Random Updates at 11:21 PM

Oh man...it's been forever so I have a lot to write about.  Get excited.

Summer's been over for a month, yet I'm apparently still in that mode. I started school a few weeks ago--I've finally made it through generals (though at times I thought they would last forever) and into my major, Business Management.  I'm actually loving my classes (which is a little hard to get used to), but I have serious problems forcing myself to sit down and do homework...I would much rather be on a mountain bike or a boat or in the mountains.

Recently, however, I did purchase a wicked awesome road bike (it gets the job done, at least).  I realized it would be hard to keep up on mountain biking living in an apartment south of campus, so I wanted something to keep me riding.  I'm still breaking it in, but it's definitely serving me well.

I figured it deserves it's own picture ;).

I also recently put my MTC teaching job on hold ("quit" seems way too harsh).  Holding two part-time jobs while trying to keep up with school didn't sound very appealing to me, so I put a lot of thought into it and decided to stick with my translating job.  It seemed like the better option during school.  I've definitely been missing the MTC though...it's been an incredible experience, and I would have never guessed how close I would come to my missionaries.

This was the first group that I taught for their whole MTC stay...and it was probably my favorite.  It felt almost like family whenever I spent time with them.  I've gotten letters from several of them and they're doing awesome! (they are all now in either the Swiss mission or the Germany Munich/Austria mission (my mission, a.k.a. world's best mission)).

This is my second full group--also incredible missionaries and fun to be with.  Despite my awkward expression, I really was having a good time.  These missionaries went to the Berlin and Frankfurt missions.

Another awesome occurrence (actually probably the most exciting) is that I am now a double uncle.  That's right--my sister, Brendi, had her second child, Carson, about a month ago.  It's been really good being able to see Carson right from the beginning (I came home from Germany when Michael was 1 1/2 years old, so I missed out on a lot).  About a week after Carson's birth, he developed Meningitis--it was a really scary time for all of us, but it also revealed what great parents Brendi and Brian are.  Carson made a great recovery and is now back to full health.

The whole family soon after Carson's birth.

Stay tuned folks...