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GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! don't let anyone tell you that getting a masters is easy.

It's funny, My wordpress site, the one that I left blogger for, is now so mainstream...that I am using my blogger to vent my uncensored frustrations.

AAAAAAAAAAAADGHSGJGHJGDgjksalh iods[f[oweh fiowjkl;sJk1or-0tu2it:

No lie? I feel horrible. Today really bummed me out. Not so much the day, as much as when I got home.

The weight of this semester is seriously hitting me in the gut. Only, it isn't stopping. It's punching me over, and over, and over and over. Tonight, I seriously wanted to "tap out."

ALL i can think about is the NEXT thing that has to get done, and each is harder than the last. I JUST NEED SOME TIME TO GET THEM DONE!! Time without interruptions, time without the thought of having to go to internship the next day.

I need this to be over, and the scary thing is...I'm starting to care less about how well I do. I know that is not how I want to feel.

It continues....

THE INTERNATIONAL MONTH OF WRITING EXTRAVAGANZA CONTINUES AT:

http://www.ericlukepeterson.wordpress.com

THE SWITCH!

Hey all you loyal bloggers. Time to talk to you.

It has come to my attention that I am going to switch permanently to http://ericlukepeterson.wordpress.com. I will still throw blogger into 'google reader' so I can read up on all of your blogs, but I will not be on blogger.com anymore.

I know...tears. I'm sorry. But you can still follow me on wordpress.com. There is an email subscription. If you live in the 21st century and you aren't an idiot, you probably have an email address. Heck, if you are reading this, you probably aren't an idiot. So go to http://ericlukepeterson.wordpress.com and follow me.

Follow all the hilarity that is my ridiculous writing and sonnets of beauty at http://ericlukepeterson.wordpress.com.

I am leaving now. Good-bye. :' (

The Top List of Things I’ll Miss About Having A Man Beard

1. Stroking the beard/fiddling with it when I’m pondering
2. Catching things that fall out of my mouth
3. Looking older
4. Being able to hang things off my face
5. Keeping my Chin warm
6. Beard + Pipe = Cool
7. Beard + Plaid Shirt = Awesome
8. Lumberjack Impersonations
9. Looking like a Viking
10. Looking like a Pirate
11. Feeling closer to my German Heritage
12. Hiding Facial Imperfections
13. Making Fun Designs e.g., Wolverine Chops, FuManChu, Creeper Stache, Goatee, Soul Patch
14. Saving money on razors
15. Keeping me Single

If you are wondering what this list is about, I think you know. the beard will be coming down within

the next month. Hilarity will follow.

Month of Writing

Hello all.

I am dedicating next month as "Month of Writing." During said month I will be posting a blog about every other day on average. The reason behind this stems from last years traffic on my page. A year go, November 3rd, I stated to my audience that in this particular month, I was going to be, quote, "writing a bit less because I am studying." I turned out to write almost every day. I will make it a tradition to do such when this time of the year comes around.

I feel that I wrote as much as I did because it was the hardest and most stressful time of the year. When I am stressed or emotionally compromised, I write. I express. It's just what I do. So...now that you know, expect more writings for the INTERNATIONAL MONTH OF WRITING EXTRAVAGANZA. Peace.

Eric

Taken Care Of

About nine months back, I was let go from my job. It was a good job and I love it. It payed well and I had good benefits. For a while, I tried to get a job, then gave up. My walk with the Lord started to spiral out of control and I became consumed in myself and schoolwork. One thing remained constant. I served in my church. We began to grow and have our own building. I came early every week to help set-up, take-down, and even run visuals for video and slide work. I offered any time I had to make sure the church grew. We did service projects, I helped with video intros and editing their material. I even continued to do this when the hardest year of my school career was undergoing and I was also involved in an internship. This is not a bragging fest. Hear me out. One night a week back, I got an email from Steve, lead pastor at The Edge. He wanted to take me to dinner to talk about some church stuffs and even something for me. We ate dinner and Steve started talking. He said he had an opportunity for me to become a staff member in the church and get paid to do video and visuals at The Edge Church. I would be getting paid more than my old job and doing what I already do for free. Steve told me that he wouldn't have offered this to me if I wanted to get paid, it was the fact that I was doing it out of the willingness of my heart and to bless the church that I was being offered payment for my services. Last night I had a dinner with Tony Woodall, speaking pastor at The Edge. We began talking about my insecurities as a Husband and Father (of which I am neither, it was for discussion purposes). Tony told me a story that would knock you out. It was spurred from one verse. "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you." The context of this verse is Jesus telling his disciples not to worry about what you eat or what you wear...the gentiles worry about these things. Seek the kingdom...and I will take care of you. It was right then that an explosion happened in my brain. THINK ABOUT THIS. I never realized it while it was happening, but because of my faithfulness with the church, and seeking the kingdom FIRST, because I was seeking the kingdom of God, He decided to bless me and take care of my needs. I now have a paid position at my church and it is the biggest answered prayer in a long time.

