Gelato and Jesus!

Hey! Work today wasn't too eventful, but it was AFTER work that the adventures came! Lauren came over to CSF and made me dinner! Chicken, broccoli, and rice! Then I took Lauren to Dinkytown for Gelato! Just as we finished parking, a BMW tried to parallel park behind us! They didn't pull far enough forward, and kept getting really close to my car! Of course I laughed and thought it was really funny! Not in a mean way of course, but it was pretty hilarious! Especially since they had TONS of room behind them! After coming back (the gelato was awesome) we noticed the girls were leaving at the same time again and we noticed the smirks on their face as well! Turns out, the following morning I noticed a note left under my wiper blade saying "would your Jesus have laughed?"!! It totally threw me for a loop, until I realized that they probably read my Jesus bumper sticker when trying to park! My answer to that is a simple "yes, most likely"!

105 years and still tickin'!

Work today was fun. I took Charles to Godfathers for lunch, and it was good to just chill for a while and get some odds and ends done at work. :)
After work I met up with Lauren and we picked up Grandma Sonia so we could all go over to see Evelyn Gullickson. Evelyn is an old neighbor friend of Grandma's. My dad knew her growing up as well, and I even met her a few times as a small child. Currently she resides in an assisted living apartment in New Brighton. Oh - did I mention that she's almost 105 years old?!! Meeting her was super fun! She totally threw me for a loop when I saw her again after so many years! She has more energy than most of my very own grandparents, and yet she has lived over a century! Her mind is very sharp, and she has such an energetic personality! She even asked about Lydia and Charles' wedding! It was so encouraging to talk to her with Lauren and Grandma. Her faith in Jesus was also astounding, and I have no doubt that her relationship with her Saviour is part of the reason for her longevity. She longs to be with her late husband in Heaven and in the presence of Jesus, but she also knows that God must have a reason for her to be where she is, and so she is content to serve Him here until her time on earth is done. Evelyn has so many friends at the home that love and care for her. Her family in CA even comes out to visit many times! What a blessing it was to spend some time with her!
After our visit, Grandma Sonia took Lauren and me out to Applebees. It was refreshing to catch up with Grandma and chat about life, upcoming events, and small talk. She is quite a blessing to me and my family. I couldn't ask God for better grandparents.
After Lauren and I dropped off Grandma, we drove to Southdale to the Cheesecake factory to meet Lauren's family! We ended up arriving several minutes before her family showed up, but we secured a large table and enjoyed each others company for a while. Eventually her parents and Danielle arrived and we had fun chatting and eating $1.50 cheesecake (it was the 30th anniversary of the Cheesecake Factory)!! Lauren's family is crazy awesome! We were at the Factory until after 11pm! Then we helped Dani move into her new house in Richfield! I think we were all up long after midnight! Her family has energy to no end (except Lauren that is)! :) It was quite the day - with lots going on, but I managed to enjoy every bit of it!! :-) pictures to come...!

Mow, Mow, Mow the Lawn

Charles took me out for lunch today! What a guy!
After work I went over to Grandma Mc's to mow his lawn. We hung out, I ate a dilly bar, and we talked about stocks and finances. Shortly thereafter I went to CSF to do some cleaning. Today is the first day that I haven't been able to see Lauren since her return from Ghana! She spent the evening with her roommate Amy instead :) So I ended up going to Target, getting some flowers and window "chalk"/(paint) and decorated Lauren's car (and Amy's) for the following morning! :) That's about it! A couple more weeks until I have to be out of CSF! Sad!

BBC - Narnia-style

Went to church today. Picked up Taylor and Lauren. Had a guest speaker because Pastor O'Brien was initially going to be in Peru for a church missions trip (but he ended up not going). After church I dropped off Taylor and brought a few things back to Andover as I slowly move back in with my family. Lauren and I hung out for the rest of the day, getting ice cream and watching the Chronicles of Narnia movies (BBC) on VHS. We also watched some crazy old Batman episodes from back in the day! Fun day!

Sonshine 2008

I was hoping for a larger group of friends to attend Sonshine, but when all was said and done, only Jesse Holmgren, Lauren, the Meadow Creek youth group, and Janelle Larson were the only people I knew that went! Oh! I did end up running into Heidi Woerle, Danielle Schiebout (I hope I spelled that right), and a few other old high school friends! And also Brian and Noelle as well! Ok, ok, so more people showed up than what I thought! It was a blast! Some of the highlights include Pillar singing Jesus Freak, David Crowder playing the Mario theme song, and Skillet putting on a rockin' show! I had a blast! Lauren and I went to Lu Lu Beans a couple of times, which is a little quaint coffee shop/house! We also went to this awesome pizza place and ate one of the best taco pizzas around! We ALSO went bowling and we saw the Dark Knight at the midnight showing! So we did A LOT at Sonshine! Not only did we see dozens of great bands play, we also enjoyed the vacation and relaxation of hanging out in Willmar! See the slide show below for most of the pictures! There are a few videos too, but you'll have to click on the pics to link to Picasa in order to see them (until I upload them to youtube and provide links)!
- Micah