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That Time I Was On A Podcast
The following post includes a HUGE shout out to Ashley and Allen Mowers, and Kyle Stainbrook. Check out Min-Max Podcast Min-Max Definition (via Urban Dictionary): Usually used in the context of roleplaying games, to min/max refers to the act of designing a character in such a way that one minimizes its weaknesses and maximizes its strengths. When I first moved to my current apartment, I was a bit jumpy. It was my first time living alone, without a roommate and any little noise I heard, I was convinced someone was breaking in to murder me. One night, I was making dinner when I heard a knock at my door. I…
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I Am Not A Tree
“If you don’t like where you are, MOVE. You are not a tree.” -Jim Rohn This quote has always spoke to me. Travel is something that intrigues so many, driving them to start something new, see something new, experience something new. At this point in my life, in my late 20’s, many of my friends are going through what you might call a quarter-life-crisis, not being happy where they are, not liking their job or living situation. For me, I couldn’t wait to get out of the suburbs of Chicago when I was 18 and experience…Kirksville, Missouri. Though some might go somewhere more exciting for college, I loved K-Vegas and…
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That Time I Hung Out with Monks
Christ in the Desert Monestary is possibly one of the most unique places I have been. While in seminary, I had the chance to spend about a week with Benedictine Monks, my professor Dr. Gloer, and a handful of my colleagues. Daily prayers beginning at 4 a.m. and meals in complete silence were all apart of our schedule, along with work either in the office or in the garden, class, reading, and exploring. Without going into a ton of detail, I made frienimies with Father Christian. Now, Father Christian was a no noncence man of God who lived tried and true to Ora Et Labora. He was a man of…
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6 Love Languages: Quality Time, Acts of Service, Giving Gifts, Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, and Chucking Snickers Bars
I don’t know what it is about being sick that makes me automatically curl up on the couch and watch terrible daytime T.V. but that is what I find myself doing today. It has been amusing to me over the years how this automatic response to a stuffed nose, plugged ears, sore throat, and swollen eyes that has me nostalgically make me watch to call my mom to bring me treats that I won’t be able to taste and extra blankets, even though I am sweating like crazy. When I woke up at 4:30 this morning, after finally going in and out of restless sleep starting around midnight, I finally…
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My “Injured” Reputation
I have a tendency to get injured a lot. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know why. It just happens. From breaking my nose in a mud pit, to spraining my ankle dancing to the YMCA, and falling off a bus in Israel, injury follows me around. I hated this fact about myself. I hated that this was my descriptor. Not because I hated getting hurt, but because of how much attention it drew to me. I know what you are thinking, especially those who know me who are reading this, “Sam not wanting to draw attention? Yeah right.” Laughter is in my DNA. Any type of…
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Running in Bulgaria
I have known a lot of runners in my short life. At random points in my life, I even claimed myself to be pseudo runner. Honestly, I do not believe I ever met anyone specifically who claimed to love running, though. It was always a, sort of, thing that they did either because it was ingrained in them or they had to for various different reasons. That all changed when I spent my summer in Bulgaria with a woman named Britney Sue. Britney Sue, or B-Sue as she affectionately became known to others (and Mama Duck to our group of three that traveled with her), was one of those who…