Seek the kingdom FIRST, and the other areas of life (money, food, clothing, shelter, employment, sickness, your walk with Christ) will be taken care of. Learn this now, not later.

for the full post, visit: here

Technology Sucks. Yeah, YOU HEARD ME!!

So, to type this blog post is to enter into irony, but whatever, I need to get it off my chest.

Technology SUCKS!

Story Time.
One day (today) a man named Erich was on his computer and decided he wanted to check out some youber tubers. He clicked onto youtube.com and started to sign in. The password wasn't accepted anymore as the Googles were trying to cut back on the amount of passwords going around and de-clutter everything. This perplexed Erichk. Erickk began to try and sign into his youber tuber account, as many important preferences and saved themes, not to mention all of his work via youtube, was on that channel he was so desperately trying to sign into.

So He went from one forum to the other, changing passwords, un-linking accounts, and other various unimportant things. At a certain moment in time, Erikh began to get pretty aggravated. Lets just say it was comparable to this: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Ol1S5Njfc) He began to cuss out the computer, which is rare, cause he loves his Macintoshes. His anger began to rise to a volcano like level. He began to get red in the face. He could feel it rising up within him. He was going to do something bad! Breathe......breathe.......breathe......He calms himself down. Takes a bathroom break. Comes back. Round 2. Erickhg searches for a contact email to tell youtuber about his problem. One does not exist. Immediately: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGQi8Rr-W_8)

Erickhhcc is now going completely mental and decides that he is just going to leave at the mercy of the incompetent and completely demented Googlers (who owns the youtubes if you didn't know) and go to his internship.

On the way, Arich thinks about his outbreak, which is rare for him to go nuts over anything, and came to a very interesting conclusion...

WHAT THE HECK WAS I THINKING?!?! That, to anyone watching, would have been completely dumb, idiotic and pointless. How stupid of me to be so emotional over technology. Was youtube going to cure cancers worldwide? Was youtube going to offer me a job?? Was youtube going to Help the Helpless?!? DID YOUTUBE DIE FOR MY SINS?!!?!?!!?!!?!?! NOOOOOOO!!

My freakout, because that is exactly what it was, told me just this: Technology, as cool as it is, should never rule you and your mind. This is what The Terminator taught me anyway. But seriously people, think about it: Why do we freakout when twitter goes down? Why is it when facebook goes under maintenance, or asks people about new changes, DO PEOPLE GO MONKEY BANANAS!?!?! Why is it that the iPhone 4 made people cry in their sleep? People, we cannot become so dependent on technology that it becomes our life. Let me say that again: we cannot become so dependent on technology that it becomes our life. There is a whole life out there people, open your beautiful eyes, breathe in through your very unique nostrils, feel with your one of a kind fingerprints, know that life is about more than what we own, or what is on the screen. People, there is a God who loves you, and if we detached from our computer screens, tv screens, cell phone screens for one second and take a look at a sunset, tell someone you love them, hug a friend, HIS LOVE WILL FILL YOU. Be blessed people.

100th Post.

Ladies and Gents. Boys and girls. Moms, Dad's, Grandfathers, and Grandmoms...

Welcome...to my 100th Blog Post.

I figured that I would want to throw some words on this page as it is my ONLY post is September. Times are tough people. Alright, super fast update...Chronologically...Ready...Set....GO!

