dancing and partying

Amidst a mess of papers (well, only writing one, actually...although there is quite a few papers on my floor), homework, housework, cleaning work, me dear Mother gone for the week on a vacation of sorts (panic and mayhem hasn't ensued yet...no worries, Mom), pictures are finally here! Despite being two months late with the former album...you must forgive me...I offer no excuses...

A Bloomington Dance

Schock Partying

So yes. Aaron Schock won! All the months of hard work and dedicated assistance from countless people finally culminated in the victory of our candidate. We were rather happy about that. ;) Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay later into the evening and watch the official festivities since it was getting late, yet we were able to see a partial live interview...that counts for something, at least. *grin* Things are now settling down post election...signs are being taken down...life moves on. [cue depressing violin solo]

And so you won't go off sorrowful after leaving the blog, I present unto you this picture...

AHA!

Yes yes...I realize I need to post about Reformation Day this past weekend, but since this post is able to be shorter and less time-consuming, I thought it wise to do instead. Speaking of which, those dancing pictures still lie dormant in my photo library. I suppose they'll be uploaded to some place then shared for the masses to enjoy...

Anyway!

Read this and have a good chuckle...

Source: um...google reader?

oops

My apologies for not posting much as of late...I think this pictures sums it up pretty nicely concerning what I've been up to...



Yep, you are correct in your observation: homework and sleeping. Not both at the same time, though! ;)

I'll try to get something more substantial up after midterms...

sign delivery, take two

So...I told myself I would post this after completing my economics quiz...I think that course and euclidean geometry are my favorite courses this semester.

...

Don't look at me like that.

;)

Five days after the previous sign delivery in the northern regions, I took another route, this time going to the south-western parts of the congressional district. Mileage for that day: 460, give or take. Now moving on to the interesting part of the post...



this was my first stop of the day...Rushville...I think by the end of the day I knew more about route 24 that I should have


Mt. Sterling was my second stop


too much coffee that morning, I think


now this road was fun. I thought I would be on highways all day, but it proved to be otherwise. then about half an hour along the way since leaving my second stop, I randomly looked at my list to make sure of everything, then realized to my horror that I forgot to drop off some stuff back in Mt. Sterling...but hey, at least I received a phone call during that time from Mom saying the new MacBook arrived...made me quite happy :D


around lunch-time a stop landed me in Quincy, which is right by the Mississippi. so I drove my monster truck down near the river, parked on some random street, and walked down to the riverfront for a nice, quiet lunch






my temporary food-partaking...place. can't forget the venti white chocolate mocha, and yep...I bought a second starbucks at the end of the day


the iPhone. there to help you find your way, encourage, and reassure. it's like motivational tapes on steroids


I've found it's more than a little difficult to take pictures of signs while doing delivery


the same principle can be applied to taking a picture of floodwaters to the left




my last stop of the day...

And there you have it. A full day of driving, which in due course repeated itself this past Thursday with deliveries once again up north...found out Tanner's Orchard is a nice place, albeit really...really expensive, lol.

(e.g., I found a half-bushel of apples for 38 DOLLARS!!!)

next up...dancing stuff...

a birthday

Yesterday was someone's special day...a special young lady by the name of Ruth...





Happy Birthday, Ruth Esther...your big brother loves you...

Then this pic originally was to go up yesterday in honor of her birthday and...um...our inherent silliness. *grin*

sign delivery, take one

Back awhile and some time before that...September 11, to be exact...Schock headquarters asked me to deliver signs. I was given a list of destinations for the day, directions on how to get from here to there, and the total mileage was around 260 miles...that included driving from home, driving about delivering signs, then driving back home. I knew it'd be quite the day, so I decided to bring along my camera...hehe...


an attempt at organization while driving...a total failure


crossing over...some river...lol


trying to figure out where on earth I was


no comment :P


looking into the past while seeing the future at the same time of being in the present


the load for the day...one sign at a time


directioneering


first stop...or second one...erm...completed!




EUREKA!!! [rather obvious]


lunchtime on the road...oh yes


the Lord decided to send some rain...good times


so...imagine Ashton...driving...eating lunch...taking a picture...trying to make sure he's on the road...while the rain comes down in droves *grin*


hey now, I had to get a coffee at some point or another...it's practically required


I thought that another drink from Starbucks wouldn't hurt anything

So once all the 4x8' signs were delivered, I picked up Emil where he works on the way home, but not without taking some residential signs down south...we had some interesting conversations on the way involving this video...never a boring moment with the Bandy's, lemme tell ya...



...then there was that one day I delivered around 30,000 snicker bars...

out with the old...

...and in with the new

he does what?!

Traditionally, our family reads Scripture on the way to church every Sunday, so amidst the pouring rain I drove yesterday while Dad, in the front passenger seat, read from the Psalms...

Dad: [from Psalm 127] "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sheep."

I glance sideways at Dad: "Sheep?"

Dad: "Yes, he gives his beloved sheep..."

Me: "He gives her sheep??"

Mom, laughing: "I think it's sleep, dear!"

Dad: "What? [he looks at the passage] Oh...he gives his beloved sleep...SLEEP!! It looked like an "h" there...sheep...goodness..."



And totally unrelated to the above narrative...here's some pictures from the President's visit.

Well now...

Only a little over two weeks since my last post! I guess that's an improvement over what accumulated the time before that...

