"I now pronounce you..."

"...husband and wife."
Two of our good friends will be getting married tomorrow.

HOW WE GOT TO KNOW THE COUPLE:
Arika started working for STEM by helping out with Mission Maker sales. Her and Erin hit off when they were assigned to the golf fundraiser. They both have the same personalities. Arika may be a little bit more laid back, but the two mesh so well together.

I met Ibrahima the night he arrived in the states (early January). He has a great sense of humor to go along with his big smile (sound like anyone you know ). We both like to joke so the girls always have to be on their toes. Even though he speaks very little English (he's starting English classes next week), we don't have a problem communicating. Possibly because guys don't need to talk to enjoy each others company. That's where the burping and farting come in. ;)

BRIEFLY ABOUT THE COUPLE:
Arika hails from the "gem state" (Idaho) and came to Minnesota in order to go to school at Bethany College of Missions. Whereas Ibrahima Gaye (pronounced: Eee-bra-hee-ma Guy) grew up in Senegal where he left the Muslim religion to follow Christ. The two of them met when Arika went on a mission outreach to Senegal.

MY APPRECIATION FOR ERIN:
As for Erin and my involvement in the ceremony, Erin is one step shy of the wedding coordinator position. So you know EVERYTHING is going to be organized. Me on the other hand designed the programs (pictured above) and will be video taping the wedding. Fun!

After getting a tiny glimpse of the effort Arika and Erin have put into this very quick wedding, I have come to appreciate Erin's hard work on ours three years ago. You really have to be organized in order to accomplish a successful ceremony and that is NOT me.

CONGRATS TO THE COUPLE:
So, congrats to Arika and Ibrahima. They have already been through a lot and we have seen them persevere. This is one of the few marriages will truly last "til death do us part."

—b

Super Bowl XL

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To commemorate the fight for the Bud Grant...err... the Lombardi Trophy, here are two desktop pics I made. One is for you loud, colorful people, the other is for us artsy, minimalist people.

As most of you already know, this years Super Bowl teams are the Pittsburg Steelers and Seattle Seahawks. Personally, I'll be routing for Seattle since this is their first appearance at the big game and Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander are both outspoken Christians.

Pittsburg was at their peak when the Seahawks debut as a franchise (1976). That was the era when Terry Bradshaw had long locks and Franco Harris made the "Immaculate Reception". But if the "Steel Curtain" reamerges and comes out victorious, that will be alright with me.

—b

What is Leeds?

My sister Emily is taking a semester of classes in Leeds, England. The what's, why's, who's, and how's, are fuzzy too me. I'm not sure of all the details so hopefully Emily will be able to fill us in on how life in "jolly ole England" is going.

In the meantime, here are 10 facts that I do know about Leeds:

1. It is a town in England
2. It has a castle
3. It has a university
4. It is not the Spider-Man villian, Ned Leeds
5. It has a football (soccer) and rugby team
   
6. It uses Pound's instead of dollars, Metric instead of U.S. Customary, and .uk instead of .com
7. It has trolley's larger than the one Mr. Rogers used
8. It is not this town in North Dakota
9. It has this place
10. It is the site of this live "Who" performance

—b

Playing Hooky

After not being able to keep anything down for 2 plus days, I'm making up for lost ground...err... food by eating leftover birthday cake and a bismark (not the North Dakota kind) this morning. Anyway, with me being out of work for a couple of days, I found this list by Carreer Builder to be quite amusing. Enjoy.

—b

CareerBuilder.com recently took a look at employees who call in sick with bogus excuses. When asked to share the most unusual excuses workers gave for missing work, hiring managers shared some of their favorite examples:

• "I'm too drunk to drive to work."
• "I accidentally flushed my keys down the toilet."
• "I had to help deliver a baby on my way to work." (Employee was not in the medical profession.)
• "I accidentally drove through the automatic garage door before it opened."
• "My boyfriend's snake got loose and I'm afraid to leave the bedroom until he gets home."
• "I'm too fat to get into my work pants."
• "God didn't wake me." (Employee didn't believe in alarm clocks and thought a higher power would wake her when she was ready.)
• "I cut my fingernails too short, they're bleeding and I have to go to the doctor."
• "The ghosts in my house kept me up all night."
• "I forgot I was getting married today."
• "My cow bit me."
• "My son accidentally fell asleep next to wet cement in our backyard. His foot fell in and we can't get it out."
• "I was watching a guy fixing a septic pump, fell in the hole and hurt myself."
• "I was walking my dog and slipped on a toad in my driveway and hurt my back."
• "My house lock jammed, and I'm locked in."

