A guest blog

So I'm going to let my mom be the guest blogger today. I want to recap our weekend in Grand Forks and she sent this e-mail to our family and friends. So here you go...

Matt was selected to his St. Cloud State swim team's Conference Team in late January. The Conference meet was this past weekend in Grand Forks, North Dakota at the University of ND. The teams are NCAA Division II.

Each NCAA swim team, whether DI, DII or DIII, gets 18 point scorers, or members of the team. A diver counts 1/3 of a competitor. So most teams seem to take three divers and 17 swimmers. Matt's Men's team had about 30 guys on the team so he was thrilled to be picked for the team as a Freshman, especially one who is not a sprinter and thus not on any relays. He scored points for his team in each of his 4 events! He also time trialed the 200 IM (50 yards of each stroke - butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle) to get a time in the event and dropped over 2 seconds from his career best. The 400 IM is 100 yards of each stroke and he swims that as well as the 200 Fly - very tough. He also swam the 1650 freestyle - the longest event - so he swims the toughest events in this meet. His results are below.

He was pleased with his season and we really enjoyed watching him. He has some great friends on the team and will be living in an apartment next fall just across the street from the St. Cloud University pool with 3 other swimmers.

Matt – Conference 2007

Event	Career Best	Season Best	Prelims	Finals	Place	Best Time Ever
200 IM	2:04.06	2:07.88	2:01.83*			Yes!
400 IM	4:23.33	4:24.72	4:24.94	4:24.25	11th	Best of Season
100 Breast	1:02.86	1:06.94	1:03.24	1:03.37	14th	Best of Season
1650 Free (Mile)	17:58.70	17:58.70	17:47.02		13th	Yes!
200 Fly	2:02.66	2:02.66	2:02.45	2:01.97	11th	Yes!

*Time Trial – not entered in event

Today's Tidbit:

#1 - My brother swam very well over the weekend! I am a very proud big sister right now. He worked so hard for it and it paid off. Yay Matt!

#2 - Yes, my mom does keep an Excel Spreadsheet of all of my brother's times.

If I was a member of the Academy...

... I'd vote for the following to win the Oscar.

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Peformance by an actor in a leading role
Forest Whitaker deserves this award for his portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last Kind of Scotland. He was nothing short of amazing in this role and I will be extremely disappointed if he doesn't pull out the win.

The only other performance that I even think deserved a nomination was Leonardo DiCarprio in Blood Diamond. Will Smith and Ryan Gosling are not even in the same league. To be fair, I was not able to see Venus, so I can't really say anything about Peter O'Toole's performance. Although, I highly doubt it would live up to what Forest Whitaker did this year.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Dijmon Hounsou absolutely deserves this award for Blood Diamond. He was totally amazing in this film. I felt so connected to him, he made his character so, very real. However, I don't think he has much of a shot. I think that Eddie Murphy will probably win for Dreamgirls and I don't agree with that at all. I don't think he was even all that good.

Mark Wahlberg gave a good performance in The Departed and Alan Arkin was good in Little Miss Sunshine as well. I wasn't able to see Little Children, although I really wanted to, so I can't say much about Jackie Earle Haley.

Performance by an actress in a leading role
I'm going to have to go with Helen Mirren on this one for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen. She was perfect. She completely nailed that role. Every detail, down to the way she walked was right on. I am bummed that I didn't get to see Little Children, I think Kate Winslet was probably very good in it. However, I still think this one is Helen Mirren's to lose.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
I actually think all of actresses in this category did a great job in their respective movies. I think it's one of the strongest categories. I think the Oscar should go to Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls. She was fantastic! It's hard to believe that it's her first movie ever.

Best animated feature film of the year
I actually only saw one movie in this category. I really had no desire to see Happy Feet or Monster House. Plus, Cars was such a great movie, that it should definitely win :)

Achievement in directing
This is a tough call for me. I think I'm going to have to go with Martin Scorsese for The Departed. Although it's not really my kind of movie, I really enjoyed it. The acting was fabulous and you have to attribute a lot of that to the director. I also think the vision of Scorsese was clear and he really deserves to take home the statuette this year.

Best motion picture of the year
This is always the fun one, eh? I'm torn because what I'd like to see win, what I think deserves to win, really doesn't have that much hope of actually winning. Of the five movies, I have a clear favorite. I loved Little Miss Sunshine. It is easily one of my favorite movies of the year. I was impressed that the Academy even recognized it with the nomination since comedies usually get the shaft. So here's hoping it's the spoiler of the night!

Adapted screenplay
I kind of feel like I should be familiar with the original material before I judge this category, but I don't. So I will have to go with Children of Men on this one. It's a very good and very nicely written.

Original screeplay
To me, this one is pretty clear. Pan's Labyrinth is easily the most creative and original movie I have seen in a long time. The script was fantastic! I actually really enjoyed all of the films that were nominated in this category, but Pan's Labyrinth deserves to win this one.

