Fall Retreat

My oh my, it was a great weekend for us here at the Heart of Avalon. Split Pea (Keith), Hangman (Joe), and I, bruiser, all embarked friday to a land where the air is crisp in the skies are clear. A land where freedom rings and waves of grain flow. A land of milk and honey, also known as Hume Lake. It was absolutely beautiful up there, the weather was perfect (but brisk) and the people were great. It was our fall retreat for Campus Crusade. I can't really describe how great it was... but I'm telling yee, 'twas... great. It was a sweet time of learning, fellowship, and relaxation. Way too much stuff went down to capture in this blog. Here as an exagerated story of the highlight of the weekend... for me anyways... It all started and the eve of october the 27th...
The winds were howling and the skies were dark with malicious clouds threatening to pour down torrents of droplets. Such droplets that bring chills to the most manly of men. The retreaters were bundled inside the lodge, hoping... nay, praying that the weather might relent. But alas, the lumbering clouds grew more feirce. All but one cowered in deathly fright... This one man went out into the barbaric elements, he fought the feverish winds and gusty gails until he reached the lake; the source of such malicious weather...
The man sat still and listened to the chaos around him. In the midst of such turmoil he heard a calling, a calling from the lake... it said, "please, please sir, let my waters sooth and calm you. Let my ripples lap against the side of your boat while you bask under the sun. Let me..." WHOOOOOOSH, CRACK! A tree branch had hit our hero in the head rendering him dead.
The winds died that night. The gusts fell flat into a lull. The retreaters were relieved and able to enjoy the rest of the weekend without a cloud in the sky. Some say that the clouds were satisfied with the lone man and left. Some say that they left too soon, because the man fought. But little do they know that it was not the man who fought but the desire in his heart to explore the unkown lake that allowed him to live.
The next morning warmth was beating down upon his body as he genly awoke to the light of day. He had no recolection of what had occured the night before, but deep inside him he had a miniscule notion to embark upon the lake and explore the uncharted lands that lay beyond its shores. So he went forth; he set his sights on the distant shore and rowed. He left with no intentions to return. He went...

Actually that didn't happen, but me and my safety officer Joe, and some friends (the wonderful Erin Bailey and fabulous Karen Loperena) took a row boat out on the lake, and it was great. Nothing like the story, but it was great. here is a cool verse... "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you." Hosea 10:12. I've been pondering that one all weekend.
Sorry for the stupid story. -M

gloves, pugs, and cake.

So right now i am typing with gloves on. Very difficult. They are Matts new gloves he got for his dirt bike and such. I am slowly learning how to type with them on. Now i am not. It will go faster this way. So this last week was a long one. With three midterms yesterday and work all week, I am exhausted. We had a pug come visit, Shnooks. It was great, he just ran around the house and was like a fat baby when you picked him up. We also had a birthday. Joe Morgan's birthday was on monday so we went to dinner. WE went to Tahoe Joes and it was grand. Now, all week we have had more cake, cookies and wonderful brownies that I can't handle it. Tought week and I am now off to Fall Retreat, which i am very excited about. be Praying for it. Thanks. Peace,
Joe C.

Fifths

It was going to be another long drive home to Santa Rosa, with moments of complete uselessness and wanting to just pull over in Soledad cause the drive is so boring. But to my surprise Thursday's drive was one of the best in mustang history. I was accompanied by varies guest such as, my very own bruiser, neighbor lindsay, bean, and in our hearts we brought Hangman (Joe C-balk) with us. As every good trip goes, it must begin with Costco. What I believe made our trip such a sterling spoon was the fact that we split up the drive into fifths. Now you are probably thinking that celebrating every sixty miles isn't that interesting, I would agree. Instead, we not only celebrated every sixty miles but we took about 150 pictures documenting every part of the way home and had some sort of snack that as well. On the list of goodies were in-n-out, and of course it was made animal style as should any in-n-out double-double be. Also there was rockstars, which don't taste very good but they get the job done. And going back to my childhood years of t-ball, we had some good old Big League Chew, and sunflower seeds. We made a few random sketchy stops through san francisco which included AT&T Park (giants statium), Hyde street, Lombard street, and the back roads of the hood.
While in santa rosa we did a plethora of activities such as visiting sebastopol, going boating and getting our bronze on, and touring around napa while hanging out with kelli anne. It was a great fun fill weekend with an abundance of great food, and lots of avacado. Overall it was great going home and was so much fun seeing kelli. I've decided that MASH is the answer to all my questions to my future. So to pass some of the time we decided to go back to our juinor high roots and play a few quality games of MASH. To my surprise I ended up with a great life. I marry meagan, we live in a house in colorado and I am a librarian. We have four kids, I drive a bmw m3, as a librarian I apparently make 1.2 million (not bad). Our lovely honeymoon is in jamaica, and we have a white tiger as a pet. I really like the pet. The weird thing is that this is the second time meagan has ended up as being my wife in mash. Maybe it's fate. So matt's bruises are getting better and he is back on his bike. Good to have you back bruiser.
Until next time-Keith

