This past Saturday my roommate JD asked his girlfriend Liz to marry him. Her first response? I’m told that she quite literally jumped for joy–on him! Even typing that makes me smile. They plan to be married this summer. I can’t tell you how happy I am for them. I’ve known both JD and Liz for nearly seven years, going back to when I was a freshman at FSU. I first met JD through the Navigators after I had been in town for only a few days. Liz and I were in the same BCM Fish School our first semester. Later on, in a convoluted way, I was actually the person who introduced Liz to the Navs. So, I’m going to take minor credit for the fact that these two ever even met. Very minor.

Side note: Apparently I’m Hitch for alumni “never-daters.” When I move into a house these days one of my single roommates will “find” a lady, begin dating her, get engaged and get married, all in less than one year. That’s now happened twice in consecutive years. Ridiculous. Awesome, but completely ridiculous.

With all sincerity, congratulations, JD and Liz!

Expressing Joy was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.

This past Monday night my old roommate Luke got engaged to my next-door neighbor Katie. Both of them are campus ministers with the Navigators at FSU, so as you can imagine this news is making waves in our community. (If you’re getting a weird sense of déjà  vu let me assure you it’s well-founded.)

I found out about their engagement Tuesday morning from my roommate Joe. He claimed he told me mostly so that I could tell our roommate JD. Joe hoped if the news came from me that I would be the one to receive JD’s all-but-certain hug. You see, Joe isn’t exactly what you’d call the mushy type. JD, on the other hand, is much more in touch with his emotions. Knowing this, I like to instigate moments of faux conflict between the two of them.

Later that morning I emailed both of my roommates about paying rent. JD’s response was short, sweet and not at all germane to my message, but I used it to my advantage. Enjoy.

Me: [My original message about rent.]
JD: Luke and Katie are engaged!!! :)
Me: Engaged to be MARRIED!!! =D
JD: aaaaaaaaaaaah!! :) :)
Joe: If I could punch you through the Internet, I would. Andrew, we might need to talk to the Embarq guy to see if we can make that happen. [Stuff regarding my original message.] I hope you girls are doing well today.

Worth it.

Congratulations, Luke and Katie!

Expressing Excitement was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.

The History of Camp Special

In the year of our Lord two thousand and one, real estate mogul Dave Wirgau completed his third foray into the Tallahassee housing market and purchased a home on Bellevue Way. This home was quickly dubbed Camp Special by James “Jimbo” Munson, a young padawan learner of Joel Helms, Jedi Master. Jimbo observed the unique sleeping arrangement in the home: all three of the beds were in the same bedroom, lending a camp-like atmosphere to the abode. Historians disagree as to the origin of the name of the camp, the prevailing view being a desire for pretentious elevation above their neighbours (a sentiment that carries on to this day).

These humble walls have housed a veritable who’s who of great men. This cast of characters includes “Sergeant” Joel Helms, “Brother” Brent Kanyok, “Vertical” Rob Hodges, Kyle “Mr. White” Snyder, Byron “Byronneus” Blount, John “Huggies” Hughes, Matt “Tex” Miller, Todd “You’re Killin’ Me” Smoyer, Joe “Big Pappa” Landon, Josh “Don’t Call Me Jimi” Hendrix, “Crazy” Andy Larkin and Jason “Corner Pocket” Campbell.

Camp Special served as the birthplace of Big Breakfast (“Cheese on four!”), a vatic precursor to present-day Breakfast with a Disney Movie. Other landmark events include the 2003 Navigator Christmas Party, the First Annual Big Pig Ping Pong Tournament (it only happened once), countless Praise & Shakes, and the finish line for the Raise the Barr 5K. Most recently, Camp Special played host to the Stuff Give, a quarter acre of boxed friendship freely given to passers-by. All items were graciously and unknowingly donated by the aforementioned previous tenants.

Through the lead of Brent Kanyok, Camp Special initiated a community revival. Roommate dinners, beef nights, and shared possessions, along with the shared bedroom arrangement, fostered a sense of humility and service. Many, and in some cases all, of these practices spread to a number of other homes, such as Villa Special, The Projects/The Fort, The Lighthouse, 210, June Heights, Meadowbrook House, The Bridge, The Castle, The Cavern, and The Opera House.

