going pro

I got some headshots recently. Just look at me now! I hope to get some with a piano down the road. My last headshot was a little grainy and only black and white....

  The funny thing was these new shots were taken in my friend's kitchen. He just set up umbrella lights and hung a black curtain over his cupboards. hahahaha.

Hey Gang!

An Austin Land update hot off the press!!

I recently ran in the Bismarck/Kroll's Marathon as part of a relay team last Saturday (Sept. 15th). Our team took 2nd of 4 male teams and 3rd overall out of 102 teams! All 5 members of the top 3 teams in each division got a sweet zip-up jacket. So that was a nice bonus! I ran the 4th leg (out of 5) for our team. This was a 5-mile distance, including having to go up the massively long University of Mary hill. Good thing I got to come back down after the battle upwards. I clocked my time in at 37 mins, 5 secs, a 7:25 per mile pace. Not bad for running only a few times in the last 2 months and having just freshly recovered from injuring my back 2 weeks ago. If you don't believe me, here's the link of the full standings on Bismarck Tribune website:
http://bismarcktribune.com/sports/local/bismarck-marathon-full-results/article_28e6f030-ff92-11e1-8f96-0019bb2963f4.html

In other news, I'm still working my 2 jobs. At NISC in Mandan and at SuperValu picking orders in the warehouse. Its a struggle, as I just worked 11 days in a row, but I continue to push through. I've applied for 2 positions recently and hope to hear back from them soon! I'll keep you all updated on those!

Living with Michael is going well. We don't see each other very often, but we should make some progress on painting the house this weekend if things work out weather-wise and such.

Hope all is well in Prentice Land!

Love,
Austin

Alyssa gets up!

I was looking through my summer pictures and I noticed this one from my last weekend at the lake. I think you all will enjoy seeing it.

You go girl! Way to get that star.

(already looking forward to next summer!)

Double Rainbow!

Jeff, Marissa, and Darren came over to our apartment last night to eat pizza and play Settlers.  (Marissa won!).  There was a big rainbow at sunset so we had fun taking pictures.  You can't see the "doubleness" in these pictures but I posted a video of facebook in which you can see the 2nd rainbow.

Spiritwood Lake Forestry Report

Tom, Michael and I arrived at the lake last Friday night to this sight:

Another 80-90 year-old ash tree had blown down in a storm, probably a couple nights earlier. It was the one behind the new cabin, the one remaining "swing tree" with the cross piece and chain still attached, about 40' tall. Fortunately, it fell eastward and landed parallel to the cabins. Unfortunately, it fell on the young bur oak tree and bent it over about halfway up.

So we got to work. Tom used the electric chain saw to cut off branches and we started dragging them to the burn pile. It was a calm evening, good for burning, and there was already some dry wood piled there. That burned right away and got the fire hot enough to burn green wood. We also had to cut some broken boxelder branches which the ash broke off as it fell.

As soon as enough branches were cleared away from the oak, Tom got on a ladder and straightened out the trunk. He attached a splint to keep it straight, and wrapped some cloth around the place where the bark was torn. We're hoping it will survive and thrive!

Just couldn't resist doing some planking.

After the branches were burned up and the trunk cut into logs for the woodstove, all that's left is the stump. And some wide open sunny space.

Here's a little taste of the wedding I went to a week ago in NC. I (on the far right) convinced the groom (mid-air) that it would be a good idea for us guys to throw him up for the camera. He was pretty scared as you can tell (gripping his own pants and wide eyed, stiff as a board.)  It was a couple good friends of mine (Ben Johns and Caley (Hedrick) Johns) from Lee University that were getting married and I had the pleasure of being there to celebrate with them. From sitting in the choir loft (as one of their many good friends) singing two hymns during the ceremony, to contradancing with live bluegrass at the reception, to wine and sangria, to camping out that night and swimming in the cold creek the next morning.... IT WAS A BLAST. Hope you enjoy some of the pictures.


While I am having a great time here in TN, I miss you all. Hoping for a serving job at Olive Garden (interview on Monday),
Love,
Joel

The Lake Season Has Begun!

It's gonna get warmer!!! This is the crew who enjoyed Memorial weekend at the lake, plus Tom who was taking the picture. Brian did not get the memo about hoods. The only water activity was putting in the boat lift, and fortunately for everyone else, Brian brought his dry suit for that project. Oh, and Bella isn't deterred from her usual water activity no matter how cold the water is.

Carolyn posed by the irises in her Van Gogh iris jacket. Beautiful! Edie has been keeping this flower bed weeded and it looks great. All the trees are doing well. Time to submit ideas and preferences for what we should plant this year. We counted at least 20 varieties of trees, native and planted, on the property.

NEW HOUSE

Greetings everyone! Check out my new place! Closed on it today. I'm looking forward to refinishing the hardwood floors and sprucing this up to a "modern living-space." Notice how one can just board right up to the front door.

In the master bedroom. This color MUST go! hahaha.

 The living room as viewed from the front door. These floors need to get REFINISHED. That's step #1.

And this piano, found for free on Bisman, is STUCK.

We'll never make it..........................

