New home. . . round four.

Everyone moves four times in their first year of marriage, right? Okay, maybe not. In my defense, I told Liz that a life with me meant a lot of moving, a lot of uncertainty, and a few unexpected adventures, but I don't think she believed me. :)

Here are three stories from our new home. Quick background on the implied move - our last place was isolated, dangerous, and inaccessible by 2-wheel drive vehicles. We made the decision to move a few weeks ago, found a home very close to the school and other missionaries, and we are moved in. Any delay in blogging or communication was due to the slow transfer of telephone/internet from one house to the other (we finally got phones yesterday), not to mention having other things to do. At any rate, we are moved in, online, and happy. Now, for the stories:

1) We heat with a wood burning stove, pictured below, and so the house stays toasty-warm so long as a fire is lit. After sleeping 8 hours, the fire is rarely lit. This morning we awoke to a house in the 40's.
2) My mom has always pulled out a variety of nuts and a cracker during the holiday season. The days leading up to Christmas wouldn't be the same without them, so we found our own stash.


3) I am growing a beard because it is cold (not by Nebraska/Michigan standards). Although it took some time to get full and fuzzy, it is a help on those cold mornings.

What are you Thankful for?

This is your chance to post a comment! I know you read the blog, but do you participate with it? We're about to find out. In your response, tell me two things you're thankful for.

As for me, I am thankful for my wife. (I am now going to mention some of the things that make me thankful; this is NOT an exhaustive list.) She is sensitive to my need for adventure and change, even though she dreads the thought of it. She finds joy in serving me, and goes out of her way to make sure my EVERY need is met. At times, Liz has been known to get very angry at people because she thought they mistreated me. . . I think this is cute. Finally, against any common sense or logical reasoning, she thinks herself lucky to have me, and that is flattering.

Second, I am thankful for Jackie Chan . . .

. . . in case you were wondering . . .

Chance Buss, if you are reading this, you are worthy of praise and laud. We ate several pieces of your dear Bessy today; they were fantastic.
There are families on the field that we have connected with over the months, and we wanted to bless a few of them this evening, so we invited them over for dinner. During our last visit to the U.S. of A., we were given random cuts of phenomenal beef. Those were the center-pieces of the evening, and I feel like all involved went home happy.

Pictures Worth Sharing

Before I get to the good stuff, I want to remind the "Google-Reader" users out there that I have another poll on my blog, and this one is of personal interest to me, so please contribute. Now, without further ado. . . these pictures are from several different locations over several different years. Enjoy!


I just participated in "Crud-Wars" at camp. Imagine a food-fight with 600 people.
In spite of her face, she actually really enjoys wake-boarding. And she's good at it!

Harnessing our "Chi" - or giving our best "Karate Kid" impersonations.
Liz was having some fun with her macro focus.


This kitten was about as freaked as the lizard from above.

Bonding time with Dad.

I married a little cutie!

It looks sweet and all, but she's rubbing sand in my hair.

Did you know that . . .

The fastest moving land snail, the common garden snail, has a speed of 0.0313 mph.

The next sentence is true but you must not believe it. The previous sentence was false.

One can cut a cake into 8 pieces with only three movements.

In the average lifetime, a person will walk the equivalent of 5 times around the equator.

The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

American car horns beep in the tone of F.

Math is

I would like to take some time to introduce you to my math students in no particular order.

Algebra 2 - I asked them to think of how they wanted to be remembered in the annals of time. This is what they came up with: Mug-shots w/height measurements that say they are 2-3 ft tall.



PreCalculus - They preferred the group shot, and it happened on a day that we met outdoors.



Algebra 1 - They also favored the group shot, but they chose a more expressive pose.

I only have 1 Calculus student, and he is pictured above in the pre-calc class. His name is Jack, and he's on the left.

Finally, my physics class can be better seen in a previous post: Physic's Project.

I hope you enjoy them all. If you don't get the joke at the top of this post, please see your nearest math professor.

There and back again.

New and exciting things are coming your way! Liz and I just returned from yet ANOTHER school break. You may remember the last break from September. Also chronicled here, and here, and HERE. Well this time, I was asked to be in a friends wedding. Adam Parks, who is adequately described in my old blog, married an outstanding girl from the east coast, and I was given the honor of standing with him as a friend and a brother. The wedding took place in Colorado, and it was beautiful.

Also, because we were so far from Mexico, and because the bordering state to Colorado is Nebraska, we were able to spend the remainder or the school break in Norfolk with my parents. It was such a blessing to be around my mom. We also used the time to catch up with our niece, Addison Ann, and a lot of friends in the area.