Friends

I am so happy that God has blessed me with some of the most awesome people on the face of this planet as my friends. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a friend as 1 a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations 2 a familiar or helpful thing. I think that parts of this are true. I believe that family can also be your friends but I also believe that the bond can be more than just a mutual affection. There are those surface friendships that you have with your coworkers or classmates that can be the mutual affection friendships but there is something truly different about those real good deep down life long friends. I know that all friendships, deep or surface, are opportunities given to us by God. However, the deep ones I find are the true blessings from God. My friends remind me daily how much God works in my life especially through them for me. I want this blog to show how I truly feel about these friends so I am going to write about all that come to mind. If I forget about you let me know because it is late...haha... For those that read this the length of what I write about you should not matter and if favoritism is shown it is not on purpose that's why it is alphabetical order. So here it goes...

Andrew Nippard you are awesome plain and simple. I still remember the first time I met you and your family. You guys came over for some tubing and I think we had a BBQ. Some of my favorite memories from our friendship has to do with BBQs and it is something that I hope we both continue doing until we can no longer chew steak. I enjoyed the few late night conversations we had when you were in Australia and I did not realize how much I missed having you around until that awesome trip we had in Jasper. There were a lot of laughs. The thing I value most in our friendship is how we just get one another. God has let us click together in a way that I think is just awesome. I hope to see more of you before I head off to England and I'll have to teach you how to cook some wicked food.

Brandon Ubersteinerottenreiner I miss hanging out with you a lot. I miss the rook and poker and even the dreadfully overplayed pool and pingpong. I liked fishing with you a lot this summer and you are in my prayers and thought a lot. Make sure you give me a shout next time you come into the city.

Brent and Lana I do not know if you guys read blogs or not but I think you guys are awesome. You guys make Edmonton for me and I thank God for such awesome people. I enjoy our Sundays and I hope they continue long into the future, well at least until I go to England.

Carmen & Drake Farmer are the two best Farmers ever. Drake I do not think you have any idea how much you have helped me over the years. Your wisdom is truly beyond its age and I thank God for it. My fondest memories of our friendship would have to be just hanging out. I do not believe that there is a time that we have hung out where we did not laugh and I love it. Do not believe the words that come out of my mouth because deep down in my soul I love all Frencg people because of you...and because of their food. Even though most of this paragraph is dedicated towards Drake I still have not forgotten about the wonderful and beautiful Carmen. I can honestly say that before Peru this summer I never really had the chance to get to know you Carmen. I guess that was just another blessing that God gave me in Peru that I did not fully realize until now. I am looking forward to getting to know you better and have just as many laughs. I also am pleased to inform the both of you that when you decide to have children that I am a fully qualified babysitter and I would love to mold the minds of your children...haha...oh yah if you have more than two I get to name the third one.

Chad Skinner even though it has been a while I still think your fun. You'll definately have to come visit me sometime in the city so we can catch up. I loved the summer sleepovers and the late night food creations. I do not know what happened to your desire to be a Chef but I'll carry on the torch for both of us.

Dave Schienbein you are my main man for music and I love you for that. If God did not place you in my life I would not have 75% of the CDs that I have now and I probably would not have liked camp because you made it for me El Jefe and Chico. I miss having the TV nights and the indigestion that I got from those 7-Eleven nachos but it was well worth it. Hanging out with you and your brothers is one of the simple pleasures in my life that God blessed me with while I was in Cold Lake. I hope to see some of the laughter than we all shared move into Edmonton with you in January.

Grace Schienbein you were a major part of the best summer of my life. I thank you for all of the endless hours and hard work that you put into planning the trip to Peru. The only thing that could have made this summer better would have been if you were able to be on the trip with us. I pray that God blesses all of your life ambitions and that I also never find out what your brothers really meant by all that melon farmong stuff. You and Dave were the biggest influences on me going to Capernwray and if I have half as much fun as you guys did it will be worth while.

Hanna Jackson you rock. I do not care if you make fun of me for my poor map recognition. I guess you will have to be the navigator in our travels. I have never been more excited for anything in all my life, that is travelling Europe with you. I am excited to see what God has for us in Europe and I am happy that I am embarking on one of the greatest adventures ever with you. Can't wait...