WE MADE IT.

I'll keep you updated as we go along. Cheers.

Wilton

I was in Wilton yesterday! My friend Kathy Puffe and I drove up to visit a MOPS mom who had twin boys three weeks ago. I took a couple of flannel baby blankets, and we brought her some freezer meals. In addition to the twins, she has two girls (6 1/2 and 5) and a boy (10 months). Needless to say, these twins were a surprise pregnancy! But the babies are healthy, the other children are adjusting well, and Christina is getting a lot of help from friends and family. She said we can come anytime we want to hold a baby. :)

Of course I had to drive by Grandpa and Grandma Hochhalter's old house. There have been a few changes.

The gray paint and gray metal roof look nice. I suppose those old windows aren't very efficient, but they give it that vintage look, along with the stone foundation. We noticed that there's a treadmill in the porch, a nice cool place to work out!
The biggest change is the attached garage addition on the east side. It looks almost as big as the house, but they tied it in pretty well.
This is the view from the alley. It looks like they moved the old single garage to the back of the lot so it can be accessed from the alley. No longer any flower gardens in this area. The addition ties into the back entrance/porch area.
Notice the old green metal garden shed. Looks familiar . . . was that Grandpa's?

I don't know how recent these changes are, or who lives there, but it was nice to see the house well cared for. The double lot and nice big yard are still one of the best things about the property. Is the house 100 years old, Mom? I seem to remember that your Grandpa Holmgren built it.

It was fun to see the house again. Many happy memories for me there.

Taboo Around the Table

Mary Did You Know? (by Voices of Lee)

Here's a very recent recording (probably from a phone) of Voices of Lee, the group that Alyssa is in. She was really excited about this song. So I figured I would share it with you guys. She doesn't have any solos here, but it's still pretty sweet.

Christmas is Coming! The goose is getting fat.

Christmas is Coming!

Hey family. Just a reminder to get presents for Prentice Landing. I'm excited about this. Mr. Totem would like a scarf.

Cincy Life!

 So, here I am in Cincinnati. Sometimes it's hard to believe that I live here and this is my school! Here we see the football stadium that is dug in to campus. It's pretty awesome to see and when it is warmer, you can hear the marching band rehearsing for football games. Football is a pretty big deal on this campus. 3,500 seats!

 Here we see a picture of my room (I share this room with a good friend of mine, Jason. We went to highschool in ND before he moved to Ohio.) I have recently switched quilts to my specialty Grandma Phyllis Camouflage quilt since it doesn't hang over so much. I was blessed by my roommates and friends in the area so that when I showed up in Ohio, I had a bed, a dresser, a desk and a chair available for me. Lord thank you for your blessing! May I use them to bless others.

 The parking on the street is the biggest hassle. But, I don't drive hardly at all so it's no big deal. Not all drivers know how to parallel park very well. Had to laugh when I saw this. (my corolla is parked right behind this car.)

 There's an artist that I've been interested in for a while. His name is Matt W. Moore. He does a lot of geometrical shape stuff with spraypaint (usually on canvas.) He had a residency at a local art studio in April and did a mural downtown that I had been wanting to find since I got here in Sept. (it's off the beaten path.) So, my roommate Nick and I went running a week ago, Friday and found the mural. So happy to find it non-vandalized (although we spoke with an art studio employee who said he had to wash off some obscenity a few weeks back).

 Here's our house! 2369 W Clifton Ave. We love it here. There are 5 guys currently residing under this roof. They are all believers in Christ and that is a monumental blessing. We get along well and we have pretty cheap rent. This house was built in 1896 I believe and really has a nice interior. A non-functional (at least now) fireplace is featured in every room!

 If you notice the overgrowth in the house picture, be relieved to know that we did not leave it that way. My Phillipino roommate Mark and I did some landscaping in the front to remove all the volunteer trees (there were many) and then we laid down some UC colored mulch to finish it out real nicely. some of the small greens have come back, but we like the personality.

This is my super sweet desk that I got from Andrew Mole's parents house in Wilder, KY (15mins away.) Andrew is an old roommate of Michael's and a dear friend of ours. He took Michael and I skydiving a couple years ago too! I really feel comfortable in this space and we are only 5 mins walk from campus. Another blessing is that we live on the same side of campus as CCM (the music building.) So, I can get to all of my classes in 7 minutes walking.

Sometimes we go shopping together as roommates and feel that pictures are necessary. Here is Jason. He'll be featured on Lowrider Magazine's 2012 Calendar. That was $300 of groceries. We find joy in the simple things.

I made Grandma Phyllis' buns yesterday for the first time. As you can tell, I'm already getting in the Christmas spirit. The baking was exciting and fun and the result was great. My roommates thought that I did well and were amazed at my baking skills. It runs in my Swedish blood. I am headed to TN this Tuesday for Thanksgiving break. I will be spending most of the break with Alyssa and her family. I am obviously very excited about that.

Wish I could share these with you. Maybe over Christmas I will make them again! Love you all and please write an email or shoot me a text if you're wanting to know more. I'd love to talk to you and see how you are doing. Thanks for reading!