Happy 24th EMJ!

Happy 24th Birthday Erin Michelle!

What can I say? I love her. My beautiful bride of two and a half years. I won't go all mushy but she has easily been the biggest earthly blessing in my life. I love you Erin.

Please drop her a line and wish her a happy birthday. Even if it is belated.

—b

Bella Meets Gunner

Bella has finally encountered a dog that will out-play her. Meet Gunner.

After a relaxing weekend in Moorhead, Erin and I rushed to Ramon and Sheri's home in Jordan, MN to help plan our friends, Arika and Gaye's (pronounced GUY), wedding. We were supposed to be there by 6:00 pm, but didn't arrive until 6:45. Sorry everyone.

While Erin went inside and got ready to brainstorm a wedding, I fed Bella and let her lose some weight on the Flores' lawn. It took her a little exploring/sniffing because she smelled remnants of a young black lab named Gunner. Bella was a little hesitant going into the unfamiliar house not knowing who or what would be waiting for her.

As we went inside, Bella noticed a blur of black fur run across the bottom of the stairs. Upon further investigation, she encountered her first cat. (She didn't know what to think of it.) False alarm. No dog.

After visiting for about 15 minutes, Bella was getting restless. And since every dog she has come in contact with, (big and small) she has "out-played" by not leaving the dog alone, we thought it might be fun to see how she reacts to a 4 month old black lab.

Whoa! Bella and Gunner immediately did some hard-core (yet fun and careful) playing. Bella would get on her hind legs with her paws raised and mouth open to take on the big puppy. Gunner on the other hand would lay down and just put her paw on Bella's head forcing her back down. And when it looked like Bella would get the upper hand...err...paw, Gunner would put Bella's entire neck in her mouth.

You would think that would show Bella who's boss. But no. Bella continued to "fight" back. She developed a strategy of hiding under a kitchen chair and when Gunner would pursue her and become hindered by the legs of the chair, Bella would run around and jump on Gunner's back.

This continued for a while until Bella had to throw in the towel. She couldn't keep up the pace with the enormous puppy. She finally retreated into my arms. And Gunner was forced to take a breather in the bedroom. There was a round 2, but with the same end result. Bella had finally met her match.

Bella slept soundly all the way home and through the night. Possibly dreaming of a comeback reminiscent of a "Rocky" movie. We will all just have to wait for the sequel to find out what happens.

—b

Belated Christmas Gift

Where do I begin?

Summary's of the Christmas'? Kevin's health? Dad winning the 2005 JETT? All of those are good topics but I'm going to post one that is waying on my heart. Prayer/financial support for a couple who work at STEM.

Ramon and Sheri Flores started working for STEM about 6 months ago. They followed God's call whole-heartedly by performing a sky-diving version of a leap-of-faith by leaving their full-time jobs to follow Christ's call.

They have 3 boys and 1 girl to support as well as themselves. Every 9:30 am prayer time here at STEM, we pray financial support would come in for them.

I don't want to stress money over prayer. I honestly believe that prayer is more important. The Lord will give how he sees fit. If you feel called to give, great. But please add them to your prayer list.

Anyway, this post is a plea to anyone who is able to give prayer/financial support to Ramon and Sheri. They don't know I'm doing this and would probably be embarressed. So if you or anyone you know that might be interested in supporting them, please send them the link below or by calling STEM. (Erin will most likely answer the phone.)

Donate to the Flores Family

Thanks Everyone.

—b

Playing Catchup

Welcome back to the real world.

After having been on Christmas vacation since the 23rd, I'm having a fun time of trying to get caught up at work. Once I can get my bearings, I'll continue with my random thoughts and updates.

—b