this look? The first Representative manually cancels the subscriptions while the naive mother is on the phone with her lying son. See what this looks like? It looks like I just lied to my mom while canceling the subscriptions from my phone myself to get out of trouble. When my mom called you back to tell you there aren't any applications on my phone for me to delete, you were then able to tell her the reason there weren't any applications on the phone was because they were just deleted. And, according to the first Representative, the only way to cancel those applications was from my phone. Now I'm a liar. Thanks.

I would switch cell phone companies, I really would. I'd love to be able to threaten you with that. Unfortunately, you have the best coverage and plans of any phone company out there, and you know it. That's the most frustrating part. You know you have us wrapped around your finger, and you abuse that severely with situations like this. Well I may be a customer that's forced to keep my account with you, but I am not happy with you. Luckily, my mom is not stupid and naive, and she believed me over your lousy Customer Service Representative.

A Very Displeased Customer,
Alex Laird

Tags: Family, Cell Phones

Current Status: Causing Mischief!

That’s right, folks. Ashley and I took Jenna’s blog hostage. After hacking her account, we decided we would write a blog post (from her perspective) while she and Joey were in the car on their way to Iowa. After doing some preliminary research (i.e. reading old blog articles by her, stealing perviously used pictures of Henry, thinking up stories Jenna would tell, etc.), we recalled her aforementioned affection for the cows near the Kansas Turnpike. This was our target.

That’s right, Jenna. We’re both on your blog right now!

We sat on the Grandparent’s couch and hammered out a post for JennaWoestman.com in less than thirty minutes.

Our soon to be infamous blog post is HERE!

Tags: Jenna, Family, Blog

It appears as though I’ve been randomly selected to do one of these survey things by none other than my annoying sister, Jenna. Alright, here goes nothing. (After reviewing this, I realized Jenna and I wrote the same thing before starting ... That was not intended and has officially creeped me out.)

8 TV Show I Love to Watch:

1. The Simpsons
2. The Office
3. Arrested Development
4. Lost
5. 30 Rock
6. Family Guy
7. Gilmore Girls
8. Stella

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Panda Express
2. Red Robin
3. Panera Bread
4. Chipotle
5. Cheesecake Factory
6. Fazoli’s
7. Zio Johnos
8. Pizza Hut

8 Things that Happened Today:

1. Kicked a Java exam in the butt
2. Had a Caramel Latte
3. Went to chapel
4. Blogged about my free coffee from Dr. Miller
5. Ate lunch
6. Discussed plans for Dave and I’s movie
7. Went to work
8. Watched The Office

8 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Graduation
2. Passing Calculus
3. Moving back to Iowa
4. Getting a full time job
5. Listening to music
6. Dave and I’s movie
7. Turkey Break
8. Christmas Break

8 Things On My Wishlist:

1. Working on a project that changes the way we use technology
2. Working with the youth at my church
3. Making a difference in a High Schoolers life
4. Working for Apple or Google
5. Being arrested for something I didn’t do. Just because the experience would be sweet, but I don’t actually want to break the law.
6. Going to a Coldplay or U2 concert
7. To be an Uncle
8. The dress code to be dropped (or at least significantly lessened) at Cedarville

And I’m not tagging anyone else in this. Just because I don’t feel like it :).

Tags: Jenna, Family, Me

So, today I posted on Jenna’s blog. It was my very first guest appearance, and it was pretty great. She totally doesn’t even know what I wrote yet, which is the best part. (It pays to know your sister’s password, I tell you what.)

Don’t worry ... I was actually doing her a favor, since she needs to post every single day during the month of November to be eligible for something thing. I noticed she hadn’t posted yet today, so I posted for her. It’s as easy as that.

Here’s my post.

Tags: Family, Jenna, Blog

I woke up late today. It seemed to be a common theme. Jenna and Joey did, as did the parents. My alarm initially went off at 6:30, but I stumbled out of bed and switched it to 7:00, subconsciously, of course. I woke up a bit later and rolled over, glanced at the clock, at noticed it said 6:59. Suddenly I panicked and jumped out of bed and smacked my alarm off. No, I didn't panic because I was late or anything. I just hate the beeping noise it makes, and whenever I can wake up before my alarm, my day just gets off on the right foot.

