Monotony

After a time, routines can become quite boring. I have begun to discover this over the past few weeks! Get up, go to work, come home, work out, go to bed. Rinse and repeat. Snore...... But hey, I'm almost halfway done with the internship now! At that point, it'll be off to Texas for a nice, long visit with Rebecca and family....then on to Daytona Beach for school. I will be glad to get back to classes again. I kinda miss being a student.

I did have a bit of excitement two weeks ago for Caleb and April's wedding. I flew back to WA on Thursday, June 19th. Nearly all day Friday was spent helping to prepare the church for the wedding.

The ladies did most of the flowers and decorations....us guys did "manly" work; setting up chairs and tables, putting together the dance floor, etc. It was so much fun hanging out with my bros and having fun while we worked. We had a preliminary rehearsal that evening, after which we all went out to dinner. It was a great time enjoying one another's company. Love truly was in the air. I was so happy for Caleb and April, as was everyone else....it was just a very blessed time.

The next day was the actual wedding. I started getting nervous pretty early into it....not so much for me, but for Caleb and April. They're both very close friends, and I could tell Caleb was starting to get a bit jittery. As the time approached, he got more than jittery! I put my arm around him and told him not to worry...but I knew I'd be in the exact same position in his shoes.

And then it was time. We prayed and headed out to start ushering. From then on, it was pretty rapid-pace. Seating...the processional....the vows. Caleb had coordinated with us before the ceremony and told us to do a Napoleon Dynamite style "Yessss" and fist pump when April said "I do." It highly amused the audience when we did it synchronously as planned. April started crying midway through her vow and Caleb was tearing up the whole time too. It was a very sweet wedding. =)

Afterwards, off to pictures and the reception. It was a very fun, enjoyable time (including dancing), capped off of course by the bride and groom's departure in the limo. Instead of throwing rice, we threw lavender.

It was a very nice, sweet, love-filled wedding. So much so, in fact, that it was very difficult for me. It was so very close to what I want my wedding to look like, it was almost painful because it made getting married so much more real. And yet it's still so far away. I went up on stage after everyone left and stood where Caleb was standing and looked down the aisle. Next time I'm on stage, I thought, I'll be standing right here. It was an exciting, terrifying, depressing, and anticipatory feeling all at once. Exciting and anticipatory for obvious reasons....depressing because it's so far out...and a bit terrified because of the seriousness of the thought. However, as I told Caleb, as long as you love the person you're marrying (and are committed to them), you have nothing to worry about. =)

The flight home was a bit of an adventure. I flew Continental Airlines (who is on my bad list after this experience) and got waylaid in Newark, NJ. After several subsequent delays, my flight was ultimately cancelled and I got to spend the night in the airport. That was so uncomfortable, let me tell you. I spent the night on the floor, with my head on my laptop, hugging my other bag so neither would walk off. Blah. But I finally did make it home somewhat the worse for wear.

Life continues....and God is good.

Routines

So things have settled into a bit of a routine here in VA. I get up in the morning, pack my lunch, and head off to work for a full day. When I get off work, I usually go home, call Rebecca, and eat dinner. Then I have a couple hours to kill before I go work out to top off the day. Now that I've gotten into the rhythm of things, the time is really passing fairly swiftly. I'm already nearly halfway through the third week out of ten.

Work has picked up quite a bit. Our servers are finally back on-line, and I've been doing some CFD for several days now. It takes quite a bit of computational power for each run, so most of my job consists of running the code, killing time, and then analyzing the results some 30 minutes (at the minimum) later. But I have no complaints. The work is interesting, intense yet laid-back, and quite rewarding. But sometimes I'll catch myself typing commands and realize how strange it would look to someone unfamiliar with CFL3D or Linux. Truth to tell, that just makes me enjoy it more, because it shows me how much I've learned just since I've arrived here.

My mentor is a really nice guy too, and VERY smart. He's got a doctorate in something....probably aerospace engineering. I think he's actually the head of one of the supersonic teams here. He teaches occasionally at a university (can't remember which one), has authored at least one major journal article, and helped pioneer the CFD approach that is currently used in our branch. Suffice it to say he's a good person to have as a mentor.