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In all of those big categories, I saw 16 of the 22 movies that were nominated. I am more prepared for this Oscar night than ever before. Yay for Beth wanting to do this. I'm really excited to watch on Sunday night. I have a few more opinions to share in some other categories, although I probably only saw a few of the movies nominated.

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Best foreign language film of the year
Pan's Labyrinth should win here too. It's the only foreign film I saw this year, but it was incredible! It's one that I plan to buy when it comes out on DVD. It's a little dark, and I did have to grab on to Beth a few times. But it was a great movie.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures
(Original song)
I'm sort of disappointed that three songs from Dreamgirls were nominated in this category. I mean, come on, give another movie a chance! I think that the song "Listen" is the best song nominated. It's got great lyrics and is a very powerful song. Personally, I really like "Love You I Do" as well, but it's just more of a fun song. Plus, Jennifer Hudson sings the heck out of it.

Achievement in sound mixing
I actually hardly care about this award, but I'd like to see Kevin O'Connell win for Apocalypto. This is his 19th nomination and he's never won before. This is going to be his year, I hope :)

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Today's Tidbit: Beth and I both submitted Oscar ballots. If we win, we will get 104 free movie tickets! Woot woot :)

"You just had the best week(end) ever!"

Okay, so I just had one of the best, most fun and amazing weekends ever! I haven't given you all a thrilling recap in a while, so here you go!

Friday: After only about 4 hours of sleep, I got to sub for the Century Choir teacher again. Seriously, it's the best job ever! I had an amazing time. I found out that one of the student directors is going to Concordia next year, I talked to a girl that I used to have in swimming lessons, and I just hung-out and talked to them instead of reading in the office during their lunch hours.

After school, I coached for a few hours with Beth. Then I got to head to Owatonna to take Laura out for an early birthday dinner. We sat in a booth in Perkins for 5 hours. Our waitress even left for the night, but we were still there. We had the best conversation and I just feel such peace about our relationship. I am truly blessed to have her in my life!

Saturday: I woke up and headed to the pool to coach at our annual President's Day swim meet. My kids were adorably cute and swam well. I worked for 9 hours and was completely exhausted when finals got over around 8. I quickly ran home to finish packing and then get on the road for New Ulm.

I got on the road earlier than I had originally anticipated, so that was good. I picked Laura up in Owatonna and then we left. I was worried about the roads because everyone told me to be careful. They were totally fine and we didn't have any problems. We arrived at the Bartels' and had a wonderful evening with everyone. I was glad Abby was there so I didn't feel quite so old. And it was cool because I got to talk to Adam, Abby & Jill's brother. He went through TEC #37. I worked Wheat at that TEC and gave Talk #2. So it was nice to have someone from the "old" days too.

We had good intentions of going to bed at a decent hour. We got everyone into bed, boys in the basement, girls in the living room. Abby and I were laying in bed and then we had Jill come in to turn out the light and say goodnight. First she hugged me, then she jumped on Abby, then she stayed for 3 hours and we all talked. In my opinion, it was totally worth staying up that late for the conversation. It was amazing and I loved every minute of it! We're totally hatching a plan to be sisters... A-B-B-Y is coming soon! Haha!

Sunday: After 2.5 hours of sleep, I was up and getting ready for the morning. I went over to the church early with Abby, Laura, Ben, and Brandon. I could go into details, but I'll just sum up my favorite parts of the service... Watching everything come together was a perfect example of God's timing and purpose coming through, listening to Laura give her talk again, worshiping... And the best moment of the morning... We sang Sanctuary toward the end of the service. By the end of the song, the entire congregation was standing (it was the first time all morning). I was moved to tears, and I know other people were too. That moment let me actually see God's presence and love! It was incredible.

After the service, we headed back down to Rochester. I dropped Laura off at the reunion and came home for a little while. Then I met up with everyone at Perkins afterwards. After the wonderful meal, the sleepover officially began :)

Emmalee, Amy, Jill, Sarah, and Amanda stayed at my house. We had to make a stop at the grocery store first. We bought pop, ice cream, and everything we needed to make Puppy Chow. Then we went back to my house. I gave everyone the grand tour and we looked at some old pictures and scrapbooks.

Then the game playing began. First, we played Smarty Party. It was pretty fun. The next game on our agenda was Cranium Turbo. I was on a team with Jill, Sarah, and Emmalee. It was super fun! We won, of course. Emmalee got some of it on video. It's pretty much hilarious. Finally, we played Lynch Mob. I think this is my all-time favorite game. It was super fun. Especially when we started playing with cards in both hands. Good times were had by all! We would say things like, "Sarah's right hand thinks Beth's left hand is the criminal because she has shifty eyes," or "Janet's left hand has been assassinated." Oh, goodness, it was so great!

Everyone got pretty tired around 3:15 and went to bed. I remembered that I had something to tell Sarah. I crawled over to where her air mattress was and we talked till about 4:45. Whoops. Oh well, again, totally worth it! It was one of the most fun weekends I have had in a long time. It was completely packed full of great discussions, growing in faith and relationships, and fun with friends. What more could a girl want?!?