Our Request

We are still continuing in the pursuit of God-honoring community. But in lieu of the traditional “camp” room arrangement, we have each taken our own bedroom. Therefore, we can no longer in good conscience call this home Camp Special. It’s as if each waking moment of our daily lives is spent in silent agony, an aching void that can only be filled with a new name. Bereft of said identity, the Nothing will destroy us all. That includes you.

We hereby commission you, the fellow stakeholders of this fine establishment, to suggest a new name for our house. We have worked out an elaborate ranking system that shall not be publicaly disclosed by which the winning name will be selected. In your suggestion, please include the following:

1. Your suggested name for our home
2. An explanation as to why you believe yours is a fitting name
3. If you choose, a fond memory experienced at this location

All submissions are encouraged and welcomed. (JD and Andrew have agreed not to silently judge anyone for their inappropriate or counterproductive ideas.) All entries must be submitted by Friday, October 10th by 11:59 PM. We look forward to reading your ideas.

No one commented on this post here, but there were 67 comments made on the corresponding Facebook Note. I encourage you to marvel at my friends’ insanity and hilarity. (You’ll need to be my Facebook friend plus have viewing access to my Notes in order to see that post.)

The Camp Special Renaming Project was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.

Aaron Gavila (aarongavila.wordpress.com) had been my roommate before. Back when I was a senior at FSU we lived together in Kellum Hall. Even though we had one of the largest rooms in that dorm it was still like living in a shoe box, so as a result we became even better friends than we had been. He graduated from FSU this spring and is now just killing time until his tour with the Peace Corps begins in February.

Aaron takes on a variety of topics in his blog drawing from his eclectic knowledge base. Putting his new economics degree to use, his most recent post responds to a blogger’s article citing the increase of porn site membership since the government began passing out stimulus checks. But Aaron also uses his blog to talk about his interests, such as his experience at a recent Dave Matthews Band concert. He’s a major fan of the NBA and has written about this year’s NBA Finals and Shaq’s rap about Kobe. Many of his other posts highlight fun YouTube videos that he’s come across. One of the features I hope he expands in the future is his personal dictionary, in which he defines made-up words (such as flabbergastnationness).

I just met Jacob Breman (jahkobian.wordpress.com) this past fall. He came to one of our Nav Night meetings after being referred by a friend. Starting in the spring he hung out at my house quite a bit, in large part because my house is very close to campus. He also graduated from FSU this spring and is waiting to begin grad school in the fall.

Jacob doesn’t deliver the quantity Aaron brings, but he makes up for it by spending a lot of time on each post. He too has put his recent degree to use — in his case, a physics degree — in writing about lightning prediction and 3-D glasses. He also tackles spiritual topics. After the tragic death of a four-year-old girl whose family attends his church he wrote a thoughtful post about death and salvation. Also, as a way of wrapping up some of what he’d learned in the two Ephesians Bible studies he was in this spring (one as a leader, one as a participant) he examined male and female relationships in the context of Ephesians 5.

So I encourage you to check out their sites. This is true of all bloggers, but new bloggers especially love to hear from their readers, so leave them a comment on one of their posts. Oh, and be sure to tell them who sent you.

My Roommates Are Blogging! was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.

On the first Sunday of May two of my good friends, Kyle Kozloski and Nicki Nedelisky, got married in Ocala, Florida. Now, I know that I’ve been to a lot of weddings in the past eighteen months, but this one was special. No, I wasn’t in it, but I felt as much a part of this wedding as any other, including the ones in which I’ve had a role.

You see, this past year Kyle was one of my two roommates and Nicki one of my three next-door neighbors. On top off all that, all of us were campus ministers with The Navigators. When we all moved in to the respective sides of our hole-in-the-wall duplex in August ’07 Kyle and Nicki weren’t even dating, much less thinking of marriage. In short, I got to witness these chapters of their love story unfold from a very unique angle. Before I become too far removed from it, I’d like to try to tell some of that story.

