Benjamin Sahlstrom

My Personal Mission Statement

2012-01-22T20:34:00.001-06:00

My wife and I have decided to read one non-fiction book each month in 2012. We are kicking it off with EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey. One of the beginning chapters steps you through developing a personal mission statement and after many hours of thought this is the result:

I will livewith integrity and strive to lead and encourage my family, coworkers, friends,and neighbors to follow my Savior Jesus Christ above all else. I will work in away that surpasses the expectations of my employers and reflects my faith. Iwill love and lead my family spiritually and financially and raise my childrento value education and work. I will run my finances God’s way and live and givewith an open hand. In everything I do I will live with the knowledge that mylife is for God’s glory and should reflect to others the hope that I have foundin Him.

Going through and really thinking about who I am and why I'm here has been an amazing process for me. If you haven't already I'd encourage you to think about a mission statement for yourself. It is powerful.

I'm Married Now!

2011-10-29T23:30:00.000-05:00

That means that you should go check out my wife's blog for more current updates:

www.naomisahlstrom.com

;)

Windows Live Writer

2010-12-22T02:30:00.001-06:00

So I’m up late. Really late actually. Should I be up this late? No.

You see, I’ve had a lot of caffeine today and it seems to have taken hold of me somehow. Anyway, I kind of got into catching up on a bunch of random things that I needed to update on my computer and the other day I had installed Windows Live Writer but hadn’t finished setting it up yet. I guess it is supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread (What was the best thing before sliced bread?) for blogging so I’m giving it a try. I don’t know about you other bloggers but I always have MAJOR issues with my text size when I save/edit my blog posts with Blogger! I’m a little bit OCD about having things uniform sometimes so this bothers me. I’m hoping that Writer will help me make the posting process a little more streamlined. Hey! That’s a good excuse for not posting frequently! I have problems with text size! :P

Today was crazy. I got home from work past midnight. Working for my dad can be very unpredictable. I don’t mind it much though. It’s pretty exciting!

So, here goes post #1 with Windows Live Writer!

P.S. The beta for Internet Explorer 9 is pretty sweet! It is much cleaner and has Chrome-like speed. Awesome.

P.P.S It is cold outside…

Am I Really Thankful?

2010-11-24T22:09:00.003-06:00

What should I be typing right now. Why do I post on this web page about the little things I do in life? Does anybody really care? Sometimes my life revolves so much around me that I wonder how other people can have time to follow and care about facebook, blogs, and email. Maybe I need to be more involved but sometimes I just don't care.

Lately I've been working. Working long hours which is good but at the same time it makes it difficult to decide what really needs to happen and in what order. Today I was driving the backhoe home and my mind was spinning thinking of three things, all of equal priority, that needed to happen and I couldn't decide which to do first.

Most of the time I have a larger project that I break down into "chunks" which makes it easier to ultimately achieve one's goal. I think my "projects" and "goals" right now are so big to me that the "chunks" are also big and hard to accomplish.

I don't know why it all seems so hard right now. Naomi is in Egypt now and is going to see the Pyramids. I'm really excited for her of course but MN is duller than ever. I wish she was closer. Why are we oceans apart? I've had a cold for the past three days and this weekend is shaping up to be pretty crazy. I need working hours. I'm buying a house. I'm planning for a certain big event next summer. I need sleep. Time is money. Money isn't everything.

Last week Pastor talked about being materialistic. I am a bit that way even though I don't like to admit it. It is something that I need to pray about and ask God to help me with. My dad was saying the other day that, as he gets older, things just really feel temporary and he is right. This earth isn't going to be here forever. I'm not going to be 19 forever and at 19 I've already lived about 1/4th of my life. Am I using it the way God would want me to?

My personal devotions have fallen behind. Almost every morning we read the Bible together as a family but I haven't really been listening. It's almost like listening to the radio but not really "hearing" what it is saying. Just background noise taking the back seat to my thoughts. I don't think I've opened my Bible since Sunday and it is nearly Thursday.

I need to get into a better routine. Why can't I seem to find time to read my Bible? I work long hours and spend a lot of time talking to Naomi and writing emails but that is all I seem to be able to do. I can't use the excuse of not having time because that is a lie. If anyone tells me they don't have time for something it really isn't true. What they are really saying is that "it isn't important enough to change my schedule for". If I'm too busy for God and God says we are to love Him more than anyone or anything, how can I spend so much time earning money and fulfilling my earthly relationships but not even have time to open my Bible? It isn't right. Today, this is the real me. I'm not perfect and tonight I'll admit it.

I'm sorry that it has been so long since I've last posted anything. I "don't have time" these days. I need to get back to my Bible before any more blogging or anything else happens. I'm hoping to do a post or two on my house project so hopefully I'll get that done soon! I really want to keep people updated and it is especially important that I take time to get some updates through to a few far away places! ;)

God bless and happy Thanksgiving!

Three Weeks

2010-10-19T05:02:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting in the airport right now. I feel a little numb and disconnected from the world. I'm just in shock that it has been three weeks already since I stepped off that plane and got to see my girl once more. It almost seems like a dream now. I'm at Starbucks just like I was before I arrived. All I have to say right now is that long distance relationships aren't fun. I'm completely confident that it will all work out but the time of separation is hard.

Here Naomi and I were at one of the "nice" beaches in Malta. We didn't get to do that many sight seeing/tourist things because our schedules were so tight. I wish I could tell you all about Malta but to be honest, I didn't get to see all that much of it. Okay, I'm pretty much just being random right now but I guess I really don't feel like being refined or polished. My battery is about to die now. I wonder if there is a power source somewhere. I don't see any here at Starbucks.

I'll post more if I find somewhere to plug in my computer.

Serving

2010-10-06T09:15:00.004-05:00

I know that some of you want to know more about another aspect of my visit right now but I'd like to share a bit about working on the ship so far.

It just so happened that the time I came to the ship the ship photographer was on break! I didn't know or anticipate this at all but since this was the case Ruben (In charge of the Communications Department) has been having me take pictures of the ship and other things that are related to the ministry and work that are happening! I'm not just a plumber this time! Isn't it amazing how God works things out!?

Every Thursday is prayer night which starts at 7:00 and typically lasts 3 hours. This Thursday was different though because we didn't just stay on the ship as usual but instead went on a "prayer drive" all through Malta and went to various locations to meet and pray. We went to a little church that was up on the 3rd story of a downtown building. It was really cool and I was blessed to be the photographer!

Naomi has really been developing her photography skills (Someday I hope she will be my assistant!) while I was gone because she was able to finally have equipment with more control. One night we decided to go out with the tripod and take a few long exposure night shots! We had a grand time and enjoyed the calm evening together. We have to be back on the ship by midnight so this was probably at about 10:30. Naomi is very careful to never be late! She is good for me!

A local Christian band came and blessed us with their performance in the Hope Theater on the ship and I was the photographer! I had a lot of fun going back stage and getting some unusual perspectives.

Naomi and I have been having a wonderful time together. Today she is off the ship with her family on break and I have to work unfortunately. She is taking 4 break days (Something Project Workers don't get) while her parents are here to catch up with them! She got to see her little sister for the first time in 1.5 years! Oh yeah, Noami's parents are pretty cool too! That's all I'm going to say about that now though! ;)

On My Way!

2010-10-03T13:33:00.011-05:00

Goodbye drenched Minnesota! You tried to keep me there so hard with your flooded rivers but somehow you couldn't. I'm headed to a little island in the Mediterranean Sea called Malta! Below is a view out the window of my air bus as I took off from the cities.

The flights went well and were pretty uneventful. Even though the flight went all through the night I didn't sleep a wink. My flight arrived 45 minutes early in Amsterdam and I had a 5 hour layover to wait for my flight to Malta.

After spending 3 Euros on 15 minutes of internet and sending out a few brief messages (15 minutes of internet doesn't last long) I lounged around and didn't accomplish all that much. I went to Starbucks and got a grande caramel frapp to wake me up, and eventually boarded the plane, waited some more, and finally was airborne headed for Malta!

I flew over the Alps and got a quick picture of those beautiful mountains. It felt just like flying over Colorado but thinking about Hannibal crossing these mountains with the Carthaginian army set it apart.

So, I'm not sure if you can tell but I was really really tired on arrival thanks to that girl in the above picture! I was so crazy excited I couldn't sleep on the plane and when I finally arrived in Malta I collected my luggage and walked out the doors to be greeted by the many people waiting to pick up the arrivals and then I saw her. I don't remember much else because I pretty much couldn't think from that point on. I had thought of all these things to say when I saw her but the only thing I could manage was a permasmile that lasted until, well, it's still there. Naomi is amazing! After being gone I realized how much I really missed her while I was gone!

Malta is really beautiful but to be perfectly honest I've been a bit preoccupied with catching up with people, work, and getting ready to "meet the parents".

TBC

Text Only

2010-09-19T00:13:00.004-05:00

Hey guys! It has been a long time since I've posted anything up here and I'm going to try to do better in the future. I wonder how many times ambitious bloggers have said that before... hmm, that would be a good Harvard study! Some of the studies that come out of America's top colleges disappoint me at times.

Anyway, the other day after church a friend approached me and told me she can't wait for me to leave again! Somewhat shocked I asked why and she said that she wants me to leave because that is the only time I post anything on my blog! :P After thinking about it I guess it is really true. I guess I should be blogging more about my life at home. My life just feels really mundane sometimes and I don't think anyone would really care to know about it but I guess most people that I think have very interesting lives think that way too.

So, be expecting "lots" of posts about random things soon! ;) I'll be posting mostly about my house and the remodeling project I think.

God bless!

Naomi and I

2010-06-30T22:00:00.004-05:00

So here it is; today I officially have SP with Naomi Sue Nelson! I’ve wanted to tell the world about this for a long time now but without the permission of having SP nothing was truly official until now. I really can't believe this day actually came! It was a long hard road to traverse but we made it!

Okay so some of you are like "What in the world is SP?" and I'd like to explain. SP is something that Operation Mobilization has crafted in order to help keep interaction between people of the opposite gender restrained so that you can stay focused on serving God and be efficient in your work. The rule restricts all relationships for the first year of serving with OM and then after a year you can apply for something called SP or Special Permission.

So the problem is this; I joined OM and the Logos Hope in January. I've been informed that a typical year has 12 months (I tried to convince them that my culture believes in 1 month years but they didn't buy it...) and therefore I would have never been allowed to get SP while on board. That is the basic explanation of the ship policy on relationships.

I met Naomi about 10 days after I walked up the gangway in Aruba as a STEPper during the sail to Jamaica. It was my first sail and one evening while up on the upper decks of the ship I started talking with her and we hit it off! It turns out she has a big family too! The things we had in common were crazy and within two weeks we both knew that there was something different between us. We knew that it wasn't allowed during my first year (Her first year was already up.) and so we had to go talk with Personnel. They gave us good guidelines with how to act and where and how we could see each other. No time was allowed to be spent "one on one" at all.

Since then we've had ups and downs working with the frustrations of hiding all of the emotion and things we wished we could do for the other. We kept in contact mostly via email, chat, and phone (As if it was already a long distance relationship while literally in the same boat!) which worked but was frustrating knowing that the person was only a few steps away from being able to talk in person but it wasn't allowed. You can see how this would be trying at times.

After talking with Personnel multiple times they have decided to grant us “Leaving SP” for two weeks before I leave because we can never get SP because I can’t stay for an entire year. Even if I was able to stay for a year she would leave right before my year was up! The grace that they are showing us is one of the most amazing things that has happened while on the ship. The very best thing about all this is that God has been at the center from day 1. God has provided me with strength and perseverance to endure and excel in my work on the ship.