Things at church are going well. It's such a long drive down there, especially with gas at $4 per gallon, but I do enjoy it. Last week in particular was very enriching. Pastor Keith spoke about the last part of Matthew 7 to the first part of Matthew 9. In this passage, Jesus is healing people and performing miracles in rapid-fire fashion, demonstrating His authority. He proves that He has authority over sickness, the elements, and demons quite persuasively....nothing seems to sway him because his authority is final and absolute. His disciples become more and more convinced. This is all to lay the foundation for when he told the paralytic in chapter 9, "Your sins are forgiven you." Of course the scribes found that blasphemous, but He said, "Which is easier? To say, 'Your sins are forgiven you' or 'Rise, take up your bed, and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins...." And of course He healed the paralytic.

What a huge moment! The last chapter had all been to prepare for this monumental claim, that He had the power to forgive sins. After the previous events, who could doubt His authority? He spelled it out in no uncertain terms: "But that you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins..." The healing of the paralytic was a final flourish on the awesome display of authority that He had been demonstrating for the past chapter. Of course it is easier to simply say, "Your sins are forgiven you"....no person on earth can verify the truth of the claim! Far harder to tell a paralytic to walk, as the results (or lack thereof) will instantly be seen by all. By healing the paralytic, Jesus underscored His authority....if He can do the harder, He can certainly do the easier.

Although in reality, forgiving our sins was far harder than healing the paralytic.....it cost Him His life. None of Jesus' miracles in this passage ever drained Him or flustered Him with the sheer difficulty of it. A touch, a word, and it was done. He stood supremely confident in His authority. But the miracle of forgiveness of sins was different....that work distressed him to the point of sweating blood. And yet He carried through and completed the work. Praise the Lord! His authority is awesome, His mercy is unparalleled, and His grace is life-changing. What a great God we serve! =D

New Blog for Rebecca and I

Instead of making a massive post about Rebecca on this blog, I decided to just create a whole new one that we can use together to tell our story as it unfolds.

http://likearosebush.blogspot.com/

I anticipate writing on it fairly frequently, so check back often!

New Chapters

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. It's only been a month and a half, but that is long enough for a LOT of new and exciting things to take place.

First and foremost, my time of singleness appears to have passed, as I am now in a wonderful relationship with an amazing young woman named Rebecca. I think I've mentioned her in a couple other posts. She lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas. She is absolutely incredible, and our relationship is blossoming as we come to respect and admire each other more and more. There is far too much I could say about her to articulate it all in this post, so I will make a separate post devoted entirely to her in the next day or so.

The second exciting thing is that I am back at NASA again, but in a different directorate and branch. This semester I am in the Aeroelasticity Branch of the Research and Technology Directorate. In essence, aeroelasticity is basically the study of what happens to various materials as they undergo various loadings and stresses associated with aerodynamic forces. Some of the more common aeroelastic phenomena are flutter and buffet. The most famous example of flutter was the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which collapsed because of poor engineering which failed to properly account for aeroelastic forces.

In any case, I am already SO impressed with this position and my work this semester. My desk faces a wall of windows, out of which can be seen the exterior wall of the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT), which my branch is responsible for running. After a tour of the facility, I was very impressed and could hardly believe that I was actually getting to work here! I will be working primarily with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and likely some tunnel test data from the TDT. In two words: Very cool!!

To make things even better, the work environment is GREAT. I'm one of four (possibly five later on) interns in our branch, and we all sit in the same area, with no one else around. Our mentor is in the other building, easily accessible, but not breathing down our necks either. He's so laid-back and awesome that I doubt he would do that anyway......I really like him and the way he deals with us students. He's very personable and jokes with us a lot.

On top of all this, our facility is actually located on Langley Air Force Base. I have to drive into NASA, through the connecting gate to the AFB, and along a bypass road to our location. The road runs along Chesapeake Bay, and our building is perhaps a hundred yards away from the water as well. The drive along the bypass road is quite scenic, with just grass, wildflowers, the occasional grove of trees, and the blue water. The road runs right in front of the airstrip, and yesterday we were fortunate enough to see four F-15s, two F-22s, and one A-10 take off right in front of us. This morning, I saw a half-dozen F-22s out on the tarmac as we drove by. Such beautiful aircraft. It is so awesome to be able to work so close to such incredible military hardware.