I remember a night in the spring after Kyle and Nicki were engaged. My roommates, Luke and Kyle, and I were getting ready for bed. The wedding was drawing near, and Luke commented that it had been fun to watch Kyle and Nicki fall in love. I immediately disagreed with him, which they both thought was hysterical. But I was being half serious. Don’t misunderstand me. Once they fell it was lots of fun, but the falling was not fun at all. The months leading up to their dating relationship were filled with suspense. Will they? Won’t they? Each week Luke, Kyle and I had a roommate meeting where we could share how we were struggling or how we needed prayer. In the fall those meetings more often than not featured Kyle lamenting over the proper way for him to relate to Nicki, whether he should start a second dating relationship with her, and what that would mean if he did.

Alyssa and Helen, Nicki’s roommates from this past year, probably agree with me to some extent. That fall they started calling Kyle “the elephant,” referring to the old expression “there’s an elephant in the room.” I imagine a typical conversation back in the fall might have sounded a little like this.

Nicki (getting off the phone): Kyle’s going to come over for a little bit, okay?
Helen (big smile): Oh, the elephant’s coming over!
Alyssa (big smile): Oh, the elephant’s coming over!
Nicki (small smile): Yeah, the elephant’s coming.

I can relate to that elephant feeling (though — and let’s be clear about this — I would never refer to Nicki as such). She and Kyle were fond of watching The Office together in our living room on her laptop, which generally signaled my cue to exit to the back of the house. Not only do I think The Office isn’t funny at all, but, you know, I didn’t want to be the third wheel on their fake-date. More than once Nicki had to assure me that it would be fine if I stayed out in the living room with them while they watched, to which I politely thanked her and made some excuse for needing to be at my computer (thank God for desktops).

This kind of thing went on for months. I have to admit, I had no idea how the story was going to end. As a rule I tend to think that most stories will have a happy ending so long as I’m not one of the principle characters. But with this I wasn’t sure. But I remember the exact moment I knew this story was going to have a happy ending. It was the beginning of December. It may very well have been December 1, because I think we were all celebrating Kyle’s brother’s birthday. I don’t recall how he did it, but Kyle really injured his back that day. Kyle has had chronic back trouble, but on this day he was in absolute agony, barely able to move.

So Ross’ party had given way to tending to Kyle and trying to get him comfortable. It was getting late and the birthday party crew had dwindled to myself, Ross, Nicki and Kyle. Nicki had gone to her side of the duplex to get something, a heating pad I think, and when she returned I stopped her at our door. Thinking that I was being considerate, I told her that I thought Ross and I could handle things if she wanted to go home and get some sleep. Looking past me, she responded saying, “I just want to take care of him,” and rushed into the house.

It wasn’t just her words, and it wasn’t just how she said them. She had a look on her face and in her eyes, a look that I can really only describe as a mothering look, a look that I hadn’t at all expected to see. But there it was. It was love. Because he was hurting so was she. I stood there in the doorway struck dumb by the scene, for it isn’t everyday you see that sort of thing. And even though they were still only fake-dating, that’s when I knew this story was going to end well.

They began real-dating not long after that, a week or two later. That came as both a joy and a relief to me. Finally! Of course, with this came a new question. When were they going to get engaged? And no, it wasn’t too early to begin asking. Saying they wanted to be a couple again was saying they wanted to be a couple for good. Allow me emphasize my point. I remember one afternoon in early January, before they were engaged. Luke, Kyle and I were in our kitchen. I was eating lunch. Then this little conversation happened.

Kyle: Nicki and I were talking and we might be getting married in April.
Me: [Pause for effect, then, incredulously, without looking up from my sandwich...] Whatever.
Luke: [High-pitched laughter, either at me or Kyle, possibly both.]

A few days later they were engaged. It was over MLK weekend. I’ve heard that story a hundred times now but I could never do it justice. Soon after they set a date of May 4. In the time between the “Yes” and the “I do” they were racing around putting the pieces of the wedding together. I would come home and find them on our couch, both on their laptops, with all sorts of everything laying out in front of them, making calls or talking through details. Most of my memory of those spring months, as far as wedding prep goes, has to do with hearing of their latest completed step and their next big hurdle. Kyle’s roommate meeting talks turned from lament to a strange mix of stress and peace: stress over the work that still needed to be done and peace over the woman he was marrying. Those months seemed to go by very fast. I can see why most couples don’t try to plan a wedding in such a small amount of time.

