P.S.

I generally don't have conspiracy theories...really, I'm not one of THOSE people....


I'm done now...check out the new site!!

Spies

For the record, it took me four tries to get that post up....I'm telling you, they've got spies!

NEW BLOG

It's official! I am moving my blog to a new site HERE

It's still under construction in some aspects, but you'll get the general idea! Check it out and let me know what you think!


P.S. I think blogspot has secret spies that keep people from switching blogs...the first time I tried to post this I was blocked somehow....we'll see how this attempt goes!

Life Since Mt. Unpleasant

Well, Sunday we will be conducting a trial run of our house church. I am pretty excited about that! Scott and Catie are sitting at the other end of the table from me. Scott is helping Catie write a blog of her own and it is very funny to watch from this angle! Seriously, I wish I had my camera! I am considering changing my blog to a different site because it looks waaaay cooler! If I do, I will post a link so that all of my loyal readers ;) can follow along with my incredibly exciting life! If you can't tell already, I really can't think of anything to write about...not too much inspiration on this end...mostly just wanted to let everyone know that I am still alive...

Mt. Not-So-Pleasant

Wednesday night a couple of my friends and I decided that it would be a good idea to go climb Mt. Pleasant. No problem, we've done it before. However, this time when we got to the top of the mountain, Scott's car started leaking radiator fluid...that's very bad. Knowing that were going to have problems no matter what, we decided to go ahead and climb and deal with the car when we got back. We got back to the car at about 10:00pm and proceeded to add water to the radiator in order to increase our chances of survival...it ran straight back out the bottom. So we did the most logical thing...coasted down the mountain with the car in neutral and the ignition off. We finally reached a town where there was a 24 hour gas station and we were able to get cell phone reception. We called another one of our friends who was kind enough to come and pick us up. We didn't get back until about 3am...it was ridiculous. This weekend has been pretty sweet. I came down to North Carolina with the same friends that I was stuck on the mountain with. We have been attending Worshipfest and it has been an absolutely incredible experience! I can't wait to see how God is going to be working in the very near future! We are currently under a Tropical Storm Warning here, apparently tropical storm Gertrude (or whatever it's called) is heading straight for us...but we are praying that it will turn so we can go play on the water tomorrow. That's all for now! Peace out!

Routine

I am still trying to get a basic routine down for this whole blogging thing. Anyway, here's a little of what has been going on since I've been back.

The other night, some of my friends and I had an incredible time of prayer that was completely guided by the Spirit. It was an amazing time of fellowship. We began praying for my roommate's dad who was preaching in a church the next morning. It progressed from there to praying for eachother as well as other things that we were lead to pray about. It was incredible!

A friend and I are trying to get a house church going. That should be a very interesting experience and I am very much looking forward to see how God is going to use that.

I still need to come up with a new name for my blog...

So far I have survived about two weeks of school. Just 12 more to go and then Christmas break! One of my classes was switched to an online format, which makes me very happy, but there is a lot of work to be done still! I am working with the organization that I was with this summer in order to put together a manual for future interns to Germany. Hopefully I will be able to make a trip back to Augsburg very very soon! That's all I have for now. I hope that you haven't given up on reading this blog. Hopefully I will have more interesting things to talk about!

Lynchburg and an Update

It has been a while since I have done anything on here...everything is in English and it throws me off...Things have been really crazy, so to catch everyone up I will give you just a few topics...some more important than others, but in no particular order.

1. Germany rocked my face off. I can't wait to go back! There are some pretty exciting opportunities that will be coming up in the near future. I will write more on that as things become more solidified...

2. I am back in Lynchburg and preparing to start class on Tuesday...mixed emotions on that.

3. My best friend (Jeff Hill) was married yesterday...it was a long time coming, but they finally tied the knot. Congratulations you guys!

4. VA decided to pass a law allowing police to issue speeding tickets up to $1,050 (I think that was the amount). This makes me sad...not that I speed that fast...it's the prinicple.

5. On a related subject...#4 and todays drive back to school made me miss the Autobahn very, very much!

6. Seeing as how I am no longer in Germany (sniff sniff) I need to come up with a new title...so hopefully that will not be too difficult.

I will try to post at least one blog a week as the semester progresses. If anyone has any questions or anything just email me...I would write my email address here...but I dont know how smart that is...

Home Again

I finally made it home yesterday morning and pretty much spent the entire day in a semi-conscious state. I suppose I'll start from Monday when I left. I had so much stuff that Joe had to lend me an extra suitcase. Benny and Korny gave me a box of stuff (antz merchandise, German books and magazines, which are pretty cool, some candy, and a potato.). The flight over was pretty uneventful, other than the fact that we were late leaving, and then took forever to get across the ocean. I did get upgraded to business though...that made me happy. I arrived at Washington Dulles International at 11pm local time (5am in Germany). When I got to customs the line for the citizens was about 3 times longer than the one for foreigners. After spending about 45 minutes waiting in line, I finally got to customs. They searched my bag and decided that the potato was a threat to national security and so they took it....it's a potato. Some random farmer is probably going to read this and then tell me how horrible I am for bringing a foreign potato onto US soil...oh well. Anyway, after spending a little over and hour in customs I finally made it out of the airport...and then realized that I pretty much could have stayed there as I had to wake up at 4:00am the next morning to go back to Dulles to fly home. Now my bag is lost somewhere between DC and here, so for all of you in Germany your email addresses are in the lost bag...so after I get it I'll email you.