A little about Naomi:

She was born in Indiana and when she was 1 her parents moved to Hong Kong as missionaries and moved to China when she was a junior in high school. She is the oldest of 9 kids and they were homeschooled. After high school she became interested in the ship after the Doulos (Now retired) visited Hong Kong and after some prayer decided to apply to work on the ship. On the ship she has worked in two departments. For the first 7 months she worked in Accommodation. Her passion wasn’t for vacuuming and cleaning though and really wanted to work in Deck with Marine Operations and would spend her free time learning all about sailing and all sorts of things I would never care to know! She knew more about the department than most of the people serving in Deck knew! She finally was able to move to Deck which was a miracle because they don’t normally take many girls into the department because of the nature of the work. She is hard working though and probably gets more done than others that are much stronger than her. Everything went well for her until I showed up and turned everything upside crazy! :P

She has a blog that she maintains if you’re interested in checking it out.

So we now have 14 days before I leave. 14 days of SP. 14 days where we can sit and talk and not worry about being in a group or the people around us. 14 days before we embark on a long distance relationship that will be trying and rewarding. I believe that God has made it work thus far and I believe He will continue to guide us as we move forward.

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

Ephesians 3:20

“And that’s all I have to say about that.”

Captain Speaking

2010-06-09T13:00:00.003-05:00

Every day at noon the captain makes an announcement while sailing. Today as we were listening to the list of things he had to pass on to us he made one statement that stood out.

"No one should take showers from this point on."

Right now we are also on what hot cat (Hotel and Catering) calls "restricted laundry" which means on our weekly laundry day we are limited to washing only 7 items plus your underwear bag. You see, we've been having issues with our R.O. fresh water production plants. We have 2 units and about a week ago the first one stopped working and couldn't be fixed without resources from on shore. Now the second one is broken as well. It isn't a life-and-death situation because we will be able to bunker water tomorrow at a small island that we are stopping at for fuel. The city originally didn't have capacity to give us water but being that we have a ways to go yet we really need to take on water so the city is actually going to turn the water for the city off in order to give us the volume that we need. What an answer to prayer.

Okay, back to work I go! I just finished my lunch break for today. We get a generous 1 hour to take lunch and it is enough time to get a few other things done if you're motivated.

Atlantic Crossing

2010-06-08T00:30:00.006-05:00

Nearly 5 months after leaving Minnesota I am still on the Logos Hope - almost 3 months longer than my original STEP program was supposed to end. It has been amazing to see how God has been working in my life since I left home to volunteer my time on board as a plumber. We are now embarked on the 14 day sail across the ocean headed for West Africa! Sailing is always more relaxed than being in port because the community really rests, trains, prepares, and grows closer together while sailing in preparation for the ports to come.

Below the ship was shifting berths early in the morning in Dominica. I got up early and biked to the other berth and was able to get some shots of the ship like it looks when it isn't tied to a quayside. You can see if you look closely the crew gangway suspended from the starboard side of the ship.

Like I said before the community has time to really relax and do some enjoyable things together. The other evening we were blessed by our galley and pantry team with a cookout with real hamburgers and all of the side items you would expect. It is so cool to go up to the top decks and look around at the horizon and see absolutely nothing. Only water and an occasional flying fish.
Every Thursday is prayer night. Last Thursday they put on something very different than normal that was supposed to give us a picture of what it is like to be truly poor. We reenacted what one family in Africa does for a living. They make paper bags all day every day and struggle to even pay for what they need to stay alive let alone think about sending the children to school or affording other such "luxuries" that we take for granted every day. We got into groups and we had to make paper bags and sell them. We had limited time and had to do our best to meet the minimum payments for food, water, housing, and trying to send a child to school. You could also choose to work for one of the shopkeepers and make money outside of the home and one of the options was to send our sisters into prostitution just to make enough money to live.

I wish I could say that it was just a simulation, a game, but unfortunately it is a very real representation of how people struggle for survival. We can provide some help to these people during our visit to Africa in the form of supplies but we want to supply them with the truth of Jesus. Give them water that will make them never thirst again. Please pray that as the Logos Hope every day comes nearer and nearer to Africa that the Holy Spirit will go before us and prepare a way in the hearts of the people that we will come into contact with. As you know the Caribbean is very poor in some areas but Africa even more so.

Thanks for your support and encouragement. I'm going to try to post a few past stories and pictures from the Caribbean during the remaining time of the Atlantic voyage so be expecting those. God bless.

Antigua

2010-05-14T20:39:00.012-05:00

Antigua was a beautiful little island that was not too touristy. If you want to read about Antigua and more details I linked the title of this post to the Wikipedia article. I know I know, linking to Wikipedia is not cool because it could potentially be inaccurate but just deal with it. Sometimes when we're in a touristy port it is nice to be in an area that is very Americanized because the USD is always accepted and the stores are similar and it feels like home but sometimes it's cool for it to just be plain and simple. Below we are just about to arrive. People always come up to deck 9 and watch as we come up against the quayside.

This is a concrete platform strictly for the purpose of ships being able to anchor their mooring lines to the bollards. There are also shock absorbers for ships to come up against and not be damaged because of the giving materials that the absorber is made of.

People usually bring out their flags and act all patriotic. It's pretty sweet.

Here is the line up team that had been in Antigua for about two months getting things ready for the ship to come. Things like events, sponsors, coordination of an internet connection and other required things for everything to run smoothly.

On the other side of the quayside there was a research ship that had many specially designed devices for searching the ocean floor. Very cool.

All of that is interesting and all but best of all there was an ice cream shop right as you come onto the shore! This ice cream shop was no ordinary ice cream shop though. All of the waffle cones, ice cream, and chocolate are made right there in the shop. I'm pretty sure it's the best ice cream I've ever had. If you're ever passing through Antigua I'd recommend stopping through and having a medium cone. One scoop of chocolate coconut and one of pineapple. You won't be disappointed. ;)

Yes, I'll admit it. I'm very American. I love my ice cream. I love my food. I miss the freedom of driving. I don't even care what I drive I just want to drive something! I haven't driven anything since I left Minnesota back in January! I'm starting to forget what it was like!

Anyway, I only have a little under 2 months remaining on the ship and I know that it is going to probably go faster than I want it to. It's been awesome so far. Thanks for your support and prayer as I keep things "flowing" on the Logos Hope.

Hard Drives and an HDR

2010-05-07T20:57:00.004-05:00

First off I just want to share about how I got my computer back up and running again! This is how everything came about; first the hard drive started making noise. Normally I don't hear it at all and I knew that it wasn't really a good sign and sure enough it wasn't long before my eyes were graced with that beautiful dreaded blue screen. I knew that the hard drive still worked a little so I rebooted and backed up everything I had on the computer which wasn't much because I keep everything on the external and back up to the computer. I then went straight out and bought a new hard drive and went to IT here on the ship to inquire about them being able to help me out.

They said that I had to come on Tuesday in order to get personal service and it was Wednesday when I asked which meant I had to wait an entire week. I could have tried to fix it myself but I thought it might be good to not have a computer for a week and spend more time reading, running, and spending time with friends.

Tuesday finally came and I brought in my computer. They wanted to try to clone my hard disk and therefore avoid having to re install Windows 7 because I don't have the install disk here. Not to mention all of the programs that I have installed.

They tried to clone the disk. They then tried again but it seemed that it just wasn't going to happen. At the end of the day I was left with a new hard drive that they had attempted to clone the old image onto that had failed. I had to look for a copy of Windows 7 to install. I found one from a friend on the ship and headed to my cabin to attempt to begin the slow process of getting everything back to what it was before. I put in the new hard drive and turned on the computer to install Windows and, to my amazement, the Windows 7 welcome screen came up! Somehow the clone had worked! The IT team said it had failed and here I am writing this post on a computer that (Besides the new hard drive.) is completely the same as it was before my hard drive died! I don't know how it happened but it really was an answer to prayer.

Above is an HDR of the ship that I took our first night in St. John's, Antigua. This port has been beautiful so far and I have been enjoying the people and scenery. Expect more posts soon!

Posts Delayed/Update

2010-04-22T04:37:00.002-05:00

Well, I have some good news and some bad. We will start with the good which is that I'm posting on my blog right now! The bad news is that there are no pictures. The reason for this is because my computer is being recalcitrant. Particularly my hard drive. I should have it fixed in about a week so I'll have more posts then about my family's visit to Bermuda and some wonderful pictures I got at the beaches!

I just got in from a morning run with the LIT group that goes running at 5:45am every morning so I decided to join them. It was great fun actually although tiring. I'm going to try to keep doing this every morning while here in Bermuda.

LIT stands for Logos Intensive Training. It is a program where about 20 people who appear to have a lot of motivation and have been doing well on the ship are challenged to do a month long program that involves physical exercise, spiritual growth, and the opportunity to establish good habitual activities in their lives. The program starts every day at 5:45 with running and from there they have the entire day planned out for them. No extra time to socialize. This is just another one of the sweet opportunities that a person can take advantage of on the Logos Hope!

This coming Sunday I am also going to be leading a church team here in Bermuda! It's really exciting to be able to do this and at the same time it is going to be challenging. As a project worker I wasn't really expecting to be leading a church team! Pray that God will give me the strength and inspire me to be an encouragement to the fellow believers here in Bermuda.

Again, I'm sorry that I don't have pictures for you but like I said my hard drive is bad. I got most of my pictures saved because I have an external hard drive but it still isn't comforting.

Thanks for your patience with my posting schedule! :P

Tiling

2010-04-04T20:23:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago there was an email sent around the ship asking for some help doing a tiling project in the galley to replace some badly damaged/missing tiles. I have done some tiling before but I've never been in charge of a project by any means but I thought I'd say that I'd be willing to help if needed. Apparently I was the only one who responded and so I was put in charge of doing the repair!

I knew I could do it I just thought there would have been someone else who would have had more skill than myself. I've come to find out that on the ship there are so many opportunities to learn new skills and to use the ones you already have and push yourself to get better at what you can do or learn new things altogether.

I did some research on tiling and gathered up the supplies necessary and got to work. I had to get the job done as quickly as possible in order to allow the continued use of the much needed pot wash. It went well and I think that I'll be doing more tiling in the future. The tiles that I installed are smooth and there are tiles with a rougher surface for grip on order. Most of the tiles in the galley are the rough ones but we don't have any more on the ship so this is sort of temporary.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter! Jesus is risen!

Jamaica

2010-04-01T21:39:00.013-05:00

One day at a time. That was the motto for our stay in Jamaica. We broke the record for the number of people visiting the ship in one day and there were many days that deck 4 was at maximum capacity for most of the day.

This HDR of 8 pictures was taken in Kingston of the coal berth.

We were in two different ports during our nearly 2 month stay in Jamaica. The first port was Montego Bay which was the nicer of the two. Things were a little neater because of the cruise liners and touristy mindset. Here are some of the numbers from Montego Bay

Dates in port: January 20^th - February 15^th 2010

Total number of visitors to the ship: 83,474

Number of books sold: 213,064

Number of Bibles sold: 7,381

Number of free evangelistic items given out: 72,044

View from deck 9 in Montego Bay.

Kingston was our second port. When we arrived and saw the berth that we had to tie up to many of us were very surprised. Not only was the quayside small with many obstacles making it difficult for the arrangement and placement of the gangways but everything was covered with coal dust because coal ships would come and unload coal for the nearby cement factory. Dealing with this much coal dust was a huge challenge for the accommodation team and now that we’re not at that port any more they have been shampooing every carpet in the entire ship. This is a lot because the entire ship (Except for a few areas) is carpeted. Even with the difficulties, Kingston was such a great opportunity to serve the people of a country with the third highest crime rate in the world. God used the Logos Hope in Kingston. Here are the statistics:

Dates in port: February 16^th - March 23^rd 2010

Total number of visitors to the ship: 135,758

Number of books sold: 341,666

Number of Bibles sold: 14,150

Number of free evangelistic items given out: 118,672

HDR of the cement factory. It was tricky making it look beautiful for you guys! ;)

Today is Good Friday and I just want to take time to really reflect on what Jesus did for us. Without Him I wouldn’t be here today and you wouldn’t be reading this. If you haven’t already just take a moment to thank Him for the sacrifice He made that we may be saved. Praise the LORD for all He has been able to accomplish through the Logos Hope. Thanks for your support and prayers.

