Edward Tennant VS David Cullen

Again and again the Mole proved his inadequacy to comprehend a person's personal boundaries... This time he'd taken it too far. However innocent and inexperienced, surely he knew not to touch the eggs before cooking them...

Hello Reader!

Just yesterday we arrived home from our "Mountain Biking Adventure" up north. Be warned, I'm just about to switch gears to a new topic (Heh-heh, bike lingo, get it?).

When I prepare to post something new, I first consider what I am going to convey to my eager audience (*Ahem* maybe I shouldn't flatter myself with complimentary adjectives such as "eager"). In doing so this time, I first considered a variety of title options. The first title that came to mind was, "Mosquitoes Taste Like Iron", but I realized that that wouldn't give my post the proper feeling in its entirety. Then I considered, "Treacherous Trenches", but then thought that the so called "Trenches" we encountered weren't exactly "Treacherous." After that, I considered the possibility of titling my post, "Turkeyville = Heaven" but I'm trying to get out of the habit of constructing a thought/idea using math problems. *Cough* Soon after I contemplated "Fort Custer, the Death Camp" but then decided that although I tend to lean towards a somewhat menacing/intriguing title, that may sound a tad over the edge.

FINALLY, I chose Edward Tennant VS David Cullen. Here is the story behind the title.

While up north, the constant biking, coupled with tight helmets, gave my friend and I atrocious hat hair. Though we both had sweaty, outrageous hair, we agreed it sort of looked similar to certain TV stars' hair (David Tennant and Edward Cullen). So, we comically spliced the two names together giving each other (What we thought to be) humorous new nicknames. Colin M. was Edward Tennant and I was David Cullen. Which could only mean one thing, my hair was completely and irrevocably curly, the entire weekend. Truth be told.

ANYWAY, that's how I got my title. :)

For those of you faithful Readers (Again with the flattering adjectives...) who were wondering, the question I left you with at the conclusion of my previous post was more of a pun than a serious inquiry. It makes perfect sense why deaf people would not wear earmuffs. Blind people actually have a reason for wearing shady glasses. Deaf people would look ridiculous if they wore earmuffs to signify that they were deaf. Thank you to those who answered, believing I was actually curious to discover such an obvious answer. ;) Hahaha...

THIS PASSING WEEKEND. WOW. In a word? Adventurous. From start to finish, with all the interesting details included. On your mark. Get set. GO!

On Friday last we all arrived at the Tim Horton's on the corner of Jolly and Dunkel (Preeetty sure that's the one...). Once we got there, I realized I left my duty roster at home! Not good. So mom and I rushed home, living only a few minutes away, and picked up the roster. When we arrived back at the Tim Horton's, the ten of us teens, plus six adults, left for Fort Custer.

It took us roughly an hour and a half to get there, I rode with the McCarthy family. Now I come to a rather interesting part in our story... There's this kid in our group... He's obnoxious, annoying, rude, crude, has no personal boundaries, and can sometimes be violent. For obvious reasons I am not going to give his name on here, so we shall call him "The Mole" (Which is more or less an otherwise demeaning name for someone, but strangely enough, his actual last name has the word "Mole" in it, so for lack of a better thought out name for him, he shall be called this). It is often difficult to deal with him because he doesn't like to listen and close to always has trouble following directions. I believe that God has something to teach me from him yet, but I am currently unaware what it may be, and unsuspecting of when it may occur. SO, if you Reader, think of it, please pray that I would handle each situation involving him with care and consideration.

Colin and I were together in the car with his parents, but Mole wanted to ride with us as well. While Colin and I tried to have a conversation, Mole would interrupt every other sentence. At last we couldn't stand it anymore so I gave him my iPod to watch a movie on so he would be preoccupied with something. From this point on in the car, Colin and I were able to successfully carry on a conversation without interruption.

We arrived to our site at about 5:00 P.M., with plenty of daylight to set everything up. One tiny, annoying problem, however. MOSQUITOES. No one likes mosquitoes. This is a fact. From the time we arrived, until the time we left, we were constantly and mercilessly bombarded by hundreds of mosquitoes.

Haha, I mean not to complain, dear Reader... But these mosquitoes were ghastly beyond words! I later counted the number of bites I had, and it didn't surprise me to discover that I had over 35 bites. I've been itching all over the past few days.

Other than the mosquitoes, everything went smoothly. The weather could have been a little nicer on Saturday, but I shan't complain about that. :)

Two of the guys served as the group's cooks, and boy, they did a fantastic job! Though we didn't eat anything Friday night, Saturday through Sunday we had a bountiful amount of tasty dishes. Well, camp food, but in my opinion, most everything tastes better while camping.

