Bedroom Furniture, Part One

On Friday, we received two of four pieces of our bedroom set. Perhaps it is a popular set, but only two pieces that were ordered have arrived. The other two are on back-order and are supposed to be in this week. We should have them delivered by this coming Friday. I have included pictures of the bed frame and the chest of drawers. The dresser & mirror and night stand are the ones coming soon.

This coming Wednesday, we will be getting some additional furniture to round out the guest room and the multi-purpose/other room. It is our hope that by the first week in August we should have the house set up. Then, our next major project will be to get the basement put together. That will be a project that will need to wait until the fall, as a new carpet will need to be put down before we do any major work down there.

Bonus Softball

The Strikeforce United Co-Ed team was a little short on players for tonight's game, so Christa and I helped out by playing. With a team consisting of 50% new players, we managed to win 14-2. Personally, I went 3-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs. It's always more fun when you are on the winning end of the game. Everyone was also out there to have fun, which makes it less stressful. It's now past 11 PM though...way later than our bed time. Time to get some sleep.

Parking Space

My parents came up to visit Christa and I today. They attended the 10:45 AM service at Oakfield. Afterward, we had lunch and my dad helped us fulling "connect" the house to the internet. We have wireless!

Later in the afternoon, I asked my parents if they wanted to see the church in Eden. I drove and parked in my parking spot. The sign has been officially changed (see left).

I know that as an RHD I got a reserved spot. But, as a pastor, I get a reserved spot with my name on it! :-D

The Oakfield Tornado

Today is the anniversary of the tornado that came through Oakfield, WI in 1996. It was the only F5 tornado to be in the United States that year. The tornado actually came through the street that Christa and I live on right now. It destroyed the old Methodist church (which had just completed an addition) along with the parsonage. In total, 47 homes were destroyed and many more were damaged. Luckily, there were no fatalities.

I encourage you to pray for those in the Oakfield community as there minds are probably on this anniversary. Thank you.

Softball Update

For the first time in three weeks, I was actually able to play softball. Strikeforce United put out a good effort, especially in the seventh inning, but we still lost 8-6. Our fielding was really good in this game; we just couldn't score any runs.

I went 1-3. After two pretty pathetic foul ball outs, I managed to knock a triple into center field, knocking one run in and eventually scoring on a single by the next batter. I managed to do a pretty decent job fielding, not allowing any balls hit my way to get past me.

New Sofa and Chair

I thought I would post pictures of our new new sofa and chair. They arrived today and actually match well to the coffee table and end tables that we had also picked. Stay tuned for room photos as the house gets more put together :).

ABCs of Jim

*** This will also be posted on Facebook. Some of what you see in the introduction only applies to that. Otherwise, enjoy the information! ***

You've been tagged. You are supposed to write a note with the ABC's of YOU. At the end, choose 26 people to be tagged. You have to tag me, so really you just need 25 more people. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you - but not in a creepy stalker kind of way.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your ABC's of Me, tag 26 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

A - Age: 32

B - Bed size: queen

C - Chore you hate: dusting

D - Dog's name: We do not have a dog...yet. :)

E - Essential start your day item: A run or walk in Oakfield

F - Favorite color: purple

G - Gold or Silver: silver

H - Height: 5' 9" (ish)

I - Instruments you play(ed): piano, I sing (I suppose that's not an instrument)

J- Job title: Pastor

K - Kid(s): None

L - Living arrangements: House

M - Mom's name: Marie

N - Nicknames: Droste, JD, Jimmy (from childhood...no used anymore)

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth? Hmm...none that I can remember.

P - Pet Peeve: lateness

Q - Quote from a movie: "What we do in life echoes in eternity" - Gladiator

R - Right or left handed: Right

S - Siblings: None

T - Time you wake up: 7:00 AM (except on Saturdays)

U- Underwear: Umm...yeah.

V - Vegetable you dislike: lima beans

W - Ways you run late: I don't run late. If I do ;)...it's because I got lost driving somewhere.

X - X-rays you've had: dental and fractured wrist

Y - Yummy food you make: Parmesan cheese bowls (good with Caesar salad)

Z - Zoo favorite: the penguins

A Beautiful Saturday

It truly is a beautiful day today! Blue skies...gentle breeze...and it's 80 degrees. God must want us to get outside and enjoy the weather :).

Christa is enjoying the weather working at Settler's Mill. I imagine there will be many folks playing mini-golf today. I did manage to get a walk in this afternoon, but I have been spending a lot of time filing and unpacking. I have also been practicing tomorrow's sermon.

On a sports note: Last night's Brewers game was painful. I thought the Brewers could pull it out; it was exciting to watch. But six runs in the 10th inning is not acceptable. *sigh* Hopefully they can turn things around tonight.