Continued Support

2010-03-15T19:00:00.004-05:00

I've been a STEPper on the ship but my title will soon change to "Project Worker". As a project worker I have almost the same privileges as normal crew but one of the differences is that the crew members get "pocket money" which they can use towards whatever they need from clothes, to toiletries, and even some recreational activities. However as a project worker you aren't allowed pocket money so you have to come up with your own personal money to cover for clothes, toiletries, and whatnot. If you choose to donate I'll be using some of the money for the things that I need for day to day living on the ship plus my expenses to be on the ship and my return flight back to the US. The remainder I will direct back to OM. I’m also hoping to purchase some tools for the plumbing department if the resources are available. I miss my tools at home! I have included a PayPal link for your convenience, otherwise donations can be sent to ……

Challenge Team in Trenchtown

2010-03-11T19:33:00.001-06:00

On my birthday (Feb 23) I had the chance to go out on a challenge team into Trenchtown in Kingston, Jamaica to work on the Baths of Joy. The project lasted 2 weeks and our goal was to repair and improve the facility. I was able to go along only because I am a plumber. Normally a STEPper wouldn't be able to go on a challenge team for that long but since a plumber was needed I got to go!

This is the first day we came and began to make plans as to how we were going to go about making the changes and improvements. As you can see above there was a lot to be done. There was only one place where you could still get water from and there wasn't even a valve. Just a piece of rounded wood pushed into the end of the pipe to stop the flow of water.

This bathroom (below) was across the street in an old theater that we worked on also. The theater is now being used as a classroom/meeting place for some of the local Christians. I installed 2 toilets, 2 urinals, and 2 sinks. Everything is very rough compared to the way we do things back in the states.

Almost every street in Kingston looks like what we would think of as the ghetto. There are only a few areas that are maintained in the way that is considered "normal" back home. Every day we would drive from the ship at 8:00am and try to be back to the ship by 5:00pm. The drive is about 30 minutes and one morning near the beginning of the first week the traffic was really slow. We finally noticed that there had been an accident in the opposing lane of traffic. I noticed one vehicle with the windshield and parts of the roof smashed in. People generally drive pretty fast on this road, probably about 50 - 60mph. I didn't see the other object which the car had hit until we kept driving about 100 yards. Then I saw it, or rather, him. There was only one officer present and he was taking pictures of the vehicle. It was like it was no big deal that there was a person lying on the road. Was he dead? Why wasn't he being attended to? The man was lying in the middle of the road. In a puddle of his own blood. Who was he? Did he have a family? Does anyone even care? But was he a Christian? I'll never be sure.

The rest of the bumpy car ride was mostly silent. Starting to work once we arrived was difficult. I couldn't keep my mind on my work. I just kept picturing him lying there. Uncovered. Alone. I really started thinking about and evaluating my life and how I think and do things. Next time you're confronted with a situation where you have the opportunity to talk with someone you think isn't a Christian do it! It may be their last chance.

This is normal here in Jamaica. Although this was an accident it isn't far away from what happens quite often intentionally. Jamaica has the third highest crime rate in the world. Jamaica needs hope. I pray that we, the Logos Hope, are making a difference.

(Below) During the project the people weren't able to use the building so they had to do their washing elsewhere. It is really neat to see that what we are doing is something that is such a need in the community.

The problem with the community and its condition is the attitude of the people. They think that they shouldn't have to take care of it and that someone else should help them maintain it. I was talking with one of the locals that we were working with and he thought that maybe 15% of the people that use the Baths of Joy facility will actually try to take care of it. The other 85% will most likely neglect, steal, and disrespect the work that we have put into the project. This community needs prayer and I hope that they saw something different in us as we worked around them for 2 weeks with no pay whatsoever.

One of the local ladies who uses the facility offered to do upkeep on it. I thought that it was awesome that at least one person would be willing to maintain something that was a gift to them but I soon found out that she wanted to be paid to maintain it. It just goes to show how much the community feels like everyone "owes" them.

After 2 weeks and a lot of hard work this is what we were able to accomplish. We poured a giant pad of cement that was all hand mixed, fixed all of the plumbing problems, straightened various parts of the shelter that were bent out of place, and finally touched everything up with some paint.

My challenge team experience was such a blessing and I hope to do more in the upcoming months. It is really nice to be able to get off of the ship and go out to work on projects that provide basic needs for the people.

Please pray for Jamaica.

Plumbing

2010-03-09T19:34:00.006-06:00

So I had my fun in the iCafe, but it wasn't long after that the word got around that I had experience as a plumber. Before long, I had a few of the engineers approaching me to ask if I would like to come join the plumbing team. Well, surprise, surprise, I'm now one of three plumbers on the Logos Hope! It has been about three weeks since I officially started working as a plumber, and so far so good!

Jérémie and I had the privilege of designing the logo for the new shirts that we're ordering! This is what we came up with!

There are three of us in the plumbing department on the ship now. Below is Jo from France. He's hilarious and I enjoy working with him most of the time! He doesn't speak super strong English so at times it can be a little difficult.

The engine room is always very warm. If I had to guess, I'd say that the temperature probably is about 80 degrees on average. The generator room is even warmer than that! The ship doesn't get electricity from the port, ever. All of our power is generated right on the ship. Right now I don't spend a lot of time down there, but once we get more supplies for the upcoming projects, I'll be spending more time down there. Right now I'm doing service work all over the ship. Every day is different which I really enjoy. Tomorrow I'll actually be preparing to lay tile in the galley!

Jérémie is the head plumber on the ship. We've gotten to know each other pretty well because of all of the time he has spent teaching me all of the various systems that are on the ship. All of the toilets are vacuum instead of gravity. So truly every toilet I work on absolutely sucks! If it doesn't suck it sucks. Ha, yeah it's not that funny I know...

The sheer amount of pipes for all of the systems on board is crazy! Everything from black water, grey water, emergency pumps, fresh water, reverse osmosis, etc..

It's going well and I really feel like I can serve better as a plumber then as an iCafe team member just because plumbing is something that I have the ability to do. Since I have the chance to serve through something that I have experience in, it just enables me to make a bigger difference. Keep me in your prayers because at times the job can be quite daunting!

Off Days

2010-03-09T19:33:00.006-06:00

Since I've been on the ship I've had quite a few chances to go out and experience the areas that we've been docked at. I'm going to mention a few of them just to let you in on the things we do that aren't necessarily work related.

Right after a rain in Aurba.

This was our trip to Dunn's River Falls. If you ever see anything about Jamaica and what it has to offer, Dunn's River Falls is bound to be one of the places mentioned. It's location is very unique because of the way the waterfall ends on the beach! If you're interested you can read more about it by clicking on the title for this post.

When we were in Montego Bay we had beaches fairly close by so we would head out whenever the opportunity presented itself!

Below: Euan, Lydie, Naomi, me, and Phil. This is also back in Montego Bay after we had been to the beach. There were quite a few nice little shops around that we spent some time going through. I think it's so cool how you can haggle and barter with the shopkeepers pretty much anywhere you go! There have been a token few who have had firmly set prices.

I think that the below picture is awesome! I have to admit though that I didn't capture this photo, as is perhaps evident since the shadow on the right is me. The credit goes to Liz. Also this picture was taken with a point-and-shoot camera so it's possible to get amazing pictures with an average camera.

Thanks for your patience with my posts! Yesterday was crammed full with excitement! It was my off day and a few of us headed out into Kingston to try to find a few shops to get some supplies from. Since there aren't many places in Jamaica that have quality products, it took a little research to figure out just where to go - but boy did we hit the jackpot! There were even stores where they had name brand clothing! I really needed socks. I was down to 7 pairs and one pair was mismatched due to Euan "needing" one of my socks for himself on one of our outings. So yesterday went by amazingly fast so I didn't get the chance to post. I'll be back tomorrow with more!

God bless!

International Cafe

2010-03-06T19:34:00.017-06:00

I had the chance in my first weeks on the Logos Hope to work in the iCafe on Deck 4 which is where some of the ministry on the ship takes place. When you come on the ship as a visitor you are first directed through the Book Fair and after you've checked out with your purchases you come through some displays and various video presentations until you come to the iCafe. There are tables and lots of space for people to relax and get refreshments and sit down and talk with crew members about the ship. This is when a lot of the crew get the chance to start a conversation about God. I had the privilege once to pray with two little girls to accept Jesus after another one of the crew members and myself did a presentation on the salvation message. Praise the LORD!

It was wonderful being able to see the front end of the ministry and work with the people who came to the ship every day and to do my best to shine a light for Jesus. Below is a picture of me and some of my coworkers.

Left to right: Elise, Rosy, me, Kathryn, and Sady

Popcorn was always a huge hit and it was all we could do most of the time to keep up with the crazy amount that people wanted! On the weekends we would actually have up to 4 people working on popcorn alone!

The cash desk can be really draining at times just because you have to serve so many people and try to understand the thick Jamaican accent and at times the people aren't very easy to work with but it's rewarding in the end!

Below is outside of the gate in Montego Bay. At this point the people you can see in the picture hadn't even been allowed to enter the line yet! School visits were frequent and on one of the days we had over 4,000 school children come through deck 4 and the iCafe!

I'm going to be doing a post every day over the next week to get you up to speed on my situation with extending as a Project Worker in the Marine Operations department as a Plumber.

Thanks for reading!

Deaf School

2010-02-03T12:07:00.008-06:00

What a blessing it is to be able to serve people who are less fortunate than myself. I'm coming to realize more and more that the things we all take for granted every day really could be taken away at any time. The simple ability to see, feel, touch, taste, and smell are things that allow us to interact and experience the world around us.

I was talking with some of my friends here on the ship and someone asked me this question: "If you had to sacrifice one of your senses which one would it be?" It's strange thinking about it and most people came to decide that taste is the thing they'd give up. No one wanted to lose their sense of touch, seeing, or hearing. The simple thought of becoming deaf sends shivers up my spine knowing that in that situation I'd never be able to enjoy any sounds in the world from the simple every day sounds to the exotic sounds of music. Not to mention losing the ability to speak.

This is exactly how all of the kids at the deaf school must feel every day. Most of them have been deaf from birth. Our team did a number of different activities with the children. We had one individual who's parents had been deaf and therefore she was able to sign fluently. She shared her story and then we proceeded to play some games with the kids. Soccer is pretty much what everyone outside of the USA is obsessed over so that is what we played. I stayed behind the camera for the game capturing the beautiful Jamaican sunset and gorgeous lighting.

Above we organized the kids into two teams and held a relay race! It was really neat seeing all of them interacting and cheering each other on just by signing.

The above picture was from one of the skits that we performed for the kids. Everyone on the team got to show the children their flag and tell them a little bit about their home countries and families.

I have a huge respect for the attitude that the kids all had despite their circumstances.

Please keep the Logos Hope in your prayers as we continue to share the message throughout Jamaica.

Thanks for reading.

Montego Bay, Jamaica

2010-01-29T08:58:00.008-06:00

The sail from Aruba to Jamaica went amazingly well considering the way the weather was supposed to be bad and all. I had no trouble at all with seasickness. Thank you LORD!

Here is a fisheye shot while we were on our way to Jamaica. It took us about two days to arrive safely in Montego Bay.