Starting Internship, University classes begin, much reading, much papers, projects for my church (TheEdge), small group, Eating very good food, Talking to David Goodwin about the most epic weekend of my life, Going to Cincinnati, Renaissance festival, hoffbreau house, video games, more epic food, leaving ohio, internship, class, my birthday, internship, class, lazy weekend, lazy Sunday...NOT!!!, LAUNCH SUNDAY FOR OUR CHURCH!!, sleep 16 hours, more reading zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, more internship, whooooooooooo, David Goodwin gets engaged to Jenn Bosma!, more class + internship, more eating and sleepingzzzzzzzzzzzz, talks with David about coming back to Ohio for the Highland Games, Ester Peters gets engaged the same day that Jeremiah and Sarah get engaged, feelings of loneliness, hahaha, just kidding, more papers, small group, dinners, late night movies, aaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddd, in the internship office writing a blog, DONE!!!!

See that wasn't so hard, stop whining. You sound like a squirrel thats been punted. come on people.

So I'm in the office, and decided to write this blog, hope you're happy, ha. This weekend I embark BARK BARK BARK, on a crazy journey to the Omazing Ohio. There...many things will happen to me. David Goodwin, my newly engaged friend, will be embarking BARKING, with me on this journey into AWESOMENESS, or Jungle Jims, either one. Prepare yourself....for awesomeness. Seriously, if you haven't been to Jungle Jim's, get on that, whats wrong with you?

Anyway, this is the Fall edition of Leave Smarter, and you've just been filled in. BOOM!

The Broadtrip

The start of this BROadtrip was epically awesome. I will have pictures to back, but for now you will just have the imaginative words of my mouth for imagery. Boom.

So Dan and Tyler came and picked Corbin and myself up at my residence and on we went. It. Was. On. The highway was our...highway. Much tune-age was in progress and AWESOMENESS insued.

When we passed over the Mississippi River, we stopped and checked out the Riverside. Well. It was as boring as you might have thought, ha. There was a giant propeller, like on the big River Boats....that was about it.

We got back on the road and played a game where we stuck our heads out of the car for 5 miles. Just a heads up, awesome game.

Iowa is turning out to be a very, well, surprisingly "not boring" state. I totally thought it was going to be a "Nebraska" of roadtrips. Not the case, more of an...Iowa. Yeah.

So we mapped out a Motel 6 with an indoor pool but no breakfast. Yeah, we passed by it. Fail. So instead of going back, we just kept going and tried to find another place to stay. Turns out we hit jackpot with a hole called, "Rodeside Inn" that is the same price as Motel 6, only it has a breakfast. And it was around EVERYTHING. Yeah, we rock.

So now I'm off to eat that breakfast and rock it out until I burst, so we dont have to stop and fill up on eats. Mmmmm. Peace yall.

August = The End?

Since When did the Beginning of August mean that it's the End of Summer? You getting that feeling too? Man, it's like everything that I wanted to do never was accomplished? [sniff, sniff] It's like Jan1 all over again...[tear] Just kidding though. I got a lot done this summer, and so did God. Man that few months was rough. I almost turned away at one point. But He carried me out and provided me what I needed. He never left, like I somehow always knew.

STILL, I would have liked to read more, ran more, biked more, saw more friends, worked more, blah Blah BLAH. Summer motivation is sick and not getting much better, ha. Still, I am ready to get my internship going and my life on track. I am still not sure if I want life to begin, but I know God will be there and so will my outstanding friends. They are so righteous! I love them so much. One came to the U.S., one came from OH, MI, IN, etc. They are the best.

Still I have the most amazing times ahead of me, and I can't wait. This is what makes my summer GOLD. In a few days, my buddy that I counseled with at SpringHill Camps is coming out and I could be more SIKED!! I haven't seen him in over a couple years. Then it's off to MI or Michigan with my best friend for 7 days of doing whatever we want at a Cabin...Then it's over a week traveling to Colorado for a wedding with some of the best guys I have ever known: My flatmates from Calvin College. Right after the wedding is over, we roadtrip it back to IL where I get ready for my senior year at Aurora University...the next day, ha.

