It's been awhile

Curt has started his blog again and so my fire has been lit within me. The infamous Brownie is staying with me this week, starting today. She really set the tone for the week, within the first 32 seconds that she was here she peed on the carpet. I don't really know what it is with dogs and peeing on the carpet. I mean she was just outside 31 seconds before that, why did she feel the need to do it right then and there? Maybe it is me, the dogs can sense that I only enjoy their company half of the time so they do it intentionally to frustrate me. Well I can tell you this, they are going about it all the wrong way. What if that is what I did when I thought someone didn't like me? I ring the door bell..."Oh hey...it's you (if there was a punctuation mark that was opposite of the exclamation point I would put in there, but alas I will have to settle for the common period)." I feel the disdain in my so-called friends voice. The seed is planted, as soon as he leaves the room to act like he is "checking on something" Mr. Willy Wonka is coming out and this floor is getting it's first April shower! That would show em.

Birthday Cake

Where did that dern Birthday Cake tradition that we all do come from anyway?

Some historians think that the custom of the birthday cake was observed in ancient Greece, and they report that the birthday cake began with the Greeks who used to make honey cakes or bread. Ancient Romans celebrated three different types of birthdays: Private celebrations among family and friends, the birthdays of cities and temples, and the birthdays of past and present emperors or members of the imperial family. The 50th year was celebrated with a honey cake made of wheat flour, grated cheese, honey, and olive oil.

Others contend that the Birthday Cake tradition was started in Germany in the Middle Ages where a sweetened bread dough was made in the shape of the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes and were used to commemorate his birthday. The Birthday Cake later re-emerged in Germany as a kinderfest, or a birthday celebration for a young child.

In England, birthday cakes are baked with symbolic objects inside. In medieval times, objects such as coins and thimbles were mixed into the batter. People believed that the person who got the coin would be wealthy, while the unlucky finder of the thimble would never marry. Today, small figures, fake coins and small candies are more common. (I also know this to be true of Mexico, when I went there on a mission trip we had a pie with either a baby, a ring, or a thimble in it. The baby represented that the recipient was supposed to host a party. The ring meant the recipient was to be married within the year. And finally, the thimble meant bad luck for the poor guy who received that. In our cake all everyone received were babies, maybe because it was around New Years and the baker was feeling particularly jazzy about the festivities.)

Birthday candles originally were placed on cakes to bring birthday wishes up to God. In ancient times, people prayed over the flames of an open fire. They believed that the smoke carried their thoughts up to the gods. Today, we believe, that if you blow out all your candles in one breath, your wish will come true.

So out of all the sites I visited I could not come up with conclusive evidence, most speculation similar to this above. But one thing I do know for sure is this:

Singing "Happy Birthday to You" has also been a long-standing tradition on birthdays as well. It was written by two American sisters in 1893, and has been translated into several languages around the world.

Long live the Birthday song!

Feeling the Pressure

As I write I have my lone audience in mind. If I fall of this horse and discontinue putting my thoughts down on the world wide web I feel this whole whirl wind of romance will stop. Yes, the excitement that has been created by the exchanges in our blogs, every new entry is like a fresh dry log of cedar thrown into the fire. It crackles and burns, fueling the beast that is this blog. It is a time bomb with a short wick, and in my hands does the destiny of this exchange lay, will it blow up with the might of Einsteins first A-Bomb or will it be a short fizzle and fade, much like my brother's beard. I want this creation to live on, like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein I want to pour forth life into this Blog, into this world in
which we hath created out of spare thoughts and worn out memories. So I feel this is a pivotal moment. I choose life for the blog. Will you continue to pour forth your soul as well?

Sunday with nothing to say

This is what you get when you actually have nothing at all to say. Rambling. I am almost positive that is where this will lead. Church was today, I must say this is an odd feeling I have been having about church here lately, I actually desire to go. A true miracle has happened. All of my life I have retreated from the thought of willingly submitting myself to the clutches of the church people. But I suppose times are a changing. I went out to Josh's after church and played 4 rounds of HALO. Days winners: Nacho-2 Rambo-2.

While I was out at Josh's I dropped a deuce like no other in his guest bathroom, which the smell actually lingered out into the hallway and started nipping at Josh's nose hairs. Needless to say my bung hole is burning like the dickens now. I rushed out of there like a bat out of Hades to get to the Creek to play some ball. Curt called and informed me of the horrific news that we couldn't get enough to play. That amazes me, who would not want to play the glorious game of basketball? Disgusting. Now tonight I am faced with the decision of if I want to go to...it starts with a "C". Uhhh, I am going to have to go look it's killing me. (I get up to scamper down the hall, oh wait it is 2 feet from me-you know what they say, ah ah, if it was a snake...) Central. My flesh does not want to go, I want to sit around and eat chips. I should probably go, I am sure the people there are nice, not to mention the fact that I would bet $100,000 that there will be chips there.