I grabbed my Mae shirt and some jeans from the dryer and headed for the bathroom for a warm shower. After I was all clean, dressed, and smelling good, I went to the table for breakfast. The parents were just getting to the table as well. I ate my bowl of Wheat Chex, mostly in silence (I'm not a morning person 90% of the time). It was 7:30. I usually leave the house at 7:30. Somehow I wasn't in a rush. Perhaps because it was -3 degrees outside with the windchill, and it was snowing.

The munching stopped and Dad reached for his Bible. Usually I miss the morning reading because either I eat really fast and go to school, or Dad's already gone before I get to the breakfast table. Everybody was running slow this morning, so I actually got to sit in on it, which was good, because I didn't hadn't had time to read my own Bible yet.

Dad has this thing where he really likes "Our Daily Bread." I do too. It's quick and to the point, and usually a pretty good point at that.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. " — John 14:12-14

I think most of the time we take these passages out of context. Or we think of them as the "God for Me" verses, because they're all about what God can do for me, if I ask him for it. And I think most of the time we miss the bigger point, and we just say, "God's supposed to give us anything we ask for!" But I think the verse lays out some conditions, first of all. "He who believes in me," "In My name," "That the Father may be glorified in the Son."

Now it's not quite so easy. I mean, if you look at it, it's not really what God can do for us. It's what we should do for God so that the Father may be glorified. So we aren't even getting any of it (or we shouldn't)!

God's not saying, "Ask for stuff and I'll give it to you." I think the part that says, "The works that I do, he will do also" is pretty convicting. He's straight up saying, "If you believe in me, you'll do what I do." I don't know about you, but I do plenty of things I know God wouldn't do, or even be pleased with. "And greater works than these he will do." I don't know about that one. How are we supposed to do greater works than God?

We like to think of these passages for our bettering, and don't get me wrong, they are. But "our" bettering isn't always "God's" bettering, if you follow. If we truly abide in Christ, we won't ask for anything but what Jesus would ask for. But since we are inherently sinful, that can never happen. God's not saying he'll give us whatever we want, I think he's saying he'll give us anything that Christ would ask for.

On the flip side, he's also not saying he won't give us what we want. Sometimes I think we pray so hard for one thing, because we're sure if we just have that one thing, everything will be better, and that has to be God's plan for us, right?! Let's just throw an example out there that I'm sure nobody's ever done: A guy or a girl. Somehow we think that with our finite minds, we know what's really best for us. So we pursue one thing with all our heart. Not God's will, but our will. Maybe we're sure it's God's will though. So we pray constantly for it. Guess what, God may actually give that to you. He may give it to you saying, "I will give you what you ask for. You could have had something better, but you're so bent on having this one, here you go. That way next time you'll learn to ask in My name."

I think too often we pray for our wants and "needs", when in reality we should be praying for God's will to be done, just like in the Lord's prayer. "Our Father ... YOUR will be done." Don't get me wrong, God wants us to talk to him about our struggles, aspirations, dreams, little wishes, big wishes, and all that. But I think, even when praying for something we desire with all our heart, we need to finish it with, "... This is what my human nature wants, God. But my heart wants your will to be done, because your plan for me is perfect and is the best, and even if I don't see it all right now, I want your plan for my life to be fulfilled.”

In the words of my good brother-in-law, Stephen, "Jesus said to the Pharisees that they would have what they wanted, which was reward on earth, and that would be all they got." God has the best idea for your life, and it's fulfilled in Heaven. That's why we can't always see it. That's where our faith comes in.

Tags: Family, Observations

I walked into the house today, arriving home from school and work. As I entered the kitchen a piece of paper on the table caught my attention. I started to walk away, but then I got curious and turned back to look at it. At the top it said, "Ever Aftering, by Ashley Nicole". It seemed to be a poem, and as I started reading it, it started to sound very familiar. I finally realized it was a poem that I Ashley Nicole had written before she married Stephen, and I HAD, in fact, read it before. I called her immedietly and said, "Sister, can I put this on your and my Facebook?! It's amAZING! Everybody should read this!!" She gave me permission, and so here I am, posting it! I hope you enjoy it and take it to heart as much as I did. It's an amazing poem, and I'm really proud of Ashley for not only writing an amazing poem that can rhyme and sound good, but also a poem I totally agree with and has a fabulous message. You're awesome, sister :)!!