I remember the last night Kyle was my roommate. It was April 30. The FSU Nav staff, sans Kyle and Nicki, had just come back from a region-wide planning meeting in Gainesville. Kyle was going to Ocala the next morning where he’d be through the wedding day. The three of us went out for a late dinner at Gordo’s, a little Cuban restaurant near our house. It was all a little surreal. It was strange to think about the fact that he wasn’t going to be my roommate ever again, stranger still to think about who his next roommate was going to be! It had been a great year together. To not only be living together but to all be campus ministers for the same ministry together was very special. I’m going to miss it.

The wedding weekend, so far as I could tell, went exactly as they planned it. I got to be a part of so much more than I ever thought I would. Like I said, I wasn’t in the wedding, but you wouldn’t have known it. I went to Kyle’s bachelor party, played ultimate Frisbee with he and his groomsmen, and even attended the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (I received a last-second special invite from Nicki). To top it all off, instead of staying with my friend at his parents’ home, I got to stay in the hotel with the groomsmen. And not just any room — Kyle’s room. Yep, it was me, Kyle, Joe Landon, JD and Ross. (Fold-out couch for the win!) I continue to feel very blessed to have been a part of so much of that weekend.

The ceremony was very special. Nicki was such a beautiful bride! Their wedding included some moments I don’t think I’ll ever forget. Like when little Benjamin Wirgau, who’s possibly the cutest five-year-old ever, came in right on cue waving his little bell saying, “The bride is coming! The bride is coming!” Or how at least half a dozen times I thought Kyle and Nicki were going to kiss before they were told to. Or how the whole ceremony seemed to be happening around the bride and groom, that when you looked at them looking at each other it was as though they were already somewhere else entirely. But even if I forget all that, I’ll never forget their kiss! You have to know that these two had never kissed on the lips before. You also have to know that the groomsmen put me in charge of timing their kiss because we were betting on how long it would be (I know, men are twisted). That smooch was officially 12.23 seconds! I’m smiling just thinking about it. Those crazy kids.

The newlyweds were openly playful at their reception. Quite appropriately their first dance was to Ella Fitzgerald’s “At Last.” It was a classy reception, complete with a song from High School Musical (to which everyone seemed to know the corresponding dance). Cheesy Disney music not withstanding, it really was one heck of a party. We all danced the night away, and before too long Kyle and Nicki made their exit under a canopy of bubbles, off to a Jamaican honeymoon.

I said at the start that I felt very much a part of this wedding despite the fact that I didn’t hold any role in it. I think that’s because this is the first wedding in which I knew both the bride and the groom this well. In fact, I’ve only been to two other weddings where I’d even met both bride and groom prior to the ceremony, and in each case I knew one far better than the other. That’s what made this a unique experience for me. I’ve known both Kyle and Nicki for six years now. This past year I was privileged to get to know them both much better as fellow laborers and dear friends. I don’t typically express happiness with tears, but I had them on my face for most of their ceremony. Truly, I couldn’t be happier for them.

My Roommate and My Neighbor was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.

I returned from Connecticut disappointed that I didn’t get more accomplished. I had hoped for lots of face-to-face appointments. I had two. I had hoped for a large turnout at my group presentation. I had three couples attend. So I was already in a funk. I probably should have worked harder. It’s probably my fault that I didn’t get as much done. I’ve been blaming it on circumstances outside of my control, but I could have tried harder and I know it.

It would have been nice to have a day or two to digest all that had happened up north and plan for the final push. But there was no time to regroup. My life hasn’t allowed for down time this summer. You see, when I got home I had exactly one week to pack everything in my house up and move it across town to my new house. I don’t even own that much, but it took multiple trips and a lot of my after work and weekend hours to accomplish. I did manage to get everything moved from one place to another by August 1. I’m still not completely unpacked in my new house, but I’ve gotten enough out of boxes to live.

So that was the end of the mayhem, right? Nope. Because this past weekend I was a groomsman in my cousin Ryan’s wedding. And I hate having to lump this in to my rant, because weddings are supposed to be a happy time for everyone involved. But it just couldn’t have come on a worse weekend for me. I spent all morning on Saturday driving down to Lakeland, all Saturday night at the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Sunday afternoon was the ceremony, Sunday evening the reception. Monday afternoon I drove home.