May the best team win

I set out today to make amends with my brother Joshua for not "being excited" that his Bears were finally in the Super Bowl. To do this I thought it would make him happy if I found some stats about the Bears this season, or if I found some experts that have picked them to win the big one. But what I found surprised me, and it even gave me a deeper respect, not so much for the Bears but for who has the responsibility to make the team win or lose: the coach. I found that Coach Lovie Smith is a devout Christian, one who has his priorities in this order: faith, family, then football. Some quotes from Micheal Smith's article from ESPN.com sum up both his character and Tony Dungy's, who is also a Christian, nicely-

"You won't hear either utter a word of profanity. (They) care about and foster relationships with their players. They serve in their community. Smith and Dungy are Christian men who serve the Lord first and spend nearly as much time serving their communities. After they won their conference championships, you heard Smith talk about his "being blessed" and Dungy thanking God. As Christians they believe it is their responsibility to let their light shine whenever they are in the spotlight.-

That is enough to make me respect a man and the team he leads and guides. If what was said about Smith and Dungy could be said about every coach in the NFL I wouldn't know who to cheer for. So about me hating the Bears and wanting them to lose in the Bowl, I don't think so anymore.

Gatorade and football

I had a question come to me at the end of the disgusting Bears win over the Saints on Sunday. Why do teams dump ice cold Gatorade on the poor coach after a big win? Well this is what I found out:

It was these 1986 Giants that popularized the football tradition of dousing the head coach with a cooler of Gatorade near the end of a victorious game. This originally started in 1985 when Jim Burt, incensed by what he thought was mistreatment he received during practice, exacted playful revenge on Bill Parcells by dumping a cooler of Gatorade on him. Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson later picked up on the ploy and would often sneak up on Coach Parcells near the end of games to dump the remaining Gatorade over his head. The dousing was a big hit with fans, and the Gatorade dumping would continue on throughout the season after each win, with Taylor, Carson, and several other players (Burt had since ceased doing it) concocting increasingly elaborate, sneaky and playful rouses, so as to at least attempt to keep the inevitable dousing a surprise.

Hmmm, who knew?

Utah, not so much

Ok, so maybe I told some people I was maybe not going to see them for a while. Maybe a year, maybe I will come back for a few weddings here and there I said, maybe, I don't know. I'm going to UTAH I said, where adventure lives and where the weak go to die I said. Well you will see me sooner then you think. Yes sir eee bobarino. For those of you who thought Utah was going to be this great and glorious thing-this powerful event in the time line of my life-Chelsie-not so much. There was a little too much inside jargon, not nearly enough p-time, my wiggi never would have sufficed, and far far too many blueies for me to have any peace about the situation. I am home, in Sellersburg, with the parents, yes you read that correctly. And so I thought that the blog was going to end, to die if you will, because the Utah adventure was over. They go hand in hand you see. The adventure, the journey. But alas, why must this thing die, as a good and dear friend of mine quotes often, "the journey is the destination." The journey, that is what this is all about, and the journey has led me here, to Indiana. That doesn't mean that anything is over, it simply means that plans have been changed, altered slightly if you will. So don't fret for me, don't let a single tear drop from your beady little eyes, for all is well with my soul.

First few days

As the days have passed here in Utah since I have arrived I have wanted to convey to all those who care what it is exactly Curt and I have been doing. Well I think the first step in the process is to help you visualize how we are getting from point A to B and to see how we are carrying our gear and where we are sleeping. So for this simple task I have provided a few pictures to hopefully show everything it is you need to know in order to fully grasp our experience. The truck, which holds all of our gear in two drawers in the bed of the truck. Our sleeping quarters above that is outfitted with our sleeping bags and a nice soft mattress that Curt purchased. Anytime we need anything from these drawers we simply have to find a place to park, lug out these huge beasts and dig through the mounds of gear and food that we have, no biggie. It actually is not that bad. Another item that I thought you may find interesting is our diet thus far: Day 1-Breakfast V-8 and m&m's. Dinner Pasta and Tuna, fresh tomatoes. Day 2-Breakfast A fat apple and peanut butter, and carrots, and a carnation instant drink mix, in a movie theatre parking lot. Throw a few hamburgers in there and there we have it. And finally, what on earth have we been doing? Driving around trying to become familiar with the town, trying to find a place to take a shower (which we did today for a buck and a half), and getting ready for our training which is the 12th -18th. We also have gone on two hikes to get our legs ready, both short and easy. One at Zion National Park and one Johnson Canyon Trail here in St. George. Some of you I have talked to have many questions about this experience, ask away and I will answer them as best I can. Next time I should have an address as well so I can give that out. The next seven days will be very interesting and I simply can't wait to see how on earth this company actually works. Until next time.