getchyerself gradeated

a few pictures from graduation and me and all of my silly roommates.

A small highlight from the tour

I threw this mini clip together using crappy PC freeware. The slideshow is way too fast, but I thought you would all enjoy it anyway. The audio is from our performance in Bismarck

Kill Till, Vol. 1

Mom and Dad put the garden in this weekend, but not before some serious tilling. I thought you would all enjoy the photos.

My all time best garage sale purchase

Hello everyone,

I'm finally making my maiden voyage on the blogosphere. I'm so excited about next weekend. I get to go to the lake. There was a garage sale down the hill from us. Carol saw a kayak for sale. I always thought that would be something fun at the lake. When I got there the kayak was sold but they had this sailboard for $40. I asked if there was anything wrong with it. They said no and it included 2 sails so I bought it (after a quick consultation with Brian) but I would have to wait until her husband got home to get the rest because he knew where the keys were. I took the board(a Mistral SST 86 or 87 vintage) home along with the teardrop handles(Don't know the official name). Today I went back and got the sails. He came out with 2 masts and a big pvc tube that he used to store the sails. When we got home we opened it up. There were 4 sails of different sizes. They are in great shape. I'm excited to try it out.

handyman in training

Keegan loves the tools... gettin 'er done with his own phillips. He's already looking like a strong lefty. He warms my heart with his love of boy stuff.

Poppa's helper

Keegan loves to help and has to be in on everything with "I do, I do" His size to strength ratio is impressive, picking up bricks and big rocks. I'm so grateful to spend 24hrs with him every week.

High water

Hello everyone. Tom and I just returned from a weekend in Kulm visiting Randy, and then going to Jamestown for a concert. The JC choir and band performed Karl Orff's "Carmina Burana", a very entertaining and exciting work. You would all recognize parts of it that have become famous through commercials and soundtracks. They did a fantastic job with the piece; we were very impressed. Austin was in a nice color photo on the front page of the Collegian, taken during a rehearsal. After the concert he got to pose for some other photos with Korean students - you'll have to ask him about that!

It was a very cold and windy day, but we had to check out all the high water around Jamestown. It's like nothing I've ever seen. Never thought I'd see water flowing into the "Glory Hole" but here it is. We talked about how Dad would have been so interested in monitoring and photographing this whole high water scenario, and how glad we are that he wanted to build their house on a hillside, where Mom is high and dry!
A quick trip out to the lake gave us a view of water, water, and more water. The ice is all gone, and the level seems no higher than when Mom took pictures on Tuesday, but it must still be flowing in. Our spring is very active and there are still some snowbanks around. Had to drive through some water on the road when you turn north.

Things seem to be okay around the cabin. When you stand on the front deck and look straight down, there is about a foot of ground before the water starts. But the trees are still out of the water. The burn pile is mostly underwater. A loon was swimming right out in front.

Looking forward t0 fun with all of you this summer at the original Prentice Landing!

it is saturday

Here is a class project I did from the video Jeff posted in December when my dad looks like Jeff. I took a screenshot of it and then used a drawing technique to transfer oil pastel onto a new sheet of paper (what you see). Kind of looks like a poorly printed poster or something but I thought it was interesting.

I have 2 weeks, count them, 14 days until I graduate on May 9! I am very thrilled to not have to do homework. Summer plans are still TBD but I will be in Minnesota at home for at least the first month. I will also be planning a wedding.

In good news, it was 81 degrees and sunny here in Chicago yesterday!!!! Hooray for summer!

Flooded with stories and such

Hi to all,

I feel like this post is really really overdue, but I figure now is a good time to post. To begin, many if not all of you knew of my recent choir tour during spring break, where we sang at several churches on our way to the Big Apple. I've been to New York before but being there again was pretty cool, because I felt like I knew where I was going without getting lost :). It was fun to hear our improvement as our tour went along and I'm glad to have joined choir here at JC. One of the highlights of the trip was singing in St. John the Divine Cathedral in NYC (the biggest cathedral in the world). We were able to sing one of our songs while we were there and it was AMAZING!! The echo was about 5 seconds and the whole experience was once-in-a-lifetime! The entire trip was exhausting, yet totally worthwhile.