The trails were AwEsOmE! Fort Custer has a variety of challenging yet fun trails, each of which are cleverly named to suit their difficulty or style. Our favorites included "The Gravel Pit", "The Trenches", "Rocks and Roots", "The Trenches (Bypass)", "Lakeside trail", and the "Table Top." Trails which we thought sounded too difficult included "CPR" and "Cardiac Climb." Due to a previous experience with "Granny's Garden" we unanimously decided to bypass it.

Something that was very nice about all the biking, was that Mole forgot his bike... I understand that I probably sound a bit heartless for saying so, but not having him on the trails was kind of a relief. It was nice for all of us to have a little break from him for a while... Towards the end of Saturday however, his dad drove up to drop off his bike. We had no other choice than to take him on some of the trails. It didn't surprise us when he couldn't make it up the first hill and we were more than delighted to take him back to camp.

Saturday evening's dinner was capped off with what we thought was going to be a delicious desert. Unfortunately, it was our cook's first time using a dutch oven, so the cobbler didn't turn out too great. The biscuit was FAR too undercooked. Imagine the stringiest string cheese you've ever had in your entire life, then multiply that times four, that's what the biscuit looked like. It's kind of hard to swallow something when part of it reaches all the way down to your stomach, while some is still in your mouth. We almost did "CPR" after all. Ha-ha-ha.

That night, Mole upchucked in his tent because of the undercooked biscuit. This left his poor tent buddy "Sleeping-bag-less" because well...

So Evan had to sleep in his van.

Sunday morning, it was Mole's turn to cook breakfast... Thankfully, Matt was cooking a different menu for breakfast, which all of us ate. Foster, Nathan, and I watched in shock as Mole cracked an egg into his hands, lathered it, then flicked the remains into the pot to be cooked. Maybe you understand our predicament a little better?

On our way home Sunday afternoon, we stopped off at "Turkeyville" which has become a sort of tradition when coming back from a weekend at Fort Custer. Of course, the food was amazing, but we already knew that. Haha, and after lunch, four of the younger guys spent about six dollars in quarters on one of those "Push Quarter" games. When we heard yelling that someone took the other person's last quarter, we knew it was time to leave.

We arrived back at Tim Horton's at around 2:00 P.M., where our story began. :) Overall, a super fun weekend. Lots of adventures and good times with friends...

Oh! And a final statement I wish to add about the trip: Don't EVER use your front tire break while speeding down a steep, sandy hill. Nuf said?

Today I mowed the lawn (Yippee...), called a friend, did some housework, read a little, and now I think I shall go outside and enjoy the last of the beautiful weather.

On the 30th (Which is Wednesday) we're having the Brockway family over! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! SO HAPPY! We haven't seen them since Titanic in May, so this will be a real treat. :D

Hopefully Reader, your summer is going just as wonderfully as mine.

Thank you for reading!

~Jacob

Straight or Curly?

Good afternoon world, it looks as though today is going to be a beautiful day! The sun has decided to show his beaming face and the clouds are high in the sky. This is enough of a reason for you to stop whatever you are doing and go outdoors and do something active.

Unless you're me.

Hello Reader,

My family is outdoors at the moment, laughing and enjoying the fabulous weather. I on the other hand, I have no desire to play outdoors. My reason for this? I haven't the faintest idea.

Have you ever been bored out of your mind, but at the same time you felt too lazy to do anything about it? *Cough* *cough* *ahem* *ahem*, that would be my current disposition.

When I'm bored, I do a variety of things, such as, check my facebook, text message friends, call friends, write, read, watch television, check my facebook, and clean the house. Haha, yes... You were correct in reading that... I clean the house when I'm bored.

Annnnd so I mentioned "check my facebook" twice, so what?

What you are reading, at this very moment, is the result of my pending boredom. Typically I update about, once a week, but today I've made an exception.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello again, Reader.

While I was in the midst of writing the above section, my boredom came to a screeching halt. I was about to write a concluding sentence about my boredom, when my dad offered to take me to work with him. :) I've worked with my dad on a number of occasions (Remodeling). This time, we would be installing cabinets! There were about twenty-one boxes of cabinets. Each cabinet (Believe it or not) is worth around $500 apiece. Upon our carrying the boxes of cabinets into the people's basement, my dad warned me not to drop a single box. For if I did, the cabinet would be dinged, and it would come out of my paycheck, which is more than I'd get from my dad in 3 weeks... That struck enough fear in me to stunt my growth.

Details are unimportant I suppose. Haha, the whole cabinet unloading and un-boxing process went well! We shall be assembling the remainder of the cabinets later today.

Hmm, what to discuss now? *Thinks* What has been happening as of recently... ?

