New Transportation

The other day Stephen got a bike to ride around campus, get to his classes, etc. It was $10 dollars, old, very cool, and I was jealous. But then I remembered I can't ride a bike! I practiced on Stephen's though and did an ok job. So we decided to look for one for me. Well we found something even better. A tricycle! It's easy to ride, no balancing, and very French. We found it at the Salvation Army and the price tag said $25.99. I didn't have the money for it but Stephen wanted to buy it so he said he'd get it for me. We go inside tell the cashier the price and he looks at his co-worker and says "Bikes are 75% off right?" to which the co-worker responds "Yeah". So the bike was $6.89. Stephen and I cleaned it up, spray painted it, and put a cool license plate on the back. I just rode it down to the library where I am typing this blog. The best part about it is I can actually ride it with confidence. People also stare at me alot while I'm riding it. But sometimes it's hard being so cool. Just the price I have to pay. ;-)

My New Addiction

So I'm sort of settling in to life out here is western Michigan. I still don't have a job so basically I do nothing. I finished a puzzle that took me a week to do, I kept a very close watch on the Olympics, and I read the paper almost everyday. And now I'm in the final week before Stephen gets here! Somehow this week is worse than the last three were. The anticipation is making it difficult to say the least.

But anyway I have a new musical addiction. I found this gem of a vintage store with a great record selection and a picked up a few while I was there last week. Besides buying two Neil Diamond albums and a record of the songs from Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" I bought Steve Forberts "Alive on Arrival". I bought it mostly because I know the first track "Goin' Down to Laurel". It was only 25 cents and I knew it would make my dad proud. So I put it on and fell in love. Most of the songs I vaguely know from my dad singing them while I was growing up. But it really is a great album! Some of the best lyrics I've ever heard. If you've never had the pleasure I suggest giving it a listen.


Here's to all the shitty jobs that I despise.
Here's to two-bit guarantees and other lies.
Here's to roads of burning tar and hot cement.
Here's to money in my hand and where it went.

Well, I got my fingers a-tapping on the hard,
stone steps.
I'm waiting for lightning and the rains to fall.
Young lovers are loafin' with their sidewalk smiles
And all their rainbow dreams....

I been livin' an' breathin' in the rat trap town.
Tryna get over where the wall breaks down.
Holdin' my head up with my thin tired arms
and all my rainbow dreams
-- "Steve Forberts Midsummer Night's Toast"

I'm Here!

I'm here in Grand Rapids. I am all moved in and enjoying my new place. I won't have a chance to blog much since I have to use the public library for internet access and I'm only allowed 30 minutes a day on their computers. But I wanted to give everyone an update and let you know that in a few weeks when Stephen gets here I'll hopefully be able to use his computer to blog about all my crazy adventures since I've been here! And I'll post some pictures than too.

The Move from Hell

I decided I can finally blog about my move here to GR. It was rather stressful to say the least and I now feel like I have moved past the trauma enough to talk about it. My mom and I had started off our day driving out to Michigan at around 6am. I was driving my car and my mom was driving the rented moving truck. After about 12 hours on the road and feeling tired, cranky, and with sore knees, we made it to my apartment. We went in and looked around and than checked into our hotel (we didn't want to bother moving anything in the first night). We got up the next morning and were really geared up to get going. We had a lot of trouble getting the tuck into the narrow driveway and that was only the beginning. We moved in the mattress, my large heavy dresser and a few other things before tackling the couch. Well, long story short, it got stuck in my insanely tiny door. It not only got stuck once but twice! After we had successfully gotten it out we thought trying it again was a good idea. But it wasn't at all. So anyway we called up the handy man, whose number I had gotten from my landlord, and he came by and got it in for us. I cried when it was in and I had trouble sitting on it for a few days. But everything else went great and then we had to move the truck out of that narrow driveway again. But after the adventure with the couch it seemed like a piece of cake.

To A land Far Far Away

The move is coming up quickly. It's really hard to believe that it's been seven months since I decided to move to Grand Rapids. I feel as if I've had no time to do anything and yet that it has all gotten done. I'm just packing up the last few boxes (I'm still dumbfounded at how much stuff I have!), saying goodbye to everyone, and trying to stay stress free! Everything is going pretty well and I truly am excited. But at the same time I'm scared. Mostly just of leaving what has been so familiar to me my whole life. But I know what is ahead of me is a wonderful experience. And for that I cannot wait! As of right now I don't have a computer so I most likely won't be blogging right away. Although I do plan on getting into the library soon after I arrive to check email and all those fun things. I'll try to keep everyone posted as much as I can!