Whenever I get the chance to I take my camera and a few friends and head out into the city. Here in Montego Bay it is different than it was in Aruba because where the ship is docked is about 2 miles away from the main city so in order to get to anywhere that has to do with the city you have to take a cab. Typically it costs less than 2 US dollars to go all the way to town. This picture was taken near the ship a little way from town.

In order to go out of the ship there are a few things that have to be in place.

1: You must leave your badge at the front desk. This ensures that they know who is on the ship so that should there be an emergency they wouldn't spend precious time looking for someone that isn't even on the ship.
2: You must have at least 1 other person with you at all times. You can't go out with just a girl and a guy however because this would break SP (Social Policy) or if you go out at night there need to be more in the group.
3: Have some sort of ID that would allow you reentry to the ship and be in the ship at Midnight.

It's fairly simple and makes good sense but sometimes if you can't find anyone to come along with you outside it can be annoying.

On our off days we can do whatever we choose so we went to the beach this time! It was beautiful. The majority of the people on the ship get their off day on Tuesday because that is the one day that the ship is closed during the week.

Above: Phil - Scotland, me, and Euan - Scotland

It's crazy how fast the time has been going by! It's already been about three weeks and it doesn't feel that way at all. There are so many awesome people representing so many different cultures and geographic locations all around the world. It really has been broadening my perspective.

Whenever I'm able to I try to get up early enough to see the sunrise and have my personal devotions on deck 9. It's so peaceful standing by the railing and breathing the crisp air early in the morning.

I'll be posting soon about my Eday to a deaf school here in Montego Bay.

OM Aruba

2010-01-16T20:32:00.012-06:00

Hey everyone! I just wanted to give you an update on my trip so far.
Here is just a little bit of info about how OM works with the volunteers.

I applied for the STEP (Short Term Missions Program) opportunity which is pretty much the shortest available option for serving on the Logos Hope which is typically about three months in length. If the trip is too short then the time that it takes to train a person in is not efficient for the short time period. Most of the people are staying on the ship for about 2 years (non-STEPpers).
Since the "STEPpers" are short term most of them get placed in something like "The Angels" (Cleaning), Galley (Kitchen), or something of similar nature. Very rarely does a STEPper get to do any of the more involved jobs.
But... God is great and somehow I got placed in an area called the iCafe on deck 4 where all of the people come on board and buy books and get to learn about the gospel message. I work behind the counter making ice-cream and selling all sorts of small snack food items. My working shifts are either in the morning from 9:00am to 3:30pm or in the afternoon from 3:30pm to whenever we finish closing/cleaning everything which is usually around 11:00pm. I am so blessed to be able to work in this position as it offers me so many opportunities to interact with the people that come on board and send a message of love to every person who walks through the visitors experience deck.

As I had mentioned to many of you before I wanted to do something with photography and therefore I brought almost all of my equipment along with me. Well, it turns out that their previous photographer left right as I arrived and the next photographer won't be here for a while yet and so it looks like they will be putting me to work behind the camera just like I wished for. Actually I just finished my first project which was photographing an event for a story the journalist is writing. God works in great and awesome ways doesn't He!

Now, I did inform the mechanics about the plumbing and heating aspect of my background and they actually wanted me to work in their department but it looks like my iCafe managers need me more in the iCafe because in Jamaica it is going to be super busy all of the time.
I stay on deck 1 of the ship right above the engine room with 5 roommates. I've been picking up the accent of the Scotts lately which is completely weird. I think by the time I come back I'll be talking very strangely. It will be some combination of pretty much every accent in the world.
My roommates:

Justin: American, 18

Josh: American, 30
Euan: Scottish, 18
Phil: Scottish, 18
Sylvain: Swiss, 22
My schedule for a typical* week goes something like this:
5 work days: Tuesday through Saturday
1 Eday (Events/Ministry day): Sunday typically
1 off day: Monday typically
Every morning there is a devotional service in the Logos Lounge as well as a church service on Sunday and small groups on Thursday.
All of your free time can be taken up by optional events if you'd like. So far I have signed up for only a couple of things but as I get more comfortable with things I'll be doing more.
I’m sure that everyone has heard about the earthquake that took place in Haiti and OM is currently working on the best strategy for providing as much aid as possible. We are still planning to go to Jamaica as planned while the details are coming together. OM has an official page about the upcoming plans.

http://www.omships.org/haiti

The weather on the way to Jamaica is shaping up to be pretty rough so pray that I don’t get seasick too easily.

Your prayers are very important and much appreciated! I’ll be posting more very soon!
God bless,
Benjamin Sahlstrom
* There really is no such thing as "typical" on the ship.

Johann Sahlstrom

2010-01-05T21:56:00.001-06:00

Erina Peace

2009-12-07T23:02:00.003-06:00

I came home one day after work and my mom told me to go see my siblings in the attic because they were having a wedding! Thought it was worth taking a picture or two.

Annika's First Pheasant

2009-12-03T23:00:00.006-06:00

So I finally purchased a pheasant license a few weeks ago when my dad convinced me to do so and I think I've only went hunting three times and shot 4 birds. I guess the price of buying a license deters me more than anything from heading out with my 12. I sometimes bring my camera instead just because I don't have to buy a license.

All licenses and cameras aside, I love getting out there and trudging about in the long grass just waiting for that moment, that very fleeting moment of motion, sound, and awesome excitement (That is if it is a rooster and not a hen. Seeing a hen is kind of like showing a little kid a piece of candy and then taking it away again.) when you have that chance to shoot that glorious Chinese bird. My sister Annika has, as of this past weekend, shot her first one ever! (The crowd goes wild!)

Just Life

2009-11-17T22:21:00.004-06:00

So lately I've had some time to spend with my siblings which is always great! Below are a few of the pictures I took while we were out on our little adventure.

Below is our beloved dog Ginger. She has been an awesome pheasant hunting dog for us over the past few years but sadly she has picked up some kind of a blood disease from a bug bite. We are hoping that she will make a full recovery and your prayers would be appreciated. The vet has been out many times and improvement is only slight.

Below from left to right:

Katrina, Reuben, and Erina

Have a wonderful day!

Star Trails

2009-10-29T23:08:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure if you've noticed but lately I haven't been updating my blog frequently. This is mostly due to my poor time management skills. I could say that I'm just really busy but everyone says that. Truth is I've been putting in very long hours working for my dad doing various HVAC and plumbing work. I've been averaging 10 hour days since I returned from Colorado.

Even with the long hours I have been able to squeeze in a few pictures here and there. Lately I have been really captured (forgive the pun) by long exposures of those little sparkling lights in the sky we call stars. The above picture was taken after I was done with work at about 11:30pm. Reuben came along to keep my company while the exposure was being completed.

Every time I take a picture with a long exposure, (*10 seconds and up) my camera perform what is called "Long exposure noise reduction". This process attempts to eliminate as much of the "digital noise" generated by the long exposure by processing the image for the same amount of time it took to actually take the picture! This means that if I were to take a picture that was a 30 minute exposure I would have to wait an entire hour before the camera would be ready to take another! Very cool technology but somewhat annoying...

Taking star trail pictures is not very difficult. The hardest thing is finding a perfectly clear sky with no major cities near you. The smog, combined with the city lights, will over expose your pictures and what could have been crisp star trails become nothing more than uninteresting smears of light. That is why you don't see pictures of the Eiffel Tower with the stars streaming behind it.

The other part of taking star trail pictures is your exposure. If you are going to take really long exposures you really don't want to have to take very many test shots. I bet you can figure out why! So think through your camera settings before you take a 30 minute shot!

I've found that for a 30 minute shot the following settings work best for me:

ISO 200

f/8 (Gives you a good DOF)

Shooting in Manual mode with the shutter speed set to "bulb"

Use a remote trigger

*Approximation

Thanks for reading!

Photography Internship

2009-09-14T21:47:00.004-05:00

Earlier this year I sent off my application for OM (Operation Mobilization) to go on the ship Logos Hope on a missions trip for three months starting in the beginning of August. I got a response via email notifying me that all of the spots were already filled. At first I really didn't know what to think. I was trying to think of why it didn't come through. I set apart this time for this trip to serve and here it turns out that it really isn't going to work.

As many of you know I had the opportunity to go to Summit this year and while I was there I ran into Rowan Gilson (The President of IPS) who had been one of my photography instructors in San Diego. Turns out he wanted me to come back to Colorado to do an internship with him from September 8th to October 4th in Manitou Springs, CO! The same time I would have been gone on the missions trip. It is truly amazing how God works!

So here I am, typing on my desktop, enjoying the company of so many awesome Christian photographers. I am really excited to be here learning as much as I can during this month long ordeal. Above is an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image. It is three images with different exposures merged together therefore gathering as much detail as possible both in the highlights and the shadows. The photo was taken with my 10-24mm wide angle lens.

The above picture was a bit of graffiti here in Manitou Springs. The image has been tweaked with Lightroom. ESCAPE is exactly what I feel like doing sometimes because what I have been assigned to working on requires a lot of time spent in front of my HP monitor. If anything it has been teaching my to be patient. Don't get me wrong though I really do like what I am doing. I just don't like sitting in one place for as long as I have been! ;)

Brad Hicks was here for the first week because he came for the IPS reunion. We had a blast going out in the evenings and getting some interesting shots! We had a blast. This photo was taken using an external flash and self timer on my D90.

On one of the mornings we got up at 5:30 and hiked all the way to the top of Red Mountain! The climb was intense! Once we got to the top I really wasn't all that excited about taking many pictures but I did manage to pull this one off! Sorry I haven't been updating my blog very actively. I will try to keep you posted while I am here in CO! We are planning to get Starbucks in the morning at 6:45 so I had better go for now. Hope your September is going great!

Mount Rushmore

2009-07-16T21:41:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone! I am sitting on a log on a steep slope in the Black Hills borrowing some wifi from the kind neighbors! It is getting hard to see the keys as the darkness is swiftly closing about me while I am frantically posting my short little note about our vacation out here in the Black Hills!

Yesterday we had the chance to visit Mount Rushmore! I had been there once before but for the rest of my siblings it was their first time. The pictures above and below were taken during the evening show which was very awesome!

To every great achievement there is a great man that deserves the recognition for his accomplishment. This man being Gutzon Borglum. The master designer/sculpture of Mount Rushmore.

God truly blessed us with some beautiful weather!

It took us awhile but we did eventually find the Minnesota flag! Go Minnesota!

Below is me feeble attempt at creative composure for your viewing pleasure/horror. Lets hope it is not the latter. ;)

Oh and don't forget the shot that has been taken millions of times! It's so important that you see the faces from that awesome angle that you have seen a thousand times before. You know sometimes I almost don't take a picture because I know that it has been completely "shot to death"! Just a random thought.

Well I hope you enjoyed this post! I'll be back soon with some more updates on our trip! My battery is about to die so I am going to quickly post this and head back to the cabin before I become a snack for some fortunately large animal/monster as it is almost too dark to see the ground, The light from the computer screen being all that is illuminating my skilled keystrokes! 10% battery remaining! I'll check in later!

2009-07-06T08:00:00.004-05:00

Summit Ministries

I am currently in a beautiful little coffee shop in downtown Manitou Springs, CO enjoying the crystal clear air of the 6,000 some foot altitude. I am here for a two week academic camp called Summit Ministries! I am learning a ton about the way we as Christians should view the world around us.

Every morning I get up at about 5:45 and go out with those who are able to get up early and go for a walk for about an hour! It's so much fun to be able to just plain relax. Some mornings I take pictures and others, like today, we simply find a coffee shop and chill.

The Summit building is what used to be a 5 star hotel in its day. The building and the surroundings are beautiful.

We were able to enjoy that awesome fireworks on the 4th that were launched from the mountain side.