The Week That Was

It's Friday evening and Christa is at work until 11:30 or so. With the Brewers going toe to toe with the Dodgers on TV, I thought I would provide a few bullet points highlighting the past week:

• As mentioned before, we got the internet and cable hooked up on Thursday. Things feel more like home.
• We got our first batch of forwarded mail from Oshkosh. Wow...you do manage to get on a lot of bulk mailing lists in a few short years.
  
• Sunday is my first worship service at Oakfield and Tabor. I like the way the bulletin turned out and I think my sermon will help the congregation get to know Christa and I a little better.
• We get the new sofa and chair on Monday. I think it will provide a little more lounge space than we have right now.
  

Running in Oakfield

Being a little more settled in, Christa and I have now gotten back into our more usual routines. I have begun running again. Without consistent internet access, it has been difficult to map out some runs, but that will hopefully be changing soon. Living in Oakfield does provide some great advantages for the runner:

1. There are no stop lights in the city at all. The nearest one is probably six miles away. Luckily, you don't need to stop too much.
2. Much of the city is surrounded by long, county roads, ideal for long runs.
3. There isn't a whole lot of traffic in the city, so you can relax as you run around the area.
4. There is a nice trail that runs through the city and goes both east and west from the city. It is often shaded which is very nice.
   

First Day in the Office

Today is my first official day of work as a pastor for the Oakfield and Tabor churches. Most of the day was spent in the office going through files and setting up the office. I am hoping that tomorrow, I can begin sermon preparation and begin putting together the bulletin.

Christa and I had a nice weekend at home with my parents. We grilled out on Saturday and met Christa's parents on Sunday for lunch. On Friday night before we went home, we got to go to a Timberrattler's game with friends from the church.

Cable and internet come Wednesday...yay!

Adjusting

Christa and I moved into our house in Oakfield on Monday evening. In three days, there have been a few things that I am already adjusting to:

1. Not having internet and cable in the house is tough! You don't realize how much to rely on it until it is no there...well, that's not entirely true. I already knew how much I rely on it. If anything, television was something I was used to having on in the background. Social networking has become such a part of my life that when you don't have constant access to it, you feel quite disconnected. I also get most of my news through the internet, so that has also been an adjustment. This will change on July 8...we are getting connected :).
   
2. For the better, Christa and I are tempted less when it comes to things that are bad for us. We don't eat out much or eat as much junk food. You can't really because there isn't a great deal of commerce in the city. It means that we really have to plan our trip as most things are 15-20 minutes away from the house.
3. It is really quiet in Oakfield. As such, I feel as though I have more time for reading and it is easier to concentrate. That also might have something to do with the lack of internet and cable ;).

That's all for now. Hopefully I can post more regularly.

Blog Updates Postponed

Hey folks!

Christa and I are unpacking in our new house in Oakfield. We will likely not have internet access in the house until July 8. As such, you probably won't see regular blog updates until then. Depending on when I can find wireless access, I may pop on from time to time :).

Checking In...

Hey folks,

It's been awhile since I've posted, but Christa and I are in the middle of packing and getting things ready for the transition. We are getting close and we are looking forward to hopefully getting the keys to the parsonage on Thursday. Other thoughts for the day:

• I had dinner with Peter tonight. It was great to touch base with him again. :)
• The Brewers are struggling...wow, this is getting tough to watch. I hope they can turn things around.
• I forgot how empty our apartment can look.
• Changing addresses over can be a real pain in the butt.
• We came in on the losing side in our softball game this week: 18-2. Nothing was going for us. The bats were silent and our fielding struggled...again. I managed to draw a walk and get on base with a fielder's choice.

Post-Conference Updates

Annual Conference
I attended my first Wisconsin Annual Conference for the United Methodist Church. Having never been there before, I was not sure what to expect. It is essentially a business conference, full of reports and legislation. It was like being back in the NCC/WCC boardroom :). It was really wonderful to have an opportunity to meet all of the district superintendents and the bishop. It was also an amazing experience to have my licensing as a local pastor be made official at the Commissioning Service.

Softball
Our team has now won three in a row! We did not make it easy ourselves, squandering a big lead but pulling out a victory 22-15 on Monday night. I witnessed one of the more bizarre abuses of a rule at the game. In the rec. leagues in Oshkosh, if you are caught swearing during a game your team receives an automatic out. Games are scheduled for 60 minutes and games are 7 innings long. If times runs out, the inning that is currently taking place ends and the game is over. It was the bottom of the sixth inning and there was one minute left.

