Working in a library has it drawbacks. Today while I was walking around, I passed a dozen books that I would have loved to sit down and read. Too much to do, too little time. Thanksgiving was good. I went to my prayer partner's house, ate lots of turkey, and watched the football game between Dallas and Denver. I didn't know who to cheer for. The next three weeks are going to be consumed with studying lots of Greek. Lots of Greek.

Dear Caleb,

It's my pleasure to welcome you to Wycliffe! Your membership was granted
this morning. I rejoice with you in God's leading in your life!


So after a long year of paperwork, essays, and recommendations, I am now a Wycliffe member! (And there was much rejoicing. Yeah.) Note for any of you considering joining, it doesn't take most people nearly that long to finish everything. I just tend to do things slightly differently than other people. I thought I had everything in for their meeting last Wednesday, but didn't find out until Thursday or Friday that they had some more questions for my pastor in Houston. So once they got in contact with him, then they were ready to make their decision this morning. So I wasn't just slacking off on my posts. So what am I going to do to celebrate? Right now I was thinking about taking a nap. Maybe I'll have a dream about the cool little magnetic name tags.

I could use some prayer this week. I think that Wycliffe should be making its final decision about my membership tomorrow (Wednesday) and I have my comprehensive exams on Saturday. Very busy times.


In Other News...
I just got done watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving as a study break. Good flick.

You might be from the Pacific Northwest if:

You might be from the Pacific Northwest if:


1. You know the State Flower (Mildew) [check]

2. You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash. [check]

3. Use the statement "sun break" and know what it means. [check]

4. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee. [check]

5. You know more people who own boats than air conditioners. [not quite but close]

6. You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.

7. You stand on a deserted corner in the rain, waiting for the "WALK" signal. [check]

8. You consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain. [check]

9. You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Venetos'.

10. You know the difference between Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon.

11. You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon, Yakima, and Willamette. [check]

12. You consider swimming an indoor sport. [check]

13. You can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese, and Thai food. [check]

14. In winter, you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark...while only working 8-hour days. [check]

15. You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho. [check]

16. You are not fazed by "Today's Forecast: showers followed by rain," AND by "Tomorrow's Forecast: rain followed by showers." [check]

17. You cannot wait for a day with "showers and sun breaks." [check]

18. You have no concept of humidity without precipitation. [check]

19. You know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind! [check]

20. You can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover. [check]

21. You notice, "The Mountain is out" when it is a pretty day and you can actually see it. [check]

22. You put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boot and parka.

23. You switch to your sandals when it gets about 60, but keep the socks on. [check]

24. You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain. [check]

25. You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists. [check]

26. You knew immediately that the view out of Frazier's window was fake. [check]

27. You buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time. [check, if I used sunglasses]

28. You measure distance in hours. [check]

29. You often switch from "heat" to "a/c" in the same day.

30. You use a down comforter in the summer. [check]

31. You carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them. [check, minus the wife bit]

32. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat. [check, worn one]

33. You know all the important seasons: Almost winter, still raining(spring), Road Construction (summer), Deer & Elk season (fall). [check]

34. You actually understood these jokes and will probably forward them! [check, this is the way that I forward stuff]

My presentation went well on Friday. Thanks for praying. I missed a few presentations as I made the final changes to my handouts, but I don't think anyone minded. I didn't win a cash prize, but it was still a good experience. People seemed to enjoy it, but due to its topic and field, it didn't have very good chances. Still, it was a good chance to see how conferences worked and to critique the presentations so that I could see what things made for a strong presentation.

If you are interested, here is an interesting article talking about some of the politics behind Judge Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court.

Ok, so back to the wedding. After getting back to West U. I walked in to find Daniel Wang and Todd and Ziggy and a bunch of other people all standing around in the little foyer area. (Why were Alison and Mike having it at West U? Not that I mind, but neither of them go to church there. Oh well, it gave me the opportuninity to see Pastor Roger, who I needed to talk with.) I ended up standing in the foyer for quite a while because after the people I was talking with would go into the sanctuary, more people I know would come in the doors. It was reall a great big Rice reunion. I hope that there will be enough people still around to have that kind of party at my wedding (whenever that will be). Well after I said hi to a whole bunch of people (gold star: I remembered everyone's names), I went in and talked with Ziggy for a second before the service actually started. He is now a happily married man (Sarah is also happily married ;-). I was playing second photographer to Todd, which was good because he has a much nicer camera than mine. I certainly wouldn't want all of my pictures to be taken on my little digi cam. One of the reasons I really like being a photographer is that during meetings or concerts or in this case weddings, you are expected to walk around. I don't have to sit in one place for 90 minutes, but I can still listen to whatever's going on and I have something to keep me entertained. I'd have enjoyed college a lot more, and certainly done better in some of my classes if I had been allowed to walk around and snap some pics. The service was neat. They played some worship music and Roger performed the ceremony. They got hitched. I took lots of pictures. All was well with the world. I actually had to dump them onto Todd's computer because my camera was full and I wanted to take more pictures at the reception. So at the moment, I don't have any pictures that I took of the ceremony itself. I know I got a few good ones, but it was dark enough in there that some of them will undoubtedly come out blurry. Afterwards it was fun just hanging out and catching up with people that I hadn't seen in months or years.

Ok, from there I drove some people to the reception which was out by Nasa. Luke came along as my navigator and he pointed out some of the interesting places along the way, such as the Nasa McDonalds and the bar where all of the astronauts hang out. If any of you ever want to meet an astronaut, tell me and I'm sure we can work something out. Or you might be able to wait a few years and Luke will probably manage to find his way into space.

The reception itself was a lot of fun. I got to hang out with lots of people, enjoy the warm evening, even dance a little bit. The food was good, the company was good, the wine was presumably good, and it was just fun to see Mike and Alison so happy and together at last. Ziggy had a good toast in Ziggy fashion and Mr. Chen talked briefly about traditions. I have to say though, that the funniest part of the evening was when Will broke his wine glass by over-emphasizing a point. We were going to show a slide show with pictures of Mike and Alison, but at the last minute they couldn't find the cord they wanted. So Luke and I embarked on the Quest for the Missing Cable. We went to three or four electronics places but none of them had the cable (there was a RadioShack just down the road that probably would have had it, but unfortunely it was closed). So our quest ended in dismal failure and we came back to find that everyone had desrted us. Seriously, when we got back, they were sweeping the floor. Aparently when they had Mike and Alison leave, it brought everyone out by the cars and people just decided that the party was done once the bride and groom left. Of course I don't know what my situation will be like, but I'd like my reception to go to at least 10pm (midnight is better). Afterwards, Luke and I went to coffee with a few people. We were going to go out Salsaing, but everyone decided that we were too tired from standing in uncomfortable shoes to dance more. Ok, so next time I'll write about some of the other momentous events that have happened since the wedding.

In Other News...
I called 911 on Halloween. Aparently some guy was having a schitzophrenic episode outside of the library where I work. He scared some people bad enough that we decided to bring the police in. And you all thought I had a boring job.