John Schienbein I think that you are possible one of the wisest men I know. I thank God that I am blessed with a friend that knows as much as you do. I think that the most favorite memories are from when we cooked for ALPHA. I enjoyed the fellowship as well as the TinTin, Different Strokes and the necessary quality control on the tastings. I hope that you also move into the city before I leave for school so we have a chance to hang out more often.

Jon Richardson you are the man. Not because you have a nice car or because we can hear your subs from 10 blocks away. It is because you finally get the point of Christianity and I love that you learned that. I pray that you come to know and love God as I have. I encourage you to keep the communication going and come visit me more.

Kyle Keller lay off the tuna and hot sauce before I die from methane inhallation. Because of this problem I say to the rest of you, never live with a Keller...Drake you know what I mean.

Sari Moreland you are the closest thing I have to a sister and I thank God for you. You successfully hold the claim to easily the most awkward moment in my life and you should be proud. I was thrilled to be able to experience Peru with you and I will never forget that trip. In addition to Peru, Jasper was also awesome and I hope it becomes an annual experience. I know that God has something exciting for you in the future so even though Cold Lake sucks right now just remember the future will be awesome.

Shawn Sales I plain out love you man. We have had a lot of laughs over the years and all of them I cherish. I always enjoy hanging out with you but if you ever headbutt me again I will have to break it off. Make sure you vidit me more often.

Stephanie McAuley you are my favorite nurse. I think its awesome all of the disgusting things you get to see on your practicum. I do not think mine will be as exciting as women giving birth in the hallway but I will try and make it fun. It is too bad that our schedules do not clash better but we still have to make the best of it. May God help you with all of your homework...because I am done!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

Tanya Sales I also had an awesome time with you in Peru. Even though you had a crush on someone I know is gay that is OK I will not hold it against you (for everyone else, this is a major inside joke so please do not interpret). I hope we have more of a chance to hang out next time I come back home. Even though it will not be for a while.

Tyler Fehr you are quite possibly the most beautiful grizzly bear I know. Not only are you as hairy as one but you also eat like one and I think thats awesome. I thank God for blessing me with such a great friend. I was also happy to share Peru and Jasper with you because the experiences are beyond words. I look forward to all of our future meetings even though we are in seperate cities. I have forgiven you for cheering for Calgary in the playoffs. Make sure you come visit me and I'll give you the necessary culinary skills to get you a girl.

If I missed anyone please comment and I will for sure put you on. Thankyou all for making my life thus far awesome and humurous. Peace out and God bless...for now. I also have to show you guys my workplace accident. I was out for four days and I was a complete mess...

Well I was just minding my own business at work wearing my sexy uniform...

When all of a sudden the unthinkable happened and disaster struck...

Thats okay chicks dig guys with scars (7 whole stitches)...

It Was The Best Summer of My Life: Part III

Jasper was something I will never forget. Good times with friends, cooking over an open fire and watching Sari devour smore after smore after smore after smore...however, no where near as fast and as much as Tyler(you're a man among men). I just love that God puts the desire for community into our hearts because I definitely find it with you guys and I thank you for such an awesome time. However, I would love some pictures of the trip but I do not know where I would get them...hmmm...if only someone had brought a camera. There are lots of good stories probably my favorite being Greg getting hit by a rockslide or even better was the random Cold Lake Cougar attacks which unfortunately Greg was also a victim of. I do have a picture of the cougar in its natural habitat but you will have to wait until the end of the Blog. Overall, it does not get any better than Jasper '06 unless we do it again this year WHICH WE BETTER!!! But it would also be better if some of our other friends had come, bunch of bums.

After Jasper was also very exciting because I got to go back to school which is way better than anyone else's school right now, from what I hear anyway. My homework consists of converting recipes for about 20min a night and thats about it. We do also get other harder assignments like an entire 1500 word essay about Remember the Titans and my Garde Manger final project was a little difficult because I had to invent a salad. By the way the "Great White Ninja Salad" was a success and tasty if you come over I'll make it for you. The biggest project we have had to do so far is not even close to being done but is huge is a Pay It Forward type project. I do not have any of the details worked out yet but it will be a food ministry for the less fortunate around Christmas time that I get to organize. More details to come on that. In addition to Garde Manger, I had the opportunity to take a Butcher class as well as customer service in which I was a 5 Star waiter for 3 weeks. VERY COOL! We got to do everything from table side Caesar salads to decanting wine at the table and table side flambe desserts. It was a really awesome experience. Just on Monday we started Dessert lab where we get to learn the basic baking fundamentals. I only have 3 more weeks left in school and then I have a 4 week practicum at the Macdonald Hotel which I am really excited about. School is almost over for now which I am excited for because I get to start making money again.