Maybe when things look a little sunnier I’ll write a post about that weekend that isn’t so egocentric and actually talks about, I don’t know, the wedding or something. But for now I just want to express that by the time this week started I was exhausted. Physically and emotionally. When I got home Monday afternoon I crashed into my bed a just started crying. Uncontrollably. I just had to get it out of me. I don’t know when I last cried, but it’s been a while.

This week I began my new part time schedule, hence why I was able to drive home on Monday because I no longer work on Mondays. So, obviously, things must be on the up and up now, right? More time to make follow-up calls and face-to-face appointments, right? Sure. That’s doesn’t mean good things will result from those calls though. In fact, I had the single most deflating call of my summer on Tuesday.

I called my pastor in Connecticut asking when the missions committee would meet to discuss whether or not to support my ministry. He told me the date, but then he also told me something else. Evidently there are a few people in my church who don’t like to receive any sort of solicitations. He cited an example of a church member starting a business, emailing fellow parishioners to announce its opening and asking them to come out to support him. Well, that didn’t go over too well with this vocal minority. My pastor explained that my fund raising letter and phone calls have been seen as solicitations by some. He didn’t tell me who had made the complaints and I would never ask him to tell me.

This puts me in a difficult position. First, I don’t want to do anything that will hurt the relationships my parents have with the people they go to church with. Second, since being told this I have been paralyzed with fear over calling anyone at this church, even the last of the three couples that attended my presentation, for fear of exacerbating the situation. Also, if there’s even a chance that one of the people I’ve upset is on the missions committee and I continue to make calls I imagine I could end up losing any support I’d receive from the church.

Yesterday I sat down and talked with Dave, Kyle and Luke. The four of us make up the male staff for the Navigators at FSU. Dave has been mentoring me for years now. Kyle and Luke are my new roommates. We talked about my problems raising support. They were all trying to be helpful but I didn’t want to hear it. I was just so angry. I’ve said this before in my blog, but I’ll say it again. The truth is I like holding on to my anger like a blanket that doesn’t keep you warm. You just keep holding tighter and tighter, thinking that it’ll make a difference if you just don’t let go. We prayed about it for a while. I’m going to come up with a plan for the next few weeks and find someone to keep me accountable to that plan. I don’t think that’s been the problem, but at this point I’m going to take all the suggestions the three of them give me because they’re funded and I’m not.

If you’re looking for a bottom line to yesterday’s meeting, it’s this: I’ve only raised 33% of my overall budget. I need to raise 75% before I can begin working with the Navigators. Next week is the staff and student leadership retreat. I will not be attending, unless God stuffs about $8600 down my chimney this weekend. What I’ll be doing instead is tracking down every person in Tallahassee I can think of that I haven’t already talked to and tell them about what I’m doing with the Navigators and ask them for their support. I’m thinking about making a trip down to Palm Beach too, since I really haven’t paid enough attention to my contacts down there.

Oh, and one more thing. This morning I forgot that I now park my car directing in front of a mailbox. Yep, I now am the proud owner of a rather large scratch on the back left hand side of my car. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about.

Have there been any high points in the past two weeks? Sure there have. Why just last night I had a great conversation with my friend Tiffany. We’re both stuck in neutral at the moment and it was just good to find someone who understood. I think we both hung up encouraged. It’s also been good to see family over the past few weeks. In fact, my parents and sister will be in Tallahassee through this weekend, which should be fun.

I need to ask you all to pray for me in the coming weeks. Ask God to raise up additional people who would be willing to financially support my ministry with the Navigators. I still believe that He has called me to this work, and I believe He will yet show Himself to be a provider of all my needs. Please know that I value your prayers greatly. I will keep you updated in the weeks to come as God moves.

At the End of My Rope was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.

Living Situation – Darren has officially moved out of what has come to be called Château Special. (Why does my house deserve the moniker “Château”? Well, it does have two bathrooms after all.) So now it’s just me and Scott. Whatever you want to call what I just went through, you can now call it over.

