Siding on its way--and Candice!!!

So these are a couple quick updated pictures on the house. 75% of the house has the old siding off and is ready for the new stuff! Yea! We're also currently working on leveling the porch floor and wrapping up the cathedral ceiling (trying to figure out lighting schemes!).
On a more important note, Candice is coming in on Friday morning and it is extremely hard to be patient these last few days before she comes. It's going to be a great weekend (she gets to experience Cedar Point for the first time!).

One month plus

On Friday I got a package in the mail from my wonderful girlfriend, Candice, celebrating our one month anniversary! She bought me the first season of The Office, my favorite tv show that airs on NBC. You wouldn't believe the smile on this boy's face. I've considered buying the first season dvd but hadn't gotten around to it, but now I don't need to. I called my buddy Joel up right away and told him the good news, so we made provisions to watch 4 of the 6 episodes last night. What a great time. I have to say thanks to Ben and Joel for introducing it to me when I was in South Carolina (amazingly enough, I met Candice that same weekend). What a sweet and thoughtful girlfriend--I could ask for nothing more!

In regards to the house, I've been putting in some good hours this week getting ready for siding. I bought 3 new windows for the west side of the house, so I reframed the jambs, took all the old siding off, and put in the new windows. So about 1/2 of the house is totally ready for siding! Hopefully in the next two weeks. I'll hopefully have a picture up soon when I can get ahold of Tim's digital.

Also this week, I was able to make it home to see my grandma, who was in town from Ohio. She looks great and is still able to get around pretty well. It's always a blessing to go home, see the parents, have some good homecooked food, and see my grandma.

And today, Josh and Amy are getting married! Josh and I went to college together and I have nothing but good things to say about the man he is. They are going to be moving out to New York after their honeymoon, so they are pretty excited about that!

Successful Plumbing

My friend, Bill, and I made it back to the Comfort Suites yesterday to finish our side work of putting in a dishwasher, countertop, and garbage disposal. This time, we began the day by contacting the original plumber to find out exactly where the shut-off valve we had been looking for was located.
He knew.
And it was unmarked.
So thankfully we were able to complete the job and not have any leaks! I feel good about leaving that project behind me and enjoying a good laugh now and again. A video camera would have been priceless.....maybe in heaven, God can bring up that day and we can put it on a big screen while we're all praising God and get a good laugh out of it!
Heaven can be fun like that, can't it?
I mean, there will be many things made known that we aren't proud of, how come things can't be made known of what we would be proud (or laugh) of?
I don't know.

Great minds think alike....sometimes!

On Thursday I was working up at the Comfort Suite of Comstock Park doing a side job with by buddy Bill of installing a dishwasher and a new countertop in the hotel break room. We needed to gain an extra supply line for the dishwasher as a sink was already installed. After standing in front of the shut-off valves at Menards for nearly an hour, we decided that the only way to have the correct parts (we couldn't find a 'bull's head') to do it would be to take the old shut-off valve off and install a new dan-designed T to get out necessary water. Against our better judgment, Bill and I decided to take the old valve off without cutting the water supply and get a little water on the floor until we could secure the new setup. This was against our better judgment. But, we anticipated that the water pressure wouldn't be too strong and we'd be able to switch in and out without a problem....especially since we could not find the shut-off to the water supply.
Bad idea.
As we were loosening the compression fitting of the shut-off valve, and as I was sitting inside the cabinet so as to be ready to replace, the water did not just trickle out. It was a rifle. The pressure of that water shot 8 feet across the room to the wall (no joke) and would have still be airborne for another few feet had the wall not been there. As you can guess, by this time I had not a dry piece of clothing on, water was beginning to be puddle on the floor (we had about an inch by the end of it all), and I couldn't get the new piece on.
Not good.
With strength that came from somewhere (thank you God), I somehow got the new designed coupler and shut-off system on the old pipe and stopped the water. Then I had Bill tighten it with me and we cracked the coupler. Not more than a few seconds later we had water again. It didn't hold. By now the VP of the management group was in the room observing the mistake and grabbed a hose to try and get some water from the pipe to a drain. I'm holding this hose to the pipe trying to get all the water I can into it, Bill and Pete (the VP) are searching high and low for the water shut-off in the plans and thru the building, and water is still piling on the thankfully-it-was-tile floor.
To shorten the story, we redirected the water thru the old shut-off so I could put it back on and hopefully hold it until a later date. That worked and it is still holding as we speak (though I'm not too confident it will hold long term, and we are still looking for the way to shut-off the water without draining the whole hotel (we're on the first floor of a 4-story hotel).
Fortunately Pete wasn't too upset and he even laughed...which I had already been doing because I'm like that. So we spent the next hour getting rid of water in our fully-wet clothes and called it a day.
Unbelievable.
I didn't need a shower that night. :)

Can't I stay?

