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Our classes were delayed for two hours today because there was some bad weather in Portland, even though there was none by our school. After classes were over I went to the bank and then down to Powell’s books. I took this photo when I was down by Powell’s, this building was really neat looking, all of the colors stood out, I like it. I came back from the bookstore to eat dinner and now I have just been doing homework tonight.

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I got to bed decently early last night, so I got a pretty good night sleep which was very nice. I was still tired all day today, for some reason, I do not know why. It was raining pretty good all day today. I have a few things to do tonight for homework, then I am going to try to head to bed early again, I am liking the long nights sleep thing. I took this photo outside of our dorm. It is one of the exits of our building, the colors and the light seemed pretty neat.

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My flight out of Ontario was at 6:25 this morning, which means we left our house at 4:45…very early. I had a little bit of a layover in Sacramento and then arrived in Portland right at 10:00. I took the Max down to school and made it to my first class in time. I was super tired today, but made it through the day so it was alright. I took this photo on the MAX on my way down here to school. I have a little bit of homework tonight, but then I am heading to bed pretty early, cuz I am beat.

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Kate and I went to get donuts this morning after I came over to her house. We hung out all morning and then went to lunch with Jared, Ami-Rose, Shane, and Jake. It was nice seeing everyone, even though it was not for that long. Later this afternoon we went to my house so I could pack my stuff up so I would be ready to go. We drove up to this abandoned house called “windows in the clouds” to take some photos, we had always thought about going up there and now finally got the chance to do it. All of the photos turned out really well, and I wish I could post all of them on here, because I don’t want to limit you to just one, but I guess that’s how it will have to be. It was pretty cold, so we finished up taking photos and then went back to my house to get some hot chocolate. We got Maggio’s for dinner and went to Kate’s to watch a movie. It was a really nice day, and I am sad to say it has ended. Tomorrow will be back to school for me, with a very early morning flight.

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This morning I drove in to take Kate to work and then came back home for the day. I hung out with everyone at home, did a few things I needed to get done, and I took photos of Matt playing the drums. The photos could have turned out better, but I like this angle and the look with black and white. I picked up with Kate from work and after she got ready we came out to my house for dinner. Later we watched a movie, Kate fell asleep, and then I came home for the night.

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I slept in and then hung out at home this morning. Kate and I went to lunch with her grandparents at the Teddy Bear and then we went back to Kate’s house so she could do some school work. We took Max to the movies at 5:00 to see “Bridge to Terabithia”. It was a fun movie, I actually enjoyed it; it made me want to be a kid again. After the movie we went back to Kate’s for dinner and the best desert ever! (Kate’s mom made me a peanut butter cake, it was the best cake I have ever had.) I took this photo on the way home; I was trying to catch the moon, but by the time I got my tripod set up and ready to shoot the moon had disappeared over the ridge, oh well!

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I hung out at home this morning with my parents and brothers. I bugged Matt and Seth for a while, distracting them from their school work and such.  At lunch time I went into town to see Kate, and then we went to lunch. We rented a couple movies and watched them this afternoon. We had dinner at Kate’s with her parents and then we lounged around and watched one of the movies we rented. I took this photo on my way home. It’s another different one, but I like it, the light turned out to look pretty neat.

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This morning I got up at 5:30 so I could shower and then drive in and pick up Kate and Ami-Rose for school. We drove down to Victorville and the girls went to their Oceanography class while I slept, because I was tired…we made a few stops after their class was finished. We stopped on the side of the road at this abandoned gas station to take some photos. I was using a cover on my lens which made this cool looking round frame around the picture. We got up the hill and then went and got donuts for lunch and rented a movie. Now we are here at Kate’s house, she is doing homework, and I am doing a few things that I needed to get done. Tonight we are going to see Matt and Seth play in the worship band at youth group, it’s going to be neat.

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I was going to sleep in today, but I woke up early from all the noise in my house…so I got up, took a shower, ate and then hung out for a while. I went over to Kate’s and woke her up and then ate some more. Kate did some of her school this afternoon while I was posting my pictures. We went to a late lunch this afternoon and then came back to go hiking out behind her house. We took this photo when we were up in the forest hiking, it was fun. Tonight we are going to have steak and crab for dinner, ahhhh I can’t wait it is going to be sooooo good!

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I had to get up early to come in and take Kate to work this morning. It snowed last night, so the drive in took me a while. I dropped Kate off and then went to Getboards to talk to Jake for a little while. The drive home took for forever because of all the flatlanders who didn’t put their chains on until they got to the ice, so all of them were stopped in the middle of the road putting chains on, then there was an accident…ah it was a trial driving that’s for sure. I did my taxes and hung out at home for most of the day. Kate got off work at four; I picked her up and brought her back to her house. We went to my house for dinner with my parents. Matt and Seth were not there because they were having band practice at the church. This photo is of the chandelier above our dining room table…

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This morning I went over to Kate’s house and we had breakfast and then Jared and Ami-Rose came over. We hung out for a while and then made some steak for lunch later in the afternoon. After we ate we watched a movie…in the middle of the movie I looked outside and saw that the sunset looked really neat, so I ran and grabbed my camera. I took a ton of photos, and I wish I could have all of them on here, because there were so many that were so cool. We went to dinner at Teddy Bears. It was a nice day, lots of good food, good friends, and fun times hanging out.

