Rhombus!

[Copied from my journal.]

Thursday
March 20th, 2008

We [Shaelynn and I] left Carson City this morning at about 7:45am, after a quick stop by Wal Mart to grab some food for the road. Nothing too eventful happened on our way here... We took 395 to Susanville, then onto Highway 44 over to the I-5 and up. It was strange, really, going on a trip like this. I remember attending the youth group service at CVC-Dayton a while back. Carl had asked what was the difference between being forced to go to church and choosing to go. I raised my hand and reflected that when I chose to come to CVC (however goaded I was by a certain someone =D ,) it had an entirely different feel than when I was obligated to attend with my family and/or friends' families. It became more important, more personal, more... real, when I came by my own accord.
Somehow, this trip has taken on the same qualities. Granted, it was never against my will to accompany my family on our trips to visit grandma up here, but still, the fact that I'm here on my own money, with my own plans, and for my own goals has made this little excursion unique.
We arrived in Salem at around 4pm, Shaelynn behind the wheel after I more or less fell asleep for a few hours while driving (yikes!) And pulled into Willamette University.
Let me tell you, this campus is amazing. The grass is deep, full green everywhere you turn. The buildings are made out of bright red bricks, scrubbed clean to contrast wonderfully with the lawns. The trees are full of flowers and to top it all off (literally...) the skies are a cloudy grey, hinting a downpour at any second. Gorgeous.
Mingy lives in a basement room at the corner of her building (I forget what it's called... I think it begins with an 'L') with her awesome roommates Rachel and Megan. Megan is hilarious! She reminds me a lot of Mingy, mainly due to her her facial expressions and speech patterns.
After arriving, Mingy informed us that she had claimed us as prospective students so that we received a free parking pass, three free meal tickets each, and a tour of the campus, all compliments of the Willamette Office of Admissions. Also, Mingy, her roommates, and her guy neighbors (Brett, Brandon, and Brian... who are equally awesome) each received $10 a night for hosting us. (It was after this bit of news that we realized how similar "Willamette" and "We'll scam it" sound...)
Since arriving, we've had dinner, attended some crazy Jewish celebration, and watched ridiculous movies on YouTube. Now I'm sitting here in front of the cafeteria in the freezing Salem night, an occasional raindrop landing on the pages. I guess I'll go back to Mingy's and warm up.


Saturday
March 22nd, 2008

Fun stuff! The past two days have been amazing! Friday we spent sleeping, then taking a campus tour, then utilizing our free meal tickets to get an obscene amount of food from the "Cat Cavern" (the other on-campus eatery.) We then loaded up ("we" being Shaelynn, Mingy, Travis, and I,) and took off for Eugene, where we met up with Mr. Hom and then headed to the University of Oregon campus to see Barack Obama speak. Unfortunately, we arrived too late and they ran out of room before we got into the building. We did, however, go to the "overflow" area and got to see him speak for about 5 minutes about how we could "win the nomination if we stand firm for change." It was cool seeing him... I felt, I dunno, famous by association.
After that we ate and then went home to sleep.
Today we all got up at about 10am, ate lunch, and then went to downtown Eugene to rent bikes. Good choice, lemme tell you! Eugene is apparently the #1 town in America in terms of bike-friendly-ness. All the roads have bike lanes, and they even have "no motorized vehicle" trails and bridges and all sorts of stuff. Plus, the sky was again awesomely overcast the whole day. After our amazing bike-venture, we ate at a vegetarian restaurant (....yeah....) and then went home to watch Hot Rod.
That brings me to right now, laying on my stomach on Mr. Hom's floor as everyone else gets showered and ready for bed. Tomorrow is our trip to Portland (and, consequently, Imago Dei!)


Sunday
March 23rd, 2008

Definitely not one of the more traditional Easters I've ever had. But cool nonetheless. I got up at 7am, and after a quick shower, had to get everyone else up to leave so that we could make it to the 10:30 service at Imago Dei. I raced through the never ending (and therefore amazing) rain of Oregon on the I-5 all the way through Salem and to Portland, and we arrived at Franklin High School at 10am exactly. The 9am service had just got out, so I hastily handed off the car to Mingy and Travis as Shaelynn and I entered the school. We sifted as best we could through the thousand or so people, attempting to find Donald Miller, but since Shaelynn had not idea who to look for, it was to no avail. We reserved some seats about halfway back from the stage in the auditorium and then resumed our search, camping out at the entrance doors to see if we could spot him coming in.
We asked an usher, who told us that he hadn't seen Mr. Miller at the first service, and that he [Miller] was pretty good at slipping in unnoticed. nevertheless, I continued my search. Again, it was no good. As the band started up, Shaelynn and I returned to our seats. After the opening prayer, I happened to glance down our row, and guess who was sitting at the very end, next to a rain-covered window? Yup. Coincidence?
Easter at Imago Dei was an experience. The songs were traditional-sounding and lead by a full choir with a brass trio accompanying them. The pastor was hilarious yet profound (a winning combination in my book,) and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Afterwards, I had to chase Miller through the enormous crowds in an attempt to introduce myself. He was in some kind of a huge hurry, and I overheard him say to another fan who attempted to intercept him, "I'm kinda looking for someone right now..."
Finally, I saw my chance and stepped forward.

"Hi, I'm Daniel. I'm a huge fan." Genius. Pure genius.
"Hey," extends hand, "how are you?" And then to Shaelynn, "And you are...?"
"Shaelynn."
"Cool, cool. Where are you from?"
"Nevada. I'm visiting a friend here in Oregon and thought I'd come to Imago Dei for Easter."
"Alright."
"Hey, I know this is kinda weird and all, but I could I, like, get a picture with you...?"
"Uh" Looks around, "will it be quick? I'm in a big hurry."
"Sure, yeah, it's quick."

Well, there you have it. Haha, it was brief and all, but I was really psyched to get to meet him in person. Maybe when I'm a famous writer and he's not in a huge rush, I can ask if he wants to grab a cup of joe somewhere.
Anyway, the rest of the day we spent seeing a local play (Landscape of a Body,) and touring Portland. I think Shaelynn fell in love with the city, and I hope she moves there after she's finished her nursing program.
Now I guess I'll wrap this up and go eat dinner with everyone... it's spaghetti!