Grocery Shopping

The main grocery store is a mile from my apartment (see map). Like most things in Norway, it’s not open Sundays; therefore meal planning is critical. This particular Saturday, I created a large grocery list and had an interesting adventure.

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Arriving in Oslo

I can still remember my line manager asking me to consider joining the DNV Trainee program. What a dream! To live in a country filled with fjords, mountains, and adventures waiting to be had. I just have to wait out the snow. In the meantime, I keep repeating “8 month is a long time!” And I’m glad!

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Forge Football 2009

Over the last four months, I was co-coaching an 8-10 year-old tackle football team through the Forge for Families. It was a season mixed with struggle and success, but at the end of the season it all came down to one game, “The Super Bowl”.

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Gila Wilderness

It was only a matter of time before I raced back out the mountains. This time, Jeremy North joined me for a week in the Gila Wilderness in Southwest New Mexico. We met in College Station immediately after Nathan & Laura’s wedding, departing early Sunday and returning Friday afternoon.

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Boundary Waters

Summer came and went, but not before one trip for the ages. Nathan and I traveled up to the Boundary Waters to canoe for a week before our last semester in college. Our trip by the numbers: 6 days, 56 miles, 27 different lakes, 38 portages, 4 miles of portaging, 3 fish on the line, 2 lost lures, 0 fish…

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Hiking the North Shore

In July 2007, five other interns joined me on a great adventure to Minnesota’s North Shore to embark on a 16 mile backpacking trip. For having little to no experience, our group did extremely well. In fact, the trip went so well that I no longer consider us as interns but friends.

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4 Days in Big Bend

Today Travis, Kevin, Jordan, and I drove 575 miles to to Big Bend National Park. We made excellent time despite the unanticipated 30 minute gas stop in Marathon. What can you do when the pump maxs out at 2 gallons per minute? It was only a minor setback during a quick 8 hour drive to the park.

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The King and I

It takes on average 28 hours of fishing to catch a King Salmon on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers in Alaska. I feel sorry for the 4 people who will have to fish 60 hours to even out the success of our trip in June 2006.

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Never Hike Alone

Mistake #1. Hiking Alone. Mistakes 2-10: Going alone, forgetting a sleeping bag, forgetting food, forgetting something for blisters, not looking at the map until lost, not wearing any bug repellent, hiking in thorns, swimming with spiders, sleeping with raccoons, and oh yes going alone.

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Quotes »

[29 Jun 2008 | No Comment | ]

From Part III of Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards.
ls it not God’s design that men should obtain assurance in any other way than by mortifying corruption, and increasing in grace, and obtaining the lively exercises of it. And although self-examination be a duty of great use and importance, and by no means to be neglected, yet it not to be…

Life, Minnesota »

[10 Jun 2007 | No Comment | ]
Northern Adventures, Week 3

Dinner with Heather and James

This weekend marks the end of the third week in Minnesota, and as great as these last 21 days has been, the last couple have been extra delightful.  Friday, I shared dinner with James and Heather Rahbany-to-be.  Has James ever told you the story of his family’s name? 
While somewhere in the middle of the…

Life, Minnesota »

[1 Jun 2007 | One Comment | ]

Two weeks of work are in the books, and I have a paycheck for services rendered.  So, I feel it’s time to give you, my readership of 3, an explanation as to what in name of Sam Houston a Texan is doing in Minnesota.
Andersen Windows & Doors (AW) hired me to work in their Logistics group to buy my…

Life, Maps, Minnesota »

[23 May 2007 | No Comment | ]

Well, I’ve finally arrived in Minnesota.  After 1000 miles and 1.5 days of driving, my dad and I made it to the Stillwater – my new home for the next 12 weeks while I intern with Andersen Windows.  I’m still not quite a 100% sure what I’ll be doing, but I know that I’m working in the Logistics group and…

Life, Reese's Pieces »

[7 May 2007 | No Comment | ]

Oh my, I hope you didn’t think I forgot about you or sending out these silly emails. Truthfully, I have tried to write, but I it was as if I forget how to write. Please forgive the tardiness of the email… most of this email is now 5 months old.
But let’s go backwards and quickly revisit the last year.…