I really didn't want to come back to Michigan on Monday night. I was in Charlotte visiting my girl, Candice, and it was a great weekend. If you've read her blog, you know kinda what we did, but her friends were great, we ate some great southern food (chick-fil-a for the first time), i saw her church, we went to columbia to see ben and rebekah and joel and lisa, and lamented on monday that i had to leave. It was very encouraging to be there over the weekend. In some strange way, I think at times that the long-distance dating is helpful because when visiting, you have the opportunity to be with the other person for virtually 100 hours straight (minus the sleeping part :)). I'm able to see Candice at all points of the day, for a few consecutive days, versus only seeing her for a few hours at night here and there. I think it may help (though I haven't done a specific study) in being able to see the true person a little better and quicker. When you're with someone all day long, not everything can be a date....and being able to find interest and enjoyment out of the more regular things in life helps heighten the relationship.

On a side note, Candice's mom came thru her surgery great yesterday....I know she would thank you all for your prayers. It's a decent road to recovery, but she was feeling pretty good yesterday afterwards and will be fully healed in no time.

Much anticipation

Tomorrow is a much anticipated day. Candice and I have been counting down the days until we see each other for about a week and a half (maybe longer secretly)! Sometimes I get to a point where I am tired of waiting and it becomes a little frustrating to know that I can only see Candice every 3 weeks. Thankfully, we've been blessed with resources that allow us to see each other that often. I am confident it is going to be a great weekend in Charlotte and such a blessing to be together once again! Dan will also have the chance to meet many of Candice's friends--which will be very cool--as they are planning a little party with southern food (so Dan will have the chance to try some new food and see if he could really like southern cooking.....he thinks so). We also get the chance to see Ben and Rebekah (and the baby) and Joel and Lisa (Candice's good friends) in Columbia, so that's exciting, too!
That's all that is on the mind of Dan--just don't shut my flight down to Charlotte and I'll be a happy camper! See ya soon Candice!!!!

Pictures are up

I got my pictures on cd last night from my disposable camera, so I started a flickr site and hopefully you can view the pictures. They aren't really organized, but that will come soon. My girl is going to have to educate me on the computer. :) Click here for Pictured Rocks and click here for Tahquomenon Falls.

oh, and, the picture of Molly, Joe's wife, and me was to show my girl what she was missing not being there. :)

Amazing Upper Peninsula?

God's creation is awesome. I have never seen as magnificent scenery as I did this weekend at Pictured Rocks and Tahquamenon Falls--in the upper peninsula of Michigan's Lake Superior shoreline. Waking up in the morning, walking 500 feet to the beach to sit on some boulders and take the beauty in was priceless. It's easy to worship our Creator in those types of environments.

On Friday, our group of six hiked about 6 miles west of our campsite (Little Beaver Lake). The trails, for the most part, hug the edge of the cliffline. We saw places such as Spray Falls (a beautiful waterfall of about 70 feet), Chapel Rock (where we did some cliff jumping of about 12' above water--it's the best place to jump unless you want to go above 35 feet), Indian Head (which is the climax of what we saw--it's easily a point that sits over 200' above the water with an "alter" that we walked out on). There were many coves and points and beaches that had incredible scenic beauty and places we could swim. It's mindblowing to see how God allows nature to retain its beauty, even while it is continually changing.

On Saturday, we ventured down the road about 60 miles to Tahquamenon Falls and were once again blessed with picturesque waterfalls. The Upper Falls has one main waterfall of about 50' high and 200' across, whereas the Lower Falls has smaller falls (2'-10') that you can walk on/in/under. They are much more interactive than the Upper Falls.

Being out in the wilderness, with no usable technology, no industrialization, very few people around, and scenery that leaves you in awe, can only leave one feeling more inspired to love our God and want to cherish our earth and keep these areas pure and undeveloped. I regret ever mocking the upper peninsula for not having anything of value--you can't put a pricetag on the beauty that I beheld this weekend. I recommend the trip to anyone--just plan for more than 1 1/2 days!


5 days till I get to visit my girlfriend!

Intentional removal

This afternoon I get to travel with 5 friends to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the upper peninsula of Michigan for some camping, hiking, and swimming for 2 days. It stretches for about 4o miles along Lake Superior and has cliffs of up to 200 feet. I borrowed this picture from the web, but I've got to believe this is the type of scenery I'll have the opportunity to see.

So many times I get used to the commonplace of where I live--all the man-made buildings and road systems and venues of a city, that I forget there are incredible places of beauty within a few hours of where I live that are undeveloped and left to their natural habitat. It reminds me that our God is extremely creative and beautiful, and He designed these desolate places for our enjoyment and for His praise and glory. I'm also excited to intentionally remove myself from the fast-paced lifestyle I grow so accustomed to and slow down for a bit and spend extended time with my God.

Psalm 24:1 says "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. "

10 and counting...

So it's only 10 days until I have the chance to be reunited with my wonderful girlfriend once again. It's amazing to me that just a week ago yesterday she was here! It seems like such a long time ago. But, I suppose Dan can't complain about seeing Whitley every three weeks--hopefully it stays that consistent! Long-distance relationships are not the easiest by any means, but when both people are making a concerted effort, great things can happen. But, I'm always open to wisdom of others who have successfully persevered thru long-distance relationships, so if ya'll have any words, post 'em! So far, Miss Whitley has made the distance bearable with her great phone conversations and timely text messages (yes, we "text" throughout the day :) ). I just pray the next 10 days go by quickly!