God is great and I'm excited to learn as much as I can from all of the great speakers this week!

2009-06-17T18:52:00.006-05:00

Canada Fishing!

Gliding across the crystal clear water on one of a

series of beautiful lakes in Canada is something that little else can top. Catching the fish, enjoying the shore lunch, playing games late into the night, watching the sunset, and taking photographs made this trip one of the best I've ever been able to go on!

Above is an amazing waterfall that was about 16 miles on boat to get to!

I used a polarizing filter that allowed me to see through the reflections in the pond allowing you to see the bottom.

Below was our fuel for the trek up to Canada early Friday morning! Here is "Big Ben's" first bite of grandpa's oatmeal!

This picture was taken on a rock close to the bottom of a waterfall as you can see the reflection in the right lens of the glasses.

Just one of the amazing sunsets that I was able to enjoy, capture, and share with you!

Shore lunch happened every day any time from 11:30am to 4:00pm.

Here are the guys filleting out the morning catch!

Practicing the crucial discipline of keeping the truck topped off with top quality gasoline!

This is what I like to call a "Sunburst" with the rays of light coming through the clouds.

A short video clip.

Thanks for reading!

2009-05-27T01:12:00.001-05:00

Prom 2009

I don't know if you ever had the chance to go to a prom as a high school student but my guess is that you probably did! You know the fancy clothes, the dance, the games, and especially the food! Good times! Great memories!

I went with Rachel Graupmann (Above)

Here is me and my pals! Chris, me, Jacob, and Caleb.

This is my attempt at taking a "creative" picture! Oh and see the limo? Yeah that was my ride! A bunch of my friends and I all chipped in so that we could all ride with class!

2009-04-12T07:27:00.001-05:00

Bemidji Sunset

So as the sun was setting I was preparing for, what I hoped would be, an amazing sunset shoot! I wasn't too disappointed either!

The clouds and sun were glorious! All pictures were taken with my D90 on a tripod. If there is one important thing that I could pound into someones head it would be to use a tripod whenever possible.

Now, as you may have noticed the above picture does not follow the "rule of thirds." That's okay though because rules are meant to be broken in certain situations. In this case the snow on the lake was not "good" enough for me to frame it. The subject is clearly the sun with the clouds above it therefore capturing the snow just to put the horizon on a third was not applicable.

Below was a puddle of melted snow and ice (Water?) that created a beautiful reflection for me near the public swimming area on Grace Lake.

It is now Sunday morning and Bombay and I are at Dunn Bros Coffee overlooking Lake Bemidji. It is beautiful! Perhaps I will have to post a few pictures of this wonderful little shop! Thanks for checking out my blog!

2009-03-23T23:53:00.001-05:00

PWP Day 4 and 5

Hey everyone! Sorry that I was not able to keep up with my posting on the last 2 days of my trip. Flight details and other things prevented me from it. So below are a few more pictures that I really like! I hope that you will enjoy them! The picture below was taken in Balboa Park.

A lonesome dog tied to a bench. Can't you just feel that lonesomeness?

A squirrel that was working on getting that nut open!

A very awesome building in San Diego.

Thanks everyone for taking a look and following my blog during my trip! I love you guys! Our God is an awesome God!

2009-03-19T02:43:00.001-05:00

PWP 2 Day 3

Here is a picture that I took last night in (You guessed it!) Little Italy! It was pretty cool but I was somewhat "pictured out" at that point in my day.

Below is a group of Navy people running in Balboa Park.

After all was said and done we went out for an amazing supper at an Italian restaurant! The food was delicious!

Movie theater. ;)

2009-03-18T00:23:00.002-05:00

PWP 2 Day 2

Here is another ocean picture for you guys! This is actually 5 or so pictures merged together into one to create the misty water look on the rocks. HERE is a video that Brad and I made. It is really hilarious! Check it out!

Today we had a speed shoot called "change" and this was my favorite picture from that shoot!

This was also for a photo shoot relating to "cars". This was a little bit abstract but it still worked!

Ah, nothing like a good cup of Cappuccino! This was taken in a local coffee shop. My 50mm f/1.4 lens was used.

I'll be back again soon! Thanks for reading/checking my blog out!

2009-03-16T19:26:00.006-05:00

PWP 2 Day 1

Well we're back at it with PWP 2! Today we had a lesson on "dramatic lighting". We had to take 2 flower pictures, 2 army man pictures, 2 colored water pictures, and 2 candle pictures.

Below is Jake the crazy awesome gymnast doing a "flag pole" along with my military dude. Oh, and there isn't anyone holding his legs up either! He is just hanging onto the stop sign!

Here is a picture of "colored water". I placed my SB-600 Nikon flash under the glass to bring out the color in the water.

I used a gold reflector with my external flash to create the reflections in the sides of the candle holders. I thought it turned out quite nice!

I'll have more tomorrow!

2009-03-14T02:32:00.001-05:00

PWP Day 5

Today we went to the beach finally and got some amazing sunset pictures! I am going to be a little bit short winded tonight because it is really late.

This picture was taken with a star filter and my 18-105mm lens.

Here is my self portrait! I did everything myself! Our instructor, Rowan Gilson, said after all that DSLR photographers are "control freaks"!

Seagull on the beach during sunset.

2009-03-12T01:20:00.002-05:00

PWP Day 4

Today we learned about taking portraits and black and white photography. I am keeping only 4 photos per post so I don't have any portraits in here because there were other pictures that I liked better. Today our contest theme was HERITAGE! I couldn't really think of a good way to take a picture of something that would simply yell out heritage so this is what I came up with! The pictures will be judged in the morning.

I think that the below photo is going to be my submission for the photo of the day.

Below is the freeway. So far Brad and I have been going out every night and taking pictures! It is so fun!

This man was teaching the little school kids about how the dentist "used to be" and how there were no pain killers! This picture was taken in a place called "Old Town".

Oh and in the previous post my photo with the hand holding the light bulb was picked for the "light" category.

2009-03-11T03:25:00.002-05:00

PWP Day 3

Hey everyone! I know I am a little bit late with this post but last night Brad and I decided to go taking night pictures. For the pictures that I posted yesterday the "orange" photo won the prize for the "orange" category! I also won the "old" contest. HERE is the link to the IPS website where my pictures have now been uploaded. There were three contests total on Monday and all three were taken with Nikon D90s! Below is the picture that I am entering into the "light" category.

This guy was just taking it easy in the park and I actually had the opportunity to witness to him!

A little bit of macro photography

Here is the picture that I am entering into the "photo of the day" contest. It is one of the night pictures that I took last night. The picture was taken with my 50mm lens at f/1.4.

I love photography!

2009-03-10T01:12:00.001-05:00

PWP Day 2

So today we had our basic training on what a DSLR is. Very basic things. Things that I really would have not needed to learn again but anyway after we got through that we got to go take pictures! There are various competitions that we do and the first was to get a picture that just communicated orange. Here is the picture that I was able to capture in downtown San Diego! The photos will be judged in the morning so I can't wait to see what develops!

Alright I know I'm mean but I just had to take a picture of the GREEN grass! This was actually taken in front of a building in the middle of town. The road and traffic lights were eliminated from the frame by careful positioning.

As with any large city there are always those who don't have the best of conditions to live in.

Below is just a creative way to communicate the train in relation to the vegetation present in the frame.

More pictures tomorrow!

2009-03-09T01:57:00.001-05:00

PWP Day 1

So today we just headed to the cities and took off for San Diego, CA with Sun Country airlines. We then met up with the other people in the photography class for pizza in this amazing little place in downtown San Diego! So here is a halfway decent picture taken over Colorado from the plane. Picture edited with Nikon Capture NX2. More pictures tomorrow!

2009-03-04T09:38:00.001-06:00

Food

We were sitting down to an amazing meal prepared by my wonderful father and I just had to get a picture! I used my 50mm AF-S f/1.4 lens at f/1.4.

I am going to be headed out to San Diego, CA on Sunday for a photography class so I will try to post 1 picture a day from that!

2009-02-16T11:45:00.003-06:00

Electricity

Bombay and I were on our way to Marshall and I had my camera gear along as usual and there were awesome pictures just waiting to be captured!

I shot all of the pictures with my D90 on my Manfrotto tripod. I used my 18-105mm lens.

An aperture of f/11 was used for a good depth of field.

Drag the shutter a little and you get a good sense of motion.

2009-02-04T22:55:00.003-06:00

Super Bowl Party!

I am sure that most of you watched the Super Bowl on Sunday as I did with a bunch of my friends! We had about 30 teens from 4:00 until about 11:30! It was a ton of fun although the Cardinals did lose which was HORRIBLE!

Above is a shot of some of us around the table playing 10,000! It's my dad's favorite game I think. The football game was actually in progress at this time which shows you how much everyone there cared about the game.

Now I am also sure that you heard about the 3D commercials that they had going on for this years Super Bowl. Well, every person that walked in the door brought about 20 pairs to share! It turns out that they were giving them away at the grocery store for free so why not bring extra! By the time everyone got there we had enough glasses to outfit all of my sisters dolls and probably all of the animals living on the farm and still have at least a pair for each person! The 3D did work well though on our projection screen!

Here is a shot of the dice rolling out of the hand of Nathan Snell. I used my wireless Nikon SB600 flash (To the right in the picture.) and prefixed the focus on a country on the map and told him to roll right on that spot! It turned out well I thought.

This is where we hung out after the football game playing music, basketball, and whatever else we could play! The previous night we had painted the entire upstairs of our chicken house! It was a blast! We actually went barefoot to paint the floor! No rollers necessary! I'm going to try to post a video of that here pretty soon. Well, that is all for now! I hope that your Super Bowl Sunday was as amazing as mine was!

2009-01-23T18:36:00.002-06:00

Sun dogs

Wow! Did God do an awesome job on that or what! Just thought that it was a good shot to share! The picture was taken in NEF (Nikon Electronic Format) which is a type of RAW file and then later edited with Nikon Capture NX2.

2009-01-22T22:52:00.003-06:00

Night Photography

Well, to those of you who don't know me I am pretty much a Walmart guru so why not take some pictures at such a wonderful location! Okay so you know how they push all of the snow into those giant piles in the parking lot right? (And Walmart has a huge parking lot because of it's awesomeness!) Plus since we've had a lot, no wait, a mother load of snow there was this amazing opportunity that presented itself! Well, actually we were waiting for the girls... which is routine every time you go somewhere that they can spend their petty pennies! Okay, I'm done, but the pictures, I thought, were pretty cool.

Above: Shutter speed was 10 seconds with an aperture of f/36 for maximum depth of field.

Here are the boring photo details. Feel free to skip over it or you can click on the links to learn what the numbers mean. The ISO was the same for both pictures at LO1 which is equivalent to 22. A star filter was used to create the lighting effect.

Shutter speed was 10 seconds with an aperture of f/22 for a sharp depth of field.

2009-01-06T12:24:00.003-06:00

Colorado Ski Trip

Wow! What a trip! I had so much fun skiing the slopes of Aspen, Colorado. I don't know if many of you heard about the bomb threats that occurred on New Years Eve but because of the threats the fireworks were postponed to New Years Day! This worked out well for us because we arrived in Aspen on New Years Day! Below is one of the pictures from those amazing fireworks!

So every day we would get up around 7:30 and get ready to hit the slopes whether that be Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, or Highlands. All of the places that we went to were within a half hour of Aspen. So the lifts opened at 9:00am and closed at 3:30pm and once we were done skiing we would walk around downtown and look at all of the things that were extremely over priced. Below is a picture of our group downtown under all of the amazing lights on the trees.

From left to right: Steve, Julie, Kevin, Chris, Jacob, Kyle, Edwardo, and I.

