Christmas 2006 - Christmas 2007

Another "J" update

Thanks Shannon for calling me out on ending my last post with a cliffhanger and not completing the story...

So, here it is - in 3 weeks I will start a new position in the same company at our plant in McHenry, IL. I'll be responsible for continuous improvement at the plant and I'll get an office with a door!! (not quite cool enough for a window yet). I will be moving at some point, but the drive is only about an hour, so I'll be commuting until I figure out where to live.

In other summer fun, I just got back from a camping/rafting trip in Pennsylvania. There were so many stories I don't know where to start. Highlights included raccoons hanging out windows with signs, driving adventures - unlocking the mysteries of unmarked and strangely marked PA highways, cooking adventures - FYI - an old propane stove can create impressive flames!, and of course, no camping trip is complete without......rain adventures!!

As far as my internet social life......recently I've been enjoying facebook - so be sure to keep up with my random status updates there!

Truly unexciting update on J's life

Don't say I didn't warn you with the title! Its been a while though, so I thought I'd log on and share whats been shaking in cheeseland....

After all my posts complaining about the winter weather, we have finally started summer up here! The weather has been really nice, but I've been working about 60+ hours a week lately, so haven't gotten to enjoy it lately.

Lets see, just a few highlights of life outside work:

Soccer season is over but summer sand volleyball has started! We get a free drink if we win 2/3 games for the night, but even this motivation has only led to a winning record 1 night. It is a lot of fun though and a good excuse to leave work at a reasonable time 1 night a week :)

Next weekend will be my first time playing golf. I've already suggested helmets for my teammates.....safety first!

I've been to two weddings in the last two weeks - good times, good times....

I don't have any other official news - but check back within the next month, I'll have more to share on some changes of scenery in my life.

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has had a great Easter :) I went to church this morning at Grace, then to the Barnes for a last minute Van Winkle/Barnes Easter bash. Good times as always, even though Kel and Sarah's bro and fam couldn't make it. A centerpiece of our traditional meal gatherings is the cake that my Mom makes. This year was the first attempt at a Bunny cake....Not bad, huh? He doesn't look as happy later in the night, but it was yummy! Sarah took these pics on her camera phone...pretty cool.


Life is crazy busy here in Racine these days. I'm now a soccer coach for 7 year olds in addition to my other activities I've gotten involved in, so this weekend was a much needed break. I'll probably have more coaching stories as the season progresses - this is definitely a new challenge for me ;)

Check out these pics from my first ever experience at the shooting range. Thanks Tim for capturing the moment!...


Oh and thanks for the comments on the juggling pic! We had a lot of fun playing circus and practicing our juggling skills. The neighbors across the street didn't act very impressed, but of course, they usually don't.

Well, its a big week at work coming up, but I'm sure Friday will be here before I know it ;)
Oh, and if you see my Mom, make sure to tell her I didn't make fun of her bunny cake at all :)

Happy (warm) days are here again!

Any thoughts on a good caption for this???

4 years!!!

Today is my 4 year service anniversary at Modine :) Wahoo! One more year til 3 weeks vacation!!!! I celebrated today by doing no work whatsoever.

Division IIIB consolation champ!!!

Being humble is very admirable, but sometimes you just have to brag for a bit....And what better place to do that than my blog!? OK, so I've been talking about it at work all week too and have my plaque hanging in my cube. But I haven't told any of you yet, so here it is....I won the consolation championship of the Modine racquetball tournament in the lowest skill level division last weekend! Racquetball is my new favorite sport....you can hit the ball as hard as you want and don't have to worry about it going out of bounds or having to run after it. Plus, it is really fun watching people swing and miss then having the ball bounce off the wall and hit them in the back. (Ok, so I've done it myself too more than once)

But back to bragging.....the women's Modine volleyball team that I am on won our division!!! Our coach told us we had to win 2/3 of our last games to win, and we did!! Although, it turns out she was intentionally lying to us to keep us motivated - we won by several games. Our last game was Thursday night and we celebrated at the bar before the games... and after the games :)

And now some rambling reflection.... It is very exciting now to win these local, low level competitions - but more exciting is that I've learned to have fun playing regardless of the outcome. As most of you know, sports defined my identity growing up, and reaching my goals meant everything to me. And here is a snapshot of my final moments in each of these sports:

*High school water polo - lost my last game 40-1 in the first round of the state tournament (I did score the 1 though....)(no, not a typo, that is *40*)
*High school soccer - after going undefeated the whole season, I was injured in the last game sophomore year and watched our team lose our last game from the sideline. (this was my last game because I played water polo instead jr and sr year)
*College soccer - We gave up 4 goals in the first 5 minutes of my last game and wound up losing 4-1 (again, at least I scored the 1)
*College swimming - My last serious competition - I don't have much to say about the meet, but I was so excited to finally be done swimming I had a little too much fun all night before getting on a plane to fly home......yeah, that was a rough flight
*High school swimming - My last high school swim meet was heart breaking. I can't do the story justice without typing a mini essay. It has been 10 years and I can still see everything like it happened yesterday. If you don't know the story, ask me about it some time.

So, what is my point? I enjoy winning, as everyone does, but God has shown me time and time again that neither winning or reaching my goals here will add any value to my life or make me happier. As I mentioned, I've been having a lot of fun playing, and I celebrate these recent victories with my teammates, but at the same time I know the true victory I have is eternal, and it is because Jesus humbled himself and took on our sins.

So....... I suppose I should try to be more humble ;)

Weather tracker......#!@#%in cold!!!!!

I don't think I've seen positive temperatures in the "feels like" section of weather.com since I got back from Montreal over a week ago. I'm really understanding now why drinking is such a popular hobby here in Wisconsin....although I'm still trying to figure out the cheese thing.... The good news is that it looks like it might get above freezing in about a week and a half, sheesh.

One year!

First of all, great job Whitney and Shannon on the Ayla challenge! You guys are awesome friends to remember the name of the main character from my favorite book. Of course I did read it about 3 or 4 times during the jr high/high school years, but it has been a while! I've still never cried while reading a book like I do every time I read the end of that book. Good luck with reading it again Kel!

So it is an exciting weekend to mark my one year of Wisconsin residency and the recently released report on global warming....We have a high of 0 degrees F today. Yes, that is a high. I think I'll run outside soon to celebrate the climb out of negative temperatures....Of course it is -27 with wind chill, so I'll have to celebrate on the right side of the fence....Actually, its ok, because I formed a layer of scales on my hands while I was up in Montreal so I can't really feel anything anyway.

I'm very torn with who to route for today in the Super Bowl....I think I do have to go for the Bears since Chicago is home, but I like the Colts a lot too. So, I guess I'm rooting for great commercials this year!

So, I still don't own a cheese hat, but its crazy, I really have developed some wisconsonite drawl, especially after a couple beers....actually I think that is where their accent came from :) I think the only thing I picked up in TN was y'all since no one down there says "you guys" like everyone does up here as a gender neutral expression.

A'ight....enough ramble for today.
Go Bears!!