This is the part of the Blog where I deliver the really exciting news that I promised in the last Blog. Capernwray Hall in Lancashire, England is going to receive the Newman Experience! Yeppers, I just got my acceptance for September a few weeks ago. Now I have to work like a dog for the next 10 months in order to save the $17,000 I'll need for tuition, airfare, and my Great Italian Escape during the 4 week mid term break with my wicked awesome world traveling buddy Hanna who will also be attending school with me. I am super excited about what God is bringing me to England for and what he will teach me there.

Saturday is the SIM brunch in which I am also excited about. Mostly because I just remembered it tonight and because I get to share with others the awesome things that God did in my life in and through Peru and its people. My new job is also going great. I am officially a prep cook at Century Grill and Bar. The people there are just awesome and I cannot complain about the scenery. What is even better about it is that it looks like I will be able to work a larger number of hours there after school is done I am hoping for like 60/week.

All in all, I am having a great time in Edmonton and I am looking forward to having any visitors; however, I am officially poor so if you buy the food I'll cook it for you. Here are some pics for my final part of this summer story. Oh yah and just to set the record strait, no matter what you hear from Keller, he is the one with the excessive gas I think it comes from all the Tuna and hotsauce that he consumes, IT'S RANCID!!!

It Was The Best Summer of My Life: Part II

Sorry it has taken so long for the second part but everyone knows how great Telus' service is. Peru was probably the best thing that has happened to me so far in my life. I am trying to find the proper words to portray what God did in my life but, to be completely honest, I do not believe I have discovered everything that God taught me on this trip. So as I blog I believe that God will inform me just as much as I will inform you.
The first thing that I realized God had taught me on the trip was how important prayer is. Prayer is one of the most important thing in the Christian faith. I had always heard about how stuff always went wrong on missions trips. Events that range from small things like the airline losing your luggage to major things such as severe illness. However, none of this affected our team and I believe that is because of the amazing support that this team had. I used this lesson in Peru and have now applied it to my life daily which is really cool. I have realized how important prayer is and that there is no limits on it. I just love praying now because I can pray with expectation. That is my prayer for all Christians that they will pray with expectation it has been so awesome in my life and I would love it if you guys would try it in yours.
The second thing that God showed me on the trip is something that has really made an impact on my life. He showed me that the bond between Christians in the world, which is basically him we are sharing, can span any gap. The friendships and other relationships that were formed between us and the people of Peru were and are incomparable. God broke through many barriers in order for this to happen the major one being the language and cultural barriers. The bond that I now share with these people is just awesome and I believe that God does this on every missions trip. If he did not I believe that there would no longer be any missionaries because the way he works is that he makes people fall in love with the country and the people in it and that is exactly what happened to me. I do not think that there was one person on the team that would not go back if they had the opportunity. These people will forever be in my heart and thoughts and I thank God for that.

I believe that another idea that God kind of kindled in my heart while I was in Peru was of him as a father and how the image of a father suits him perfectly. There was a father on our team with his kids and it was just an amazing experience to see the way that they interacted because I realized that God interacts with us the same way. The epiphany that I had went even further in September when I read a book by Donald Miller called To Own A Dragon. There were many different things in this book that related to Peru and I think that it is awesome that God can still use Peru to teach me things further down the road. The part of the trip that most stood out to me is when the father is trying to teach the son something and the son can put up the biggest fuss and complain and whine and nag; however, the father is always patient and calm until what he is trying to teach the son is accomplished. I look at my own life and the many times that God or even my own father was trying to teach me stuff and out of my childish stupidity I put up a big fuss when there wa son need to. The part of the book that stuck out most to me is when Miller was talking about the love of the father. He looked at different types of love such as when you love your brother or when you fall in love with a girl but then you look at a fathers love and it is just there and it is automatically unconditional. As soon as the father sees that little ball of skin he will easily lay down his life for it without question. I thought this was so cool because the love of God had never been explained to me like this before and now I seem to understand it that little bit more.