The picture below was taken from the top of Aspen mountain. The view up there takes your breath away. There was also a lodge on the top of the mountain that we could warm up or eat in. The food was amazingly good! Delicious!

Hope you enjoyed looking at the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them! God is amazing!

2008-12-23T11:24:00.001-06:00

My House

Above is a house that my dad recently purchased that I am working on restoring! So far I only have gutted the main level.

Above two of my fearless helpers; Annika and Kathrin (Our foreign exchange student.).

The picture below is of us dressed up in some old things we found in the house.

It actually isn't really my house yet. I'm working on buying it from my dad slowly.

2008-11-29T18:37:00.004-06:00

Barefoot Skiing

Here is a compilation a few of my friends and I doing our best at barefoot skiing.

2008-11-29T13:55:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone! I hope that you all had an amazing Thanksgiving! Always remember that Thanksgiving is really about being thankful!

Every year my church (Tracy Alliance) prepares a Thanksgiving meal for anyone from the community to attend. It is always a success. After all it is a free meal!

Following the meal we always have a concert in which we host one music group. This year we had the privilege of having the Herrlinger Family.

2008-11-24T00:03:00.004-06:00

Nikon D90!LINK

I very recently purchased a new Nikon D90 and I am loving every snap that I take!

It was a very large investment but I am hoping to do a lot with it in the coming years.

2008-11-04T20:12:00.003-06:00

MY TOOTH

Hey everyone! I haven't been blogging at all for a long time! Here is a video of my tooth being extracted by my wonderful father! Hope it is very enjoyable for you to watch! :P

2008-05-06T12:26:00.002-05:00

Wow! We were doing some reading outside when the wind suddenly picked up, causing us to retreat into the shelter of our home. Within ten minutes it had turned into a hail storm! The hail was about dime sized and ceased after 10 to 15 minutes.

The ground was covered, and combined with the rain, the gutters were over-flowing.

2008-05-05T13:05:00.002-05:00

Encore!

It was very exciting to have a drama team from Crown College come to our church to do a performance for all of our community Alliance youth! They were a very talented group of college kids that go around performing for churches.

They did an excellent job and pulled every person in the crowd into the story!

The piano player was amazing! It would be so awesome to be able to play like him! Maybe I will make it there someday if I keep on working on all that paino!

2008-04-16T11:07:00.012-05:00

Nintendo Wii!

After all of us kids (with help from mom) finally convinced my dad that we should get a Wii, everyone was excited. Now, getting your hands on a Nintendo Wii is a little tricky because the moment any Wii comes into stock at a retailer it is out of the door just as fast as it came in! We had gone down to Sioux falls to do some shopping and I thought that we would have been able to get one while down there. I was wrong. I had been checking around and no one had a Wii in stock anywhere in Sioux Falls. Once home, I started to call Marshall's stores. After about three weeks I called Wal-Mart and they said that they might get a few in stock later that day. I called them that afternoon and they said that they had 5 in stock! I was excited! I called my dad because he was in Marshall at the time and was able to get one picked up!

We set up the Wii in our family room and connected it to our projector. The innovations that the Wii works into gaming make it a much more interactive gaming system then previous consoles. We purchased two games; Wii Sports and Wii Play. The little kids enjoy bowling, which is nice because you can have 4 players at a time. They also like to fish, race cows, and shoot clay pigeons. Fun fun!

Above, Annika and my dad are trying to figure out the baseball. My dad was throwing some nasty curve-balls! Poor Annika. Remember though, this was one of her first times playing so don't judge her to soon or she just might knock the socks off of you if you take her on in a game of Wii baseball!

On the Wii, there are channels such as weather, news, games, pictures, and the Mii channel. The Mii channel allows you to create your own character, allowing you to change the hair, eyebrows, nose, mouth, etc. Above is my mother's Mii while bowling. Any resemblances? Come on over and try your skill! I have a lot of siblings. One of them is bound to be at your skill level!

2008-04-14T10:36:00.007-05:00

Well, The Sound Of Music is now over. How sad! It all went by so fast! It was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to get to know other people from the community. This, being my first performance in a production of any significance, was a challenge at first but as time went on I was able to fit into my part more seamlessly. Towards the last few practices everything was ironed out as far as my dialog, singing, and choreography. The first performance was a bit nerve-racking but once I was finished with the 16 going on 17 scene I felt awesome about the rest! The next three performances went with a degree of excellence.

To the left is Captain VonTrapp. I am to the right if you can recognize me under all of that makeup! The Captain and I never got along on-stage but had a lot of fun off-stage!

This is from the scene where I was giving the VonTrapps a last warning that the Captain had better reconsider his views or get out of the country! Leisl, (Megan Gilmore) to the left, is shocked at the way that I am speaking of the Captain along with Maria, (Maria Schmidt) to the right.

This is Gretel. She was the youngest VonTrapp. I thought that this picture was way to cute to not post! She was playing play dough! How fun! They had all sorts of things to do in the cafeteria during the productions because they didn't want the little kids in the choir to "break their necks running around in the hallway." Poor kids, confined to play dough and crayons.

These are the party nuns. This title was earned because they were able to break out of their nunly roles to become the formal dinner guests at the party held at the VonTrapp home before returning to their habits once again to finish the rest of the play! Word is that they had a blast backstage. Don't let their proper attire fool you!

Leisl and I after a performance.

Thanks to everyone who came to see us!

2008-01-27T17:48:00.000-06:00

Oh, The Sound of Music! How did this happened? I am not quite sure. My mother wanted me to try out for The Sound of Music the other day in Tracy and she didn't have me convinced so she said "Oh, just come along and once you get there you can decide if you want to try out or not." Bad decision on my part! I should have known better! Anyway, once we got there and went in, the lady at the desk asked "Is he going to be trying out?" And guess what my sweet mother said? She said that I was! So I thought "This isn't so bad. I'll just go and try out and then I'll just end up getting some small part anyway." So I did try out. We didn't find out until Friday what parts we had but then... the list came. At first I was excited because I didn't see my name on any of the minor parts so I thought that I didn't make it at all! But then I saw my name. "Ben Sahlstrom as Rolf Gruber"! "Oh man" I thought to myself and with a sigh I went upstairs. Today was the first practice and it went pretty good. I am not going to back out, although I thought about it. I am sure that it will be a good experience and I'll get to know some new people so that will be fun. Anyway, I'll have to get some pictures and post them later on!

Update 03-03-08

We are now about a month away from our production date which is April 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th and so far things have been running very smooth. I have been able to make it to all of the practices so I am right up to date on everything. I have about half of my lines very solidly memorized. Yesterday (Sunday March 2) we went through the complete first half of the play or Act I. It was the first time that I had to do my part with Leisl in front of everyone. We did that whole scene script-free! I still need to work on what I need to be doing with my body motions. Where I should be looking, standing, or making gestures. I think that that is referred to as choreography. Anyway, I think that it is all going to turn out quite well! I will try to update this a few more times before production weekend!

2008-01-14T10:00:00.000-06:00

Yeee ha! There is nothing quite as fun as going out for a refreshing ride on your quad at any point in time during the year. Something about it is just freeing! You can somehow escape from all of the things that you know that you should be doing...ha ha. Anyway, the below picture is of Brad Hicks on his Suzuki 250. I was taking pictures so I was unable to get any of myself.

This is Sam Pfaffe. He is riding a Yamaha 200 2-stroke. (I generally dislike 2-strokes because of their higher maintenance.)

The one in the middle is a kid from Marshall. He was riding a very old Honda 200SX but was keeping up pretty well.

Now of course I had to put one of me on here! lol I will have to get one of my friends to take some pictures next time we ride.

Hope that you enjoyed this blog post! I will try to continue to update my blog periodically. If you check mine you probably have noticed that it does not get updated too often.

2008-01-12T08:53:00.000-06:00

A bunch of my friends and I all went down to a pond that we know of and brought giant tubes and four wheelers and pulled each other around on the ice! It was a blast! The night before they all spent the night and we watched The Matrix on our projector! We didn't go to sleep until about 3:00. We also played table tennis, 10,000 and foosball. What a crazy night! It was all good. Everyone made it home with no major injuries and I know everyone had a ton of fun! I am hoping to do this again next year.

In this photo from left to right: Liana, Jonothan, Tyler, Jacob, Aaron, Brad, Skylar, Levi, Annika, Ian, Jason, Nathan and Spencer.

2007-11-14T10:41:00.000-06:00

Staten Island

Here is a report that I had to do this week on Staten Island in New York.

Staten Island rests in the south east area of New York City which is divided up into five areas called boroughs. A borough in New York City is a unique form of government used to administer the five constituent counties that make up the city. In other parts of the world borough can refer to slightly different meanings. The Staten Island Borough includes 58.5 square miles of land, and water makes up the other 44.0 square miles; for a total area of 102.5 square miles. The first record of contact with the Island was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano.

Staten Island, with an approximated population of four hundred seventy seven thousand, three hundred seventy seven, is sometimes called “the forgotten borough,” as it is less well know than the other boroughs. Staten Island, as its name implies, is surrounded by water on all sides and therefore it has many bridges that allow the public to drive to other places without having to fly or cross on the water. One of the bridges is called the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and is a double decked suspension bridge that connects Staten Island to Brooklyn at the Narrows. It has a center span of 4,260 feet and was the largest suspension bridge in the world from its completion in 1964 to 1981. Its massive towers can be seen from many parts of the New York metropolitan area including spots of all five boroughs of New York City.

Staten Island was of great benefit to the British forces under William Howe in 1776 when they evacuated Boston to prepare for an attack on New York City. Howe used the strategic location of Staten Island as a staging ground for the attack. The British remained on the island throughout the war. Many buildings and churches were destroyed, and the military demand for resources resulted in an extensive deforestation of the island by the end of the war. The British again used the island as a staging ground for their final evacuation of New York City on December 5, 1783. Today Staten Island is considered the most suburban of the five boroughs of New York City. The North Shore of the island is the most urban, with the South Shore accommodating the more suburban style residential neighborhoods.

2007-10-25T10:15:00.000-05:00

Pico Tiger Moth

My dad has been getting into the remote control airplane world lately. He seems to enjoy being able to escape from the house and relieve the heavy stress of being a dad to 9 kids by going out on a still day and giving his plane some air time. He is getting better all of the time and is hoping that he will be able to fly his other plane soon. His other plane is much faster flying, and has the ability to do barrel rolls and climb up at a steeper degree. I have a model helicopter that I have posted about before which has complications right now. The main control box has been doing very interesting things that are not beneficial to the machine so it is on bed rest for now.

He is fairly predictable with his flight now, but when he started you had better not be in the way and if you were you had better move. This is actually his second plane of this type. His first one was smashed and glued and then smashed again and it got to the point that it could not fly due to the weight caused by the great amount of epoxy that was holding the plane together.

He has been able to do a few very risky moves without any major damages to his piece of work. One time he did a dive and barely pulled out in time to avoid the fast approaching ground. The wings were pulled up into an even sharper V shape but he was at least able to land in one piece.

I think that model airplanes are a wonderful constructive hobby that can be learned from, therefore making it somewhat profitable to buy yourself one and learn all of the components that are in a small airplane. Giving you the ability to identify parts on real airplanes and therefore gaining life skills.

Hope that you enjoyed this post! I am doing some of my posting for composition practice so you are my faithful reader that is at the mercy of what I choose to type.

2007-09-26T16:05:00.000-05:00

My trip to the boundary waters!

Here is a quite friendly seagull that was kind enough to pose for me.

Amazing colors!

2007-09-26T16:02:00.000-05:00

A gorgeous sunset!

2007-09-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

Climbing on the roots of a turned over tree

Taking a break on the long portage.

A nice crappie that I caught.

All of us sitting at our island camp.

2007-09-26T15:26:00.000-05:00

Jonothan, me and Jacob

Lots of paddling!