WELL, just the other week was the C.H.E.S.S. end of the school year party. Surprisingly, my family had never gotten around to attending this rather massive event... There were many, many more people who attended than I thought would! We played a lot of volleyball AND we got to chill with awesome people, like, Colleen, Gracie, Liza, Zach, Chris, Vaughn, Alysa, Dana, and Marina. :) Lotsafun.

Do forgive me in the disorganization of this post! I'm writing what first comes to mind and then writing about it in that order! This is unusual for me because typically I have a (Somewhat) formal/organized method of writing and posting.

It may possibly because I stayed up too early talking on the phone. *_* Regretfully, I haven't talked to my dear friend Jen since she kidnapped me a month ago. NOT COOL. The only time she was available to talk last night however was at 11:30 P.M.. So what do I do? Well, with it being summer and all, I decided to give her a call. :) Hence, from 11:30 until 12:45, we had the opportunity to have a phone chat. I do believe there is a reason we don't talk so late/early... There are only bits and pieces that I remember as of now, and oh boy! We did not make any sense.

Note to self: Don't make phone calls past 10:00 P.M. ...

(Yet another out of place thought) The other day, me and my family went to see Prince of Persia. Definitely different than I thought! I enjoyed it overall, mostly because of the action sequences and frequent shots of Dustan performing semi-difficult free-running moves. 4 out of 5 stars.

Something I find half amusing and half troubling... The past three or so movies we've seen in the theater (Avatar, Robin Hood, Prince of Persia) have each had a PG-13 rating for violence and infrequent situations involving suggestive dialog and/or frequent scenes of drinking or smoking. We took my little sister, Rebekah, to see each of these movies. Those of you who know our family, you are most likely aware that Rebekah is not yet thirteen. When I was her age, I was itching to see the violent but cheesy, Jurassic Park. Not until I was older would my parents let me watch a movie with a PG-13 rating. Which was odd in my opinion, because I was never the type of kid to have "nightmares" due to scary movies. I'M JUST SAYING.

So yeah. Half amusing and half troubling.

Okay, the title of my post... Haha, in the Reader's opinion, which is better, straight hair, or curly hair? Personally, I do not like my curly hair. At all. Of course, my mom and dad think otherwise. Here's my dilemma: I understand that God made me a certain way (i.e. my hair being curly), but what if I am unsatisfied with the way one of my features is? If it can be changed, does that mean it should be changed? Just thinking out loud really...

I'm sorry this post hasn't been that amusing! In the near future I hope to right something a little more... Thrilling. Who knows, I hope to have some interesting stories to tell after this weekend. :) I'm going mountain biking up north. I'm hoping everything goes well... Last year, my tire blew out while we were still 5 miles from camp. If y'all could pray that this weekend would go smoothly without any unexpected occurrences, I would greatly appreciate it!

And so, I leave you with this question: If blind people where dark glasses, why don't deaf people wear earmuffs?

Haha, thank you for reading...

~!~Jacob~!~

Siempre y para Siempre

Hello Reader!

This would be the poem to which I was referring in my most recent post. Comment and criticize all you like. I wrote it a while back, and truthfully, I am satisfied with the end result. :) I'm positive Steph has already read this though... Hahaha, enjoy!

Always and Forever

When the sun rises, I'll be here,

When the sun sets, I'll be here.

When the moon shines, I'll be watching,

When the stars glisten, I'll be watching.

At every moment of the day,

I'll be watching form afar,

From the distance here I stay,

Looming as a star.

If you want me now, I'll be waiting,

If you want me not, I'll still be here.

If down you are and spirits fading,

I wish for you to call me, dear.

At times we do misunderstand,

And separate ways we go,

But in the end we comprehend,

The truth which we now know.

That if you ever lose your way,

Or find by chance you happen to fear,

A hardship that is not okay,

I'll save you from the nightmare, dear.

With all my heart I wish you'd run,

To me with all your troubles,

But no, I see you wish to shun,

When all of your pain doubles.

When you need a friendly face,

Or someone to be near,

I'll hold you in a close embrace,

Because I love you, dear.

Just know

When the sun rises, I'll be here,

When the sun sets, I'll be here.

When the moon shines, I'll be watching,

When the stars glisten, I'll be watching.

So have some confidence in me,

Here for you, I'll always be.

Gabe-Shi-Win-Gi-Ji-Kens

Finally, after hours of waiting, they led us into the black forest. Silently we followed, wondering what would come of us, completely uninformed of the daunting tasks that lied ahead.

This is the story of our induction.

Hello Reader!

Yes, I guess my prologue would be very dramatic... But why start with anything less that what I am? I could always start with something less tasteful, such as:

Lots of stuff happened last weekend, so here goes!

or

My weekend was different... Really different...

or

*Sighs* life is a challenge, well... Except when you're eating a watermelon...

