Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Peyton Manning & United Way

An enjoyable SNL video I've never seen until today:

Friday, April 11, 2008

"O" my!




So my co-worker Jessica and I just went to the Women's Little 500, and as we were walking in, Barack Obama's motorcade pulled up. No one was sure if Obama was going to make an appearance, but it was widely rumored that he'd show. The rumors were right.

Jess and I had perfect timing to get a spot along the railing near the bus and wait for Obama to emerge from his bus. After 10 or 15 minutes of waiting, he emerged to cheers and walked along the crowd shaking hands, and yes, even kissing babies (see below).


Luckily he walked in my direction, and I was able to shake his hand! It was pretty cool. I'm still not sure if I'm going to vote for him, but I can certainly understand the power of personal appearance after today. It makes sense that politicians tour around doing these things – it really does get people excited about them.

Anyway, Obama hung around inside the track before the race began, shaking the hands of the women's riders before getting back on his bus to head for (presumably) Terre Haute.

The women's race was fun, too, and the weather was fantastic. What a great start to the weekend.


Right after shaking my hand.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Plans!

Well, after a long, long season of prayer and waiting, I'm excited to say that I have... plans! Of course, plans can always change, but I'm excited to have an idea of what I'll be doing with this next period in my life.

In a crazy week right before Spring Break, things started to come together in an amazing way. It's one of those times in your life where you can't possibly deny a higher power working to bring things together – God really knocked down some obstacles and plowed a road for me. I am incredibly blessed.

May 14 will be my last day of work at the School of Journalism. I'll put my stuff into storage for the summer, run the half-marathon on the 17th in Indianapolis, then head to Lake Champion for the summer – where I used to work.

I'm incredibly excited at the prospect of returning to work for a Young Life camp for the summer. Being around the people there, sharing in rich Christian fellowship and serving the Lord, will be a real blessing. Additionally, I get to spend all my time outside – and that makes me happy.

Just last night I was looking forward to living in the middle of nowhere again and falling asleep to an amazing chorus of frogs and locusts.

I'll stay at Lake Champion until late August, at which point I'll return to Bloomington to become a full-time student in SPEA (the School of Public and Environmental Affairs). I'm planning on pursuing my Masters in Public Administration, focusing on non-profit and public management. While Emergency Management isn't a concentration choice at SPEA, I am going to customize my experience as much as possible to gain experience in that area.

So – a summer away, then another two years in Bloomington. I'm excited to stay here with the people I've gotten to know and enjoy this Indiana life for a while longer.