So in a nutshell, I LOVE this internship thus far. I honestly haven't gotten any serious work yet, but it's only the first real day (yesterday was taken up mostly by the orientation). I'm sure things will pick up. =)

The third really cool thing is the place where I'm living this summer. I'm staying in the room over the garage of a really awesome house in Poquoson, a little town that fronts Chesapeake Bay to the northwest of the base. The owner is ridiculously wealthy....he has a helicopter, several sports cars, a massive truck, and assorted other expensive toys including a very nice entertainment system. But the thing that I REALLY enjoy is the back landscaping. The lawn is quite nice, as are the flowers and trees. The property fronts a small waterway which flows out to the open bay. I went outside on a porch swing hanging from a tree yesterday and was just like, "Ahhhhhh...."

I am so grateful to God for providing me with all this. The job is great, the house is amazing, and Rebecca is absolutely incredible. He really is so good. It is so true what it says in the Gospels about how if we, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our heavenly Father bless us! Even in the dark times like last semester, He never lets go.....and when I come back into better days like now, He reminds me where the blessings came from, and I am so grateful. In truth, it is my stronger relationship with Him that makes these "better days" so much better. Praise Him for His faithfulness and goodness!!

End of the Line

So this is it. I have two days after this one, and then my first session with NASA will be a wrap. Unfortunately for me, I still have some hours to make up. I took some time off this semester for travel (D.C. three times, Daytona Beach, Galveston, and now Dallas/Fort Worth), not to mention a couple sick days, so I had substantial time to make up. I was stupid and procrastinated too much, so it's my own fault that I'm in this mess now. I don't get any leave whatsoever and I've already been paid for 40 hours worth of work per week, so it's not like I can just call it good (even though I'd like to do just that). I figured out this morning that I had to work 35 hours out of the next 60 in order to break even. What a nightmare...I'm already exhausted. I know I'll make it, but it won't be a nice experience.

In any case, I thought I'd write out my thoughts on what I've learned this semester about NASA, internships, and life in general.

I've learned that...

• nerds own NASA.
• if you wash your car in Virginia in the spring, it will rain and get pollen on it the next day.
• nerds never get less nerdy as they get older...they just show it in different ways.
• a 12-gallon gas tank goes empty incredibly fast.
• it's not a good idea to throw a football when you have a torn ACL.
• health insurance is a very good thing.
• it's not a good idea to do anything active at all when you have a torn ACL.
• just when life seems incredibly dark, God lights it up again.
• when God seems far away, He's not the one that's moved.
• working for the federal government is an exercise in patience.
• self-employment tax is highway robbery.
• inefficiency is the way of life in a bureaucracy.
• high school drama doesn't always stay in high school.
• telling someone you really are a rocket scientist takes a few repetitions before they will believe you.
• F-22s can be incredibly loud.
• inside connections are worth their weight in gold.
• Harmon/Kardon should stay away from making GPS receivers.
• dancing is more fun than you might think it is.
• keeping a strong walk with God can be very difficult without accountability and fellowship.
• just because you look like you have a lot of money doesn't mean you have to spend like it.
• frustration sets in quickly when you know the alarm combination but the keypad is unresponsive.
• God's plan doesn't always look like you think it will.
• when the alarm keypad is unresponsive, the alarm will soon go off, and there is nothing you can do about it.
• tangelos are the gleanings from Heaven's orchards.
• the turn-around time from the alarm going off to the call from the monitoring service is less than 60 seconds.
• if you really want to watch a basketball game, the TV will be in use already at the time of the game.
• it's not a good thing to get disconnected from the monitoring service before you can give the phone password.
• career is not as important as friends and family.
• no matter how far you run, God will never let you go.

It's been a very challenging yet fulfilling semester. I will greatly enjoy my time off and I pray that God can use it and my next experience with NASA to continue to grow me into who He wants me to be! =)

Final Lap

So my first internship with NASA is drawing to a close here in Virginia. My last day will be Thursday, April 17. I'm halfway excited, halfway not. I've really enjoyed working here in SMAB...it's a GREAT branch. The people are super-nice and lack a lot of the uptight egotism found commonly in the rest of NASA. Unless I find that the experimental world just blows my socks off with how awesome it is, I think I could see myself being content in a setting like this permanently.