Fast forward a bit..........it is now April with all the snow gone (despite the small fall today), the grass growing, the sun shining for the most part, and smiles seen just about anywhere on campus because of the warmer weather that has already and is yet to come. :)

In bigger news, Valley City is completely evacuated because of the flooding situation and Jamestown is in a little bit of trouble as well. I don't know if any of you have heard details of the flooding but the water is very close to overflowing what they call "the Glory Hole" (the big cement contraption which is opposite the dam), so as of now, Jamestown is fine but it could be in trouble if it rains a whole bunch this weekend. I think pictures of the flood and the glory hole can be seen online, if you are interested. These have definitely been some crazy times because of all the sandbagging that has been going the past month and the fact that school has been cancelled on separate occasions to help those efforts. One of those occasions being the first time in 15 years!!

Many other stories and pics will be shared this summer at Spiritwood of the choir tour, sandbagging and other recent adventures!!

Here are some of the pics. Enjoy!

Times Square

Madison Square Garden (right across the street from our hotel, Hotel Pennsylvania)

A church in Albany, NY (across the street from the one we sang at)

Apparently this is how they park in NYC (called Unparalled Parking)

Our version of the Arc de Triumph (small scale)

the Statue of Liberty from behind the World Financial Center

Here is my favorite picture of the choir trip, taken with my phone.

Niagra Falls

Love ya, AKLand

Here's to Dad!

Here's to Dad.
He's really not that bad!
In fact I'd say he's great,
the best Dad to date.
Maybe it was fate.
Or maybe his mate.
Either way, I like who he is today.
I mean, look, I've turned out okay.
The times that we argue sure stink,
but in the end, they've built character...
good... I think.
He's strong-willed, loud and outspoken oft,
but he keeps his heart soft.
People say how good his boys are
and he really left us no choice.
We had to listen to Dad's voice!
If there was one thing in this time of uncertainty
that I wish and hope I can be,
it is to be like my Dad
and raise a family like he.



Love you Dad,
Joel

SENIOR SHOW

It was great to be at North Park for Laura's senior show reception. Many friends, relatives and students crowded the gallery Thursday evening, with a special appearance by Kelly and Jodi who brought nine of the kids from the Bethel Church/Humbolt Park neighborhood. They were very excited to see the artwork. I cried a little bit.

SMOKE ON THE WATER

The mighty Kennedy Eagles had their Conference Swim Meet three weeks ago and took 2nd place as a team. An amazing effort as they had not won a dual meet against any of these teams all through the regular season. Darren had some awesome swims both in Prelims on Thurs night and then again at Finals on Sat.

Darren's 200 Individual medley relay (Darren swam the breast length) got 4th overall. 1:53.83 prelim 1:50.74 final.



In the 200 freestyle he was 10th place (out of 32 varsity swimmers) in prelims at 1:58.90 then dropped more time and held onto 10th of 16 swimmers in finals on Sat. for 1:57.94

In the 500 freestyle he was 4th place (out of 32) in the prelims at 5:17.46 and again held while dropping another 3 seconds in finals for a 4th place medal at 5:14.63. He has dropped 25 SECONDS in the 500 this season!

Hot DAM 2

Here are some more pics to supplement Michael's itinerary. Mike didn't say much about our rock climbing adventure which included scrambling, bush whacking and route finding. We created a new and improved hike, circumnavigating the 1st Flat Iron by way of climbing the top of the 2nd Flat Iron. A critical landmark is the Copenhagen lid.

Here's Michael and Tim doing street ball right...with a
fo' shiz nasty reverse loop underlay

hot DAM

I'm sorry if the subject of this entry offended anyone. It's the motto of the D.A.M. (the Denver art museum).

Laura and I have just returned to our respective knowledge coves after a fabulous time in Denver. The weather was pretty awesome too.

Highlights:

• We watched almost all of the Planet Earth series.
• We ate an inordinate amount of dessert.
• Dave and Julie have a cool church with a decent Steinway piano that I practiced on.
• Jamming street style in the church parking lot (playing basketball)
• Dave please post a photo or two
  
• Seeing Keenan improve his mad english skillz.
• Having Dave and Julie and their Pastor try to set me up with this girl.
• Chilling at Confluence Park (see photos)

• Eating Maggie’s delicious fajitas

• Getting a haircut from Laura

• Hiking with Dave and finding a rock bench (see photos)

• 

• DAM with Laura

• Lasagna blast at Macy and Ben’s

• also watching Dave play guitar hero. Look for How I Learned to Rock by Dave Prentice in bookstores soon.
  

• Thrift shopping: two pair of jeans = SCORE.

• Hanging out with Dave and Julie’s friends Jeff and Amy (Amy, I know you look at this blog).