Got to GO!

2007-09-26T15:25:00.000-05:00

Long ride!

Caleb

Down Town Ely.

Pizza!

2007-09-25T11:43:00.000-05:00

I know that my blog has been a bit "stale" lately but now that the summer is over I have a little bit more time to do things like this for school.

The Spencer Fair in Iowa!

On Saturday we had a wedding in Balaton for Robert and Katey Miller. At the reception Skylar Schwartz asked me if I wanted to come with them to the spencer fair! I decided to go and got my stuf together. We left at arroung 7:30 on Sunday morning and were checked in arround 10:00. We went through most of the buildings by 5:00 and then headed over to the tractor pull.

Below is what they call a "Super Stock" tractor.

Another Super Stock!

Now this one below is one of my favorites! It is powered by a jet engine and is amazing to watch! The sound that it puts out as it flies by will take your breath away!

Another amazing modified!

2007-04-10T16:15:00.001-05:00

Tuesday, April 10th, 2007

Today we didn't have anything really going on. When I woke up it was snowing! I had heard the day before that it was going to snow but it is still surprising when you get it this late. Anyway we had breakfast and I headed out to milk the cow. All went as usual and I was done in no time. I came in the house and started on my editing project for the movie that Skylar and I are producing for the contest coming up. It was going really well and I was all finished with what I could do because we are not quite finished capturing all of our footage. Anyway, when I was all done I went down stairs for lunch and when I came back up the computer had logged out and I lost all of the work that I had done! I guess that is how it goes with electronics but I am going to have to start all over. I guess it is a lesson on patience. So now I have to attempt to take a chemistry test before the day is over. Next we did unit study and I have a few more subjects left to complete. I am doing one of them right now (Journaling) So that is all for now!

2007-04-10T16:14:00.002-05:00

Easter Vacation

This last weekend my cousin Nat came don to visit from crown collage because had Easter break. We had a blast! On the first day that he was here we just goofed off and ended up staying up until 2:00 or so. On Friday we went into the bank in Tracy and got 200 dollars worth of coins. We divided the 200 dollars between pennies, nickles, dimes, and quarters giving us 50$ of each. The lady at the counter asked us if we had anything to carry them out in but we didn't so we ended up using Nat's coat to carry them in. we looked like we were robbing the bank because he was carrying this huge bag of coins out of the bank in his leather jacket. After that we went to DQ and got our selves some ice-cream. It was a lot of fun. Once we got back It was time for me to do chemistry labs with the other home-schooled students at my place. (we take turns hosting it) There was Hannah, Meridith, Anna, Maddie, and I that were doing it. I was really mad at this one boy that was supposed to do chemistry with us but he dropped out leaving me as the only boy. Oh well I guess that is the way it goes. So anyway, that took about four hours and it all went good. We did this one experiment that we used lemon juice and wrote on a piece of paper with it using a Q-tip and then let it dry. After it was dry we mixed up some water with a little bit of iodine and then put the paper into the solution. It was awesome! It made the paper turn all blue except for where you had written on the paper with the lemon water! So I thought that was pretty cool.

So after we had finished up with chemistry some of the people that were in chemistry left. Most of them however stayed and hung out for awhile. Annika and Meridith wanted me to help them start working on a movie for this event coming up. So they were doing that for quite awhile. After all was said and done I went onto the computer and was talking to Jacob and he was wondering if we wanted to come to a movie with him. I told him that I would talk to my parents and they said that we could go. Annika was coming with us but she didn't want to watch a movie so she called Liana and asked her if we could just hang out with them at her house. So that is what we ended up doing which I am glad that we did because that way you get to actually interact with each other rather than just watching a movie. So we just sat around and played games until 11:45 and then we headed home. We had Brad and Meridith with us so we dropped them off on the way. By the time we got home it was 12:20 or so and we still hadn't eaten supper so we put a pizza in the oven to be our supper. It took around an hour to cook so we just talked until then. After we ate our pizza we finally went to bed.

Saturday: We had a few different things going on and we kinda slept in because we stayed up so late. I got a phone call around 7:30 and that is what woke me up. It was Chelsie and she was told me that they were going to be playing volleyball Saturday night and was wondering if we wanted to come. I said that I would ask and see what my parents wanted to do. After I got off of the phone we started looking through all of the coins we had gotten the day before. I think we had 9 wheat pennies before we quit which was around 11:00 am or so. Jacob had called and was wondering if we could come play walleyball with him at the YMCA but that didn't work out because we were making cheese and ice-cream. Around 4:00 Cindy called and talked to my mom and was talking about the volleyball thing that night. My mom said that Nat, Annika and I could just go because they had to finish some stuff. It started at 7:00 and it is just for the fun of it so it doesn't really matter what time that you get there. We got there at 7:30 and jumped in their game. It was a blast! I loved it. We played until around 10:45 or so and then headed home. When we got home it was like 11:30 an we had decided to try to go to sleep a little bit earlier but we still didn't go to sleep until around 1:00.

The next morning was Church so we headed into that at around 10:00. When we got home we had lunch and then my dad got a call that one of the main water lines at the trailer court had broken under ground and water was coming up. My dad, Na and I went in to take a look at it and had them call Gopher1 to come check out where all of the lines were. We stopped and got some candy since it was Easter Sunday and then headed over to the Hickses to have an Easter egg hunt. After the hunt was done we played volleyball until it got dark and then we headed home. We went to sleep at around 2:00 I would say. So it was an AWESOME weekend.

2007-04-10T16:14:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 The Weather

As I walked outside this morning at about 10:00am everything felt very wet and cold. It was misting and everything about it made me want to go inside and play a card game in front of the fireplace. Of course I couldn't do that because I have a ton of schoolwork to get done and later on at 2:30 I have my piano lessons which I am not looking forward to. Anyway, back to the weather. There was a slight breeze and the air was filled with the sounds of black birds that always come around this time of year in great numbers. The air was very fresh. It made me want to take deep breaths which I did. That is how I would describe the weather as of this morning.

Subaru Brat

2007-03-27T14:46:00.001-05:00

A commercial I made.

2007-02-12T10:34:00.002-06:00

http://www.agloco.com/r/BBBW8671

Honda Asimo

2007-01-18T20:11:00.001-06:00


A demo of Hondas robot Asimo at CES 2006

2007-01-18T09:49:00.000-06:00

Creative Zen V Plus

Here is the player my sister has just bought. It is still coming so when it gets here I will update you. It looks like a great player as far as I have read online but we will see.

OK, it has arrived and Annika is very pleased with it so far. It has 300MB free space from the 2GB it originally had because we to have been filling it up. It is extremely user friendly and the battery lasts 15 hours so you won't have to worry about that. This is a very nice player.

2007-01-18T09:40:00.000-06:00

Creative Zen Vision: MHere is my Creative Zen Vision: M that I have just purchased about a month ago. I have been very impressed with it so far and have no complaints for it. It has frozen up a couple of times but I just reset it and it works fine. It will, play videos (I have about 15 full length movies on it right now), play music, record voice, FM radio, pictures, and an organizer that has a number of features. I would recommend this awesome player by Creative to anyone.

2006-12-11T09:07:00.001-06:00

Books:

Leif Ericson
Roald Amendsen
Call it Courage

2006-09-19T12:31:00.000-05:00

I just purchased this model helicopter and am waiting for its delivery. I can't wait until it gets here so I can try it out.

I will update you once it arrives.

Well, it has arrived and I have had it for about a month but have been practicing on the simulator so that once I started flying it I wouldn't destroy it right away. Well, the simulator helped but it isn't exactly like the real thing. The recommendations for beginners is to do what is called "bunny hopping" which is hovering about 1-2 feet off the ground and then bringing it back down and repeating the process until you can hover for fairly long periods of time. I have begun to do this and it is difficult. The highest I have gotten off the ground is about 3 feet. I destroyed one battery because I charged it wrong (luckily it was a cheap battery off eBay). It uses li-poly batteries which are a new type that is somewhat still in its "experimental form" so you have to be extremely careful with them.
In one particular "bunny hopping" session I lifted it off the ground and when I brought it back down it was sliding sideways and tipped over on the blades! (Actually it has happened a number of times and lucky for me the blades are made to "collapse" when it happens.) It is a scary feeling though. Anyway, when it tipped over this time I went and picked it up and straightened out the blades and it wouldn't work! I turned it off and back on and watched it. There is this little LED light indicator that flashes green when you first turn it on and once it calibrates itself it glows a steady green. Well this time, when I turned it on, it would flash green a couple of times and then it would start flickering red-green-red-green. I turned it back off and felt around on the main control box called the 4-in-1 and on the left side it felt hot!
Well being a beginner in the RC helicopter world I did not want to mess anything up further so I went upstairs and went to check on the computer for some info on the problem. Well, after I looked around for awhile, I found a forum site for RC helicopters and found one particular post that had the same problem as me and I read the answer from the "experts" and they said that it was a bad servo (controls the angle of the rotor head) that was drawing too many amps and therefore heating up the 4-in-1 which was causing this out-of-control acting. And actually, when this happened, I was holding the helicopter on the counter when it suddenly took off full throttle! It went shooting to the floor and was spinning like crazy and I had no control of the helicopter whatsoever with the remote! I ended up reaching under the helicopter while it was going and un-plugging the battery to get it to stop.
So I ordered a new servo and a few other parts and when they came I had it going again. I had my sister, Annika, video me flying it and I made a video with music (YEAH!) to my flying! I am going to put it on Google Video but am having trouble loading it. When I get it I will put a link on here. So that is pretty much it for now for the helicopter!

I'll try to keep updating!

OK, here is another update. I can now hover for fairly long periods of time. I think my record has been like 10 minutes or so. It is really fun and my plan is to take it to the gym and try flying around in there rather than just flying in the garage. They don't really recommend flying it outside because the slightest wind affects it greatly.

2006-09-07T15:39:00.000-05:00

BRUTUS

I have run over him about ten times with fourwheelers and dirt bikes and he is still living!

This is him!

2006-09-07T15:07:00.000-05:00

My new cousin,

Elianna Grace

2006-09-07T14:55:00.000-05:00

MY LITTLE SISTER

Katrina Hope AGE: 3

2006-09-07T14:42:00.000-05:00

Feeling toadish?

2006-09-07T14:37:00.000-05:00

HONDA 250x

This is me on my Honda 250x fourwheeler that I purchased about 4 years ago. It has been a good quad for me to learn how fourwheelers work.

This picture was taken in Milaca, MN

2006-09-05T18:45:00.000-05:00

TWO SPARROWS TALKING

2006-09-05T18:38:00.000-05:00

MY CAMPING SPOT

It was the weekend of the fourth of July and my cousin and I decided to pile up rocks in the middle of my Grandpa's river. It was AWESOME!

2006-09-04T23:37:00.000-05:00

Today I fixed a few problems on my Honda 300 4x4. I had noticed an oil leak and had taken off the starter cover where I thought the leak was coming from. Well, when I did so, I found that the starter bearing had gone out so I marked that down on my eternal list of parts that I needed to order. I also marked down a missing side cover bolt and a gasket where the oil leak was.

While I had the starter cover off I noticed that one of that shafts that held a gear in place had a rough end and was a little too short so I figured that someone had lost the original and put a piece of rod in. I marked that down along with a few other odds and ends and ordered the parts.

When the parts came I started by removing the starter cover to reveal the gears and bearings of the starter gearing. I needed to get out the old bearing race that was in the side cover, which was difficult because I had no way of getting behind it to push/pound it out. I thought about it for awhile and decided to weld a piece of black iron pipe on the race and twist it out with a pipe wrench. It worked great! One of my friends, Ryan Tholen was helping me and was pulling up on the black iron pipe and when it came loose it came up and smacked into his head! It wasn't too bad but it must have hurt! Anyway, next we scraped off the old gasket and sanded the old gasket sealer off. Then I sprayed it with some carb cleaner and got off all the old junk on it. I oiled up the gears and parts and then I pressed in the new starter bearing. It went in smooth as butter. and so I replaced the gears and shafts and bearings to their respected places and tightened the new gasket in between the starter cover and the starter/crankcase.