Beach

Stephen and I finally made it down to the beach. It was only for an overnight stay but it was well worth it. Stephen's sister, Sarah (yes it does get confusing both having sisters named Sarah), and her boyfriend, Chris, invited us to stay at Chris's parents beach house. We eargerly accepted and went down on Wednesday night. We had a nice time playing games (we invented a great one which we played for hours), eating, and laughing alot. It was supposed to storm all day on Thursday but it turned out to be a beautiful day! I was so happy to just sit on the beach and stare at the ocean. We left around 5 and found a cute little diner that was straight out of a movie to eat at and got home with bad sunburn. Poor Stephen can barely walk. It was a good time though.

Brat Pack

I love music. I am a big fan of lyrics. It's usually what makes me love certain bands or certain songs. Every since I heard the song "Brat Pack" by The Rocket Summer I've been hooked. I guess it's about 4 years old now and I still listen to it and sing along with zeal. And altough I loved it from the start, only now does it really apply to my life. I just love when that happens. When there is a song that just encompasses so much of what you feel. It a song that talks about growing up and moving away and hating everything about where you live but never wanting to leave and loving everything about it all at the same time.

For about four years I’ve hated this town
Yeah, so much I just wanna get out
Since graduation was long ago
Please somebody get me out of this hole
Cause I don’t want to get stuck in here
When I am thirty-four just talkin' 'bout high school years
No I don’t wanna be there, and feel so stuck right here
Back and forth, side to side, oh my dear

My foot to the floor I will drive to the place
Where I can kick it with friends through the night
A place we'll talk about now and the past what the future holds
Hanging out with not much to do
Just aimless with each other - is what we do

...Cause' we were singing along to Peter Gabriel's "sledgehammer" song
You know it’s clear that tonight we belong in this place
So I step back to reflect in this town I hate
And at least just for a second I think I might stay...

Collecting

I love to collect things in my mind. Yes, that sounds completely crazy. But I really do it. When my sister first told me she was pregnant I told everyone with whom I was remotely acquainted and would listen. I heard alot of strange reactions. Some people were thrilled and some were confused as to why I was so excited. So I started "collecting" peoples reactions. Don't ask me why exactly. But I remember the one that was the strangest to me. I told this girl I knew who was about 21 at the time and after a slight pause she says "Oh. That's cute" Weird response. I also like peoples reactions to my moving to Michigan for Stephen. Most people at church look confused and afraid and ask, sometimes tactfully sometimes not, if we will be living together. I reply that we are not and they always look so relieved. I find it tremendously amusing. And, yes, I am completely crazy.

Summer of Alex Update

So my summer is about halfway over I guess and I feel pretty good about it. I haven't seen very many friends or done any late night coffee drinking yet but I know it'll come in time. So far I've been to see my sister, gone on a great road trip with friends, camped for a week, learned how to love a little better, watched SO many movies, and I am currently learning to play basketball (kinda). I have to say I'm really enjoying basketball! My friend Mitch has always wanted to be a NBA star, and since he played in high school he has some great pointers. Now anyone who knows me well knows that I am terrible at most sports but I really want to try something new and since I can walk down to the park where they have a nicely lit courts I can play whenever. So Stephen and I had our first lesson with Coach Mitch and he gave us some good tips. Stephen and I even played one on one the other day and it was a great work out! Although I know I'll never be a star I'm trying to expand the things that I do. That's what I've done so far and as far as what I still have/want to do seems overwhelming. I still have to pack, go on about four double dates, see a ton of people, go to the beach a few times, and so much more. But I do know that tomorrow night I'm going to see "The Dark Knight" with friends. I can't wait!

Cornerstone

I've been back from Illinois for a week now and had time to recover and think over everything that happened. I had a great time and came back feeling very edified and excited. Although the week ended well it started a little rough. We left on a rainy Sunday morning and the first thing was that we couldn't fit everything in the 3 vehicles which meant we had to leave behind the big fire pit, the boom box, and a cooler. I was most bummed about the boom box which meant very little music at the camp site for the week. Everyone else was upset about the fire pit cause you can't have fires on the ground at c-stone. But we took off and drove through the night with none of us really sleeping. I think I got about 5 minutes in about 36 hours. We arrived at about 5:30am and waited in a 2 mile long line until about 9am (the guys in the band got in early and set us the camp site!). Once at the site, which looked great thanks to our churches 10x20ft circus tent, I realized our roof rack had locked on itself. My dad instructed me to "jam something in there until it pops open", so I asked Scott, the bands drummer, to help me. He grabbed a pocket knife, bad idea, and jammed away. Then he sliced his finger open, almost passed out, had to be taken to the emergency room to get four stitches, and then play 3 shows that week. I'm not sure how he managed it but he did! It was such a bad way to start things off. The week only went up from there though. We enjoyed a slew of great bands, I heard a fantastic seminar on living in community, and just had some great laughs. Even though by the end of the week we were all more than happy to say good bye to one another I believe it was worth feeling completely wiped out for almost a week for it. I suggest going to Cornerstone with friends and enjoying the challenge of living among other people with no plumbing, canned food, and loud music. It really changed me.

Here are some pics. There is a great one of Scott's finger after about 4 days.