And yet I'm glad that the semester is almost over. I've been pretty homesick nearly the entire time. Though I've made some good friends here, I'm anxious to see my friends in Florida and my friends and family in Washington. It's been since January that I've seen people in Washington and since December since I've seen some in Florida. (I visited there briefly in mid-February, but I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to.) So while I regret that my time at SMAB is drawing to a close, I'm very happy to take a short vacation to refresh. =)

It looks like I'll be having surgery on my knee in the first week of May. Talk about a bummer for timing. I get home on April 26, meet with the doctor on April 30, and likely have surgery shortly thereafter. What stinks is that my birthday is May 4. Augh...what a way to spend your 21st birthday, huh? Laid up in a cast. Ick. *sigh* But I guess it'll be worth it to have full functionality of my knee again. Oh my goodness, that will be SO nice! It's been so long (November) since I've been able to do anything active. I think I'll practically kiss my knee the first day I can play soccer again!

Another bummer thing about this whole timing is that it'll preclude my annual camping trip up to the Olympics. =( Every year (this would be the third year in a row), I take a buddy or two up to Seattle and the Olympic National Park for a few days of camping and fun. I love doing it so much....it's always such a relaxing and enjoyable (not to mention relationship-building) time. I was going to try to do it this year, even after surgery...but I got ganged up on by my mom and my friend Rebecca. Between the two of them insulting my intelligence from both directions, I bowed to their requests and cancelled the trip for this year. =( It makes me sad to miss it, but as I said in the previous paragraph, it's worth it to get my knee back for the rest of my life.

Things are really starting to get hopping now that the semester is drawing to a close. Work isn't really "hopping"...it's actually pretty slow. But I have SO much stuff to do on the personal end of things. I still have to figure out where I'm staying during my summer internship (whether where I'm living now or elsewhere), and that will determine how much packing up I have to do this next week. No matter what, in the next week I'm going to need to do some packing, clean my bathroom, vacuum my room, wash my sheets, package and ship a computer, talk to someone about storing my truck over the break, finish my taxes, finish my FAFSA, apply for ERAU financial aid, talk to my advisor, apply for more scholarships, register for fall classes, perfect my travel plans, buy souvenirs for friends back home, transfer the title and registration on my truck to Florida, find housing for the fall, and plan for summer travels (including two weddings). See what I mean about "hopping"?!

But that's life. And honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'd much rather be busy than bored. My only struggle is that it's harder to make time for the Lord when I'm busy....the American culture of go-go-go is not really conducive to a strong relationship with God. But as long as I keep my priorities straight, He is always faithful to order my steps. =)

Cloudbreaks

Life has continued on since last Tuesday (no surprise there) and brightened considerably in the process. I really believe it's honest to say that the darkness of this semester has been washed away by the light of God...and what a welcome joy it is to regain this sweet fellowship with Him!

I recently obtained a CD titled Rush of Fools from the band of the same name. It is amazing. The entire album is incredibly uplifting and just seems to speak perfectly to where I have been this semester. How great is our God that He would bring this album to speak to me and use it to help turn me back to Him! One song in particular really ministers to me....I almost broke down the first time I heard it because it was so EXACTLY where I have been this semester. It's called "Your Love" and the chorus goes:

Come like the day, come chase away this darkness.
I've been living here so long and I give up.
Come wash away everything I've built between us
And I will sing unending songs of Your love.

I heard that song, how beautiful it was and how perfectly the lyrics fit me, and I just thought "WOW." God is amazing!

As far as my knee goes, the news there isn't good. According to the MRI, I have an ACL tear, two meniscus tears, and bone bruising. So I pretty much need to have surgery. I hope to have that done as soon as I get home, but I need to try to schedule it ASAP...it's not emergency surgery, so they may book it out some time in advance. Recovery time isn't real great....6 months for full mobility. However, I should be able to at least walk on it after about three weeks, so it shouldn't (theoretically) hinder my work performance. That's why I want to get it done when I go home....it'll be bracketed by my internships and I shouldn't have to miss any time.