Bling n Ice

I discovered that my ears are still peirced after 2 years my 6 gages being out. I thought that they had long been closed up, but no, I was grossly wrong. So I put some Bling n Ice in my ears. I am now one of THOSE guys... We'll see how long the trend lasts. I'm guessing a couple of days. Anyway, I'm not sure why I wrote that...here is a picture of Bling N Ice...







And now, a poem that I wrote durring micro econ:

I once was walking through the tress
When an eerie feeling fell on me
Amidst the shades of brown and green
I wondered if there was more to see
Than things that have always been
What caused these trees to grow
What made their leaves fall low
Why did they paint a colorful show
Beauty that makes the heart rate slow
Then I doth perhaps to think
And a warmth soothed my heart to wink
Despite my ears and nose of pink
The eerie feeling began to sink
My mind has found the missing link
The what became WHO
The WHO who made my heart anew
The WHO who is as warm as stew
The WHO whose Word is wholly true

The LORD to whom honor is due
-M
ps. please notice the sweet links that are up now, get yourself a pair of moccaisins, and play addicting games. don't forget to see the latest sports news...

Who knows why?

So, for the most recent development in the Avalon house we have transformed our pillow talk to become more productive. "How can this happen?" you might ask. How can the amazing and smart guys on Avalon be able to be more productive in their pillow talk time? Well, I will let you in on our little secret. We now have discussion questions that we pick out each night. Though I will not let you in on ALL of our geniusness I will tell you Sunday night's discussion question, "What are three things that your future wife (that is if we get married, which we are all hoping for) MUST HAVE?" What a great discussion we had. Matt made the discovery that the three essentials all Keith, Matt, and I expressed were very good descriptions of ourselves. Interesting, does this make us self-centered or seeking someone exactly like us? I don't think so but what it does show is the three most important things we value the most within ourselves. Hopefully tonight we will get to hear all about something else. Only the discussion jar and God know what we will be discussing tonight!

After our discussion, Keith fell asleep, Evan came in to sleep and Matt and I layed there, saying our goodnights and trying to sleep. For some reason, I wanted to laugh because I kept saying "goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite, and if they do, hit them with a shoe, until they are black and blue." I was told this all growing up and so every time I would say this, I would begin to laugh. I would end this laughing with "okay really goodnight" and say the entire thing again with fits of giggles. Matt began to laugh as well and soon Evan joined. We couldn't stop laughing for a good ten minutes and wanted to so bad. Yet, every time it got quiet, we knew that someone would be trying to hold in laughter and then everyone would burst out laughing again. We never really understood what was so funny; Evan thought we had said something funny earlier and that was why he was laughing. Strange how laughter works like that. No one really knows why it is funny that others are laughing yet everyone joins in. Finally we were all quiet and got to sleep. I layed there and chuckeled to myself, making sure no one else heard so that no one would start laughing. We successfully fell asleep. I am glad too because I needed it. A great night and a satisfying discussion. I do enjoy our camp experience we have developed in our tiny room with four of us present. What fun we have! That is it.
I'm out.
-Joe C.