Anyway! None of those beginnings would have been as (In a word) epic. In this post I shall attempt to recap our recent endeavor, which was our lengthy and difficult induction into the O.A.. But first, we rewind to last Thursday.

Christine L. held a Monopoly party at her house. As I stated in my previous post, I am not a Monopoly player. I'll play, but I won't win. A rather sad, disheartening concept... Playing a game with the foreknowledge of your own failure. Kind of like the United States v. England game on Saturday. The poor United States soccer team hadn't played England in sixty years. Long story made shorter, England is incredible, and the U.S. has never won the World Cup before, so there chances of NOT GETTING SLAUGHTERED were pretty slim. Here's the shocking part: Though England scored a quick goal right off the bat, (Duh...) the U.S. team ended up scoring later in the game to tie it up! The game resulted in a tie, which was more or less considered an overall victory for the United States.

Anyway, where was I... That's right, Monopoly. Just like the United States soccer team, I thought I was gonna get my butt kicked before anyone really got going. Well, also like the U.S. team, I ended up surprising everyone and tying with Miguel! Which was more or less considered an overall victory by myself. :)

See? I make decent analogies. Soccer and Monopoly. And for those of you who happened to notice I just reviewed a game I never watched, I'm letting you know now that I saw replays. :) The rest of the Monopoly party was fun! Christine got Hungry Howie's pizza... With bacon bits. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! Haha, they do that in soccer too... I decided that in attending her party, I should wear all white. This is significant because whenever I attend one of Christine's parties, I always end up doing something dangerous/risky (Last time is was jumping off of her roof... *Cough*). Wearing all white was my way of keeping myself from doing something dumb. Hahaha, and it worked...

Mom picked us up at about 10:00 P.M. from the party, at which point we were so hyped up on sugar engulfed liquids that when we got home we had no intention of going straight to bed. Thank you Mountain Dew...

Friday... Oh boy. Friday... Hmm, where to begin. Well, first of all, if you (Reader) believe you shall be informed of all the happenings which took place this passing weekend, I am very sorry and heart-wrenchingly displeased to inform you that you will not be informed of every detail. This is due to a strict code of secrecy (At least, within our council). If you wish to know a full account of the happenings, feel free to inquire me in person (As long as you aren't an eligible candidate.).

Here is an account of what I am able discuss.

At precisely 4:00 P.M., Justin, Nathan, and myself were picked up by the Woodlands for the tiresome three hour ride to Northwoods Scout Reservation. Accompanying us was Foster W. and Jacob W.. Regretfully, Mr. and Mrs. Woodland's van was not air conditioned. Foster and Jacob "called" the middle seats, which meant that Justin, Nathan, and myself would be trapped in close quarters with each other in the backseat. What happens when you condense seven uncomfortable people in a small, airless vehicle? That, dear Reader, would result in a very distasteful scent known as "sweat." For three, long, dreary hours, the seven of us were compactly grouped together in a tiny minivan (KEY WOULD BEING "MINI"). At some point, Mrs. Woodland turned on the the air conditioning (Which wasn't really air conditioning), hoping it would help with our consistent, sweating. Well, it didn't. Instead, lots of car temperature air was being blown in our faces. I silently praised the Lord when they decided to open a window.

Shortly before arriving at Northwoods, we stopped of at McDonald's to get something to eat. Let me just say, I had never seen so many employees in one McDonald's joint before. Quite honestly, there must have been about twenty +/- people on duty! One of which was giving Foster, "The look." That's something he won't pick up on until his later teens however. *Ahem* moving on. :)

Mrs. Woodland offered to pay for the three of us Hartges boys. Though my dad gave us money for the trip there and back, Mrs. W. insisted upon paying for us. Oh how I wish I wasn't so polite in times such as these!

Have you ever had someone offer to pay for something, FOR YOU, when YOU had money? I think I can speak for most people when I say it's a tiny bit awkward. I usually ask, "Are you sure? Because I have money." But if that person insists once more, then I agree to let them pay. There's no reason to go back and forth about it... So, Mrs. Woodland ended up paying for the three of us. I ordered a double cheeseburger and a McFlurry because I didn't want her to spend more than $4 on me. Justin and Nathan however took full advantage of the opportunity to get anything they wanted... Hours later, I wished I had done the same...

After we'd finished our dinner, we completed the drive to Northwoods. Mr. and Mrs. Woodland came with us to check in, but after we'd grabbed our stuff from their compact minivan, (Might I add that we were all extremely overjoyed that we needn't ride in it again...) they were gone.