I read this poem and thought not of the way all the girls I know could be encouraged by this poem, but also how all the guys I know should take a hint from this poem and treat the girls you know like the princess that they are. Because what if God's plan for us is to marry one particular girl, but we're insistent on pursuing another? Then we may have hurt our relationship with our future spouse, and we may also have messed up hers because of our selfishness. So, I guess another reason I like this poem so much is because it portrays the guy and the girl as a prince and a princess, which is a good way to think about it. A princess is special, and should be treated with the utmost care and respect. So would you make fun of a real princess? Or hurt her feelings with an uncaring or sarcastic remark that "isn't that big of a deal" (in your head)? Or are you going to get the door for her? I'm not saying look at every girl and say, "Is she the one, God?" (Or vice-versa for you girls.) What I'm suggesting is that you should treat every girl (or guy) with the most respect because he/she is a creation of God, and God loves her just as much as he loves you and me. Secondly, he/she will most likely end up marrying someone someday, and if it's not you, maybe you shouldn't act like it will be.

I talked with Ivan about this for quite a while, and he and I came to the conclusion that instead of looking at every person and saying, "Is she the one?" to God, just STOP looking and wait until God plops her in your lap, if that's his plan for you. It's better that way, anyway.

Ever Aftering
Ashley Nicole

Once upon a time, I've heard them say,
In a land that's not so far away,

A king with his daughter ruled in that place
With justice and kindness and mercy and grace,

The Princess herself was no beauty divine,
And her talents weren't especially fine.

But because her father was King of the land,
Every young noble desired her hand.

The Princess, however, was old fashioned it seemed.
She sat in her tower up high and she dreamed

Of The One, her Prince Charming, and who he might be,
She could hardly contain her excitement to see.

In seeking The One, she knew the King to be wise,
And so she approached him, looked into his eyes,

And said, "I want you to choose, out of all these men,
The Who, and the Why, and the Where, and the When."

Father I trust you, you know what is best,
And so I beseech you, get rid of the rest!"

The King agreed with much satisfaction
And he set about in taking some action.

But the King took his time as he searched high and low.
The Princess grew restless, began getting to know

A young Prince in the land who had caught her attention
With his charm and good looks, but he'd failed to mention

Whether he was as loyal as some to the King.
To him this didn't seem a very big thing.

The Princess herself had lost sight of her plans
To leave her decision in her Father's skilled hands.

Her hopes were quite high, her plans were in place,
When the Prince disappeared without any trace.

The Princess, desparing, went in to her Dad,
Her heart all in pieces, her countenance sad.

Her Father embraced her and patiently said,
"If you'll just wait on me, I will bring him instead."

The Princess resolved once again to remain,
And wait with her Father until The One came.

Through the course of her days with her Father the King,
The young suitors came, their offers to bring.

Most were passed over and sent right away,
Until only one was permitted to stay.

She got to know him, and they had lots of fun
The Princess was certain that this was The One.

But the King had an ultimate plan of his own,
The wisdom of which was yet to be shown.

So the Prince packed his bags and left her a note.
The Princess was saddened to read what he wrote.

Oh, how she was crushed, her heart disillusioned.
She came to the King once again in confusion.

"My Father, please tell me, just why this is so,
That he'd love me and leave me--or did you not know?"

"Oh, but my child, you don't understand.
His coming and going were part of my plan."

The Princess was humbled and left the King's sight,
To think and to wonder if he could be right.

She still was quite certain that never again
Could she offer her heart to another young man.

But it wasn't long before in through the door,
Up the wide staircase and across the wood floor,

There came a young Prince from far and away,
And the King, in his wisdom, asked him to stay.

He summoned his daughter and then introduced them.
The Princess watched from afar and admired him.

The two became friends, and it wasn't long after,
As the Princess and Prince were engaged with their laughter,

The King took her aside, whispered into her ear,
"I know this young Prince; you have nothing to fear.

I've chosen him out of the dozens who've come
To test and to see if he could be The One."

"But Father," the Princess said with a sigh,
"If he isn't then one, then why even try?"

"Because you won't know unless you obey.
Learn to trust and to listen to the things that I say.

Know that I only desire what is best,
Leave it to me; I'll take care of the rest."

The Princess nodded and pondered awhile,
Then she looked up, and she said with a smile,

"I trust you, my Father; I'll do what you say.
I'll move forward with this; I won't run away."

And so the fair Princess, free of fear and regret,
Smiled as she thought of the Prince she had met.

The King hadn't promised her it would be easy.
He'd said, "Follow me, tarry close and you'll see

That I only want what is best for my child,
So trust me, my Princess." As he said it, he smiled.