Civil War

Today the flag flew at half mass as our house, (mainly me) remembered the A's valiant defeat yesterday in Motor City, Detroit. I would like to have a moment of silence for the A's.............Ok, I'm back, that moment of silence was more for me to run and get my tissue as there will be many tears shed during this posting. Yesterday afternoon around the 4 o'clock hour, my battling A's were beaten down in their prime and their life was cut short. On the bright side, I would like to re-cap just a little bit on what a great season the A's had this year. As usual, their team was filled with young energetic players who love to play baseball, and that is why they play. According to the A's first baseman, and one of my favorite players Nick Swisher, "We fell four wins short of the World Series, man, and we were banged up all year. It ain't my money, but I say let's get the boys together again and take another shot." This quote sums up the attitude of the Oakland Athletics. They don't have a huge salary cap and can't afford players on the Yankees but still get the job down. Despite a year full of injuries to key players such as Rich Harden, Bobby Crosby, and Mark Kotsay the A's buckled down and made it to the American League Champion Series. The entire way through the season, the A's have continually kept their excitement and energy for their love of the game. I just want to give out a roar to the 2006 A's. May they return in 2007 to go all the way. Regardless of what Matt might of said in his blog earlier, the A's will defeat the Giants in the World Series next year.
Both Matt and I realized that next year could get really ugly. When the Giants and A's make it to the world series there is a good possibility that Joe may witness an all out civil war in our house. I fear for my life, because matt sleeps with a bat next to his bed. This bat is normally used for poking Joe when he sleep-talks or snores and occasionally for me, but I never snore. The bat worries me a little bit but I'm currently working on counter measures. I think they may involve stealing Matt's thermos or his stock of tea. I want to cut him off at the source and not mess around at all. I'll fill you in more as the war nears.
Until next time-Keith (If I'm still alive)

They Call Me Bruiser

What a week it has been for our house. We've had our share of trauma, drama, and... Llama?? anyway, you all know about the trauma, and thankfully I am healing quite quickly; I am still a little sore though. The Drama: Two of us are heart broken tonight (Keith and I) because the A's have been swept by the Tigers (who will win the world series). Actually, I'm not that heart broken, just keith, I'd say I'm more bummed. oh well, I'm predicting an A's-Giants world series next year. Giants will win in seven.

This Friday we were able to go to the dump and get rid of alot of junk from our house. Including my roomates joe C and Keith. I just kind of left them there. The house feels so much better now... ... ........... JUST KIDDING!! I didn't actually do that. Then Friday night to Saturday morning we went to the Junior/Senior overnighter and had a great time. We all slept under the same smelly tent, we brought our own tea kettle and tea, we brought our own table, we were ready to roll. The funny thing was that this so called overnighter took place in Pappas's back yard. (Jamie Pappas is the head honcho for campus crusade at Cal Poly.) So, all we really needed was a tent. None the less, we were beyond prepared. The night was fun... activities included eating, campfiring, princess bride watching, talking, farting, baseballing, peeing, etc. etc. It rained pretty hard for a while but then it let up and turned out to be a nice night. In the morning we were able to get some sweet worship in around the campfire. One song that I especially enjoy singing is "Surrender" here is one of the lyrics: "And all the world holds dear, I count it all as loss." I feel like it is so easy for me to get caught up in what the world sees as success and weath. To me success means to live life in such a way that God looks down and smiles, a life where God says "well done, good and faithful servant." Success for me is having loving relationships with my family and friends, and eventually (if it be God's will) wife. Success is letting go of the things in this world and giving them to God. And I feel like this is really easy to say and hard to do...It is something that I continually need to work on...

Anyway, I wish all of you who read this blog a great sunday, enjoy that day that God has given you. Take some time off from whatever you are doing and relax. Don't let the busyness of this world take your mind off the bigger picture... eternal life starts today...munch on that for a while... .... . ..... . ......
-M

Lightning and Thunder!

Hello and welcome to serious once again with Joe Cabalka. Tonight, Keith, Matt, Matt's friends John and Erik, and myself all were sitting around at home. We had just finished watching Deal or No Deal and laughing a bunch. In the middle we decided to have some tea and I think that set Matt off. He went crazy after the show and began giving us the "after show" which included him losing both legs, his fingers made into a ring stuck together and then magically unstuck, a show of how he could transfer a finger back and forth from one hand to the next and we all joined him for a beautiful rendition of Somewhere over the rainbow, ukulele style. Afterwards we needed to do something. I stood up because I was going to leave, with or without anyone else, i wanted to go see the amazing lightning that had been going on the entire night! Everyone jumped at the opportunity to leave Matt's magic tricks behind.

We first needed to pick up Matt's sweatshirt he had left at the Conklins. We decided to try and get it without them knowing what we were doing. I was the distractor and marched in demanding a piece of cheese cake. The other four pulled off a screen and Matt crawled on the floor under a blanket to pick up his sweatshirt. I enjoyed my cheese cake and matt got his sweatshirt, a successful mission. We jumped back into the car and drove off toward Avila. We decided to go near Pirate's cove. We drove and parked and hiked and survived! We walked through the tunnel to the cliff and all sat on the edge to watch the lightning and listen for distant thunder coming from somewhere over the Arroyo Grande area.

