Well, actually...

You know the stuff I said about getting along with my brother?

Yeah, not so much...

A New York City Christmas

Somehow Christmas has already come and gone. I really don't know where time goes, but here's some of what's been going on in the last few days.

(Brace yourself, I have a lot to write about.)

It's been very good to be home. Spending time with my family and friends has been pretty great. I've been especially trying to take advantage of my time with my family, and although we all get on eachother's nerves sometimes, it's been really good. I've even actually enjoyed Matt's company more than ever before, and spent a little time with he and his girlfriend last week when they invited me to watch Rent with them. (Two weeks before New York, how could I pass up an opportunity to watch Rent?)

It wasn't until I was sitting in Church on Christmas Eve that I actually started to think about what Christmas means. During the pastor's message, I realized how rarely I take time to dwell on the fact that God loved us enough to humble himself completely and come down to our level. It's really pretty ridiculously amazing. As I really thought about this, I was overcome with all sorts of different emotions.

This break has been full of emotional highs and lows. Last Thursday, Jessi Hagen, Rachel Mason, and Rachel's sister Phoebe came to visit Kevin and I for a day of fun in the Burgh. We did lots of cool stuff; we went to Heinz Chapel, found our way to the top of the Cathedral of Learning, ate Primanti's and went Ice Skating downtown in PPG Place. It was really great.

Then when I got home, I found all the news about the Crossroads accident. How horrible. I felt and feel so much pain for Keri, her family, and the community that has meant so much to me over the last two years. It kills me that I am disconnected from Crossroads while they are going through something so hard. The incredible strength and faith of her family has definitely helped me find some peace in all of this.

I had a few selfish moments last week when I was feeling bummed out that regardless of how winter quarter goes I won't be spending the summer in New York City. I'd love to be able to be there during the heat of summer to experience the side of the big apple I'll miss out on in winter. Luckily, those feelings didn't last for long, as it's impossible for me to be upset knowing that God has huge plans for me in Namibia. I am so excited for all of the risks, challenges, and hardships that I know I'll be facing. I cannot wait to be ripped out of my comfort zone. I'm terrified, but absolutely stoked. Plus, three and possibly six months of New York in winter is an absolute dream come true and I am thrilled to have whatever time I can there.

I got a chance to go out to lunch with my old youth director Chad and told him about Africa. He is really excited and cautioned me to be ready for the potential to have my life completely changed.

Wow. I'm glad I've got time to get ready. Although I'm sure the next 6 months will fly by, too.

I also got a chance to talk to the pastor at my old church and he was very excited to hear about Africa as well and offered whatever help he could. The support of he and Chad, on top of my family's support is amazing.

Christmas Day was wonderful. Gammy came in from Somerset and took part in most of our present opening. A highlight of the morning for me was giving Mom her gift. I had taken a bunch of pictures of Matt and Jaimie and I and took the three best and framed them for her. There aren't all that many pictures of us kids around, especially lately, so I knew she would love it and it would be much more heartfelt than some random cd or movie or something. As she opened it, she started to cry. The gift was a success.

You can actually take a look at all the pictures I took for her present right here.

I was given some great gifts and some definite necessities for my upcoming life in Brooklyn. One of the highlights was a new phone. My four year old phone died after 20 minutes of use, so I needed a new one badly. I got an enV2. I don't know much about what's hip in cell phone technology, but it seems pretty sweet. Now I can actually talk to people on my phone.

Another highlight was my Not For Tourists Guide to New York City 2009. I definitely needed it, and after owning the Los Angeles version that is pretty much the size and weight of a cinderblock, I'm amazed at how compact and convenient the pocket sized NFT New York is. It should fit perfectly into the pocket of my pea coat.

I also got a double air mattress, which I'll be sleeping on for 3 months this winter. It will probably take up almost my entire room. Don't worry, I post pictures once I get there.

Let's see, other good gifts were $50 to Old Navy (as everyone knows my current favorite store) with which I got a bunch of stylish new warm winter threads. The day after christmas 50% and 60% off deals were clutch. I also got Wall-E on dvd, which the family is going to watch in the next few days.

In the afternoon, we all went to see Marley & Me. Gammy had read the book and was really excited to go see it. It was actually a great movie, thanks to some surprisingly amazing performances by Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. A warning though, if you go see this movie you will cry. I've never felt like that way watching any movie ever. It's a weird feeling knowing and seeing that every single person around you is crying. I had a huge throbbing lump in my throat for like 20 minutes as I tried to hold back the tears, but I couldn't help it, and soon the tears started to fall down my cheeks. Jaimie asked Dad if he cried and he told her, "Of course I did! If you're human, that will make you cry." He was right. You should go see it. I want to own a lab now.

