of fish and men

If you haven't met the in-laws yet, you have to! You always know that you'll marry someone no matter what their family is like, but you always hope for the best. And let me tell you, I got better than that! Carly and I spent the weekend in Tulsa to be with her family, and attend a wedding shower. I got the privilege of fishing with her dad and brother-in-law Jeff on Sunday morning in the Arkansas River (runs just west of downtown Tulsa). Man, there are all kinds of fish in that river! So many that half of what we caught was foul-hooked. You can see the two keepers here below. Doc, Jeff and I got to pull these Stripers in. And if you're interested in Doc's TV show, check out the link to Doc Geiger's Outdoor Adventures just to the right of the postings. The guy has got skills! He was a great guide, and was very patient with a novice such as myself, especially when I kept breaking off lures on rocks...blast! More to come on the Geiger family. For now, enjoy the pics and observe the FILET MASTER at work.

a coffee quiz

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

The boy who put the horse head in that guys bed in the Godfather: my brother.

Have you ever just wanted to rip somebody's head off? Well, my brother did. He didn't really rip it off, but I think he wanted to. He used to do it for a living. Okay, he didn't get paid for it, but I bet he would have liked it that way. Actually I think he was happy to do it for free. In fact, he paid Wheaton a whole lot of money to do it. Or, mom and dad paid Wheaton a whole lot of money. "Was he a hitman for a Chicago-Russian crime family?" you ask. Not quite. A strong man for the imposing Chicago area Concrete Layers Union? Close. This is conservative, evangelical, Christian university education at its finest; where boys become men, and then boys again...mostly just boys...with a lot of testosterone...and not enough classwork to keep them busy...okay, lots of classwork but they just ignored it. Behold --> the cornerback.

In pictures

I have found that it is easy to start a blog, hard to keep posting. Life has been overrun with busy work days, and busy evenings as we prepare for our wedding (now just over 8 weeks away) and try to finish painting and prepping the house we'll live in. One of my favorite things about blogs is the ability you have to tell stories with pictures. I don't have stories today, but I do have pictures that I hope carry stories within them. These pictures represent in many ways where my attention has been focused these past months. Meet some of the people and places the exchange students (whom I serve through my company) will get to meet.

These girls in Southeast Asia...


A city surrounded by this desert in North Africa...


This city lit up at night by traffic and the lights from scores of mosques...


An innumerable assortment of new and sometimes strange foods!...


A university near this East Asian farming village...


And culture. All sorts of new, complicated, fascinating culture.


Pictures are always better than the captions.