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I slept in this morning…as usual for Saturday’s. After I got up and got ready Alex took me to the airport and I flew down to see Kate and be home. I had a two hour layover in Sacramento, so that was kinda lame, but it ended up ok because I brought my computer and they had wireless internet at the airport. Jared picked me up from the airport in Ontario and then took me to Kate’s house. This photo is from the airport in Ontario. I was standing there waiting for Jared to come and took a few photos. It’s nice to be back and have time away…

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Basically this is my dream car…my favorite car of all time: Chevrolet Nova, 1969 SS Chevy Nova to be precise. Ah, I wish I had the money to buy this car, I love those cars. Well, back to my day: I had the usual chapel and two classes for my Friday, nothing special. I did school work this afternoon and then went to work tonight. It was just normal tonight, average tips. I got a couple non-tippers, but then a few of them were big tips, so it all evened out. Back to homework now for the rest of tonight…

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It was one more of those long wearing days, plus I was tired all day so that did not help at all. Besides classes I just worked on my school work and got ahead because I did not have much to do. This photo is the beautiful view from our dorm room, isn’t it lovely? Nothing else new going on, just lots of schoolwork.

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I did not quite finish my paper for Cultural Anthropology last night so I worked on it for two hours this morning between classes, and I got it done right before I went to class at 1:30. After I finished that class I was done for the day. I did not have any immediate homework to do tonight, so I worked ahead on things a little bit. This photo is of the box Kate sent me for Valentine’s Day, she drew this on the top of the box, I really like it, so I thought I would share it with you. I read a chapter for Philosophy and then talked to Kate for a little, and now I am thinking about going to sleep, so maybe I can get enough sleep tonight.

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Early this morning in my first class for the day I had a group speech to present each of our five page papers that our group wrote over this last weekend. I was kinda nervous about the speech because I had not prepared anything, but the presentation went very well and it was good to get the whole thing out of the way. The paper was on the power of the Holy Spirit and how He relates to the believer. After presenting the speech, the rest of my day was really busy with more studying for quizzes, doing homework, and writing more papers and essays. I am definitely getting worn out slowly but surly this semester so far, I am in a need of a break. This photo I took right before Western Civilization tonight. I must be getting back to my work now; I have a lot going in the next couple of days.

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Classes…chapel…it’s been a usual Monday at Multnomah today. After I finished classes I got right to homework so I could finish everything early. I went to the bank and got gas this afternoon to take a break from my paper I was writing. I was supposed to go to the Johnson’s (the refugees I am working with) house tonight to hang out with their two boys Moses and Abraham, but they were not there so I did not end up going over. I finished all of my work relatively early which was nice, and now I have the rest of the night to….sleep? Hopefully soon.

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Church was early today; I decided to get up for the 9:00 service so I would have the rest of the afternoon to work on school before I had to go to work. Work was pretty slow tonight, but I made pretty good tips, so it worked out well. I got some food on the way back from work, then started on my paper and talked to Kate. At 10:00 I went to a group meeting for Pneumatology, which is what I am writing the paper for. We have to do a group presentation on Tuesday, so we were figuring out what each person is going to do. I took this photo earlier today when I was at the library finding another book for my paper.

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Today I slept in a little bit, then went to breakfast before I started on homework. I didn’t do much besides homework today…I did work tonight for a couple hours. It was kinda slow, so I did not make very much, but at least it was some money! I have a research paper that I am finishing up tonight and tomorrow…and then some more homework today. This picture is of a book from the paper I am writing. So that’s about it, not much but lots of work this weekend.

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I got to sleep in a little bit this morning, then I got up, ate some breakfast and went to chapel. My first class after chapel was canceled, so I did homework, ate some lunch and then went to my Bible Study Methods lab. This afternoon I worked on my Advanced Writing Thesis and then turned it in before I went to work this afternoon. I worked for quite a while tonight, it was really slow at first, and then we got a rush and I had to stay until 10:00. I took this photo when I got back from work, this is over by the library in an alley leading to an entrance to the faculty offices. I have a bunch of school work to do this weekend, and I am working all the time, so I can’t go skiing, which is a bummer cuz it snowed six inches yesterday…

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It was kinda a rough day today; the first half was not too bad, just my usual classes and all, but this afternoon and evening were not the best. I messed up on scheduling a tutoring appointment that was required for Advanced Writing, I was supposed to meet this afternoon, but I accidentally scheduled it for next Thursday, so that screwed up my assignment due tomorrow. Then I had a bunch of homework this afternoon that seemed so overwhelming…I had my history exam tonight, it did not go to well, all I can say is I am glad there are four of them, so I will be able to make it up on the next one. All that to say that it makes me realize more and more everyday how I cannot make it alone in this life, I need Christ more every single moment, for I lack the strength. I took this photo on the way back from the library tonight, it’s kinda dark, but you can see the corner of a window from the prayer chapel and the shadow of a tree on it, I kinda like the look of it, it’s neat. We had a dorm section meeting tonight…bed soon, that’s about it.

