my name is not nick.

i happen to see it as a cryin' shame for someone to have a perfectly serviceable blog, but to have it languish inactive for almost 4 months. i also have an inordinate amount of time on my hands right now and am slowly working my way through a long list of shameful things i can remedy. updating nick's blog is on the top of that list.

so here's the summary of what's happened in nick's life in the last 4 months:

june highlights
...nick met his lovely (some might say ravishing) girlfriend's parents for the first time. he was a bit nervous, but stood up to the scrutiny admirably, fitting in some male-bonding fishing, a eureka springs excursion, and a ride the ducks trip.
...while mowing said girlfriend's lawn (as he tends to do to prove his undying devotion), he found 4 tiny kittens and without further ado claimed the black and white one for his own, naming him ransom pendragon.

july highlights
...nick & kate roadtripped to colorado to meet more of kate's family. her sister-in-law promptly got him inebriated then plyed him with questions about his intentions toward kate. he again stood up to the pressure, showing himself to be a man. they went camping in some of the most gorgeous country on earth and then visited the garden of the gods.
...nick took that ever-present girlfriend out for their six month anniversary (of dating) and made it the most memorable date up to that point by professing his love for her.
...nick made his harvest debut as little jimmy, supporting mr. science in educating the little vbs-ers in the scientific ways of the world. those little tykes will never be the same.

august highlights
...nick finished his last month working at doulos with mixed emotions. his buddy rob bought a house and they moved in together, which helped nick not feel too cast adrift on the sea of life. he's currently enjoying the challenge of turning his bedroom into his own space by painting the walls and building furniture... their friend, jen moved in to the basement apartment with them, so they're one co-ed happy family.

september highlights
...nick looked about for a job, finding a few options, but finally hitting the mother lode of opportunities at artfolk, a shop that specializes in making dulcimers, but also does all sorts of other woodworking-like things. the owner, art, is excited to be training nick in a number of things including sign-making and sweet harp-making. hopefully this job will evolve into something nick can continue expanding into a career. it fits with his love of making things with his hands perfectly and art is a wonderful older gentleman who is already a mentor figure in nick's life.
...nick was in a car accident that totaled his explorer, but was thankfully uninjured. he is currently carhunting, and would love to find a toyota tacoma within his price range but is also open to other options.

there you have it! the highs, the lows and the mediums of nick's life over the past few months.

in case you haven't figured it out yet, that ravishing girlfriend... well, that's me. he doesn't know i hacked into his blog, but i don't think he'll mind.

i love you, slinkydooda!

Pirates of the... Buffalo?

So if you have read Kates Blog about our little camping trip and all the canoing that has been done. I thought that I'd share some pictures myself of our trip.

here is the lovely Kate (or Katilina Kate as the Pirate name that I gave her) and me (Captain Black Swagart - i think it sounds pretty cool) isn't she so pretty?

While the "fiasco" with Erica happened, nate and myself decided to climb up on some rocks to remove ourselves from the situation - i kinda tend to shy away when it comes to females and bathing suit issues.



here's me doing a tripple-half-gainer with a "salty-dog" twist!!! or just jumping!

Here's all of us at the end of our canoe trip, we had a blast all-in-all! i really didn't like all of the college, fraternity and sorority people that were on the water, it's hard for me to have fun when people are cussing and getting drunk. i still had fun, i have "uptight" moments where i realize that i'm not in control of what is going on around me and there seemed to be a lot going on that I didn't have control of; time- me getting back to doulos by six so that i could be on coverage, the college kids and their "lewdness" and just all that i had to get done (and felt like i negleted to do) back at doulos. well it's late and I don't have a whole lot more to talk about, i'm still trying to blog more and put more pictures on my blog, wish me luck!

Facebook only works if you know your own face!!!

So for those who are into the hip new things will know that i am not!! but a good friend of mine (jason paxson) recomended facebook to me, and thus far I'm hooked! but heres something really good b/c it shows my total lack of knowledge on how to use this new found contraption! I went on my laptop and went to see if I had any new friends, well it said i did, my friends jason and jonathan... well heres the kicker, b/c of all the stuff that facebook offers on the home page i didn't notice that it was actually my girlfriends account and that when i added jason and jon i put (jokingly of course) that jason and i hooked up and that it smelled like poo diapers, and not only that but that jon was my extended family, only to realize that it was "kate" that did such things, which would look kindof odd on the end of jason and jon (b/c they don't know her!) so theres my fun thing for the day! Praise Jesus!