One Out of Four Ain’t Bad – My playoff picks were terrible. Awful. Worst ever for any sport I’ve ever… well, you get the idea. I picked the Cardinals to move on, but that’s where my foresight ended. Both of my World Series teams (Yankees and Dodgers) were bounced. I can’t say I’m unhappy though. I like the four teams that are left. Not only that but the world is guaranteed to get yet another new champion (the only “recent” champ in the playoffs were the Yankees). October baseball is always more interesting when the same old teams aren’t around.

Clearing The Jungle – I started a new project this weekend. I’m clearing out my backyard. It’s a mess, completely overgrown and without grass. It’s sad because there’s actually a good bit of space out there, it’s just most of it is unusable right now. I’ve wanted to have a yard for four years, but now that I’ve got one it’s going to be a while before it looks the way I want it. Clearing the ground, which consists of removing dead trees limbs and thorny vines, is about half done. After that I’ll need to work the ground a bit before laying down some grass seed and fertilizer. I’m also putting up a hedge of some sort in the back since it feels weird to have my neighbor’s driveway as the backdrop. To put it plainly, there’s a lot of work left to be done.

Blog Housekeeping – I just want to point out a new feature on my website. Those of you on Facebook will have to click on the link that says “view original post” at the bottom of this note to see what I’m talking about. On the left hand side of the page you’ll see a link in italics labeled “Great Blog Entries“. Google Reader has this new feature where I can single out blog entries that are fed to my reader that I think are really good so that I can share them with others. It’ll get updated periodically, whenever something really good comes around. The first entry comes from Mark Cuban’s blog (yes, that Mark Cuban).

If you’re not sure if you’re on my reader please send me a link to your blog. I’ll add you and, if you write something good, maybe I’ll share your post.

The rest – The old roommates came by and took some of their things that they left. Not everything, but it’s a start. I wasn’t home when they stopped by, else I would have forced them to get all that was left. The next time they come over whatever they leave will be thrown out. I’m ready to put the nail in this coffin and move on. This past week with Scott has truly been a breath of fresh air. A month ago I would never have thought I would be this optimistic about my home. Things are really looking up.

Various Updates was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.

Living Situation – Jacob and Lorenzo have officially moved out of my house. Jacob moved out because he couldn’t make rent (to be fair, he owed rent and half the security deposit, but anywhere else wouldn’t have let him move in to begin with had he not fronted the entire security deposit). Lorenzo moved out because, well, he never lived there. If you haven’t been reading here lately you’d not know that Jacob had been letting Lorenzo crash on one of our couches since Labor Day. So when Jacob left it also meant Lorenzo was no longer our guest. I dropped them both off at a motel yesterday afternoon. They’ll be back once more to pick up a couple of things later this week and that’ll be the end of it.

I read some of the old entries of my blog this morning and I realized something very interesting. Both Jacob’s moving in and his departure from this house has been an answer to prayer. Darren and I needed a third guy in order to move into this bigger house. God provided Jacob. But then between the house being consistently trashed and a variety of other incidents I desperately wanted him gone. God made a way. Now I’m hoping that He also makes a way for Jacob to get new housing, since he and Lorenzo are paying $40 a day for their motel room. But it’s just such a relief to know that I won’t have to come home to all that for the next ten months.

Last night Scott moved in. I spent the afternoon cleaning up after Jacob and Lorenzo moved out. I have to admit the place looks really good now, and Scott is the kind of roommate who will help me keep it that way. (Yes, I’m OCD. You want me to deal with it? Fine, as soon as all you ADHD people “deal” with your disorder I’ll deal with mine.) Darren will be moving out this week, and for the next two months it will be just me and Scott. Starting in December it looks like a strong possibility that Porter will be moving in. He’s graduating and university housing is kicking him out of Kellum. I’ve got a good feeling now. This is going to be a good house.

MLB Season - The playoffs start tomorrow. Let’s see how my preseason and midseason predictions held up.