This summer has been more than I could imagine. More has gone on in it than I could possibly put into a self-aware blog. These are some words that sum summer up chronologically: disappointment, excitement, relief, relax, laptop, anticipation, motivation, bored, fun, work, money, aches, rest, camping, water, pain, healing, celebrations, trains, thoughts, revelations, and writing and church throughout. It's not over yet. Do life people. Peace.

Soon to Come

Hey everyone. Seemed like a good time to blog. I woke up today refreshed and ready to get the day going.
6 days ago, I went to a water park with my friend Corbin and sat in the lazy river for an hour and a half. Probably the worst decision I've made this year, easily. Because as soon as I came home, I realize the gravity of the situation. My entire front half was literally...beet red (you can check my twitter, I posted a picture.) The next few days would become some of the most painful experiences that I can describe. Night one felt like my skin restricted movement and I could move very well. Add that my skin was on fire and extremely sensitive, and that's Day one. Day two consisted of my skin itching. Im not talking about a mosquito bite itch, no. This was a full torso, bugs crawling beneath the layer of skin itch. It did not relent for the entire night and no relief was in sight. See, I couldn't itch it at all because it was a burn and would shoot pain through my nerve endings if I touched it. I couldn't fall asleep and just stayed awake for 6 hours. Day 3 was better. Day 4 was...interesting. So what happens when you have a layer of dead skin attached to your torso and you begin to sweat? Imagination grinding its gears? Well, imagine the sweat building up underneath that layer of skin and creating bubbles of sweat. Yeah. At one point in the night, I was wondering why my shirt had blotches of sweat on it, and realized that it was because the bubbles were popping and leaking sweat out. Yeah, about an 8 on the gross meter. Day 5 all that skin began to shed in sheets. yeah...not flakes. sheets. And that leads me to day 6. Today. Where the sensitivity is much lower, the pain is minimal, and the flaking is in full season. This is the tale of the burned. The lesson is learned, the color of my skin has turned and the medal of pain I have earned. Now I will begin to bask in the days I have yearned, the end of the hot, yet cold it is not. Fall. Soon to come.

busy

hey guys and gals. so iv’e been really busy lately. I have not had a whole lot of time to post anything. from working on a wedding video and editing it, potentially another video to work on, up-keeping a website for a crusade going on right now in Rwanda, doing 30 hours of landscaping in 4 days, and trying to be social…i have to be honest with you…cause your my friends………..i forgot about my blog completely. im not even taking the time to capitalize many things in THIS blog. i still love you all and care about you. truly i do. peace for now, and until i find more time and become superhuman…i bid you adieu.

eric

Goales

So, hey everyone. I’ve been thinking. Thinking about a lot. Most of all on my mind is that I wanted to use the summer to do some things that I don’t regularly get to do during the school year, like read for myself, or roadtrip, or camp or work out.

So I’ve decided to work out more, get into shape. Yeah, GOOD THINGS!! Except, none of the things that I want to do are getting done!!! WHY?!?!

Goals people. GoAlS. It is probably the biggest thing holding me back besides the fact that I think exercise is the biggest LIE KNOWN TO MAN CREATED BY SKInNY GNOMES!!

But I know that I should do it. I do. So I have decided to give myself some goals in order to get up every other day, and bike like mad…sometimes run…but mostly bike. Eating right is another thing that I have to beat into my brain. It’s gonna hurt, but I’M GOING VEAGAN!!! haha, such a joke! I love animals in my mouth. sorry vegans. I’m talking about less red meat every week, less needless sugars, less needless carbs, less high fat foods and hydrogenated stuffs (hydrogenates are from the Devil.)

Without Goals Oil Spills happen, and we all know how that ended. Common people, goals drive us to do great things and achieve the impossible. Like Human flight…
SERIOUSLY THOUGH, I’m going to loose 15-20 pounds and probably gain 5-10 in muscle, so it’ll even out. FOR FITNESS!! [jumps into air, punches sky]

–Eric

4 Quick Tips for the Best Summer EVER.

So it's summer...or at least it's hot enough to be...and I thought that I would write about some tips to having the Best Summer ever. Four easy steps. seriously, it's THAT easy.