You know, even though that's definitely not good news, it actually was good news to me. Why? Because it was one of the things that forced me back to God. It made me realize my own weakness and drove me to the One whose strength is made perfect in my weakness. I needed that. I think that's one reason why this semester has been so dark up to this point...I was cruising along so easily that I forgot about my weaknesses and how much I need God every single day! So even though a messed-up knee definitely isn't a good thing, I thank God for it. =)

This morning was such a picture of how God has retaken the throne of my life. I was just getting ready to pull out of the Starbucks parking lot and sipping my coffee when I looked up at the sky. It was mostly cloudy today, but there were large cloudbreaks near the sun and the light was pouring through in golden shafts. I love it when that happens...it makes me think of what God's grace would look like if we could see it. That Rush of Fools album was playing at the time, and right when I saw the cloudbreaks, the lyrics playing were "...and know that I am God." I just started laughing...what an amazing God we serve!!

Some Bumps in the Road

Um, so I took the GPS back. It was a piece of junk. The interface was very nice, but the functionality was a little shady. I used it to drive to the dance party last Tuesday, but when I started it up to go home, it wouldn't acquire the satellites. It took 2o minutes to find them, by which time I had already gotten lost and then unlost by dead reckoning. No thanks to the GPS, I finally got home some 1/2 hour late. Harman/Kardon should stick to making sound equipment and stay away from GPS.

The dance party was super fun! I was a bit nervous at first, but once we got into it, it was a blast. We learned the hustle, cha-cha, rumba, electric slide, and cuban shuffle. A few guys tried the "Soldier Boy" routine. ;-) I was able to do most of the dances with only a few limitations because of my knee. At the end of the night, I was feeling a bit sore, so I called it quits. It was very enjoyable and I'm glad I went. Part II is tonight...I'm looking forward to it.

Speaking of my knee, the news there isn't so great. I went to the doctor/surgeon on Wednesday and he thinks it's both a meniscus tear and an ACL tear. I actually had an MRI yesterday. It was almost comical listening to him messing with my knee and saying, "Oh boy....oh boy." So my options are really to just do physical therapy and hope it gets better naturally or to pursue the surgery route (likely outpatient arthroscopic). The doc doesn't think that (based on my condition) I will regain full mobility taking the non-surgery route, so I'm probably just going to bite the bullet.

I'm so glad I have insurance now. The MRI alone was $1,100. I racked up about $250 from the visit and X-ray last week. The bills will only continue to pile up as the process continues. Fortunately, my deductible is only $1,000 (a benefit of a high premium), so after that magic number (which I've already reached in the last week), I only pay 20% of my in-network expenses. Praise the Lord for health insurance!

If I do need surgery, I'll probably wait until I get back to WA. I'll have my family around to help take care of me, as well as a month away from work. I just hope that recovery time is quick and that I regain full mobility afterward. I want to get back into playing soccer and football again. It's been so long...I can't wait to get back on the field! :-)

Also last Wednesday, I left for Galveston, TX for a miniature vacation. What a nightmare my trip was. I'm never flying Delta again, if I can help it. They got me to Atlanta, then promptly cancelled my already-overbooked flight to Houston, thereby overbooking all the other flights to Houston! They then stuck me in a hotel room, paying for a whopping $10 of it and leaving me with the other $65. Meanwhile, they sent my bag on to Hobby Airport in Houston and sent me on to George Bush Airport in Houston the next day. Lovely efficiency. So I showed up 16 hours late, without my bag, and $65 poorer. They delayed my flight on the way home too, so I just said, "No more." Ugh.

Beyond that unfortunate travel experience, the trip was great! It was awesome seeing Casey, Josh, Milan, Sarah, Chase, and of course Kelly again. Kelly really does live in a nice area. When she and John (her boyfriend) picked me up from the airport, I was kinda surprised....I had always envisioned Texas as this brown, dusty place with tumbleweeds blowing across the road. No, it was actually very green and beautiful, if a bit chilly! The people where not the backwards, southern-drawling, cowpokes I envisioned either...they were down-to-earth, surprisingly modern, and amazingly friendly! Downtown Galveston is a nice place too....very touristy, and the beach front is quite the attraction. I was very impressed, all in all. Kelly has some nice friends from there too.

Thursday night was a bit odd...we had a crawfish boil! I'd never seen that done before. It's definitely a southern thing. I think the weirdest thing was that the crawfish were still alive when they went into the pot....

On Friday, Kelly's dad (who owns a fishing charter service) took us deep sea fishing! That was amazing. I'd never been out to sea before, so I was kinda excited, kinda nervous. We all took dramamine before we left, and I didn't get seasick at all. Poor Casey and Josh both did. Chase and I were just naturals at the boat movement, I guess....even Kelly lost it once, but Chase and I slept in the cabin for a lot of the trip out and never felt even slightly nauseous.