I am sure that there is even more that God will teach me from Peru and I hope to relay it to my Blog when he does. I want to take this time to once again thank all the people who were on the team and the even more amazing people who were praying for us. I am excited for everyday of my life because God is teaching me something new everyday and it is so awesome to have a personal relationship with him. Make sure you tune in for the final part where I will catch you up on the awesome adventures in Jasper and starting back up school which is freekin' awesome fun.

PS I have some super exciting news to reveal in my next blog!!!

It Was The Best Summer of My Life: Part I

Sorry everyone that it has been so long but I did not have internet over the summer so I apologize. I do believe that I will remember this summer for the rest of my life because God has never worked so much in my life and I had never got to expereince the things before that I got to do this summer. The best way to express myself will be in three seperate blogs i do not know if they will all get done tonight but I believe that these are just some things that I have to get out of my head and carefully process them through my heart so I understand myself what is going on in my life and what God is trying to teach me through these experiences.

The first part of this is about my giant epiphany that I had at camp and how it has changed my life so far. Camp this year was completely awesome and for all of you guys that missed it I feel sorry for you. I had just an awesome cabin with a great group of guys. My favorite guy in my cabin, some of you may know him, was Nathan Farkash. If you read this Nathan you were the best junior counselor i have ever had and you made camp for me. For any of you that do not kno, Nathan runs like a Gazelle. What was so awesome about Nathan was that him and I were going through and had gone through some of the same things so we could have some good talks, and his Gazellness helped us kick but in games and severly made up for the lackingness of my Elephantness. Once again my cabin won the overall cabin cleanup prize which was a sweet Canada stool. What I love most about camp was that the reason we won the prize is because I beat David in a wrestling match for 200,000 points haha. Dave you will never beat me.

The epiphany that I had at camp was the result of my faith over the last year. It being the first year away from home my walk was all over the place. I loved being away from home and I loved the fact that I really had no obligations anymore. The result of this freedom was that I was no longer obligated to go to church. I had placed other priorities above my walk, although this wasn't the first time I had done this in my life, this one had the most drastic consequences. Although there were not any physical consequences such as a police record, intoxication, or worse, there were drastic spiritual consequences. It got to the point where I had consumed myself with everything that wasn't God that I got to the point where I had completey deafened my ears to his voice. Even though I subconciously knew what I was doing I honestly did not want to change my ways at first. That was until I got to camp. This was the first camp that I have been at where I did not hear God talking to me and that is when I realized why I couldn't hear him. On the other hand, I believe that it was good for me because it pretty much wiped the slate clean for my walk. It took me back to the basics and I believe that it was almost like I was excepting christianity all over again. The choice that was pressed upon my heart at camp was whether or not God exists. I simply had to choose yes or no. I believe that God gave me this choice because I had to decide for myslef whether or not I was going to be a Christian. It was no longer going to be living out my parents faith I had to make it my own. So I simply choose and for the first time knew what it meant to have the faith of a child. God just plain out existed it did not matter how or where or why he just did and I think that is so awesome.

After camp I was starting to realize Christianity and what it is. A lot of the knowledge I was blessed with came from a book called "The Jesus I Never Knew" by Phillip Yancy. Tyler suggested it and it was awesome. For the frist time in my life the human side of Jesus was portrayed in a way that it made him easier to reach. Not that I could ever be him but just the fact that he was human made him a lot closer. I realized that the church is always portraying God is this giant supernatural unniversal being and he is but that side of him is so difficult to empathise with and have a relationship with. But just knowing that Jesus was human makes it that much easier to have a relationship with him. Just knowing that he struggled through all of the things that we struggled with makes it that much easier to represent and strive to be more like him. Now that I found I could have a relationship with him i just had to figure out how.

I remember fishing with my brother Mike. I love fishing and i always have a great time evn if we have to row that boat across the entire lake. Besides only catching two 4 inch perch i rember a conversation with him. I asked how the heck am I suppose to have a personal relationship with Jesus? Everyone always says that you just have to read your bible everyday and pray. But I thought outloud that there had to be more to it than that. I thought that I was missing something from this big picture but I could not figure out what. As I look back now I realise just how childish I was being because that really is all there is to having a relationship with Christ. That is what I want every Christian in the world to know this is how we communicate with the most powerful being in the world.

That will be all for the first part. It feels so good to blog again. I hope you guys all come visit me in Edmonton I have a new wicked awesome basement suit and I could cook you some wicked food. Here are a couple camp pictures for you guys. Tootles.