The next four hours were spent sitting and waiting. We sat on the steps of the trading post with forty other Ordeal Candidates, just waiting. Eventually, they called us over to the Memorial Building for instructions. It was at this time they gave us each a wooden arrow. None of us learned the significance of the wooden arrow until Sunday morning. We were simply instructed to keep it on our person at all times. At 11:30 P.M. things got reaaaaaaaally interesting... They never fed us before taking us to the Memorial Building, which I thought was strange, but I figured they would give us something before we went down for the night. WRONG.

They grouped us into "Clans" and lined us up outside. Indian figures with torches surrounded us. We watched, but dare not speak.

Finally, after hours of waiting, they led us into the black forest. Silently we followed, wondering what would come of us, completely uninformed of the daunting tasks that lie ahead.

And that's all I can tell! Which is quite a shame because it truly was an epic tale... It was very different than I had anticipated. But I'm also pleased to say that I got so much more out of it than I thought I would. I learned a lot. AND NOW, OFFICIALLY, I AM AN ARROWMAN! I've rightfully earned my dignified and prestigious sash, as so considered by Arrowmen within the O.A. community. It was a weekend I shall never forget.

Sunday morning, all of the new Arrowmen invaded the trading post, seeking to buy collector's patches. I was among them, buying practically the ENTIRE collection of patches on display. What can I say, they're cool. :) For those who aren't members of the Order, these patches aren't available them. In addition to the O.A. patches purchased, they also gave us our official "Gabe-Shi-Win-Gi-Ji-Kens Lodge 374 flap." We only get two of these as presiding members of the order, so receiving them was exciting.

Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Whipple picked us up from NW. Allllllllllllllllll the way home, Foster played Weird Al off the stereo... Including twelve minute monologue songs by him such as "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" and "Albuquerque." When we were two blocks from home, a squirrel ran in front of Mrs. Whipple's car and she couldn't help but run it over. Directly proceeding, Foster played "Weasel Stomping Day" by Weird Al off the car's stereo. I swear, Mrs. Whipple started crying...

When the three of us got home, no one was there. Mom and Dad left a message on the answering machine telling us that they were at open houses and would be back shortly so we could all attend our cousin's open house. The three of us showered and got ready for yet another long drive to the middle of nowhere. Our cousin lives in Chesening, a small city about an hour and ten minutes from our house.

The party was mostly fun... We ended up staying from 4:00 until 9:30 P.M.. There was this really obnoxious group of teenage guys that wouldn't leave me alone though. I never said anything to them and I never looked in their direction, but they were still searching for a fight. No clue why. At one point, the leader of the group approached me and started swearing in my face. I looked at him for a split second, then walked off. I wasn't so much bothered as annoyed. Some kids can be very rude and ill mannered...

Anyway, that was Sunday. On Monday we attended a birthday party for another cousin. I hadn't eaten anything all day, so when we got to the party... Haha, I ate a large quantity of their food. Specifically their burgers. :D Uncle Steve makes spectacular burgers.

Tuesday my Mom suggested a hair cut. *_* For those of you who have been following my blog from the beginning, (Which I estimate is about three of you possibly reading this) you know that I cannot STAND haircuts. The last time I got a haircut was... Three days before PRIM and four days before the Seussical cast party. So it has been a while...

Question: Is a guy's hair too long if he can put his bangs in his mouth... ? *Cough*

Tuesday night (Last night) was my board meeting for rank advancement. According to the board members, I passed flawlessly without a needed improvement! If I may say so... Haha, I am officially six months from achieving my goal. Having recently become an Arrowman, I feel a bit more confident about my time, however crunched. We also saw Shrek 4 last night as well, which we all agreed was better than expected.

SO, today is relatively empty and uneventful. I shall be working, (Hauling cabinets) and reading later on. Who knows, maybe I'll do something fun, the weather doesn't look half bad today.

Also! I found something I wrote a while back and I'm considering posting it! Hopefully I'll get some positive responses!

Thank you for reading,

~Jacob

The Mysterious Order

Boomkin - A very attractive German relative.

Boomkin - A significant someone in a person's life.

Boomkin - The part of a plane, known as the "brake."

Boomkin - An exploding pumpkin.

You know who you are.

I know you do!

You want to know how?

Because... "I MADE THIS FOR YOU!"

Now that I have that out of the way...

Hello Reader!

This word, along with several others, was part of a game my family played with the Ferguson family Friday last. The actual definition is somewhere around the house, but I haven't the time nor enthusiasm to search for it. SO, if you are curious enough to discover the actual definition of the word above, I suggest you Google it. Good luck!

Friday morning Grandma took us out to Tim Horton's for breakfast (Hehe...). I had an iced coffee and cream filled doughnut. Let me just say, if Police Officers get Tim Horton's EVERYDAY before going into work, I want to be a Police Officer. Just say'n.

