Champs!

Well...Dad and I had our first tennis match last Sunday. Let's just say we have yet to be beaten as a father son duo when it comes to doubles tennis. However, this match was just the begining. It sounds like the next four weeks will be much tougher. If you want to watch some hot tennis action, our next match is Sunday at 5:30!

Sorry it took me so long to post this!

Mr. Basketball Head

Due to some peer pressure at work (and too much time on our hands) Kyle wore a real basketball on his head. The residents got a kick out of it, as did the staff.

...yeah, but seriously. We ARE very professional at work. This was just an advanced form of resident/staff rapport building.

This Weekend.

I am looking forward to this weekend for a number of reasons:

1. Joel is coming home this weekend.

2. Jeff and Mariko are having people over on Saturday night. Joel might be able to come. Hopfully most of the old highschool lg gang (we miss you Jon) will be able to be there. I haven't seen people for a couple weeks, so I am really looking forward to it.

3. Dad and I are planning to join a beginner's tennis league that has matches on Sunday from 5:30-7:00. This will wet our tastebuds and allow Dad to decide if he wants to make it a goal for us to get good at tennis and eventually enter some USTA tournaments.

I am still enjoying my job...however, when I work evenings, Sarah and I don't get to see eachother very often. I guess this is something we will have to live with for now.

Seth

another win!

It has been a great weekend. My tennis team pulled off a huge win on Saturday. I knew it was going to be a close match because Huntington has been doing about as well, if not a smidge better then we have during the first half of the season against similar opponents. We ended up with a 6-3 win and I was so pleased to have a few of my players who haven't won too many matches this season, pull off key points for us. Everyone just keeps improving. Its so exciting to watch. I knew that I would enjoy coaching, but I had no idea that I would eat, sleep, breath, and dream about this tennis team. I care about them so much and want them to succeed more than anything.

My best friend Christie was home this weekend (from Anderson) and we got together for dinner last night. We always take each other out to eat to celebrate our birthdays and since we hadn't seen each other since my birthday, we went to Applebees last night. It is always so good to see her and catch up with everything that is going on in our lives. I'm still trying to get her to move back home, but right now she is very content with her job in Anderson. My best girl friends all seem to live out of town and I miss them. Christie and I do such a good job of getting together whenever we can though!

Seth's and my schedules have been very off this week. I work during the day at Bethany and have practices or matches during the evenings, and it seems like every evening I had open, Seth was working at the Detention Center. The same thing has been happening this weekend. I have weekends off, except for matches, but Seth has been working every Saturday and Sunday for the last few months. It would be nice to get our schedules a little more in sync so we could spend more time together. I guess we just do what we can. Luckily we will have this evening together.

our first win!

I just wanted to let everyone know that my tennis team got their first win tonight. Over the last two weeks we have lost 3 close matches and we were finally able to pull off a win! I was so excited and so was the team. We needed this win badly for our morale! The girls on my team work so hard everyday in practice, they deserved this win! We'll spend the rest of the week gearing up for a tough match against Huntington on Saturday.

Lyrics of the Day

Everytime that I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face gettin’ clearer
The past is gone
It went by like dust to dawn
Isn’t that the way
Everybody’s got their dues in life to pay

I know what nobody knows
Where it comes and where it goes
I know it’s everybody’s sin
You got to lose to know how to win

Half my life is in books’ written pages
Live and learn from fools and from sages
You know it’s true
All the things come back to you

Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears
Sing with me, if it’s just for today
Maybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away

Dream on, dream on
Dream yourself a dream come true
Dream on, dream on
Dream until your dream come true
Dream on, dream on, dream on...

Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter and sing for the tears
Sing with me, if it’s just for today
Maybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away

US Open

Last night Sarah, Josh, Gnagey, and I watched the US open finals. Although we liked both players, we were cheering for the 35 year old American, Agassi, to beat the number one in the world Federer. It didn't happen. Oh well. They are both considered two of the nicest guys on the tour, so it was nice to see them in the finals. Maybe next year Agassi.

We then played some Nertz (sp?) in which I lost very badly and got kinda grumpy due to my lack of skill at this game. Oh well. I wish I could be as good of a sport as the two tenis starts we just watched.

Agassi

Summer Cold

Well...here I sit under very rare circumstances. I am sick and my coughing, headache, fever, and stuffy nose are keeping me awake. I was so tired that I feel asleep at about 9:30, slept very restlessly, and then woke up at about 1:30. Now, I can't fall back asleep. Nighttime cold medicine doesn't seem to help. So, I thought I would blog.

I called in sick to work today. The first time since I started at JDC. I felt guilty, but I am honestly sick as heck, so I guess that is a good reason to call in sick. So...I just sat alone at home all day and got pretty bored. Napped some, and drank a lot of water to try to get myself better. So far it does not seem to have worked. Sarah had a bad headache when she got home from tennis this evening. Hopfully this does not mean she is coming down with something...

I thought I would share a quote with you that I heard on the movie "Coach Carter." While talking to a youth during a home visit, Jessica, the PO that I do house checks with, mentioned something about the youth fearing to succeed. The more I thought about this, the more true I believe it to be for many people (although, not everyone). Many youth I work with at JDC as well as many "successful" Christian adults I have interacted with.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."

Seth

Seth and I had a nice birthday weekend... considering both of us weren't feeling 100%. Seth is fighting a cold and I have been fighting allergies this fall. Still, it was nice to get away, even for just an evening. It is hard for me to relax at home, even if I have the day off from work. There are always so many things to do...errands, cleaning, laundry. Seth has realized that if he wants me to be relaxed we have to go out of town.
We enjoyed dinner and a movie over in South Bend, plus lots of US Open tennis on TV. I could watch the matches on TV for hours. Seth seems to enjoy them too. It was fun to stay in a hotel and then sleep in this morning. Too bad the cleaning people kept coming and trying to open the door. Check out time was at noon, but they were ready to clean at 10am. Doesn't make sense to me.
But now it is back to the real world. Work tomorrow as well as a tennis match all the way in Marion, IN. It will be a long day, but hopefully fun too. This should be a fun week at Bethany. I am helping out on two field trips this week, which will be a nice change of pace.
I hope everyone was able to enjoy the long weekend as well!

Well, this is our birthday weekend! September 4th Sarah will be 23, and the 5th I will be 23 as well. Then on the 6th, my parents will be having their 25th wedding anniversary! Friday we are spending the evening with Sarah's parents, Saturday we will be with my parents, and Sunday-Monday morning we plan on spending time just the two of us.

We have both had a hard time trying to decide what to get each other for our birthdays. I guess we have everything we want! I don't know if that is a good or bad thing. We will probably just spend the extra money and go do something special together.

Sarah's tennis team lost a very tough match to Grace this evening. The score was 4-5, and there were more the four tiebreakers. This was very hard on Sarah, because Goshen usually beats Grace. However, Grace had an extra good team this year. Everyone returned, and they got a new #1 player (so last years #1 is now #2). Even though Goshen has a very young team this year, Sarah is still very excited about their potential strength, and is sure they will pull things together as the season moves on.

We got together with friends for a little while last night since Adrienne will be going off to college soon. It was nice to be able to see everyone a little bit.

I think I am getting the cold that is going around. A bunch of people at work have it...and I have now had a sore throat all day. I guess this is a hint that I should be getting to bed so I can be up early for work tomorrow...

I hope all is well with all friends and family!

Seth