Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

I do love that song. Well, loyal readers... yes, both of you, I am now about 8 hours from venturing out on this latest expedition. We are taking a train to chicago friday, then flying out early saturday morning. We spend 2 days in germany and then off to albania. So I won't be net surfing until we get back September 3. (And even then probably won't be on until Sep. 4 due to jet lag, haha) I had a whole blog with substance planned, but due to time quickly disappearing (due mostly to packing issues) I'm too tired to try. I hope you are all well and I'll talk at ya soon. God bless.

-The rookie world traveler

T-minus...

Alright, as I sit here just a few hours away from officially entering my third decade of life it's time to post the last installment of my walk down memory lane. I need to say thanks to everyone who's emailed me or commented on various pages reminding me of things I had not posted. Obviously there are way too many memories to accurately list them all, but the help has been a lot of fun. Also, I promise to have a much more thought provoking post shortly, but I have thoroughly enjoyed doing this whole venture. And now, the final segment...

BACK IN ARTHUR

* Mom, Dad, Nick, Kevin, Jennifer and I all living in one 3 bedroom home for a week with ALL of our stuff while we try to find apartments for Jennifer and I, and then for Kevin

* Kaylee and every "first" moment with her

* Quitting my full time job to look for a part time one to spend more time at the church, THEN finding out we were pregnant

* The trip to Chile/Peru

* Tooey, tyler's backpack/child

* driving in Chile/Peru

* the local remedy for altitude sickness, haha

* eating llama (a rather tough meat)

* the trip to San Diego

* getting to see the Matt and Suzi Marquez for a week

* watching Charlie get attacked by nature (i.e. the waves at the beach)

* seeing Charlie being almost drug out to sea... in about 4 inches of water

* learning Jack in the Box had tacos on their menu

* making the videos for the kids crusade at San Diego

* the blooper reel for the videos

* learning I have a talent for writing awesomely random puppet skits

* telling the entire easter story with puppets... narrated by a monkey and using a frog to portray Jesus (yes, we crucified a puppet frog)

* Daniel the musical (puppet show)

* puppet chucking

* the birth of Clueless the Frog

* The IR

* The founding members of the IR... some of the best young men I've ever had the privilege to know

* The Dread White & Blue

* The conditioning group

* trips to the campground in Excelsior Springs

* Being the Emcee for Desert Theater

* Being allowed to create my own character to Emcee as

* helping with plays/musicals/marching band/track at the high school

* Taking Kaylee into the parenting class at AHS to help them learn about babies

* getting to know Greg and Karen and going through pregnancy/parenthood with them

* Watching all three Lord of the Rings extended versions in one day with a bunch of LOTR fans

* Halo parties

* "Matt's"

* Getting to know Nick again after being gone for 4 years

* Getting to know Jessica (Coldwell's wife)

* Going to games at the new Busch Stadium

* CFN conferences

* being on staff at Cornerstone and being allowed to figure who I am as a minister

* being ordained

* any time spent with the Allison fam

* learning the joys of Priceline

* looking oh so cool on my scooter!

* deciding to start collecting chess sets from around the world... and getting some amazingly cool ones

* getting back in touch with so many people via myspace and facebook

* playing guitar on the praise band with Tyler, Kody, Nick (for a time) and Greg

* Working at CHI and not dying

* guitar hero (haha, I know, sad but I LOVE that game)

* date nights

* about to turn 30 and still being a kid at heart

Ok, I know that's a shorter list than some of the others... but I hedged a bit and put the kaylee memories in one ambiguous bullet point. If I went through all those it'd never end.

But as I'm about to turn 30 I'm actually not freaking out too badly. Yeah it's REALLY strange to say "I'm 30" but I'm ok with it. It's amazing how short this life is and how much we worry about getting stuff and "living life to the fullest" but for me I'm beginning to redefine what that means. And to live life to the fullest in where I'm headed, 30 is the perfect age to start, cause I certainly didn't know enough to do it before 30. I barely know enough to try it now. :D

Well, I'm off for now. I pray you are all well and I'll talk at ya soon. God bless.

-Just Matt

"This is my life" part 3

Time for the next segment of walking the path of reminiscing, "Living in Missouri". And we're off...

LIVING IN MISSOURI

* Rooming with Kevin and fitting two armchairs and the coolest coffee table ever in that room

* Playing KGB at CBC, chasing each other until security saw us then being chased by them

* Ricky Tyler and his 1 a.m. "sermons" on the evils of women

* The impromptu song "Oh adam, why didn't you give the arm"

* Meeting one of my best friends, Luke, who even though was only there a short time, will always be family

* Learning that I could sleep sitting up during chapel

* Being a proud staff member of the Boys and Girls club

* Meeting my wife there

* Meeting a long lost brother in Kevin Coldwell

* Agreeing to let Coldwell live with me without really knowing him

* Saturday 7 on 7 Flag football

* Float trips

* That weekend in Ha Ha Tonka

* Telling Joanna (Jenn's sister) that I spent two years at Lakeland and seeing her slowing inching away... then finding out that Lakeland is a mental institute in that area of Missouri (I meant the community college in Illinois)