I could talk more and more about the day and the day after Christmas, but maybe I'll wait to do that. The Ogles are headed up to Lake Erie to spend a few days up there together, with some skiing likely on Monday. It should be an excellent time.

If you actually read this whole post, I commend you. I'm sorry it's so long. If you just skimmed, I don't blame you. I haven't written in a while.

I hope everyone's Christmas was excellent. I plan on calling a bunch of people on my new phone soon.

peace out

That's better...

So I was thinking about it, and I've definitely already met Manhattan. This time around, I plan to take Manhattan (and the other boroughs, of course).

Home for the holidays

Well, here it is. The old blog has been spruced up in anticipation of the big New York co-op. I've been trying to figure out what I wanted to call it, and this is what I've decided on for now. I also considered Mr. Ogle Goes to Broadway, The King of New York, No Day But Today, and Carrying the Banner. I'm pretty sure the blog will stay Alex Meets Manhattan, but there's a chance it could become more a muppet inspired Alex Takes Manhattan or Mr. Ogle Takes Manhattan. We'll see.

I stayed in Cincinnati until yesterday morning, and it ended up being the perfect amount of time. Amazingly, I was able to spend time with just about everyone I wanted to. Sunday afternoon was especially great. I went over to Artie's house and spent the afternoon hanging out and talking with him and his young son, Jackson. Artie and I had tried to hang out more since the one time we were able to earlier in the quarter, but we couldn't until now. We caught up, and eventually Artie's wife Lisa came back from the store with their 8-month-old Lincoln. Lincoln is extremely cute, and I had a lot of fun playing with him and helping him walk around the house. They invited me to stay for dinner which I couldn't pass up, and Artie wanted me to tell Lisa my Africa story after he had gotten the updated version earlier in the afternoon. I'd say the afternoon and evening made up for our lost time this quarter.

Coming home, I figured I would wear my lip ring from my Halloween costume to see what my parents would think. Well, at first Dad didn't notice, but Mom did. She didn't think it was real until Jaimie (who had seen pictures of me at Halloween) joined in and said "It was really hard to keep it a secret when you told me two weeks ago!" I hadn't even told her I was going to do it. What a great sister, eh? At that point I just let the chaos continue. Dad was silent, with a very upset look on his face. Mom started to say things like, "Why didn't you get an earring? I'd be okay with an earring, that'd be good! Or a tattoo!" When Mom started saying that Dad told her to be quiet. Once it seemed like they were really convinced, I went outside with Matt to get my stuff out of the car so that Mom and Dad could have a moment of terror to let it sink in. When I came back in, Mom gave me a thoroughly convinced "You will HAVE to take that out while you are here." And I walked up and put my face really close to hers and as she looked at the ring disgusted I pulled it out of my lip. It was really fun and it went on much longer than I planned, but when Jaimie joined in I had to keep it going. Mom is still talking about it today. It was pretty great.

Anyway, now I'm home here, actually excited to spend time with my family. I'm looking forward to time with my friends too. I'm just hoping for the next few weeks to be a major time of focus and foundation-building before the awesome chaos of 2009 begins. Who knows, I might even get some reading done. This afternoon I finished up Erwin McManus's The Barbarian Way. It's an awesome book about breaking out of the idea that following Jesus is something that is safe and comfortable. It's crazy how relevant the book is to my upcoming trips to New York and Africa, considering I bought the book earlier in the quarter before I had any idea Africa would be happening, and that I just started reading the book a few days ago.

Anyway, that's enough for now. I think I'm headed to Matt's hockey game tonight, then I've got Jury Duty tomorrow. I don't expect to update this baby all that many times before I head to New York, but who knows. When I have things to write about and time to write, I'll do my best.

I hope everybody is having a great break! Stay in touch.

much love

What am I going to do without all of you?

I cannot believe another quarter is coming to an end already, let alone the fact that I am somehow in the middle of my fourth year of college.

This quarter has just about blown me away. There have been ups and downs, but in the end it has been amazing. In the very same day, I found out I will be spending winter quarter in New York City (a big hope of mine for a while) and firmly made the decision to spend my summer in Africa.

I definitely want to write about Africa and the crazy story of how I wound up realizing I need to go to Namibia this summer, but I won't do that right now. I'd be sitting here for two hours typing.

Today I just started to feel a little weird, maybe a little empty as the quarter comes to a close. I don't know how to describe it, but it's amazing how time with key people can come exactly when I need it. I can't count the number of times this quarter people have shown up right when I've needed them, and most of those people didn't even realize it.

I am so thankful for the people in my life. I have been extremely blessed.

I am so disappointed that I have to leave again so soon. Luckily, as much as I may have doubted it could happen, God showed up in a major way in Los Angeles, and I can't wait to find out what New York has in store for me.

For the first time in my life, I'm beginning to realizing what it really means to live for something bigger than myself.

I can't wait to see what's in store for all of us.