So the Princess, her heart now light and carefree,
Felt joy at the promise of what was to be.

Neither she nor the Prince would be able to tell
If things would be perfect and all turn out well

But they knew they could trust in the heart of their King,
The Sovereign Creator of Every Aftering.

Tags: Family

My dear cousin, Matt. One of my favorite people in the whole entire world. He's fun. He likes the same music as me. He has a great sense of humor. He can juggle things. He even rides a unicycle!

He lives in Texas, about thirty minutes away from my sister and brother-in-law.

Tuesday morning he was riding his unicycle along a curb when he slipped off the curb, lost balance, and crashed down on the sidewalk, breaking his leg in two places. Because it was still in the early morning, nobody was around to help him immediately. My poor cousin had to lay there for at least five minutes until a kind lady finally walked by. He asked her to call 911 for him. Matt was taken to the hospital, placed in a bed, and told, "The doctor will be right with you." Twelve hours later, the doctor finally entered the room to look at his leg.

There's more to the story, but I'm going to skip ahead to Saturday night of the same week. After doing surgery, the released Matt from the hospital on Friday morning. Saturday evening we get a call saying he's back in the ER with infection on his leg. So we stop watching Chicken Run, put some shoes on, and head out the door at 8:00pm to go see Matt. Mom, Dad, Jenna, Joey, and I all went.

We got to the Methodist Hospital about 8:30. We went in and saw Matt sitting in a chair in the waiting room, leg straight out resting against a phone book. He didn't look like he was having the best time of his life, surrounded by about fifty other people also trying to get into the ER. The nurse had told us that she had "called his doctor." We talked with him for about 30 minutes until 9:00 when my Dad finally said, "Well, when are they going to get you in?!" He walked over to the desk and said, "Excuse me, this man has a broken leg and possible infection, and that's serious! How long is this going to take before a doctor will see him?" He was informed that the average wait time was six hours. "Well, when is his doctor going to get here?" The nurse then confessed that they hadn't actually called his doctor. That his doctor wouldn't even be called until they had taken him back and another doctor had taken a look at it. Then they would decide if it was serious enough to call his doctor. Dad was not happy.

We got Matt several blankets for warmth and comfort (and propping his leg up), and Jenna found all the empty chairs in the waiting room and brought them over to where Matt was. We basically moved the waiting room over to Matt, and there was a large circle of chairs around Matt as we waited... and waited... and waited for Matt's name to be called. Jenna and I got in the car and drove across the street to Wal-Mart to buy some water, games (Skip-Bo), coloring books, and crayons (I got the 96 pack, even though she told me not to). Poor Matt didn't want to color though. Or play Skip-Bo. But he did watch. I felt bad that I hadn't though to bring my iPod so he could listen to music and just close his eyes and let that distract his mind. That's one of my favorite reasons to listen to music!

One hour went by. Two hours. Three. Four. It was now midnight. We kept pestering the desk clerks, asking how many names were in front of Matt's. Unfortunately, whenever somebody called 911 and an ambulance or helicopter went out to get them, they got first priority. And Matt's name was bumped back one more. This kept happening... we would hear the ambulances and helicopters come in and we would all groan. Matt didn't groan. He just left his eyes closed and didn't really move much.

While in the waiting room, we made a new friend named Clare. Even though the entire stay in the ER waiting room was less than desirable, it seemed that the real reason we had ended up coming down to the Methodist Hospital that night was because God wanted us to talk to Clare. And Mom had the privilege of praying with her! That was awesome!! Jenna, Joey, and I made another quick trip to Wal-Mart and bought her a Bible.

At one point a nurse was looking for something and she couldn't seem to find it. She turned to another nurse and said, "It's like trying to find a fetuses heart beat through the Mom's overcoat!" Matt, slightly delirious, but still conscious enough to hear what she said, looked at Dad and said, "Why would you just say, 'It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack?!'"

At 4:30am, the door to the waiting room opened. A nurse poked her head out and said, "Richardson...", and all of us went let out a huge, very loud sigh of relief. Then the nurse finished her sentence, "Matthew... is something wrong?"
"NO! Finally!!" Dad assisted Matt in getting back to the room while the rest of us remained in the waiting room. The nurses, knowing full well that his condition was worse than almost everyone else's in the waiting room, yet still they couldn't get him in any sooner, apologized more than once for the terribly long wait, and they said they felt very bad for him because they knew he was in pretty bad condition. Still... I appreciate your apology. But how about doing something about it? Like getting him in sooner so the infection doesn't spread and you don't have to amputate his leg, eh?

