Choir Tour 2008 is officially over. We returned Sunday night from our last service. It was hard, especially for the ones graduating or not returning. Everyone went around to each other and said their final goodbyes. Lot's of tears, lot's of hugs, lot's of unity. But, now it's back to the grindstone. I admit, it's probably going to take a small atomic bomb to get me moving again. I just feel like sleeping, and doing nothing for the next 2 months. Ah well, for God and country.

Ryan

Tags: GBS, Back, Choir, Break, End

I decided to roll all three posts into one. I apologize for the gap in updates again. I don't have convenient internet access for my laptop at my house, and so I ended up putting it off till I got back to school. I arrived about 12:00 yesterday afternoon, and I survived my first day of classes today. I've returned with mixed emotions. I must admit that I am slightly reluctant as I begin this semester, just because of the sheer vastness of the workload before me. But, I know the Lord brought me safely through this last year, and I'm sure He will do it again. I have added a few pictures, one of which is my room after I dumped everything off before heading to work yesterday afternoon. Trust me, it looks better now

Ryan

Tags: Back, Return, Break

I have returned! After a 2-3 month hiatus, I am back up and running. I have successfully finished my 3rd (and by far, hardest) semester at GBS, and will be heading back on January 7th to dig into my 4th semester (which will be comparably, if not more, difficult). But, the Lord was faithful, and He gave me the strength I needed to make it through. I am now on break, and it feels wonderful! I haven't slept this much in 4-5 months! I am currently up at Megan's house in Shelby, MI, and we will leave on the 24th to go down to my house to finish out the break.

I will probably not attempt to catch up on all that has lapsed during the 'silent months', because it would just take too much time. But I'll just state that the semester went fairly well scholastically, and I am enjoying my job working for Dr. Brown (it keeps me busy!). I hope you have a merry Christmas!

Ryan

Tags: Busy, Break, Personal, Website, Return

What have I been up to so far this summer. It's really quite simple. I can actually put it in one word. Work! I'm working one full time job, and I'm thinking about looking for a second part time job. Fun, fun. Oh well, you gotta live I guess. But, yeah, that's my life right now. Sleep, eat, work. Then repeat.... I will, however, be participating in my good friend, and pastor, Michael's wedding on Saturday. I have to go pick up my tux on Friday. It should be fun! I'm excited for him. If you haven't noticed, I haven't posted very many pictures lately. I do apologize for this, and I will try and take some more photos to post soon. Well, I guess that's all for now. I hope your summer is going well! See yah.

Ryan

Tags: Summer, Life, fun, Break

\
School is officially over TOMORROW! And the student's of God's Bible School & College are getting a little stir crazy! We want to go home! Ahh, the countdown begins...13 hours, 41 minutes, 55 seconds.....54 seconds..... 53 seconds.....

Ryan

Tags: Last day, GBS, Crazy, fun, Break

\
I just took my last exam, and, as far as school work goes, my freshman year of college is over! Thank the Lord for helping me through this year! It feel funny not to have to worry about doing homework tonight for classes tomorrow. I think I can get used to this....

Ryan

Tags: End, Last day, Exams, GBS, Break

\
There are only three days of school left! I am now finished with four classes, and have two more to go. I finished my Doctrine of Holiness class today. I actually don't have any exams tomorrow! So my next exam will be Discipleship/Small Groups on Wednesday, followed by Principles of the Christian Life II on Thursday. Then, the push on through Camp Meeting and then... FREEDOM! I can make it, I can make it, I can make it....

Ryan

Tags: Exams, GBS, End, Break

Just a quick note that Megan & I arrived safely back on campus around 1:00 this afternoon. Back to the battle...

Ryan

Tags: Back, Return, Break

Well my fellow comrades in arms, and various onlookers, we are on the brink of victory! Long have we parried with our exasperating antagonist (school work), but alas, we have emerged victorious! We shall soon be lifted from the murky depths of despair and despondent deportment to a loftier level of lighthearted leisure. We shall make good our escape effective at 1130 hours. And then, with the suffocation of the semester subdued for a season, we shall sinuously slither our way homeward. Lest you think me a laggard for my lack of updates, I shall be unable to update this blog for an undetermined period of time due to my departure. But hope is not lost! For I shall return with renewed vigor, and a greater vitality for virtuosic blogging. Farewell my fellow compatriots and onlookers! I bid thee, adieu.