We went about 20 miles out and tied up to a natural gas rig. I caught a ~ 12-inch red snapper. Those fish were practically leaping into the boat, but we couldn't keep them because it wasn't their season. We did catch four redfish, which we blackened up for dinner that night. Chase took the big fish prize with a 29-inch redfish.

I left on Saturday with Josh, Chase, and Milan. It was definitely a whirlwind vacation (less than 48 hours), but still worth it. Praise the Lord for good friends! :-)

New Toy (Tool) and Heart Thumping

So I got a GPS for my truck yesterday. Call it an impulse buy (it kinda was), but I don't really feel that it was a bad one. If you know me well, you know that I get lost....a lot. It takes me a good six months at least to get familiar with an area before I know it well enough to avoid getting lost. Even then, I usually stick to roads I've driven before and sometimes end up wasting time because I take the long way without knowing it. The Vancouver (WA) metro area is the only location I would say I know fairly well...and I lived there for about 5 years!

This semester alone, I think I've spent a good 4 hours or more trying to get unlost as I've attempted to familiarize myself with the Hampton Roads area. The most frustrating example occurred when I was in downtown Norfolk, got on the wrong freeway, got confused, and ended up clear down by Chesapeake...ultimately a 1.5 hour detour! The obvious cheap solution would be to buy a map, but reading a map and driving at high speeds in insane HR area traffic is a recipe for disaster. Plus as soon as I leave the map, I'm dead in the water.

So I got a GPS. For the price, it's quite efficient. I drove to work with it this morning and it performed wonderfully. It told me when to turn and announced the street name (handy for ambiguous intersections...do I turn in the driveway or the road?). When I took an unexpected turn (a shortcut I knew about), it quickly recalculated my route without missing a beat. I can't wait to test it out tonight.

Ooh boy...speaking of tonight. Um, yeah...it's a dance party. I'm already nervous, ha. I don't know why either. I doubt I'll even be able to dance, what with my knee and all. Probably has to do with the large number of amazingly pretty females my age at that church. Yep, I'm a guy...and when a guy is around beautiful girls, his heart starts pounding. C'est la vie. ;)

Anyways, the purpose of the dance party is actually to learn how to dance, instead of just doing it for the fun of it. There are evidently two weddings in the church coming up quickly, and knowing how to dance is definitely a bonus for the reception. There are a some very good dancers in the church (my friend Gabe is one of them), so a few of them are going to come out and teach us clumsy feet how to groove. Like I mentioned, I doubt I'll be able to actually do anything (stupid knee), but I'll at least be able to watch and hopefully learn academically by others' example. I really need to learn quickly though, because it just occurred to me on Sunday when this was being discussed that I am a groomsman at Caleb's wedding...which means I'll probably have to dance...and possibly with other people watching! Augh...help me! :o

The Real World

Wow. I realized it's been all of four months since I've posted on this blog. That's reprehensible. The only thing I can say in my defense is to refer to the subtitle of the blog...when it says, "my crazy life", I wasn't joking!

So, a lot has happened in the last four months...a LOT. First and most importantly from a career standpoint: I am currently finishing up the last five weeks of my internship with NASA at Langley Research Center (LaRC) in Hampton, Virginia. Yeah, remember how I was sharing last time about how encouraged I was at the career fair because everyone was so positive? Well, God provided yet again...with the king of internships at NASA! I applied to the program earlier in the year and totally forgot about it until the notification showed up in my inbox.

The program is called the Undergraduate Student Research Project (USRP). It's a fairly good program as far as internships go, although definitely not co-op level. The USRP pays $9,000 for the semester (less in the summer), not including travel costs each way. Obviously the financial benefits aren't too shabby, but the real value is in the experience. I have been working this semester in the Space Mission Analysis Branch of the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate (SACD) of LaRC. Some of what I do is sensitive, but I in essence assist with developing and refining tools used for, well, space mission analysis! =)

It's starting to look like I'll probably be here for the summer as well. There's another internship program called Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars (LARSS) that I was selected for...the program managers are just waiting for the funding before they offer me the position. If all goes well, I'll be working with the Aeroelasticity Branch of the Research and Technology Directorate (RTD). I contacted my future mentor through the program office earlier this semester and expressed interest in working with him. I tell you what, connections like that are invaluable. He basically guaranteed me the position before anyone else's applications had gone out!