This summer was absolutely incredible! I was able to learn a lot and have some great experiences along the way. The ministry there in Augsburg is absolutely incredible and I look forward to sharing more about it with you all personally! Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support! God bless!

Last Day

It is currently 2am and I have officially begun my last full day in Germany....not gonna lie, I'm pretty sad about that. I got to hang out with the guys from the band one last time...I'm pretty sure they think I'm insane...but it was a lot of fun. Thanks guys for putting up with me all summer! Tomorrow I have to do some cleaning and packing and all of the fun last minute travel stuff...I'm hoping whoever is behind the counter at the airport will bump me up to business class...that would be sweet.

Quick Note

I forgot to mention earlier that we will be leaving in the morning to go on another studio tour until Wednesday. Joe, Benny and I will be leaving at 8am. Just so you can keep it in mind.

Umleitung (Detour)

I spent the weekend at the Paskas house, because Joe was out of town, which means I had a weekend of great Hungarian/German cuisine (courtesy of Mrs. Paska) and just plain fun. Friday night the Antz performed at the music store that I told you about. And, as usual, they did a great job! They received good scores on the song that they submitted to the judges. I have attached some pictures of the concert below. On Saturday, I watched Johnny, Benny, and Robin record some things for the Antz CD. And later on, I got my butt kicked in soccer by Mr. Paska. Last night, Marph, Korny, Benny, and I went to a German Kino /Keeno/ (cinema). I actually understood more than I thought...which still wasn't all that much, but still enough to know what was going on. Besides, I had my own personal translators (a.k.a. Benny and Korny) so they helped to fill in the blanks. I was like one of those people that always pesters you about what is going on or what just happened, or who is that guy and what is he doing....you know what I mean.

Today, I was driving Joe's truck up to the supermarket to turn in some bottles (you have to turn in glass and plastic bottles after you are done so they can be recycled), but as soon as I pulled out of the driveway, I had to stop because the Polizei (police) were blocking the road for a bicycle marathon. After waiting for about ten minutes for them to pass, I was finally able to complete my errand. After the supermarket I drove to the recycling station to drop off some cardboard and some plastic...only to get stuck behind the aforementioned bike marathon. I was finally able to make the turn that I needed to go to the recycling station....only to find the road blocked yet again for the finish line of the marathon...which also included a gigantic party/cook-out/concert that just so happened to be exactly where I needed to go. So, after driving around about 4 times to find an alternate route in, I gave up and came back to the Center. The moral of the story...I hate bikes....

Berlin Pictures

I decided it would probably be good to post some more pictures so you can see a very small part of what we did these last few days:

The main recording room of one of the biggest studios in Germany. They were a domestic rep. for Universal Studios until Universal sold the studio to private buyers.


......Benny drooling over the mixer at that studio......


....a really cool, really expensive board at another studio,this thing will pretty much do your laundry....


mesmorized


one of the studios had a dog...we want one


Berlin has 6 dunkin' donuts...these guys know the exact location of each one...



after donut #137....




Me, Benny, and Joe in front of a part of the Berlin wall...those bricks that run along the bottom follow the path of the original wall through the entire city, even inside buildings.

Back From Berlin

Tonight we returned from Berlin. We visited something like 10 or 11 studios over three days. Several things were accomplished over the last few days. 1) The studio here is right on track. 2) It really helped me to visualize what the complete studio will look like. 3) It was incredibly encouraging. 4) We were able to get a few ideas to apply here. Overall it was a great opportunity for me to learn more about the studio and recording industry. Once the studio is up and running, the profit will be used to support the youth work here. There are many plans for the future here. The possibilities are endless. I know that's a bit of a cliché, but seriously it's amazing what can be done here. God has provided GO Ministries with an incredible location, facilities, and network. It's exciting to be a part of it.

In other news. The Antz will be one of three bands that were chosen to perform at Augsburg's biggest music stores 10th anniversary on Friday. It is great exposure for them. Keep them and the work here in your prayers.

Berlin or Bust

Tomorrow morning at 8:00am or 2:00am est or whatever time we're on now, Joe, Benny, and I leave for Berlin. We will be meeting with several studios on the way to, and in Berlin. This should be a good experience for me to learn more about the whole music industry, something I know pretty much nothing about...Benny actually just got here. He is staying the night because we are leaving so stinkin early tomorrow. So we are sitting here trying different translation websites...it's pretty interesting...anyway...I don't think I'll be able to post much of anything while I'm in Berlin...I know you will all miss me, but I'll be back on Wednesday...peace out.

