my summer vacation

Yea its been ages since i updated, but i just got back from a trip so i thought i would.  Last sunday i flew to Las Vegas where i met my beautiful girlfriend who i hadn't seen in 2 weeks (which is waaaaay too long) and the rest of her family.  They were on a trip to the west coast.  They picked me up at the airport and we drove 6 hours to the north rim of the grand canyon, that night we went on a short hike of about 2 miles to see some of the canyon.  Our campsite was right beside the canyon so cindi and i walked down to see that part of the canyon and came within 15 feet of a deer the scenery was lovely!  On monday cindi, patti, and I got up at 6:00 to go hiking hoping to see a sunrise over the canyon, instead it was too cloudy we walked down into the canyon about 2 miles and coming back up got soaked with rain.  We then traveled to glen canyon and saw the dam. On tuesday left for Westcliffe CO and spent the night with cindi's relatives. Wednesday we went whitewater rafting down the royal gorge which was a thrilling and chilling experience, the sun went in and it got cold.  We also walked across the bridge over the gorge and went on a swing which goes over the gorge!  The gorge is a 1,000 ft deep so it was a big adrenaline rush!  After eating at Chili's we set up camp at the base of Pike's Peak where we slept till 3:30 then rose up and cooked some smokies and ate cheese sticks.  At 4:40 a.m. philip, patti, heidi, gene (my native co cousin) Cindi and I started hiking up Pikes Peak it was great to hike under a full moon and see the sunrise!  After 9 hours, 12 miles, 1 1/2 gallons of water, granola bars, snickers bars, candy, couple bags of beef jerky, energy bars, no snakes, sore muscles, and lots of laughs we reached the top at 14,000Ft!  It was on of the greatest experiences of my life to finally get to the top, although at times it felt like we were breathing through straws because of the altitude!  You have exactly half the oxygen of what we breathe in DE!  Friday consisted of going to garden of the gods, focus on the family and saying goodbye to my girlfriend as their family left for Kansas and i met up with Gene where we went to a PBR rodeo. Sat. Gene had a wedding so I set off in his truck up a trail through Phantom Canyon to Cripple Creek all dirt road and rather rough and narrow at times!  Coming back i came down Shelf Rd which is named correctly, the one lane road is a shelf on the canyon wall with rocks up about 150ft on one side and drops about straight down on the other for about 300 Ft!  Makes for great scenery and driving!  Saturday night went to the demolition derby at the fair, the rednecks there take it very seriously and our throats were scratchy when we left! Other hightlights were full moon the whole time, spending lots of great times with my beautiful girlfriend, talking with her under the big co sky and full moon, awesome sights, and breathtaking views.  After being in beautiful CO again i have to wonder why i live in DE! It was so much more awesome seeing it all with my girl, who i get to pick up at the airport tomorrow!!  It has now been 5 months since we have been dating and i must say its been the greatest time of my life!  We have some great memories together and her adventerous, daring spirit makes it a blast to be with her!  Im truly blessed to have her as my friend and she has challenged me in so many ways!  speaking of her i think i ll call her since she is still in Oklahoma right now...

Its been a couple months since my last entry so i guess i can go ahead and update again.  Life has been great here, after observing this really cool lady that came here to teach in DE, praying about it for a couple months, and thinking over it for awhile, i finally got up the nerve to talk to her about a relationship.  So about a month ago I started courting Cindi Nussbaum!  She is an awesome girl and I feel very blessed to be courting her!  Life is a little brighter when you have somebody to put sunshine in your day--by either talking to them, getting notes, text messages, phone calls and pieces of cake (she is the best cake maker ever) sent home from school with your sister!  I feel sorry for you other guys since she's the coolest girl in the world!  She does have a few sisters though....lol God is truly Awesome, He has answered some really cool prayers the last couple months and im amazed at His wisdom even when we don't understand everything! On a more sober note we started playing softball in a church league, which is fun, but at the moment we are struggling.  Were currently 0-5 in search of a win!  We got a good team we just need  a little confidence to get our heads on straight and we'll do fine.  Work has been busy, praise God. We just started a monsterous victorian style home we'll be there a while.  Im thankful we got some beautiful weather lately, summer is just the greatest!

"Do what makes you happy, be with who makes you smile, and laugh as much as you breathe."

Currently Listening Go By Newsboys see related

   Well its been awhile since im updated.  Life is goin pretty good!  Just got back from playing basketball tonight, and this weekend i was in NYC with some cool friends from PA who i haven't hung out with for awhile!  We piled into 2 minivans and left sat. morning for NY.  When we arrived we just kinda walked around time square and also went to the wonderful ESPN Zone to watch the Ohio St. Michigan game!  There was a 3 hour wait for a table!  So we stood for like a half hour and then got blessed by a fan who didnt want his seat when his buzzard went off, so we watched it till halftime, then spent the rest of the evening in a busy time square.  We spent sat night in a motel that had 16 floors which was pretty cool cuz you could go up on the roof.  Sunday morning for church we went to Time Square Church, it has got to be the most beautiful church i was ever in,  it was an old theatre remodeled into a church and some of the woodwork and paintings are amazing!  I wasn't quite sure what to expect when going, but i must say i was quite impressed!  The Worship Time was awesome, especially singing "Soon and Very Soon" and "These are the Days of Elijah"  they have a choir of about a 100 and the church was packed i think there was something like a 1,000 people there!  Alot of different cultures in the  middle of NY all singing their hearts out to the same God!  If thats anything close to Heaven i definitly wanna be there!!  The sermon was awesome too, the pastor was very passionate about God and backed up all his points with Scripture!  I think it was one of the most rejuevanating services i have been in and i would have payed all the money i spent this weekend just to go there!  Before coming home we went to a show in Radio City Music Hall, it was a pretty cool show especially the nativity scenes! So here are some pics....

Our jazz entertainment at Stardust, a 50's style diner, the waiters and waitresses would sing, they had some good voices!

One of my many pharmacies in NY, think they are probably the best in the country! lol

Me and my cool tinman friend, you could give him money and take a pic then he would move like a robot, he had skills!

You never know who you might see in NY...the famous Morgan Freeman!

Sweetest Day

Ok so tonight we were hanging out with some people and they doubted my intelligence on the subject of "Sweetest Day"  so here are some of the facts.

Observed the 3rd Saturday in the month of October, Sweetest Day observance originated in Cleveland in 1922. Herbert Birch Kingston, a philanthropist and candy company employee wanted to bring happiness into the lives of orphans, shut-ins and others who were forgotten. With the help of friends, he began to distribute candy and small gifts to the underprivileged.

On the first Sweetest Day, movie star Ann Pennington presented 2,200 Cleveland newspaper boys with boxes of candy to express gratitude for their service to the public.

Another popular movie star, Theda Bara, distributed 10,000 boxes of candy to people in Cleveland hospitals and also gave candy to all who came to watch her film in a local theater.

Primarily a regional observance celebrated in the Great Lakes region and the Northeast, Sweetest Day is gradually spreading to other areas of the country. People tend to take the Sweetest Day tradition with them when they move. Ohio is the top state for Sweetest Day sales, followed by Michigan and Illinois. Texas, California and Florida are among the top 10 states in sales.

Over the years, Sweetest Day has evolved into a time to express romantic love and also to show appreciation to friends

So happy sweetest day to all you sweet people out there, hope you have an awesome day!  Thanks for your friendship!