Tip 1: Hit the Road.
Get out and enjoy the great unknown. Go see a friend you haven't seen in forever, or visit a city you've always wanted to visit. This tip requires a few things: 1.) Another Person. 2.) A Car. 3.) Some Cash. Have fun. Plan out the route, and go have an adventure. They don't take long, and you can even do small day trips if you're chicken.

Tip 2: Hit the Books.
Durring the school year, the last thing we want to do is read books. So reading on our own time gets to be a bit impossible. Loosing yourself in a book can be the best thing during a dull day. Summer doesn't have perfect weather ALL the time. Plus, reading helps preserve brain power and knowledge. Go get smarter.

Tip 3: Hit the Pool.
Water is your friend. Nothing says Summer like swimming, laying out in the sun, trips to the Dunes, or Ocean front. Let the water take control and move you into Summerland. Lakes are always fun and the waves aren't too huge for those afraid of giant surf. Being a native to the European-white skinned people, tanning isn't my strong-suit. I mainly burn, and then that burn turns to brownish. Think of me as a marshmallow. White, but when exposed to extreme heat...keep a good eye on it, or it will burst into flames. Slow and steady gets it brown. It takes me about 3 months. Just in time for Fall...

Tip 4: Hit the Outdoors.
The outdoors are calling your name. Forest, trails, rocks, rivers, mountains and fresh air. These are the things of The Great Outdoors. Go camping with some friends. There are plenty of places to camp, just hit up the good ol' Google. The best part about this tip, is that you get away. It is important to get away from the busy life, and just escape it all. The outdoors will do you good. Trust me.

Getting ambitious? Want to do all Four? Go camping out west, or where ever is far for you. This will take care of tip 1 and 4. Make sure you camp near a lake, so that you can knock out tip 3, and take a book along with you to read in the car, or before you hit the hay. Make this summer, a great summer. Peace to all of you, and God Bless.

Prayer Always.

-Eric

The Faithful Few

hey everyone. I havent written anything in a while, but I felt led to write down some stuff today. Hear me out.

I have been doing some work on my other blog for some time now. Unite4Love. It is a great thing, and has gotten me thinking about Love and Loving others in a whole new light that has never crossed my gaze before. It has been one of the most beautiful journey's I have made before. But that is not what this is about.

Today I caught up on some posts from an old friend, and flipped through some recent photos of my friends from my old college. The photos were graduating photos. All these things started to wind up feelings that hadn't surfaced due to repression. I was getting nostalgic about my friends leaving and being far away.

It seems that I am staying in IL, and one friend is going to Tennessee, one to Colorado, one to Washington, three in Michigan, one in California, and two in Korea. This is just a portion of my friends. So you can see why I feel so connected to my computer as of late, and why I have been finding new revelations about Love. People are Love. My friends are Love. They are Kind, Generous, Funny, Compassionate, Faithful, and irreplaceable. They are my core. They keep me fighting, loving, and living. With Christ in the Center, this formula is Gold.

People. Cheerish those around you that make you feel like LIFE is Fresh Air. Who make you smile...just thinking about them. Who make you laugh just thinking about them. Who make you cry, missing them. We were meant to live in community people. I love you all so much.

Much Love and Prayer Always.

Eric

The Trooper

What folly it is to even begin this balled,
a song of words for a man unheard.
Usually kept to himself--quiet and deep,
But I've known this man for 4 years,
and tonight he made me weap.

What folly it is to summerize a man of such skills and education,
Whose friends--a bullet would take--the highest adoration.
Whose butch demenor and sensitive side a man it does reflect,
a friend to some, a brother to few--the loyal he does respect

What folly it is to write about a man who is so greatly adored,
Whose kindness as a friend and devotion as a human being is so generously overpoured,
A guy who drops it all for you, travels to you, joins in hand with you, This HAS to be implored.

What folly it is to read this tribute
to a man that hates good-byes,
but this is something that I had to do
to eliminate the lies.

This is the man, the bear, the legend
The soon to be trooper,
And if you ever need to know or were dying to ask,
His name is Cody Cooper.