Humility

I was just reading my good friend (probably one of my best friends) tims blog - and it made me realize that authenticity is what i've been needing in my life.
So here goes some authenticity! i have really been struggling with my relationships in Manhattan. i took kate there a couple of months ago so that she could meet my family (part of it) and not really having "high expectations" about the weekend, I was let down. i didn't realize the impact that bringing my girlfriend (especially to those who have seen one side of a broken relationship) would have. a friend of mine confronted me about our relationship and the rest of my "time off" was spent in partial anger, and partial shame (as though i had let my friends down) .
The only reason i say this is b/c resently i talked to another good friend who was questioning the relationship. it made me realize that i have not done well at all to communicate my life in branson, especially my relationship with kate.
how does a sophomore in college communicate growth, especially when he goes home to everyone treating him like they did when he was in high school? that is not an arrogent statement like, "look at me, i'm so much more mature!" which any growth that i have recieved has been purely God!!!! right now, i'm just venting.
i just wanted everyone to know - which includes my manhattan friends, that i love you guys and i'm so sorry for loosing connection with you guys. it's wounded me down into my heart. i pray that whatever time, space, or growth was lost the holy spirit would fill the gaps. Glory to the Holy Spirit!!

I may be in a Coma, but I'm not dead!

(my good friends Timnus and Jean' Vie've)
So, I'm one of the worst people at updating blogs. I love having it, it's just where I'm at, I don't take the time on doing it (it seems like in ministry everything that you'd like to do is "extracirrucular" and you feel like a kid whose in tons of activities and you don't want to "do" another thing!) well, that's how I feel anyway! So a lot has happened, Kate and I are dating, we went to Manhattan, KS to meet my friends (which I don't know how well that went) I went to Eluthera, Bahamas for a missions trip (awesome) my friends, Nate and Sandy got married, Kate and I broke up, and then got back together (that's a different story) my parents came down to visit me, and finally I'm going to apply (or already am) for College of the Ozarks. wow, that sums up the last 4 months? so anyway, I know that theres tons more to write about - one being my good buddy tim has a blog also - but just know that I'm doing good and I am going to make a effort (maybe even a goal) to keep this blog updated for all 5 or six of you that actually read this. Also know that Kate Corley is an amazing woman of God and I like her a whole lot!
I'm going to put a picture of Tim and Jen so you know what my good friends look like - oh I almost forgot, Tim and Jen, Kate and myself went on a double date last Friday and it was a blast (Kate will give you more details if you want) but I wish I had pictures, but Kate probably does.

Kate, Tim and I and we are at starbucks

I am sitting with Kate (my girlfriend!!) and Tim (my heterosexual life parterner) and we are chillin' at starbucks!!! here are some pictures so you can see how pretty she is!! I know I haven't been great about updating my blog, but then again, I'm not really sure how many people are reading it!!!

here are my friends (in no particular order), Tim, Maren, Erica, Kate, Rob and I. It was really funny b/c kate wanted a picture of everybody but of course we couldn't do that unless we had somebody else take it for us, so we got some random guy to take the picture!!! We were going to see "Stranger than fiction" and we found out that we were a bit "short" on cash for all of us to get a ticket!!! So I ended up going to my car and getting all my change (pennies and all) so that everyone of us could have a movie ticket!!! Kate is pretty cute, I really like the picture on the top!!! She looks very outdoorsy!

thoughts from an airport terminal

I'm sitting in the Springfield airport waiting for my flight at 1:18pm (it's only 10:35am right now) and it'll be another 12 hours and 25 min until I am in North Dakota!! I just spent $4.25 for a meat and cheeze stick snack, cashews and a bottle of water (which didn't fill me up in the least sense). I've also got two great friends back at Doulos that are not going to see their families today. I don't say this to complain, although I am a bit.
"Pity Me!" are probably my earthly motives, "look at all the junk that I have to deal with!"
I was talking with Tim about how Christmas is meaning more for myself (and it continually is!) and not just a "Once a year I'll give to the Salvation Army" sort of thing, Did Christ originally come to this earth that we would have time off from work for a couple days a year to spend with our families. No, He didn't, He came for something far deeper than Easter Eggs and Tenenbaums? He came "that we might have life and life to the full!"
A present means nothing, unless there is a comunity behind it, a story, someone knowing someone else in an intimate way. And this is just part of the life that Christ intended for our lives!
I feel like I could go on forever on ideals of what how far we have lost comunity, I could also talk about all the inconviences that I am having to deal with, but truth is, it's kind of exciting that I get to spend a lot of hours in an airport terminal(s). I get to spend Christmas with Him whom has created all the seasons and whom all things belong!! praise Jesus!