Needless to say, Dad, nor I, nor most of the family, and I don't think Matt either, doesn't like the hospital in Dallas, Texas. We much prefer to kind hospitality of Cedar Rapids, Iowa! But I'm glad Matt finally got in to be looked at and put on an IV. They did an ultrasound and found that he had a blood clot. Matt, you're amazing and I love you! Get better soon, homeslice :)! I'm sorry you have a broken leg and we didn't get to run and throw frisbees when I was here to visit, but that's alright. We'll do that in a few months next time I see you, OK? Heal up quick! I'm praying for you.

(To view pictures of Matt's leg and such, click here. I did NOT embed them in this post because you PROBABLY DON'T want to look at them if you don't like gross things!!)

To read a complimentary article on Matt's ER adventure, click here to view Jenna's blog.

Tags: Family, Vacations

It wasn't five minutes after I had awaken from my traumatic dreams that Jenna cheerily said, "Do you want some Lucky Charms and a Pop Tart, The Kid?" (Never let it be said that Jenna used my real name, except when I was in trouble.) Of course, I agreed. I wandered into the kitchen and grabbed the large box of Lucky Charms.
"The bigger box was cheaper than the little box," she announced.
"Yah, isn't it usually?"
"No, I mean actually cheaper! Total price. Not like, proportionally."
"Oh, well, that's cool." I poked through various cupboards until I found the bowls. Jenna handed me the milk and told me where the silverware was. I poured the milk on my cereal and went back into the Living Room to eat my prized bowl of Lucky Charms. I hadn't had Lucky Charms in FOREVER! I downed the entire bowl (while writing that last blog post). Jenna came out of the bathroom and said,
"The Kid, we have to go to Tom Thumb's and get cherries now so we can make a pie. Hurry up and get your shoes on."
"Fine," I grumbled as I unleashed a kick in her direction. I missed.
I put my bowl in the kitchen just as Jenna looked at me and said, "The Kid, did you actually eat that whole bowl of cereal?" "Um... Yah. Why wouldn't I?"
"Dude, that milk was sour! It expired like five days ago!"
"WHAT?! You could have told me that BEFORE I drank the entire bowl!!"
"Yah, sorry about that, The Kid. We also need to get new milk and Tom Thumb's."
Needless to say, I shot several glares in her direction during the car ride to Tom Thumb's grocery store.

Tags: Animals, Family, Vacations

It seemed like I could possibly be dreaming, but I wasn't sure. It was one of those in between states, where you feel as if you're floating, but you're lost somewhere in Never-Never-Land... but at the same time you don't know you're in Never-Never-Land. No, I wasn't high. But I did know that there were palm trees all around, swaying quite severely. And then I realized it was raining! Pouring, actually. I dashed for cover. Somehow I found some.

As far as I could tell, I was on a deserted island. But it was a pretty friendly deserted island, because I found a shelter after not to much running and search. I walked in and was relieved to get out of the rain. There were benches and tables and chairs all throughout the shelter, so I picked a bench and rested my legs for a while.

As I sat there, trying to figure out where I was and how I had gotten here, and sudden *splash* of water hit my nose. I reached up and grabbed it... It tickled! I looked around and, *splash*, it hit me again! I stood up, but I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I was inside, so the rain couldn't be hitting me anymore. Suddenly, it hit me constantly: *splash**splash**splash* over and over. I grabbed at my nose and squeezed my eyes shut... and then I realized my eyes were already shut! So I gave opening them a try. No luck. I spun in circles and flailed my arms around, but that didn't seem to get rid of the splashing either.

All of a sudden, the splashing stopped. I stopped spinning in circles and just stood there, somehow looking around the shelter I was in, but somehow I still had my eyes closed. I began to hear a low growling and a familiar *jingle*. Somehow, I forced my eyes open ever-so-slightly... I realized it was really dark. And I wasn't in the shelter anymore. And there was a large, furry beast breathing in my face. I then also realized I was laying on a couch, and this large furry beast seemed pretty friendly... although it did have really bad breath. I snapped my eyes open and remembered I was in Texas. And the large furry beast was actually the cute and cuddly Henry, my sister and brother-in-law's dog!! I reached down from the couch and grabbed the ball of fur and brought him up on the couch with me. He happily and thoroughly licked every single part of my face, neck, arms, and then, of course, my nose again. But it was all alright now that I wasn't on some deserted island with nobody I knew in some lonely shelter. So I snuggled up with Henry and fell back asleep.

