Another End, Another Beginning.

Well it’s that time of year again. 2011 is coming to a close. Usually at the end of the year I think “man, where did all the time go?” This year is different. I know exactly where all the time went. And I loved almost all of it. 

This blog is almost over, seeing that December is coming to a close, but it will morph into something else. I have felt so alive this month, as I have explored new experiences. I hope that you have enjoyed following along with me in my journeys of new things. I also hope that it has inspired you to do the same! Go out, find something new, do something different, meet someone that you have never met. It will change your perspective on life for the better, I promise. Never settle. Never get boxed in. 

2011 has been a good one. From the Green Bay Packers miracle playoff run; to SuperBowl champs, to my first working MadTec #5, to growing closer to my small group and all the amazing relationships that came from that and TEC. A growing SLAM group within East High School, From Slamdunk Millionaire; the best MSCR Rec basketball team in the state (not really), to playing at State after winning the Big 8 in an incredible Madison East Tennis season, to Graduating from East High in the same day as the State Tournament and making it to both. From a good long summer working at Ontario Pioneer Camp with my Brothers and kids I adore, to Northern Woodland canoe trip adventures with my favorite people, and enough Merlin’s Beard jam recording to fill a week in Hamilton. To a Southern road trip with Isaac, leading to the best six weeks you could ever spend on a Georgian farm, to a new found love of the South, with a new southern family. From adventures in the paradises of Cumberland Island and the Great Smoky Mountains, to the pride of a home-state upon returning home. From holidays with family, and enough time to fill my creativity with my art, music and writings, to a new found love of league Table Tennis and the improvements within it. From a new found home within the Madison Intervarsity Chapter and small group, to the excitement of beginning a new life in the following year. From experiencing Bon Iver in his homeland of Eau Claire, to the many new events and projects that sprung up from a lively December. For all of it I am grateful. From the highest, happiest points of the year, to the lowest, most difficult parts. For all of it I give full thanks and praise to God. And for the verse and promise that he Gave that brought me through this year: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11). He has led me through this year, and all the years of my life before that. All glory and honor to God. 

I’ve been in Colorado Springs for the past week, hiking in the mountains almost everyday. As an annual adventure, it is one of my favorite things. Mountains just blow me away. 

Today I hiked and climbed the most strenuous one yet; Blodgett Peak. Blodgett was one of the first summits I’ve climbed, and by far the most challenging.  An hour of near- vertical climbing on gravel, loose boulders and snow, the mountain fought hard.  Add elevation and the lack of oxygen, I was one tired Midwesterner, all the way to the top. With all of that being said, the view from the summit was incredibly worth it. Seeing for miles, it seemed as if the horizon was infinite. 

Coming down was a different story. Despite noticing the sun falling fast, our “Summit Fever” kept us from turning back prematurely. Our descent from Blodgett was less than perfect, as we attempted to find our original path in the dark, ending up in a nearby neighborhood at the base of the mountain. Nearly a mile from the trail head. I don’t regret it. It was a first. 

December Thirty.

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Pepper Plant update! They are coming along just great. 

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Here’s a recently finished painting done for a friend.

It’s entitled “Benny & the Bird.”

This piece was some of my first work with acrylic paint. The background is on a 14.5x19 piece of wood, with added magazine cut-outs. 

December Twenty-Second

Today I entered into a Emotion and Cognition Psychology study with the UW, with the hope of making some extra cash. I realize I probably shouldn’t say too much about it, so I won’t.

Anyway, that was a first. 

December Twenty-First.

We’re Tuesday People

I finished the second half of Tuesdays With Morrie today. 

Truly a beautiful book. Morrie, a dying sociology professor, shares with the author, his former student, the simplicity behind living a life full of true significance and happiness. Check it out, written by Mitch Albom.

And hey look, it’s Tuesday.

December Twenty.

Mini Ping-pong!

I was inspired in the last two days to make a mini ping-pong table. (Mind you, it’s not table tennis). I have a friend who owned a table about the same size, which is basically where I got the idea. I thought “how hard could it be?” Here’s my latest creation! It’s a lot of fun, by the way, a whole new type of ping-pong. 

December Sixteen

the golf course

This evening I went saw the film 50/50 with a friend, which I thought was pretty good. It is one of the most honest movies I have seen, about a guy (Joseph Gordon Lewitt) and his battle with cancer. It made me realize the importance of many days that are let go without great significance, in a time in my life where I am thinking about what is really important for me. I don’t often think of “will today be my last?” for the fear of false nostalgia, but 50/50 got me in a certain thought process.

As I was driving this evening around midnight, I was driving on a road that splits the airport and a certain golf course. I had a sudden urge to explore, realizing a street that I had never been on. There was a street sign that is only good when you are trying  to get lost. “Dead End.” 

I parked my car off to the side of the road, out of the way. Climbing over the banks of the rough surrounding the green, I surveyed much of the east side of Madison. I could see for miles, lights in every which direction in the distance. Everything it seemed, was in plain sight, from where I stood. Which was ironic due to the fact that it was the dead of night. It was nearly silent, save for the passing car or two. I looked up, and realized that it was a perfect night. Starry night, half moon. What are the chances?

Have you ever had the urge just to let out everything that you’re feeling? Tonight I feel an incredible joy and love towards God. I showed this in many sprinting circular laps around the golf course green, through the frozen-hard sand bunkers, through the rough grass, until I was more tired than initially. I finished the moment with a bellow. Just a big yell. The chilly air seemed to swallow up my vowels the second they left my mouth. I felt very small and insignificant, standing there, beneath the millions of stars. Very vulnerable to the wind, the cold, very easy to spot, from high, high above. But, alas, that is not a bad thing at all. 

19

I’m 19 years old today.

That’s a first. 

December Fifteen.