DVD Night

I just got done with a DVD night with some of the guys. It was a Mr. Bean marathon. We also took turns trying to guess what flavor the different colored jelly beans were. This was enough to keep us occupied for about twenty minutes. Not joking. Those things are addictive. Tomorrow there is a cookout fellowship thing at the Arche, a church in Augsburg. It's 2am and I can hear the mouse scurrying around...one of these days...wann ich da drauf komm...

Feuerwehr

Even though my German is horrible most people are nice as I struggle through asking for whatever it is I need at the moment. Yesterday, the woman at the Fiat dealer actually had a conversation with me (I sound like a pathetic person with no friends...that may or may not be true...). Today I went to buy paint and I was actually pretty successful with my German there. There was only one instance of cherades (I have no idea how to spell that). It was cool. Of course after that I had to hit up the McDonalds (which is actually really good here...it's almost like real food). After picking up lunch for Joe and I, I began driving back to the Center. I came around the corner and there was a truck completely engulfed in flames. There were probably 20 fire fighters that arrived and I had a front row seat. Unfortunately this little escapade was blocking the only way I knew how to get back to the Center. So, while everyone else is turning around...I'm staying put...mostly because I don't want to mess with turning the truck around. After a little while I realize that the parking lot to my right might loop around to the other street. It did. And so I continued back without incident. I love driving in Germany.

Plans for Berlin are coming together. We'll be leaving on Monday and coming back Tuesday night...or Wednesday morning. Tomorrow...I'm painting the stairs. Picasso, prepare to meet your match...if...you were...still...alive....man I'm in a wierd mood.

Driving

I have been driving by myself for a little while now. Just short little trips to the döner stand or to the grocery five feet away from the döner stand. Today, however, I was a driving machine! I took bottles to the grocery to get a refund, took cardboard to the recycling center, went to Media Markt to buy ink cartridges for the printer, to IKEA to buy doors for some cupboards, to the Fiat dealer to get some parts for the truck, and of course to the döner stand for lunch. And I only thought I was going to die twice! I never really got lost either. I always knew where I was...it was just a matter of getting to where I wanted to go. Example: IKEA is easy to spot because they have a gigantic sign that is probably about 450ft tall and can be read from any direction. So I'm driving down this street towards the massive IKEA sign...the road starts curving, no problem...it'll curve back...I still have the sign in view but now its to the right...easy enough I just make a right turn and it will be back in front of me...I merge onto a highway with Mercedes' and BMW's driving, no flying passed me...the sign is now more at my six o'clock and now I'm going down an on ramp to the autobahn back towards the Center. So I just made a big loop and came back around and finally made it to IKEA...they were out of the doors. That happened several times...enough times in fact that I was actually able to designate parking lots in which to turn around in...that's actualy pretty important considering the truck I'm driving is about 14ft long. Anyway, it was fun. Since then I've been planning a trip to Berlin to go to some studios so we can get some ideas for ours...shhhh, don't tell them though.

Good News vs. Bad News

Good news: The sun is back...Bad news: It burnt me...Good news: at least I'll get a tan this way...Bad news: It's gonna be a farmers tan, and it's lop-sided because of how I was standing.

However, I had a great weekend. I hung out with the Antz most of the weekend which was fun as always. Friday night we had another party for Korny so that the band could be there. Saturday I hung out with Benny and Korny all day and then went with the Antz (minus Robin because he decided to go to Italy for vacation...bum...I kid) to a gig in Munich. This morning we did an outdoor event in Augsburg...hence the sunburn...This coming weekend will be pretty packed with concerts and church events. I'll keep you posted.

An Epiphany

I had two realizations today. 1) Epiphany might be my new favorite word. 2) We're building a studio. Ok, that might sound a little rediculous...I mean it's hard to miss an entire studio when you walk through the door every morning, but my epiphany (yeah definately my new favorite word) has to do with the fact of what you can do with a studio. I can go in there and "sing" at the top of my lungs and no one can here me! It's better than singing in the shower! The accoustics are a billion times better. Seriously though, I don't know how many of you have been to the homepage for GO Missions yet but you should check it out. People are already starting to call about the studio and recording possibilities...pretty exciting! Check out the website for more info...

Schitzophranic Weather

I don't understand the weather here. It's July and I have worn a jacket every day this month. Today it rained, then the sun would shine, then a storm, and back to the sun. A couple of weeks ago it hailed for about 15 minutes then the sun came out and there were blue skies. It's supposed to be in the mid 90s this weekend, just in time for an outdoor event we are doing on Sunday. Gotta love it! Joe and I just got back from Korny's birthday bash...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! As always, it was great to hang out with these guys. Tomorrow is Joe's birthday....actually my clock just turned to 12:00am so....HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!! Man, that's a lot of birthdays...actually it's only two...anyway, and last but not least, congratulations to Benny on getting a good grade on his exam and on finally getting it over with!!...I'm going to bed...