On Saturday, we attended Rose Klein's open house! It was lots of fun. She had the best Oreo cake ever... No joke, I must have eaten half a pound of the stuff myself. We had to leave early because we were picking up some friends for another party later that night, which was a HUGE disappointment because right when we were headed out, Kristina, Reuben, and the Andrew's family showed up. BUMMER. :P

Later on, we picked up the Witzke boys (Two VERY good friends of the family) and gave them a ride over to the Lamain's house. The party was for the students of our History Class this year.

For the longest time, we were waiting for the rain to subside so we could play volleyball. Eventually, the rain DID subside, but only for a short while, AFTER we all got out there and started playing. *Sighs* I love summer days like these! Getting wet and grassy without a care.

Regretfully, Grandma had to leave on Sunday... :( Cries of woe and despair from the Hartges children. Thankfully we had things to keep our minds off of her leaving, such as... THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA ON BROADWAY. Well, first we went and hung with Jackie at her open house for a little while. :) THEN we went to Phantom.

Justin and I dressed up. Like, in suits. The show itself was spectacular... I cannot go on enough about it, I was dazzled. But, the past part of the experience took place afterwards.

After the show, we all went out to the Applebee's near our house for a late dinner (About 10:30 P.M.) and you'll never guess who we ran into... Andre and Firmin from the cast of Phantom! They were both really nice guys. They both encouraged us to continue on in performing if it was something we genuinely enjoyed. OF COURSE, Mom had to let them know that our youngest brother had a phenomenal voice. :} He didn't like being put on the spot, be we thought it was great. What a way to wrap up the night, right?! Oh yes, and it turns out that the hotel the cast was staying at was less than a mile from our house. *_*

Monday was really a nothing day to be honest. Essentially spent in perfect laziness and idle activity. Another reason to adore summer.

Tuesday (Yesterday) my cat ate my headphones. Way to go Chloe... They were safe on the table and everything, until she hopped up and chewed them to bits. So I had to go out and buy a new pair. The pair I got wasn't as good quality wise, but they do look cooler in my opinion. My Aunt Sheila also came into town yesterday! She hasn't been to our house for the longest time, so it was really cool. For dinner we all went to Grand Traverse City Pie Co. and you'll never guess who we bumped into there, Mrs. Annis (The Headmistress of TeenWorks). Nuf said. Then we went and saw Robin Hood. AwEsOmE mOvIe!

Whew... Which brings me to today. Today I've come down with some sort of sore throat/sniffle nose cold deal. Apparently I caught it from Justin. *Growls*

Anyway, we went to the mall with my Aunt and bought some World Cup stuff (For those of you who didn't know, USA is playing the UK this Saturday. It's going to be epic, but U.S. WILL loose to the UK. It's inevitable). My Uncle is actually from Britain, so it works out nicely for him... Haha... While at the mall, we had lunch (Chinese) and I bought a new belt.

Tomorrow, Christine L. is holding a Monopoly party, and I REAAAALLY want to go, because on Monday, she leaves for Indiana. SO, I am going to make every effort to go to that party tomorrow, even though I stink at Monopoly.

Friday through Sunday... Is the Ordeal. Technically I'm not supposed to know what we're doing, but I do. Thanks to Mr. Ferguson and Luke. BUT, I'd rather have a head's up then find out when I get there...

Let me just say, what they're going to have us do is crazy, insane, and... Unheard of for me. I don't know how I'll get through the day. I know I will... No doubt about it, as long as I'm determined everything will go fine.

Ferg! I know you're reading this, am I allowed to say what we have to do... ?

Anyway, what we have to do is designed to teach us diligence. It'll be a bit humbling, but it's not impossible. What should happen to us if we fail, I do not know. All I know is that I've waited a very long time to become a part of this mysterious order, and now that the time to prove myself has come... I'm a little intimidated. Haha... However, I know it will all be worth it in the end to know that I have attempted, and succeeded.

This weekend is going to be intense, but I'm ready.

Thank you for reading,

~Jacob

Kidnapped for Ransom

Kidnap - To seize and detain or carry away by unlawful force or fraud and often with demand for ransom.

THANKFULLY, no ransom was demanded in my honor.

Hello Reader,

Alright, alright... I suppose "kidnapped" would serve as an insufficient term in defining my weekend adventure. "Stolen away" may prove to be a more accurate description. Yes! I think that does convey my message significantly better...

Steal (To steal) - To come or go secretly, unobtrusively, gradually, or unexpectedly.

Before I delve into the thievery of me, a recap of the early weekend!

Friday. Friday... *Thinks* Friday... ? I don't remember what happened on Friday... Ah well, Saturday!