My next dream consisted of only one thing. Jenna, Joey, and I were in their apartment, looking at their end table. Jenna was screaming, and Joey and I were looking at the end table in astonishment. Apparently, someone had left THREE glasses of water on the wood part ALL night without putting a coaster under them. The results looked devastating, but Joey and I both swore it wasn't us! We blamed Dad, who was still asleep...

Tags: Family, Animals, Vacations

"And you might want to bring some long sleeved outfits," they said. "It's kind of cold here." Of course, being the obedient follower that I am, I brought long sleeves and sweatshirts.

We were going to Patzcuaro, Mexico. It's over 1,000 miles south, and a little west, of Dallas, Texas. That’s just a guess…

My parents and I caught the 6:45 out of the Easter Iowa Airport. We were about to embark on a 6(ish) hour journey from Iowa to Mexico, and I couldn't even make it through our airports security without setting off the alarms. Did you know the tinfoil in gum wrappers will set off an airport's security alarm? We arrived in Chicago at about 7:15 and attempted to find Terminal 5. If you take a look at one of the Chicago O'Hare Terminal directories placed about every 500 feet, you'll notice that roughly 50% of the airlines that fly in and out of O'Hare International Airport are represented with a yellow number 5. This means they're an international airline flying in and out of Terminal 5. Terminal 5 being such a big portion of O'Hare's business, one would also assume it would be easy to access. Guess again. We finally found the Terminal, which you have to leave the airport to get to, about 35 minutes later. Since we had left the airport, we had to go through security again. We reached the other side of International security and were greeted by... silence. We looked left. We looked right. Terminal 5 was entirely too quiet for being "half" of O'Hare.

Turns out we were hungry. We found our gate, which had about five people at it, and wandered the rest of the dead terminal looking for food. News Flash: Terminal 3 has no food! We found some flight attendants who frequented the international terminal and asked them the best way to get a good meal. They have one person take orders, leave the terminal, order the food outside, and then bring it back in through security... of course, you can't bring drinks through security. So Dad and I left our stuff with Mom and headed out to McDonald's. I got a #9, accidentally ordering a drink which I had to immediately throw away. We took our food back into the terminal and ate our supper. After a two hour layover, we finally boarded our flight for Morelia, Mexico. It wasn't until 45 minutes into the flight we found out they serve a meal was provided...

Initial thoughts of Mexico: How many people live down here?? Flying over from 40,000 feet in the air gives you a new perspective; there were lights from huge city's to small villages everywhere down below. When we finally got over Morelia, it was much bigger than I thought it would be. Mexico has about 107,000,000 (nearly 20,000,000 of which live in Mexico City) people living in it, compared to about 298,000,000 in the United States. But Mexico is smaller than the United States land wise. Morelia is populated with about 735,000 citizens. I guess that would account for all the lights we saw, wouldn't it? Of course, none of the "official" populations take the metro into account...

Our greeting party at the airport in Morelia was Paul and Ashley Cheshier. I don't blame the rest of the family; it was almost 1 in the morning. The drive from Morelia to Patzcuaro was about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

We finally arrived at our final destination. I trudged up the stairs to the room which I was to sleep in and was quickly reminded not to drink the water OR flush the toilet paper. I gave an "A-OK" sign and plopped into bed. I think I woke up at about 10:30 the next morning.

Mexico had a whole lot more people than I thought it would have in it. Granted, I've been there once before two years ago, but I thought that was a big city... and it was, but it turns out there are a lot of big cities in Mexico.

As a whole, the things we as Americans call "laws" is directly translated as "opinions" or "suggestions for old people" in Mexico. Driving in the city there is possibly the most exciting thing you'll ever experience--of course, I loved every minute of it :). Your life is always on the line, and it's a constant thrill.

I was in the country over the New Years holiday, so, of course, we stayed up until midnight. At 12:00 in the A.M. we celebrated the New Year by blasting several Wal-Mart sized plastic bags of fireworks. Once again, in the U.S. you would upset someone with this random, and might I add loud act, but in Mexico the neighbors simply came out of their houses and clapped. On one occasion, a few people a few miles away decided to "return fire" and started setting off their own fireworks. I'm pretty sure several (most), if not all of the fireworks we set off were illegal... in the U.S. AND Mexico. But you remember what I said about the whole "law" situation down there...