Ode to a Mother

What caliber of Love can take excrement and wipe it off of a babies bottom, over a thousand times? We’re talking about only one kind of Love here people. This is the Love of a parent. You may not admit it, but we have all been shaped and raised by parents. Whether you keep their views and beliefs as your own is not the issue. Their Love for you can only be described as supernatural.

This is for all the Moms out there that put up with our terrible two’s and our treacherous teen’s. When we thought you didn’t understand our emotions and had NO IDEA what Love meant. When we screamed in the hallways, parks, store aisles, funerals, weddings and gatherings. When we pooped at the most inopportune time, and the countless date nights we prevented from happening. Thanks for the kisses on the knee to make it go away, the arms to pick us up when we bumped our arm in play, the hot soup to warm us up after a long winter day…Thanks Mom. Thanks for the years of Love and the years to come, for the endless hours we slammed on the drums, for the men/women you knew we would become…Thanks Mom. Thanks for the long talks that we tried to escape, for the that toy we wanted with the lights and the cape, for the moments too precious to to miss on tape…Thanks Mom. TODAY we solute you…for everything you endure. I couldn’t have made it, become mature. If there was anyway at all that I could assure….I Love you, with all my heart, of that I’m sure.

Love your Son,

Eric

Lip Dub CALVIN COLLEGE

This video is a LipDub video. An extremely hard, continuous shot, sing-along, phenomenon that has been traveling all over universities across the country. The Video consists of MANY people, all singing, dancing, and moving along, to the beat and SYNC of the song. Each person involved has about 2-5 seconds of screen time, so it is pretty "rapid-fire" pace.

So that's a lipdub UNIVERSITY EDITION.

Here are some lipdub's done by some universities:
Boston University: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw6I51UE1W8
THE ORIGINAL LIBDUB (Germany): http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=DE&hl=de&v=tVRrjxtm9Pk&fmt=18

Well, that brings me to the masterpiece that is LipDub CALVIN COLLEGE. I cannot say enough about this video. As I have said before, I have seen other LipDub videos, from other universities, and I'm sorry, but they have nothing on this video. The vocals are PERFECTLY synced in time, the ideas for different scenes are creative and funny, and the song is perfect. Beyond Amazing and I Loved every second of it.
This makes me proud to have gone to Calvin College. An amazing job done by everyone involved.

And without further adu, LipDub CALVIN COLLEGE EDITION:

UNITE FOR LOVE. bring it.

Today in small group, we talked about our country. We talked about how the country was founded and the historical revisionism that plagues our conversation even today. People want the public to believe that our founders were atheists. They want you to believe that religion and morality had nothing to do with our past or how things were run. They would like you to believe that some of the highest ivy league colleges in the country like Harvard, Columbia and Princeton were not founded on faith. The wave of New Atheism strives to actively suppress the belief in a God or that Jesus was the Son of Man. They believe that children shouldn't even be exposed to this by their parents.

My question is this. When did people assume that to be a Christian you had to be submissive and OKAY with people walking all over you? I'm serious. Do you see it? Happening in our streets, on our talk shows, in our bookstores.

The problem is this. If we as believers are to rise up and take back what we believe, it is about being united. Breast Cancer. One issue. Easy to unite under. MANY women are affected by this or know someone who has had it. A single issue is 100 times easier to unite under than a complicated one. Just TRY and think about all the different believers coming together for one cause...........Chaos. Not only do most believers believe different things, but they also are under different denominations and HOLD to it tightly. We focus so hard on the things that make us different, that we forget about the things that make us the same. Let me say that again. We focus SO HARD on the things that make us different, that we forget about the things that make us the same.

Can all believers unite under Love? A massive Love movement spreading across this country that makes the hardest Cynic do a double take. They will know us by our Love. I believe that. John 15:12-13 Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Make it simple people. Make it about Love. For God so LOVED this world. Common people. Unite under a simple issue and lets become united to bring Jesus to hurting people. Don't bring in robes, don't bring in your rituals. Don't bring in your thee's, thou's, or thine's. Your his, hers, or mine's. Don't bring your tedious, picky or strenuous doctrine. LOVE. I'm not sayin' all we need is Love, but it's a start.

UNITE FOR LOVE. bring it.

Prayers always.

--Eric

Desert Song [V-LOG]