As most know, Saturday was graduation day for all of the TW Seniors (And a few others who chose to graduate with the TW class). Let me see, who all can I name off the top of my head... Matthew Huff, Kristina Johnsen, Nathan Schwartz, Colleen Hoch, Nathan Stump, Dominique Kemp, Jenna Gallegos, Matthew Rider, Julia Vasquez, Caleb and Brad Kresge, Paige Pumford, Rose Klein, Michelle Andrews, Nick Miller, Emily Smith, Josiah Robbe, Phil Hadley, Jon Holdderead, and Joe Batdorf, just to name a few. :)

My family was a little late in arriving due to my father's work schedule... Even so, we arrived in time for the ceremony. Julia, Dominique, Colleen, and Nathan (In that order) spoke in representation of the 2010 class. Boy did they do well! Colleen and Nathan were my favorites however... They REALLY know how to connect with their audience. Kristina and Caleb sang a really great song midway through the ceremony, something I think most everyone greatly appreciated.

Contemplative moment: You know, with yet more of my friends graduating this year, I can't help but wonder what it's going to be like for me when I graduate... The moment that the graduating class of 2010 moved their hat danglers, me (Along with many others) became the upcoming Senior class of 2011. So I am technically, officially, sorta, kinda... A Senior. I have ONE year of High School left, before I am launched into society (Or otherwise known as *gulp* the world). Now that a good, twenty five of my friends are going off to college and what not, I can't help but wonder... It must have been confusing for them, figuring out what they're doing, where they're going, and still some don't have it all figured out! Discovering God's plan for my life seems like such an ongoing challenge... I have complete confidence that He'll show me! Haha, no doubts there! It's just getting to that point that troubles me... Not to mention I won't be seeing several of these special people because they'll be going their own way... Just some thought provoking stuff.

Anyway! After the ceremony, everyone gathered outside the sanctuary to congratulate the 2010 class. Gosh, I'm gonna miss them. Aside from their individual open houses, it was kind of like a "goodbye." Maybe not to some, but if you think about it, it was the final time the whole Senior class would be together (Aside from eventual reunions of course...).

Alright, an explanation of the kidnapping. For the past two months, two of my very good friends and I have been planning a weekend get together. Jen Mitterling and Cameron Dilly are two of my bestest friends EVER.

Background on Cam: Cameron was my camp counselor at Camp Barakel two years ago. I was his oldest (And favorite...) camper that year. We stayed up really late every night of the week and ended up getting really close. When I left for home, I promised to write him while he was at Camp. Ever since then, we've kept in contact. He's 21, really nice, funny, and downright awesome.

Background on Jen: Jen found me on facebook... She knew I went to TeenWorks, but we'd never met in person. She was a Senior, I was a Sophomore. Eventually as the school year progressed, we ended up meeting each other. Second semester, we come to find out we're in the same drama class! We both acquired main roles in The Death and Life of Everyman. She was my Mom/Mitzi Merit, and I was Everyman. Throughout the course of the second semester, we got to know each other very well. She's 19, funny, outgoing, lively, cheerful, (Hehe) and motherly...

I am ever so proud to know the both of them. *AHEM* It's just so bothersome that they happen to live in Grand Rapids, more than an hour away. Of course I still keep in touch with them, but that distance makes things hopelessly difficult... SO, we devised a plan.

On the Saturday of the graduation, Jen would pick me up from one of the open houses and "kidnap" me to Grand Rapids. Once there, we would meet up with Cameron and do all sorts of crazy stuff. I would spend the night at Cameron's apartment, and the following day (Sunday) we would go to Cam's church, and spend the rest of the afternoon touring downtown GR.

WELL, this plan would have started out much smoother, if Jen's car hadn't broken down on her way to Lansing... This complicated things a bit. Instead of us getting on the road at 4:00 or 5:00, we got on the road at 7:30. We attended Kristina Johnsen's open house (Which was a blast, might I add...) and then Colleen's open house (Which was equally fun...). From there (At about 7:00) Mrs. Mitterling gave us a lift to her house. When we got there, we unloaded some big mower thing from the Mitterling van (Was it a sprinkler... ? Or a plow... ? Or a lawn mower... ?) and replaced it with my backpack.

Somehow, Jen and I forgot to add in the backseats to the van! We realized this halfway to GR. In the midst of blasting some tune on the radio, she turns down the music and says, "Oh no! Look behind us!" I'm expecting to see some cop car with flashing lights getting ready to nab us for going five over... Alas, it was the vacant backseat. This later caused problems because we had 4 people in 1 van, two of which were completely unrestrained in the backseat. Safe right?

We met up with Cam at around 9:00, and from there we walked over to YesterDog. YesterDog is the popular GR "Coney Island." And might I add, home to the sloppiest chili dogs on the face of the earth. You order your food, and they prepare it behind this wall. It doesn't take them very long... Which should be a warning sign to any coney consumer... Within minutes, I had a dog with chili, ketchup, mustard, onions, and pickles on my plate. I had been saving my apatite all day for this. I probably ate those dogs faster than it took to make them... Haha, thank God it was just Cam and Jen there, or else I'd never live down the night I stuffed my face with various condiment coded chili dog...