I asked Paul, "So what are you not allowed to do down here? Socially acceptably speaking." He informed me basically anything was acceptable, socially and to the police (unless you were a white American); drugs, stealing, prostitution, assault, murder... the only thing that was completely uncalled for was losing your temper. I thought that was pretty interesting, and probably fitting for the way they drive. Mexico, as a whole, is very laid back and most certainly never on time. Example: The Church service I went to on Sunday started at 11:00 in the A.M. At 11:15 it actually "started," but only about 5 people (not including my hommies) were there. By the end of the service (almost 2 hours and 30 minutes later), there were about 25 people there. They just sort of mingled in thought the two and a half hours. So, socially, if you get upset at someone for being thirty minutes late or rear-ending you, that's out of line. You just have to sit back and roll with the punches, basically. Which, for the most part, I think it pretty cool... I don't like the late thing. I prefer to be ten minutes early, and it drives me crazy when people are late, because, to me, it shows a lack of respect to the people your meeting. But for everything else--what's done is done. If you get rear-ended, cussing the other person out doesn't fix your trunk. Sitting back and saying, "Oh well..." and taking it to the repair shop will. And you might even make a friend that way.

Here are some kudos that go out to the beautiful country of Mexico. American coffee sucks, OK? Let's just get that out so we're honest with each other. America has nothing on Mexico in the coffee department. I went to a local restaurant/coffee shop in Centro Patzcuaro and downed several fantastic Mocha's. I've never had anything like them--it was like a little taste of Heaven! Now that I'm back in the states, I want to go to Starbucks and say, "Hey, can you make me a Mexican Mocha?" Gosh, they were so good...

On either Tuesday or Wednesday (the days are all a blur now), Ashley and I went to see A Night At The Museum. Fabulous movie... one of Ben Stiller's best! I would love to brag and say the entire movie was in Spanish and I understood every word, but that would be a lie. There were about five words I didn't understand. No, just kidding... it was entirely in English, and it had Spanish subtitles. Oh, and the screen was, quite literally, twice the size of the one we have here in Cedar Rapids. I've never seen a screen so big. And out of the, probably, 250 seats in the particular room we were in, there were about... thirty people there.

I found it interesting that, in Mexico, you don't just tip your waiters and waitresses. You tip everybody. The guy who stuffs your bags at the grocery store, the guy who helps you back out of your stall at the grocery store (and no, you didn't ever ask him too either), or the guy who helps load your bags into your car.

Another thing about Mexico... it never sleeps. We're not talking New York City style either. We're talking the entire country! My flight got in at a little before 1 in the morning, and we arrived in Patzcuaro around 2. We drove down to Centro just to check it out, and there were vendors on the street, and the people at the fish market? Already standing at their door ready for business. Um, hello? When do you sleep?? Now, there weren't tons of people swarming the streets, but you also have to remember this was little Patzcuaro... in Morelia, there were.

Every house has a stone wall around it. On top of the stone wall? Broken glass so you wouldn't climb over it. In front of every door to the house was a large metal door for extra security. And I'm not actually sure there is an unlock feature on any of the doors in Mexico. I think they're all lock-behind-you style, just in case you forget. But I could be wrong.

Lastly, the architecture. It was gorgeous! There are so many beautiful monuments in Mexico, from all different types of ancient civilizations. If you love history, fly to Mexico! I was astonished by a man made National Park we visited. But, of course, the most notable and beautiful architecture in the country is the Catholic churches. They're so elaborate and beautiful. Another very important part of the Mexican culture is Catholicism. They're very closed to new beliefs and alternatives because they're buried in 500 years of tradition. Everywhere (and that's not an understatement) there are pictures of Jesus dead. They didn't get the memo that he was raised three days later, and it's pretty sad. At one occasion we went to a disabled and elderly food shelter to hand out cookies, and they invited us to stay for their prayer. I was informed after we left that, in their prayer, they had asked Mary to help Jesus. I think they think of Mary as more of our Holy Spirit, because they pray to her, and she is their intermediary to God.

That's about all I can think of right now for opinion of Mexico. I may add more later if I'm feeling ambitious, and in a reminiscing mood. As for now, thanks for reading, and check out the pictures from the link below!

Pictures of the entire trip have been made available by clicking here. Check them out!

Tags: Family, Vacations