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It’s been the usual school day, busy and hectic. I have a lot going on in the next week, so it’s very stressed. It’s really hard to be motivated all the time. I get so tired and warn out, sometimes I just don’t want to go on, but I always seem to somehow make it…through the strength of Christ. I know that, because if I were to rely on my own perseverance and strength I would have failed a long time ago, well I am pretty sure I would not have made it through my first semester of college if it were not for the strength that I receive from Christ to make it through each day. I took this photo tonight, I was down on Hawthorne going to a store and of course I had to take a photo somewhere, so I came up with this, its different than my usual, so I hope you enjoy it.

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It’s been another one of those long days again, it seems like I have been having them a lot lately, funny how that happens as you get older huh? Nothing spectacularly unusual or out of the ordinary happened today. I got hooked into a new lab for ethnic ministries since I will be working with the refugees this semester. Tonight I did remember to go to history class, so that was good! I have some homework tonight, then a dorm meeting tonight (another one on Thursday too! All these meetings, I don’t know what’s up with that.). I know I have done a couple photos similar to this before, but you’re going to have to bear with me once again for at least one more. These are my text books for the semester minus my history book…a whole eleven of them this semester, seems like way to much information to take in, I don’t know if I can handle it, we will see how I come out after finals!

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AH! Kinda busy day it’s been! I had my classes like usual, then homework this afternoon…then tonight I went to meet with a refugee ministry that I am going to be working with this semester. I got to meet all of the other volunteers working with families, hear all of their stories, and find out when I start with my family. I will be meeting with the two boys I am going to be mentoring on Thursday night after my history class, so I am very excited about that. I took this photo just now when I got back from the meeting. I have to do a bunch of homework, so I did not have time to go out and take photos, but this actually turned out really neat, I like how it looks. By the way this is Alex playing the guitar, and the back of Chase sitting at the computer. Well, I better go, I got a few things to do…and I thought I was going to go to bed early tonight!

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Once again, I was planning on going to the early service at church, yet I when I woke up at 8:00 my body promptly told me that I was going to wait for the 11:00 service, so I slept for two more hours and then went to church. I came back to campus and had lunch after church and then worked on homework this afternoon. I started writing Kate a letter and put some new photos up on myspace before I had to go to work. I had to be in at 3:00 for work since it was the Superbowl today. We were surprisingly slow for it being Superbowl Sunday, but we also had everyone working, so the work was spread out between all of us. I took this photo when I was working, obviously driving to a delivery and stopped at a light. I wish I could have stopped and taken pictures of the sunset tonight, because the clouds were amazing, but I had to work and I could not afford to stop and do that! Now I am home from work, I talked to Kate for a little while tonight and I have a little bit of homework before bed.

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I slept in for a while today because I was up pretty late last night talking to Alex and Chase, and then Alex and I watched part of a movie. After I got up this morning I went to lunch and then worked on homework for a while. Later in the afternoon I went to work which took up most of the night. Work was pretty good, I made relatively good money. I did some more homework tonight, talked to Kate, and took this picture. Now I have a little more homework, then I am going to bed…

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It was a relatively short day of classes today. I woke up for chapel and then found out my advanced writing class was canceled, so I went to lunch and then went to Bible Study Methods to finish up the day. I worked on a little bit of homework this afternoon, then I fell asleep for about an hour, which was really nice. I cleaned my room and did some laundry and then went to dinner. Dinner was actually descent tonight and for once I walked away full, it was nice! Now I am back here in the room working on my assignment for Bible Study Methods. This photo is from the calendar that Ami-Rose gave me for Christmas. It’s Friday, so I thought it appropriate to take a photo of Friday on the calendar…haha. I think I am going to stay here tomorrow and work on school instead of skiing, because I have a lot of homework that I need to get done and I don’t want to get behind.

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Its February now, next month will be the finish of this project I started last March. So much has happened in the past year, I have some so far, I have grown a lot, and I am glad for everything that God has put me through. It is neat to be able to look back and see every single day from the last year, to remember and see what I did every day. It has definitely been an interesting year, with lots of changes and lots of good things. I would say it has been the best year of my life yet. Well, enough of the preaching, I will save that for my last day speech. Today was usual, classes, homework, that sort of thing….one thing went wrong, or I should say I went wrong: I forgot to go to my history class tonight, I don’t know what was wrong with me, it just totally slipped my mind. I looked at my clock at 7:50 tonight and thought to myself, “Hmm…history ended about forty-five minutes ago.” Oh well, that’s about all I can say I guess. I went to the computer lab to print some homework, then I went out to take some pictures. I couldn’t really find anything to photograph, but then I found this dryer vent on the wall next to a walkway, and I decided to take a couple shots. It was freezing cold, so I did not take the time to use my tripod and take a ton of photos, but this one turned out pretty nice.