Ryan (the amateur alliterator)

Tags: Break

Last weekend Megan, Joy, and I traveled back to MI with Mr. Cravens (who had to preach a revival in northern MI). It was SO much fun! Andy & Jenn traveled up to stay the weekend with us. We went ice skating Friday night where I was finally able to defend myself from Andy's years of spraying me with ice. I got up a lot of speed and with a sudden stop I had successfully covered him with ice up to his knees. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt...sweet revenge He then proceeded to make me fall in a ice spraying contest, 'sigh' So, he did come out the winner after all We then went out to Cracker Barrel for supper and enjoyed a delicious meal. With that we called it a night and Megan went back to spend the night with Joy, and I traversed back to my house. Saturday we met up with Jason, Kara, & Katie at Applebees for lunch, and had a lot of fun spending time with them. Saturday night Jordana Arnold and baby Emma came over and we played ImagineIf. It was a good time and helped my family learn more about Megan & vice versa. I went and picked Megan up from Joy's house Sunday morning and brought her back to my church. Much to the chagrin of everyone, the furnace on our church stopped working and it was approximately 30 degrees in the church. So, we went to the parsonage for service. However, it turned out to be a really good service, and the Lord helped. For supper we had a personal favorite of mine, my Mom's tacos! It's something of a family tradition. Jason & Kara then came over Sunday afternoon and we played Taboo. It was also a lot of fun, and a good time was had by all. We attended Bird Lake Church Sunday night and Megan & Joy sang a special, doing a phenomenal job. We then left to meet Mr. Cravens for the return trip to Cincinnati. It was a long trip and we arrived on campus around 3:15 A.M. Monday morning. Needless to say, I used one of my skips for my 7:00 A.M. class. And that brings you up to date on my weekend. Have a great day!

Ryan

Tags: Family, Break, Relax, Iceskate

We arrived at the cabin in WV around 9:00 P.M. Monday night. After unpacking and choosing bunks we played a few games of Amish Dice. We then retired and waited for the action to start tomorrow. I should pause here and give you a few significant details. First, one of our main purposes of this trip was to bring as many guns as we could and just have fun shooting them. Growing up, my brother and I used to set up army men in the back flower garden and shoot them with bb guns. So, my brother, Andy, had the brilliant idea to recreate this fun memory. I brought my bb gun and he brought his and we went at it. As much as I hate to admit it, I was soundly defeated in this endeavor. But to this day I'll blame it on faulty sites! Also, during that first night it rained profusely! It really pounded down in torrents on the roof of that cabin. This is significant considering another one of our objectives for this weekend was to go ATV'ing. Can you say mudholes OK, now we can move on to Tuesday, the 26. After putzin around the cabin for a while Andy and I decided to go on our ATV trip. Andy's vehicle of choice was a Honda 3-wheeler, and mine was a Suzuki 4-wheeler. So, we set off. After some light riding around the cabin we decided to head off, planning to be back in 20 min.... 2-3 hours later we returned. But man what a trip! The recent rain left the trails and roads with deep mudholes. We both came close to getting stuck, but with a little effort we managed to escape. There were many beautiful sites, including a number of deer. I will spare you the tale of every stream crossed, and mudhole conquered and simply tell you we had a blast and arrived back at the cabin where Andy made chili and venison steak. The rest of the day consisted of Uno, a quick trip to town, Amish Dice, and more eating. We then retired, sad that tomorrow would end it all. We awoke the next morning to the beginnings of a beautiful day! Andy and I set off again for the trails, this time with my camera in tow. We were disappointed to find that the water had significantly subsided in the night and we were not able to capture the full ATV experience of the day before. Still, we had a lot of fun and took a lot of pictures. You can see them here. We then returned to the cabin, packed up and headed out. We arrived at Andy's house around 4:30 that night and I arrived back at my house around 8:00. All in all it was an amazing weekend with many good memories made.

Ryan

Tags: Break, fun, Family, Relax, Photography, ATV

Things are going along very well in the first few days of my vacation. I have succeeded in my objective of becoming a bump on a log. Alas, returning to my beloved 76 step trek to my dorm room will be a very rude awakening! But, I digress. I will be leaving Christmas day to go to my brothers house in Marion, OH where we will leave to go down to West Virginia and stay out in a cabin for a few days. It should be a lot of fun! Our time will pretty much consist of 4-Wheeling and target practice. Oh, do you think it may be a good idea for me to start my Christmas shopping? hmm. A disconcerting revelation...

Ryan

Tags: Break, Relax

It's over! Finals are done, and I survived...barely. I finished my last exam Friday morning, turned in my last reflection paper by noon, and left by 1:00. I am now home and thoroughly enjoying my sleep! Thanks for all your prayers!

Ryan

Tags: Exams, Test, End, Last day, Relax, Break, GBS

Hey Everyone, I know this is a bit late, but Happy Thanksgiving! Things have been so busy around here with school, set construction, and narration practice that I haven't had time to post much. I trust you had a good Thanksgiving. Mine was excellent! We went to my Grandparents house in Ohio and spent time with family. Although two of my uncles were not able to attend because of transportation problems. I ate a lot of good food and did a lot of relaxing/sleeping We left there Friday afternoon to return to my home in Michigan where I stayed until I returned to campus on Monday. Overall it was a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend. These next two weeks will be very hectic as I head into the Christmas play and finals. Please remember me in your prayers! Have a great day!

Ryan

Tags: Family, fun, Break, Return