As I sat and watched the beauty of God's creation, I saw such power and heard the effects of what was going on. The thunder was faint but still in the background, at times being covered up by the waves crashing below. Is the power that we have in Christ Jesus equivilant or greater than this power? If God was able to have such power strike from the heavens to earth, then why could he not have this same kind of power in each one of our lives. What does that look like? I think at times, i see it in my own and others lives. Not because of what we have done but because of what God is doing through us. A flash of God's power comes forth from somewhere and I don't have enough time to see the actual power but I hear or see the effects of that power that God displays in others lives. What must God see even more when He can see everything. When people accept Christ into their lives, He must see huge flashes and effects from those in amazing ways. I want to have God's power and I want others to see/hear my thunder. God, how does this happen? How do you provide power and why? How could I deserve such power in my life. You daily give power through allowing us to live and live rightly. Thank you God!
I'm Out.
-Joe C.

Freedom to Worship

What does it mean to worship freely??? Is it something physical that we do or is something that goes on in our head. This has been a recent conversation within our Crusade worship band. Being on stage and leading worship is a way different worship experience than being in the audience. As we began to discuss this topic we all agreed that you can worship freely on stage and as a matter of fact, we as leaders should be the first to enter into worship. I think entering into worship starts way before anyone ever takes a step on stage. This past week I began to realize that freedom in worship for me really begins in my daily life and musically speaking, it starts at worship practice.
For those who didn't know, for crusade, we practice in pat and danny's little cubby attached to there room. Once you put six smelly guys in the room and a good smelling girl (us guys smell too much for lissa's good smells to cover them up) it becomes a hot gym-like smelling sauna. It's a lot of fun cause we have mulit-colored lights. Ok so back to worshiping freely. I find that during practice it is a time were we can all praise God for who he is. We have no worries about people watching or the pressure of the stage. Monday night we ended practice all singing Come Thou Fount acapella. It was such a sweet way to worship. I believe that the way one practices is the way they will perform during game time. At crusade tonight I fell that I had a freedom to worship, not literally being that I was tied down to playing the drums, but I was able to freely worship while playing. I would like to encourage you all to let go of whatever might hinder you when are worshiping and worship freely.
In other news, the boys of avalon are enjoying getting to know their new found love of tea. We take a tumbler or thermos (in matt's case) to school everyday. It has become something that we enjoy quite a lot. And as you can see below matt left some nice skin marks on the street earlier today. No need to worry mama fitch, joe and i are taking good care of him (more tea). Hope everyone has had a great week.
Until next time-Keith

The Crash, the burn,

Hey hey hey, I'm down but not out, I'm walking wounded, I'm still dreaming and charging. Thats right, today I was mashing (aka Skate boarding like a savage beast) down this hill. I was a little rusty, and my trucks were too loose. It had been a while since I last mashed. I was confidant. I was wrong. I got the speed wobbles, launched through the air, landed on my side, tore my jeans and jacket, skuffed up my belt and rubbed skin on asphalt. By the grace of God I didn't hit my head on the ground. By the grace of God no bones were broken. Amen. Tomorrow I plan on going to the health center to get checked up on just to be sure. Its weird, I don't remember getting up off the ground, but I bounced up fast. The wind was knocked out of me. All I have is this sequence in my mind: 1. I'm getting out of control. 2. I'm flying in the air. 3. I hit the ground. 4. I'm walking around. Thats all I remember. The first thing I checked was to see if I had any broken bones; it was a hard fall. Anyway, I won't be doing that for a while. I'll be recovering. -M
ps: I hope you enjoy the picture...

Where my mind goes...