Busy are the times and times are busy. Yeeess indeedy. Between full-time college with Patrick Henry, a part-time job with Aaron Schock who's running here in IL for US congress, and the general liveliness of life, it's fun right about now. I had this completely boring post written up of what I'd done during my temporary internet demise, but I decided against it for the its inherent nature of, um...being boring. Not that what I'd done was boring, but reading about someone's life and that someone relying on his picture gallery to remember further specifics...here's a portion:

Think of it as extrapolating the whole "only real men wear pink" ordeal. ...and my first time going to a Pekin Manor [mini] Hymnsing (the lone Bandy). July 4th came and went...I'm looking through my picture library to remember all these events. Followed by putting in a new kitchen floor. The old one turned sour on us after the dishwasher broke and soaked various pieces of our cork flooring. We replaced that dishwasher who knows when. But! I have a specific date on the floor replacement, so that's a good thing.

...

Yesterday was spent delivering 4'x8' signs for Schock...around 300 miles of driving that began around 9:15 AM or so. Pictures were taken during that time, so once I get my new compy (MacBook on the way), I'll post pictures from that. As well, Tuesday was sign set-up day in Peoria, though I don't have many pictures from that day except for one or two I took with my phone at "the busiest intersection of the tri-county area."

I guess that's it for now...I'll leave y'all with a few shots...


July 4th...let freedom ring


remember those puppies? ...they're bigger now


the result of a recent head injury


Ashton gone + the rest of the family home = Grace-pictures! (my little sister's cuter than yours...whoever you are)


Sunsets by Sam Evans, Inc.

y'all have a blessed day...

hello there

Update coming soon...

/

forgive the redesign, the author needs a better sense of colors

random conversations

Last night while Emil and I were picking cherries, we discussed the interesting possibility of having an iPhone buried with oneself once they're dead so they might be found easily after world war III, but then again we thought it not the best option because of the following reasons:

1. Missiles would have taken out all the cell phone towers.

And,

2. You probably wouldn't get very good reception down in the coffin anyway.

iche and the creation museum

I sure hope y'all like a lot of pictures.

So last week we attended the Illinois Christian Home Educators convention, otherwise known as ICHE. (we enjoy pronouncing it itchy...you get more strange looks that way) And also, as an added benefit, we had the pleasure of staying with the Ryken Clan during our stay up north...a hearty thank you!! for letting us do so, Ryken's! We thoroughly enjoyed our time together with y'all amidst all the food, chatting, IM convos while in the same room, and multiple games of Dutch Blitz. You can read Mrs. Ryken's post about it here. So...after a hasty get-everything-together-then-driving-up-Friday-morning, a safe arrival greeted us in downtown Naperville...


prior one of the keynote sessions


later that day we drove Ol' Blue (you'll see him later) to the Ryken's...


figuring out the next steps to accomplish


yeehaw!! it's dinner time, y'all!


some of us tried to sleep off dinner...


...while others spent time adoring the newest Ryken, Sara


a nice, relaxing evening...haven't had one of those in a while


"emil...hold those pose...it looks like you broke your neck."


"Where'd Dad go?" "I dunno...I thought he was with Naomi." "Isn't that them over there?" "No...that's somebody else." "Didn't they go visit that one booth in that one place?" "Good question." "NAAAOMIIII!!! DAAADDD!!! Where are YOUUU???"


waiting in-between sessions and IMing Justin, only to find out that the videos we took of Dutch Blitz the night before turned out to be 5 GB. yes, you can hang your mouth open in astonishment


"You know...I should take pictures of people at the courtship booth then post them all on the internet." "Actually, that'd be...really funny, in a weird sort of way."


about to depart for the unknown

We now interrupt our programing to present you the results of Grace's Gardening, Inc. These two pictures only represent a small portion of what this young lady is capable of...




Then pictures from our trip down to the Creation Museum...Emil wrote up a more descriptive post concerning what we did throughout the day.


after four extra hours of sleep (meaning sleeping during the trip), I got up and took this picture. quite thought-provoking...it's like we're entering The Land of Really Really Bright Lightbulbs


behold my back-end-of-the-van lair, wherein reading, 'riting, but no 'rithmetic occurs


welcome to ohio! or at least the back of it


after about half an hour, emil and i switched. he enjoyed playing that game of bejeweled...and resting on a cinderella pillow


i asked naomi to make a face. that describes pretty much the whole situation


the centerpiece of this picture: a creation museum billboard


and we arrive! (this is Ol' Blue, by the way...a 2007 GMC Savana)


grace and i about to watch Men in White...an excellent presentation on creationism v. evolutionism


beware the person who dares to take this guy's coke


this isn't for those who are claustrophobic






gotta love that sign


around two in the afternoon we had the pleasure of attending a workshop by Buddy Davis


Emil found out the consequences of raising one's hand. we had quite the laugh as a result


after the workshop, splurging on drinks, only to find out we all bought white chocolate frappes


the purpose of attending the museum: in celebration of Dad and Mom's wedding anniversary!


them frappes are good...


an exhibit in the dinosaur den


this is what y'all miss out on...the botanical gardens


rather self-explanatory, no?


the famous suspended bridge...last time we were there they had to cal...well, let's just say there's more security measures this time around


I was tempted to stick my head in front of these things


check out that temperature once we started up the van to leave

We arrived home around 11:30...went to bed...and slept...