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