Today's Tidbits (yes, tidbits! I couldn't pick just one.):
#1 - I got a grand total of 6 hours of sleep this weekend.
#2 - I have 9 pints of ice cream in my freezer right now.

Louder than Words

I always find it particularly odd when something comes up again and again in the same day. Today's theme: Actions speak far louder than words.

The first sighting... I was reading "The Sisterhood of the Traveling pants." The book is broken up into little sections and there are quotes in between them. Well this quote was in there. I've heard it before, but I think I just really let it sink in this time.

"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The second sighting... I get Bible verses e-mailed from KLOVE every morning. They mostly just repeat the same verses over and over, but I still like the gentle reminders. Here is today's verse.

"Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions."
- 1 John 3:18

When I used to read that first quote, I always thought about it in the positive sense. Meaning, people will notice our actions if we do the right thing. We don't have to just say it. As I've gotten older, the way I think about that quote has changed. Now I realize that I can't just say things, my actions have to back what I'm saying up.

As I thought about it again today, I started thinking about it in another way. I started thinking about the use of the phrase, "I love you." I hear those words from so many people, but how many people follow that up with action. Then, when I read the Bible verse, that made me think even harder. It's the same thing. Anyone can tell me that they love me. But how many of them will do something to show me that they love me.

I would say that most people are pretty good about showing it when it's convenient for them. But a precious few show it when it takes work. It's far easier to do what they want to do or see the people they want to see. It's so easy to get caught up in excuses. I sometimes feel like that's all I hear.

So today, my resolution is to stop using the phrase, "I love you," unless I know that I will back up my words in actions. I think it's far more hurtful to say it and not mean it, than to not say it at all. However, once I know that I mean it, and can back it up with actions, then I want to say it as often as possible. You can never hear it too much.

Today's Tidbit: I really, really, really hate Valentine's Day.

We're taking a poll

Okay, so Beth and I are taking a poll. We want to know which of these two words is cooler to use. The words are: trifle and becoming. But you can't just vote based on the words, you have to know the context they were used in.

Choice #1: "That's a trifle odd."

Choice #2: "Howie, that's not very becoming."

Okay, so we're ready to hear what you have to say :)

Today's Tidbit: My dog seriously destroys every toy we give him. Today, we are finding little pieces of clown and pig all over the floor!

Pan's Labyrinth

Well, check another movie off my list to see before February 25th. Tonight, Beth and I headed over to Cinemagic to see Pan's Labyrinth. Apparently, it got on the list because it's nominated for Original Screenplay. It is also up for Foreign Language Film, but we aren't going to see any of the other movies in that category.

This movie was by far the best one we saw this week! It blew Notes on a Scandal and Blood Diamond out of the water. For once, I didn't get bored in the middle. There were definitely a few scenes that I could have done without (i.e. a guy getting spiked to death or the captain giving himself stitches), but it was worth it.

I was captivated and intrigued by the story. There was even one scene when I was squeezing Beth's hand because of the intensity. I would highly recommend seeing this movie. After the first few minutes, I completely forgot that I was reading subtitles. Please don't make the mistake that the parents in Mexico made though, this is not a movie for small children! Hence, why it's rated R.

Today's Tidbit: My dad has had me working all day on a logo for his winery. Clearly, this is why I'm not a graphic designer!

The Oscars are coming...

So Beth and I decided that we are going to be prepared to watch the Oscars this year. Meaning, we are going to try to see all of the movies nominated. Okay, maybe not all, but definitely most. I set Beth straight to work on making a spreadsheet, which she did. There are 22 movies on her list. I'm pretty sure she only included the movies that had nominations in the big categories.

We still have quite a few movies to see, but we're slowly knocking them off our list. I have seen 9 so far. That only leaves 13 left to go :) I think we'll probably ignore some of them. And some, we won't have a chance to see because they are out of theaters already and won't be out on DVD in time.

The movie that I'm going to tell you all about today is the one that I saw today... Blood Diamond.

Now, this is not my kind of movie at all. There was a lot of blood and killing. I had to cover my eyes right at the beginning when some guy got his hand chopped off by the crazy R.U.F. However, in the end, the movie totally redeemed itself for me. It's not one that I would watch again, but I thought the movie was very well done.

Blood Diamond is up for two of the big awards on Oscar night. Actor in a Leading Role (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Actor in a Supporting Role (Djimon Hounsou). I am not a big fan of Leo, but I actually thought he did pretty well in this role. I'm not sure I'd give him the Academy Award for this performance, but I think he deserved the nomination.

Djimon Hounsou, on the other hand, not only deserved the nomination, but should take home the Oscar. He was incredible! He just made the character so real. I cried with him rather than cried for him. It was a truly great performance. Beth says that he's a long shot, and that's probably true... But in my eyes, his portrayal of this broken man who disparately wants to find his family is one of the best of the year.

Today's Tidbit: I really hate paying bills...