So I was sitting in class today listening to some lecture about consumer goods and business goods, and what surprises me looking back at those two hours, is how little I remember what class was like. I remember alot of other stuff that happened, just nothing about class. I remember that I drank my full thermos of tea in approximately 30 mins, and I remember that I made a check list of things I need to take with me when I start my sail adventure (which will be included in this post) Yesterday in class instead of listening to something about the future value of a bond, I wrote a poem about my boat. I'm always thinking about what I should name my boat, I would love comments or suggestions. Anyway, I had an epiphany about myself as I was waiting at the bus stop. I realized that I am a dreamer. I have many dreams and aspirations, none of which seem realistic, but I don't let that hinder me. I do want to get myself a sail boat and take off, I do want to pursue a job in photography, I do want to find myself the sweetest, nicest, funniest, cutest, girl in the world. None of these seem like they will happen, but I know God has my future in his hands, and I trust him with that, so I will not concern myself about what the future brings; I will pursue my dreams wilh every waking breath knowing that its taken care of.

Anyway here is my checklist of things I need to bring on my boat: a boat, companions (either a wife, or broskis) Food (saltines and cheese), fishing rods, some type of weapon to defend against pirates, a digital rebel camera, a macbook, a salt water converter, a film camera, a dog with a sailing hat, lots of tea, some beer, some wine, a sailors pipe, deck shoes, one pair of short shorts, a few tanktops/shirts (I plan on staying near the equator) a pair of jeans and a jacket of some type, dreadlocks, and thats about it. If you guys have any other suggestions that would be great. remember, when you dream, dream big.
M

Procrastination

So, I guess my post is going to be the first personal/serious one. Who knows why me first but this is how it is going to be. For starters, I am very exhausted. I haven't gotten much sleep in the last week but I love it. It doesn't help that I live in a room with 3 other awesome guys and we get the chance to have pillow talk every night. So, the last two shifts I had at Upper Crust, I was completely out of it. I just could not concentrate for the life of me. I am really trying to get sleep but things keep interupting me. I also have a 5 page paper that is due tomorrow and I haven't even begun to work on it. I have to go to the library and read and then write it. I am obviously procrastinating RIGHT NOW so that I can write this post but after, i think i will go to the library to begin working on it. Our house had a meeting the other day and it was a little uncertain to say the least. We needed to figure out all of the internet cable stuff and so we did. It was successful but they are never easy and I don't really know how to confront the situation. Do we start off with prayer? I don't want to sound like the fake spiritual one, which at times I fear I am being fake, nor do I want to completely ignore God in our house. I have been wrestling with the verse Ephesians "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." I feel as though I have been so discouraging to my friends and roommates. I have begun to get a bad taste in my mouth (not literally) when I or anyone else is tearing others down. Though I know I joke a lot, I am tired of my own jokes and no longer find them funny. What is the point of me calling Matt Fitch "Stupid" if he really isn't nor is that encouraging him in any way! Something very simple I hope to continue to learn. I am blessed to be in this house, with these guys, and am loving it. May God continue to "correct, rebuke and encourage" (bible) me as I live in this house and may he do the same for you as you continue on as well. I'm out.
-Joe C.

Not early enough

What comes to mind when you here the word "Saturday." To me I think of sleeping in, cartoons, maybe a little cleaning, and going way back to my childhood, garage sales. This was a fluid thought running through the minds of the avalon boys today. Unforunately we combined too many "Saturday" things. Since being on our quest to become the most cultured tea drinkers, I (Keith) decided that if we were to drink tea in such a noble manner that we could not even think of heating up our water in an electric tea pot. That was the start to our next quest. We (Matt, Joe, and I) set out to find garage sales throughout our beloved city. For we NEEDED, and I say again, we needed a real tea pot that whistled when our water was ready. To our demise we unfortunately set sail at an untimely hour. While enjoying some of the Saturday traditions we fell victom to time. While venturing through town we quickly came to realize that the sun had risen far too high for our townfolk to still be selling their rubish. In our distrubed state we only new one place to go. It could be one of the houses' favorite plaecs to go and that is Bed Bath & Beyond. We had complete success at BB&B. Back at home the boys can now sit in the sun reading the sports with properly brewed tea.
Until next time-Keith

Oh by the way, yesterday the Oakland A's moved up to the League series in the playoffs. GO A's!!!!!

On this Beautiful Day

On this Beautiful day the the Lord hath made, my fellows (Joe and Keith) and I (Matt) will embark up an awesome adventure. In our plaid shorts, we shall take the bus to campus, there we will check out the study aboad fair, (because some of us are interested in leaving these shores). From there, the bus will take us to Trader Joes were we will commence to buy all different sorts of tea (in which we have taken a liking too.) From Trader Joes we will return home, enjoy our tea, and rehash on the stories of the day.
-Brought to you by the letter M.