* Coldwell and I putting all the photos of "Doog" (Jenn's sisters boyfriend at the time) face down cause we thought he was a jerk, haha... good times

* Almost getting arrested with Coldwell the first night he moved in by giving him a tour of Willard around 10 p.m. (We had just gotten off work) in his white explorer... not knowing that someone in a white explorer had robbed a bunch of businesses a few nights before. Kevin didn't even know our address yet, and I had an illinois license... man that was hilarious

* The biscuits and gravy fiasco

* Coldwell telling me I had no chance to date jennifer, she wasn't interested... then dating her a month later

* Meeting Garry and being sure he wouldn't last at the BGC... he's now a unit director. Shows what we knew.

* Working with Matt and Suzi Marquez... two of my favorite people ever.

* Evening hide and seek games with the teens at the BGC

* The "American Gladiators" lock-in with the teens... including the events "The Gauntlet", "Score or Drown" and my personal favorite "The Staff of Death"

* Rock climbing with Kev and Coldwell

* The house

* Freaking out on our last night in "the house" before moving as we watch the flood rise to less than an inch of flooding the living room.

* Watching Coldwell confidently get in his explorer to drive in the flood waters, back out, go about five feet, pull back in and sheepishly decide it's not gonna happen

* The late night games of NFL Xtreme

* Breaking 300 points in one game in NFL Xtreme (5 min. quarters if I remember right)

* The BGC teen trip to texas

* finding out Melanie was a cold, heartless German

* Being at a Texas Rangers game with the teens, having Ashley ask (honestly) if Alex Rodriguez was hispanic, and having the (hilarious) drunk guy behind us answer (with a scottish accent) "NOPE! He's scottish, his real name is Alex McRodriguez. He has 3 bat sizes, "wee", "not-so-wee" and "FRIGGIN' HUGE!!!" (the staff was crying we were laughing so hard)

* The game going 18 innings

* "If we actually win this thing I'm keying your car!" -said joyfully by hilarious drunk guy #2

* The BGC teen trip to Memphis

* Being the only white people in the wal-mart on the memphis trip

* Almost dying in that wal-mart because of one of the kids and an ill-timed use of "cracker"

* Almost losing another kid in that wal-mart and deciding we'd rather explain why we lost their son to his parents than search for him (he showed up as we were discussing, so I can claim we were kidding... I think we were kidding...)

* Playing blackjack in the guys room on that trip, using pillows, blankets, bed spots (2 beds 6 guys) and the all-important toilet paper as "winnings"

* Someone having 5 pillows at the end of the night and Kody only having a hand towel and washcloth to cover up with

* Involving the girls the second night and taking all their pillows by having Garry (the dealer) deal me off the bottom of the deck... so much fun

* KILLING the other clubs in the staff softball tournament

* Hitting a home run in said tournament

* Garry and I making fun of volleyball as a "non-sport" only to totally antagonize our respective girlfriends

* Riding in the back of a truck IN a refrigerator box... standing up

* the teen Tribe wars at the BGC

* Fight Club (not what you think)

* stickball

* The best Halo gaming at Hanh and Anthony's with the best group of guys

* Brian Rollins and his friend (who I cannot remember the name of for the life of me) having a personal vendetta against me in Halo, and me DESTROYING them every time

* Making smoothies at the apartment (they were terrible)

* the sandwich parties at the apartment (they were not terrible)

* The trip to Arkansas to see Jessica (who woulda thought that would actually end up working well)

* the texas road trip (Left springfield, mo at 2 a.m. Saturday, went to six flags and a rangers game got back 2 a.m. Monday)

* the infamous STD Flea Market joke (yes that's really what they are called)

* The Chris Highfill-Shelby-nose incident

* Every single one of the kids I met at the BGC

* The BGC staff

* getting Coldwell to bet that he could drink a gallon of milk in an hour

* Watching Coldwell try not to puke in a staff meeting during that hour... and trying not to bust up laughing

* Being told in a BGC training session we should respond with "that must be hard for you" instead of qualifying a statement... and Barry asking if "Sucks to be you" is non-qualifying enough

* Watching Jeff try to jump on an inflatable raft in the pool

* paintballing at Ozark paintball

* paintballing at that professor's farm

* my paintball gun breaking and going from semi-automatic to automatic and painting jeff from head to toe accidentally (oh so hilarious)

* Coldwell having a huge crush on Ashley, the hot teen intern... hahahahahahahahahaha

* Being known only as "Shrek" for 2 years at the BGC

* perfecting the white man dance in the teen center

* going to a royals game and a husker game in one weekend

* almost getting beat up at the husker game for wearing Illini colors (Nebraska was playing Iowa, and Illinois was playing michigan... but I didn't have a free ticket to the illini game... still wore orange and blue face paint though)

* All those trips to Lee's Summit

* My car being broken into and having my GLASSES stolen... dorks

* putting the sofa in the dumpster when we moved out (so much more involved, but I'm leaving it at that)