I had also bought a cover that was missing and I tightened that on as well. I double checked everything and made sure all was well. I turned on the key and tried out that electric start. It worked awesome!

So that is the latest on my HONDA

Tell me what you think!

2006-09-04T23:36:00.000-05:00

Tracy Parade

This morning we started to get ready to go in the parade for Labor Day in Tracy, MN. We were doing an Awana float for our church. We mounted the signs in the back of my dad's Ford f150 King Ranch and mounted an American flag along with a Christian flag on the top.

We left at about 11:30 and were about a mile away when we looked in the rear view mirror and we saw the float, in the pickup, lift out and go crashing to the ground! We quick stopped the truck and backed up to the site. At first it looked ok, but when we looked closer we saw that one of the 2x4s that held up the flags and Awana signs had broken!

We got it back in the truck and we had to go back and get some wood and screws to fix it. My mom was behind us with our van so my dad hopped in there and went back and got the stuff to fix it. He got back in 5-7 minutes and we fixed the problems. It didn't look too bad for what it had gone through.

He had me sit in the back the rest of the way to hold down the float. We went to our church to pick up some people that were coming with us on the float. After that we went down and got in line.

The parade started at about 1:00 but it takes awhile to feel the affect when you are back towards the end. So we started to move at about 1:30. Once we got going it wasn't to bad. My job was to watch and make sure that the flags didn't catch any tree branches or wires and to keep the candy buckets filled for the people that were walking. I also did the Awana music for the float. When I wasn't doing any of the above I got to sit on top through the sun roof and gock at the people. Just kidding! Well I had fun anyway.

So that is my day in the parade!

2006-07-15T00:41:00.000-05:00

This is a link for my web albums!

2006-04-19T08:29:00.000-05:00

My Wrist

I was in the barn milking the cow one night, when I decided to change a lightbulb that had burnt out. It just so happens that this lightbulb is about 14 feet off the ground. So I had this great idea to put the lightbulb in my back pocket and do monkey bars out to the light bulb and change it. Needless to say things didn't go as planned. I got out to the third rafter, and I went to bring my left hand up to the right and...........yep you guessed it, I slipped. I don't really don't know what happened between the moment I slipped to the moment I hit the ground.All I knew was that I was on the concrete. When I opened my eyes I didn't think I was hurt. Jimmy Zeug had came out with me to the barn to help milk the cow and he came running out saying "are you OK?". I said "I'm OK" but when I pulled my left hand out I knew that I wasn't OK. If you look at the palm of your left hand and bend it alll the way over backwards, that is what it looked like. But worse! It was all twisted and the bone almost came thourgh the front of my wrist! It wasn't pretty.Jim said "Stay here! I am going to go get your dad." I didn't really care, all I wanted was some pain killers. They were back in a flash with the S10 pickup. They helped me to my feet and every slight movement was the most horrible agonizing pain. When I was finally in the truck my dad went flying to the house and ran in to get some ice and a pillow. My sisters came running out to see what had happened and they couldn't take the look of my wrist.Meanwhile my mom was calling all the hospitals to see where they should take me. She called Marshall first and the lady there told us to bring me in and they would look at it. But my mom asked them "Do you have an orthapedic surgeon?" The lady said, "Well, no he moved to Slayton." My mom hung up the phone the instant she said that and started looking for Slayton hospital's phone number.While she was looking the phone rang. She picked it up and it was Ian (one of my friends) and he said "Is Ben there?" My mom said "He just broke his wrist."He said "What?" but my mom had already hung up.She finally got thourgh to Slayton and she told my dad where to go and we were off. It was the longest ride I had ever had (or so it felt) and every little tiny bump was the most intense pain. I think my dad was going like 90 mph on the way. After 45 minetes we were there. It was nice they brought out a wheel chair so I wouldn't have to move my arm to much. After we got in there they had to ask me tons and tons of questions like, where do you live?, what is your address?, what is your email address?, what state do you live in?, what country?, what province?, do you live in the northern hemisphere or the sourthern?, are you a terrorist?, have you ever killed somone? have you ever used the bathroom? etc. etc. etc. before they could even look at my wrist!After all that they finally gave me some pain killers and then she came and slamed on this honkin pack of ice! It was the most painful thing I ever felt! Next they talked to my dad for a little while and the they put a splint on my wrist. And they put me in bed. I slept pretty good. I had to use the bathroom once and it was really miserable. You are supposed to have the nurse come and help you, but I survived. The next morning I was starving but they wouldn't give me anything because they thought I would throw up from the stuff they use to put you under.They brought me to a different room and layed me on the butcher block so the could start cutting me open. They gave me this mask and told me to breath deeply....................................the next thing I knew I was in a different room with my parents. I begged them (the nurses) for some food and they finally gave me a tiny, tiny thing of Cheerios. They were good after not eating for so long. I didn't throw up either.We went home and I was bumming because I couldn't ride fourwheeler because I couldn't pull the cluch. I fixed that! I took and put the cluch on the right handlebar so I did the throttle and the cluch with the same hand! Suprisingly enough it worked really good!Those two weeks felt like eternity with that wrist. but they were over eventually. We went back in to the doc to get a cast on (up till then I had a splint)They unwrapped it layer by layer and when they got down to the skin I was horrorfied at the look of the skin. there was all this green puss and the cloth was stuck to my skin and they just ripped it off!After they finally got it off, they cleaned it up a little more and then they put the cast on. I chose blue. The splint held my arm almost all the way up to my armpit and the cast was only on my forarm. So I could only move my arm partially.After two more weeks they took off the cast with a big thing that looks like a saw, and then out came the pins. They just hold you down while this guy uses a gigantic pliers to yank them out! They don't even give you pain killers! The next day I had to go be in my aunt Mindy's wedding. It is a good thing that I got my cast off otherwise I would have had to cut the tux!Well anyway that is the story on my left wrist.

2006-02-21T23:04:00.000-06:00

What I call HOME

This is my home place.

2006-02-21T22:47:00.000-06:00

These are some pictures that I took yesterday. It was downstairs on the floor.

For all you spider lovers!

2006-02-21T11:40:00.000-06:00

Biology

The Study of Life

Well so far so good on my biology I have got almost all A’sand it is pretty fun. We go over to our neighbors (the Hicks) and our place to do tests and labs.

My sister and I have six modules left until we are finished with the book. The module I hated the most was the one on the cell. You have to memorize a ton of terms and definitions. Needless to say I didn’t do very good on that one.

In previous modules we looked at pond water to see what was living in it and it was amazing! There was fat ones, short ones, long skinny ones that looked like hairs that were alive, etc. etc.It was awesome! We looked at mold spores on an orange peel under a microscope And they were awesome too!

Today We went over to the Hicks place to do Biology. We had to dissect a worm. It was amazing! I couldn’t believe that there was actually stuff in them besides dirt!We started by making a little slit toward the back and then we cut a slit all the way up to the wider part.

Next we used a tweezers to pull apart the skin and then pin it.After we got that part done we cut the rest of the way up and pinned it open. We used 56 pins! Next we had to draw a picture of it and label all the parts in our notes. I think I did pretty good.

Isn’t GOD great! I mean to put all that complex stuff inside something that is the size of a shoelace (but shorter)!

I got an A on my test so I am pretty happy. Next week we are going to dissect more stuff. It should be fun.

2006-02-21T11:23:00.000-06:00

MY HONDA 300 4X4

This is the ring and pinion in the rear diff.

OK about three months ago I decided to purchase a Honda 300 4X4 that was, well, pretty well shot. The rear end was shelled (it is shaft drive), as well as the front. The brakes were shot, air box cover was gone, the lights were bad, battery was dead, carb leaked, flat tires, broken ignition, rear hub was welded on, engine oil leaked, etc. Well with all that I didn't know what to expect next!

So I decided to start stripping it down until I had it down to the frame and the engine. I figured out what I needed for parts and I got most of them on Ebay. The rear end cost $760.00, the front end was $300.00 and the whole rig was only $200.00! But now I have them.

I went through the front hydraulic brakes and replaced the shoes. I checked the bearings and they needed replacement as well. It was a job! It took me half the time just to get out the old race! I was mad by the time I had it out. After that it didn't take long to finish up the rest.

I painted the front and back racks and the gas tank. The front bumper needs to be bent back straight and welded. I bought a winch and I have to mount it. It is really nice that the fourwheeler already has a utility plug so I don't need to run wires to the battery.

I filled the cells of the battery with sulferic acid and slow charged it to make sure that it took a good charge. It was a challenge to figure out the electrical system but I got that all up to good working condition.

Next I tightened all the loose nuts and bolts. I put on the front rack and bumper to make sure that it was in the right position before I welded it ( it was broken from being smashed into a tree).After I got it into position I welded it with our wire feed welder on setting 2 for the temp it welds at. I let it cool off for a while and then I took it off to paint it. I painted it gloss black.

I bought a new ignition and dash lights on Ebay for $70.00. When I went to put it on part of the handlebar was in the way (it was an aftermarket handlebar with the bar that goes over the top.). By the time I got the old dash off it was torn to pieces! I took off the handlebar and ground off the part that was in the way and painted it gloss black ( it was white and ugly!). After it dried I put it back on the machine, attached the throttle, and the electrical center. I tightened on the new dash and ignition and hooked up the wires. I hooked up the battery so I could test it. Everything worked great!

Well as I said earlier the rear end was shot. I looked around a little to see how much it would cost new. I found out that just the ring and pinion was $550.00!!!!! I decided to see how much a whole used rear end costed on ebay. They were about $800.00! $250.00 more than just the ring and pinion! Since the rear brakes were shot, the bearings were bad and one of the hubs was welded on I decided that it would be better to just get a whole rear end.

Once I got it, I bolted it on and checked the brakes. The brakes were good.. Next I checked the gear oil and it was low from shipping (it ran out of the breather hose) so I got some SAE 80 gear oil and filled it to where it was supposed to be.

I did the same to the front.Next I put the wheels on and filled them, put the plastic fenders on the front and back, connected all of the wires to there respected places and tried to start it. I t started! I shut it off and enjoyed the glory for a moment and that was when I saw something. The carb was leaking!

It was no big deal except for the fact that I have to take off the gas tank, seat, and part of the frame! I took all that stuff off and cleaned the carb. I put everything back together and then I turned on the gas................................It didn’t leak!

I had to go try driving it and it worked good. But later on it started getting dark so I started checking out the lights. In the front someone had cut off the wires so I had to put new ends on them and connect them. I turned on the lights and they both worked but when I put the high beam on, only one of them worked. So I have to get a new bulb.I bought a new LED tail light that is supposed to last like 20,000 hours. IT IS AWESOME!

This is it (without the plastic).

2006-02-19T16:38:00.000-06:00

Meet my little brother Reuben...he is helping me change the oil on my 4-wheeler today. It sure is nice having a brother in a house full of six sisters!

2006-01-31T19:24:00.000-06:00

GOD's Amazing Spiders

I enjoy taking pictures in my free time. I have a Nikon Coolpix 7600 and I love it! It takes exelent macro pictures and it is small, light, and is available for a good price. My favorite thing to take pictures of is spiders! For some reason I just am amazed at how small but yet complex they are! I took this picture in our garden (black one) and just the other day I found out what kind it was. It turned out that it is a jumping spider! Did you know that most spiders have eight eyes? I didn't untill pretty recent.