In any case, I'm really looking forward to this summer. I've had some substantial analysis experience now here in the SACD and I should get some experimental experience in the RTD. After this summer, I should be able to make an informed decision about what I want to do permanently. This experience has opened my eyes to the fact that I really don't understand the real difference between theoretical, applied, and experimental physics. I need to find the differences and determine what I want to pursue in order to better plan for my future.

So that's the career side of things. In other news, my grandfather very generously gave me his truck! It's a 2004 Nissan Frontier, but it looks absolutely brand-new. It had all of 4,687 miles on it when I got it...I think he drove it to the feed store a few times per month and that was about it! In any case, he didn't want me to drive my old Jetta all the way to Virginia and back (probably a valid concern), so he decided to gift me the truck now instead of leaving it to me in his inheritance. I was absolutely blown away by the surprise gift...what a blessing! It's by far the nicest car I've ever owned. I put a new stereo in it recently and that was a nice commodity as well. Like I said, that truck has been a huge blessing for me.

In yet other news (not so great this time), my knee has been a real pain (literally, ha!) recently. I injured it for the first time not too long after my last post on this blog. I was playing an intramural soccer game, was playing above my limits (and knew it too), and ended up getting hurt. The first time it happened, I don't know if I've ever felt anything so painful. Yes, I say the first time...I have since re-injured it three times. Ugh. I went to the ERAU nurse for it, but she didn't really have anything to say, so I just kinda shrugged it off. I had nearly full mobility again in about a month...but promptly killed it again. This has continued for the last four months until I finally got sick of it, obtained health insurance, and made an appointment with a Sports Medicine specialist. My friend Stephen (who's played soccer pretty much all his life and knows firsthand about knee injuries) thinks it's the meniscus. In any case, I just hope it's not super-expensive to fix (if it even needs fixing...maybe I just need physical therapy) and that it doesn't involve a long recovery time.

This knee injury has frustrated me to no end because I haven't been able to do really anything active. I injured it the last time by throwing a football. Just that little amount of twist was enough to pop it out. That kills me...I'm a very active guy and not being able to do anything is really frustrating. I'm also in pretty much the worst shape of my life for the same reason. I just hope I don't have any permanent damage and can get back to my active lifestyle. I don't think I'll ever take mobility for granted again!

As far as church life goes, the Sovereign Grace Church here in Chesapeake is great! I just wish it was a bit closer (and maybe just a bit smaller). It's about an hour's drive south of me from Yorktown, where I'm currently living. It took me a while to get to know people, but once I did, they're very nice and very friendly. I find that the same Spirit that is in Daytona is in Chesapeake.

Nevertheless, this has been hands-down one of the darkest times of my life spiritually. This is really the first time I haven't had a circle of support around me during the week. At home, I have my family...at school, I have my friends. Here, I have no one. Yeah, there's church and church friends on Sunday, praise the Lord! But during the week, it's pretty dark. I get dragged down as the week goes on, typically becoming less and less Christ-like and more and more like the world. It's a relief to go to church on Sunday, wash all that off, and get a breath of fresh air.

I'm coming to realize that I rely too much on others for my spiritual well-being....I need to learn to rely on God for that and to supplement my own relationship with Him. My quiet time has been nearly non-existant and I haven't memorized Scripture in a long time. See what I mean? Everyone needs accountability, don't get me wrong...that's a main thing I'm lacking here! But I really find that I need to learn the spiritual disciplines on my own too....because at times like this when I have no encouragement, I have to work extra hard at the relationship. If I haven't built the discipline, the strength isn't there.

So, that's my life in a nutshell right now. Career = better than ever, with more opportunities than I'd ever dreamed I would have at this point. Finances = not bad at all, although not great...but transportation is now not an issue, thanks to Grumpa. Spiritual life = probably one of the darkest times ever, although I am actively trying to find ways to hook up with believers during the week for encouragement, accountability, etc. I could definitely use your prayers for that last issue.

Life. What a challenge! But what a blessing too. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away...blessed be the name of the Lord! =)