Our opponents had one out and the batter at the plate had flied out. Seeing the time left, he purposely swore giving them three outs. It left enough time for the seventh inning to start, so we had to keep playing. Time ran out before our batter was called to the plate. The game should have been over right there. In fact, the game should have been over when the team abused the swear rule to extend the game. We ended up scoring 10 runs in the seventh inning to bad the lead. That seemed appropriate.

For the record, I had an on-base percentage of 1.000. I walked four times and had a nice single. Too bad I was forced out at second all five times. Grrr...

Movies
I saw Terminator Salvation yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It is a good summer sci-fi movie. You have to allow for some bad dialogue and some completely lame moments. Otherwise, it was entertaining and worth seeing. They even leave the possibility of a sequel. We'll see.

Remote Post: Appleton, WI

My apologies for not posting much in the last few weeks. Christa and I have begun packing in ernest for our move to Oakfield, WI. When you look around the apartment, it is amazing how bare it already is. We shouldn't have too much left to pack when we officially move on the 29th.

Other than that, last week was also a busy social week for us as well. We attended my little brother's middle school graduation, Robby's (Christa's brother) graduation, and the wedding of two of my old staff members. *whew* Needless to say, I have been a little behind in my posting. I hope to be posting more regularly at this point.

From today until Wednesday, I will be at the Wisconsin Annual Conference for the United Methodist Church. As this meeting, we discuss legislation and talk about the business of the church. Sorry NACURH and WURHA folks, there is no cheering at this conference :). This is the first time I have been to the Annual Conference, so I am definitely taking it all in.

Other News:

• I have a softball game tonight. It has been two weeks since our last game and we are currently on a 2 game winning streak. What will happen?
• Christa and I have finally ordered all of the initial furniture for the house. We look forward to placing it in the pasronage soon!

A Triple!

Can you call two games a winning streak? I say so. Compiling 14 runs in seven innings, Strikeforce United managed to withstand a nine run effort by the other team in the last two winning to take the victory: 14-10. There were a few not so solid fielding moments, but the team managed to put together a solid effort, capped by another impressive offensive performance.

I was happy to get a triple during the evening's events, coupled with a walk. All total, I contributed an RBI and a run to the score. It was a good game. Most of it has to do with being patient at the plate and waiting for good pitches. The rest of it has to do with just relaxing and having fun. It's amazing how that works.

15,000

While playing Resident Evil 5, I managed to get my XBox Live Gamerscore over 15,000. Despite my early struggles with the game, a look at an on-line walk through helped me realize where I was making my mistakes early in the game. As of now, I am halfway through the game. I would at least like to get through one play through of the game before I return it on Tuesday evening.

There is really no specific benefit to getting 15,000. If anything, it just feels good to be playing video games again. Lately, I have been so busy with work and other obligations that I have not had much time to play anything. Christa and I haven't played Rock Band in weeks. That should change after June 5, when she is done with student teaching and I am done with the 17-week semester's obligations.

Here's to 15,000...a geek milestone.

Friday Random Thoughts

• I guess you can say that we have officially begun packing. I am in the process of going through my books. Yikes! There are a lot of I am taking up to Half Price Books because I don't need them anymore, but I still have quite a few. If anyone has any boxes they are willing to let us use, let us know! :)
• I will be having a busy Sunday. In the morning, I will be leading the New Membership Liturgy as well as other components of the church service in the absence of our pastor. That afternoon, I will be leading my third Vesper Service at the Evergreen Retirement Community. That night, we have a baby shower for two residence families.
• Christa is working a full weekend at Settler's Mill Mini-Golf. It is over by the Outlet Mall. You should check it out.
• I rented Resident Evil 5. Why I rented a first person shooter game, I'll never know. I suck. :(
  

Golfing and Disciple Bible Study

Golfing
My little brother texted me to ask if we could go golfing this week. Having only golfed once in my life at a Par 3 course, I cautiously said yes. I was worried that I would embarrass myself with my complete lack of skill. My little brother, Isaac, and I golfed with his friend Griffin and his father Jim (good name).

Thankfully, Jim selected my clubs for me. I mostly used a six iron, with a few woods sprinkled in there. Some holes went well, and others did not. I was proud that I got two double bogeys and a bogey on the last hole of the evening. This hole included my best shots of the night: I nice drive, a couple decent chips shots and a good two putt.

I am left wondering if I would want to golf again. As I did not completely embarrass myself in the outing, it might be something I would try again. It would be something to help me work on my concentration and my temper.

Disciple Bible Study
Today was the final meeting for our Disciple Bible Study. Over the last year we met on 34 different occasions, usually on Wednesday mornings, to work our way through a survey of the Bible.

It was a wonderful opportunity for fellowship, discipleship and discussion. I will miss it greatly. We ended with a covenant service with Communion which was moving and will hopefully move my forward in my own discipleship.