After that adventure, we strolled back to Cameron's apartment (Through the ghetto) and there we spent the rest of the time talking and watching cheesy videos' on YouTube. At close to midnight, Jen said goodbye so she could get some sleep back at Davenport. Cameron and I stayed up until 3:00 A.M. watching The Notebook. Yes, two guys watched a romance.

The following morning we drove over to Cameron's church and met up with his family. After the sermon was Cameron's College Bible Study, which Jen and I attended... Thankfully/surprisingly, I passed off as a college student. I guess that's a plus for having some older pals. Juuuust kidding. AFTER the Bible Study was the church's potluck (Memorial Day) which lasted until 2:30ish.

From 2:30 until 5:00, me, Jen, Cameron, and Cameron's younger sister, Karris, toured around downtown GR. We got ice-cream, and ran through a water show, and pretended we were on Titanic, and made fun of hotel employees, and rolled down a big hill, and got kicked off a fountain, and watched fish swim downstream, and visited a grave, and climbed "The Button." An afternoon to remember. We were also stalked by a really creepish officer at Grand Valley... But that's not worth mentioning.

All too soon, Jen had to cart me back to Davenport so I could be "rescued" by my parents... I was pleased when they called to tell us they'd be half an hour late due to all the fun they'd had at Lake Michigan (They spent the day at Holland State Park while I was roaming around DTGR). So, I got to spend half an hour more with Jen than I had anticipated, gleefully spent discussing our weekend adventures.

Right on schedule my parents picked me up at 6:00 P.M.. I slept, all the way home. That weekend tired me out! Another pleasing thing about this weekend was that my Grandma came into town. She is still here, and shall be until this Sunday.

On Monday, we all went out to Zeus' for lunch. After that we stopped by Marshal Music to buy new music for Nathan. Believe it or not, that was my first time in MM... It probably would have been more captivating and awe-filled if I actually played a musical instrument. *Cough*

For those of you who didn't know, I played piano for seven years before my parents finally let me quit. I disliked every moment of it, but they never ceased their claims that it was for my own good and that I'd appreciate being able to make beautiful music someday.

Yeah, well, my parents are right in many, many, many things... But they were wrong about piano. When I was a kid, I ALWAYS wanted to play the guitar. But growing up my parents thought piano would be best. Their exact wording was, "All the best guitarists started as pianists." Of course, I believed that logic. By the time my parents let me quit piano, I felt it was too late to begin guitar. That, and my younger brother jumped on the acoustic I got when I was three.

So! I do not currently play a musical instrument.

Nevertheless, I could still admire the beauty in finely crafted instruments. We went home, and that was Monday.

Tuesday was spent in preparation for S.A.T. Testing on Wednesday. We went out to Fazolli's for lunch, which was a delight! Whenever Grandma is in town, she always likes to treat us to lunch. That night was our final BSA meeting of the year. Lots was covered and much was decided in preparation for our upcoming outing to Fort Custer. MUCH more planning on my part. It's relieving that our transition from old SM to new SM is going rather quickly and smoothly... Oh! And our Jambo Council Strips and Troop numbers' came in the mail yesterday! YIPPEE!

On Wednesday was testing, which hopefully went well. That night we watched Gone with the Wind. Dare I say more? I dare not... All I can say, is that after watching it, I felt four hours older, and not a minute smarter. I was drained of emotion and filled with grief. What a depressing tale. Ah well... I guess I shan't ever have a heart for the classics.

Today was the final day of testing. BLECH. The end.

Afterwards Grandma took us out to Taco Bell (LOL). Me and Justin thought we were such "Danger Dudes" by scarfing down our tacos with "Fire Sauce." But once you start gaping your mouth and fanning your tongue, that whole aurora of masculinity just vanishes... That, and when teenage girls look at you funny while your eyes are watering... Well, I guess the only way to describe us would be as "Morons." But then again, we both agree that it's not food if you aren't sweating or howling for water.

Tomorrow Fergie is coming over with his family! We're celebrating his sister's birthday (Shaylee). I'm REALLY excited to see all of them. We'll play games and pig out on birthday cake and what not.

*Yawns* It is late, Reader... And tomorrow is going to be another long day. Thank you for putting up with my dreadfully long posts, hopefully I have some faithful reader out there who's daring enough to tackle this thing. Blessings to you for not giving up! Possibly this made you chuckle.

A final word! I found this quote the other day and thought it was worth posting, so here it is:

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ~ Howard Thurman

Thank you for reading,

~Jacob