* being introduced and falling in love with Chinese restaurants

* all the awesome people I worked with at Kohl's

* helping security chase down shoplifters in the parking lot

* messing with the paging system with the help of Rob in men's

* messing with rude customers at customer service with the help of Kevin

* Trapping Hanh in customer service by holding the door shut (she was too short to see through the peep hole)

* scraping car windows in the parking lot when it snowed just for the fun of it

* late night runs to IHOP

* THE PALACE!!! ($2 movie theater... thx sound, stadium seats, 8 screens, the works)

* Cici's pizza

* Andy's frozen custard

* every moment dating/being engaged to/married to Jennifer

* but most specifically, asking her out, her saying no, later kissing me, then not speaking to me for a week or so (she will deny this account of the events, but it's my blog so it's my account that shall be posted, hee hee)

* The smoke alarm going off right before the wedding was supposed to begin, me being in the pastor's office having no idea what's happening and only hearing Garry announce "There's no fire!"

* Having Babe Ruth, Abraham Lincoln and other celebrities attend the wedding... or at least sign the guestbook (Thanks Marquez)

* Getting lost with all the groomsmen and an usher the day before the wedding (we were like 2 hours late... NOT a good idea... but again hilarious)

* the moldy biscuits that traveled with us each time we moved... then replaced with the brownie mix

* the little house in lebanon

* getting first dibs on red ticket items at kohl's (hello leather jacket for a buck.... hello 7 dollar reeboks, etc.)

* racquetball and making up our own rules :D

* Lambert's, home of the throwed rolls... nuff said

* Eddie's apartment....

* Eddie's parents

* the greatest restaurant with the greatest cheesecake ever, blackbeard's in Corpe Christi, TX

* the birth of "Namnoc"

* one day realizing that "Namnoc" is conman backwards... freudian slip perhaps???

* taking a picture of steak n shake in the middle of traffic (don't ask me to explain)

* playing ncaa football for micah's enjoyment

And that's the list for today... I do however have to add one to yesterday's list that I can't believe I forgot...

* water skating on the linoleum in the back room at Yoder's... and watching David about break his arm doing so

Ok, tomorrow will be the final chapter of this little trek down memory lane "Back in Arthur". Hope you are all well. God bless.

-Shrek

On with the memories

Ok, well, we're back for the next installment of my "turning 30 memories" And contrary to the declaration of my brother-in-law, I am not posting my eulogy, haha. This is just an exercise in enjoying memories from my life. I certainly plan on adding to this list in the future. Alright, on to today's segment:

PRE-MISSOURI COLLEGE (again, in no particular order)

* floor hockey at U of I

* literally learning how to turn on a computer my freshman year at U of I

* 2nd floor Quake, Starcraft and Warcraft matches

* U of I games

* Becoming a manager at Yoder's at the wise old age of 19

* getting mom and dad a hotel room so we could have all-nighters at the house

* Chris DeFrancisco (the coolest suitemate ever)

* All of the HH guys

* Being an over-the-top Illini Fan with Schmidty

* The great Toilet Paper clean-up of 99 (and everything that goes with that)

* "God has NOT smiled upon us!!!" hahahahaha

* David and I catching the carpet on fire at Yoder's

* David covering the dishwasher room with trash when the bag broke

* 14 guys running into the theater to watch Mission Impossible 2, being late, and being very confused as to if we were in the right theater

* The Spirit-Filled Donuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* David trying to "golf" a can off the stump at the Youth House and about breaking his hands

* Working at Wal-mart for a summer and becoming a "go to guy"

* Being in charge of taking 7 kids to the Alive music festival in Ohio at the tender age of 19

* Being in charge of taking 22 kids to the Alive festival the following year

* Seeing the Supertones for the first time at Alive and being very frightened until we figured out what was going on

* Learning about the Waiting and Burlap to Cashmere because of Alive

* Carpooling to Lakeland with Jason and Brent

* Madden tournaments at Brent's house

* Late night runs to Meijer on Wed. at U of I since none of had class on Thursday

* Playing with bouncy balls in the Meijer parking lot and staying up all night playing hearts until breakfast

* the corner suite... nuff said

* Quad Squirrels

* Pick-up games at WIMPE

* Each and every character who lived on Hendrick floor 2 (whoever thought it was a good idea to put 90% of the freshman in the building on the same floor was an idiot... and I am forever grateful)

* Fidel Castro having lunch with Jesus in the coffeeshop one day at Yoder's

* Being the only manager at Yoder's when the tornado sirens went off, and then again when the power went out

* Playing football on the engineering quad

* Playing frisbee football on Sunday afternoons

* David playing drums during hymns at church

* Burning old cd's and covering Sando's in thick black smoke while killing the ozone over Arthur at the same time... sure not my best idea, but it was fun

* Kevin and I teaching ourselves guitar

* Snow Sumo Wrestling

* The great I Love Spam vs. SIOS club snow wars

Tune in tomorrow for the "Living in Missouri" list. God bless.

-Mateo