NL East:
Preseason pick: Atlanta Braves
Midseason pick: New York Mets
Winner: New York Mets

NL Central:
Preseason pick: St. Louis Cardinals
Midseason pick: St. Louis Cardinals
Winner: St. Louis Cardinals

NL West:
Preseason pick: Los Angeles Dodgers
Midseason pick: Los Angeles Dodgers
Winner: San Diego Padres

NL Wild Card:
Preseason pick: New York Mets
Midseason pick: San Diego Padres
Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers

AL East:
Preseason pick: New York Yankees
Midseason pick: Boston Red Sox
Winner: New York Yankees

AL Central:
Preseason pick: Chicago White Sox
Midseason pick: Detroit Tigers
Winner: Minnesota Twins

AL West:
Preseason pick: Oakland Athletics
Midseason pick: Oakland Athletics
Winner: Oakland Athletics

AL Wild Card:
Preseason pick: Cleveland Indians
Midseason pick: Chicago White Sox
Winner: Detroit Tigers

Preseason - 37.5%
Midseason - 37.5%

MLB Playoffs – Here’s what going to happen. Trust me.

National League
Dodgers over Mets in 5
Cardinals over Padres in 4
Dodgers over Cardinals in 6

American League
Yankees over Tigers in 5
Twins over Athletics in 4
Yankees over Twins in 6

World Series
Yankees over Dodgers in 6

I hate picking the Yankees. I hate the Yankees. But unless something incredible happens the Yankees will win the World Series this year. I really don’t think I’m going to enjoy watching the postseason this year with that in mind. Mostly it’s because I’ll have to listen to their fans for the entire postseason, who are otherwise good people (here I’m thinking of Brent and Porter). Last year it was nice. Only one round and then they were quiet. I’d love to see the Tigers beat them and win the whole thing but it’s just not going to happen.

The rest – Besides the roommate swap this was a very slow weekend. I spent Saturday night hanging out with James, Joe and JD with intention of doing something but just goofed off instead. It was just one of those lazy weekends for me. What’s on the docket for this week? Well, to celebrate the return of Scott P Moriak at some point this week I’m going to throw a little gathering of sorts at my place. I’ll put the word out over Facebook when the details are finalized.

They’re Finally Gone was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.

Weekend Retreat – So I did end up going to my grandmother’s house for the weekend. Easily one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time. I needed a break from Tallahassee, from college students, from roommates. I did nothing all weekend. That’s not entirely true; I went to church. And I drove a lot. But while in my grandma’s house I did nothing. And it was fabulous! I just sat back in one of her comfortable chairs and listened to my aunt and grandma talk about baby stuff. My aunt is about to become a grandmother, and my grandma a great-grandma, for the first time. I was fed two amazing meals: steak on Saturday and lasagna on Sunday. Even the church service on Sunday was top notch. The sermon was on envy, a topic I’m keenly interested in. All in all I’m thinking I should be headed down to Lakeland more often!

Living Situation – When we last left our hero I was fretting about my roommates and what was going to happen in the coming days in my house. Well, a lot has happened since then. First of all, Scott P Moriak will indeed be moving in when Darren moves out. I am very excited to see what God has done in his life over the past year since I lived with him last. Second, last Friday Jacob was served with a notice of noncompliance for some of the shenanigans that have been going on in the house. That’s not an eviction, mind you, but it basically told him to fix what he was doing wrong or he’d be gone. I’ll keep you posted.

To My Facebook Readers – This dawned on me the other day. I bet the majority of my readership is reading my blog via Facebook now that I can import it through their “Notes” feature. In case you didn’t know, I do have a website beyond this. It’s at www.jaledwith.com. That’s all.

To My Non-Facebook Readers – I know it’s been forever since I updated my photo albums on my website, and I think a couple of the ones that are there don’t work anymore. I still don’t have internet in my house, so everything I do online is either at work or in a computer lab on campus. I just wanted to pass along that I have put up some new photos on Facebook. There’s a link to those photos at the top of my photos page, and you don’t have to be a Facebook member to look at them.

The rest – It will be such a psychological victory to get to October. I feel like September has gone by quickly but not nearly quick enough. I’m ready for fall to start. I’m ready for Scott to move in. I’m so happy there aren’t any home football games for a while. I can’t wait for postseason baseball. I’m hoping this whole workplace life and off-campus living thing start to feel normal soon. It all lies in October. Here’s hoping I make it to Sunday.

Getting Away From It All was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.

Living Situation – This morning before I left for work I found out that my roommate Darren will not be my roommate for much longer. He’ll soon be moving out to move in with his parents in Jacksonville. The move is a smart financial one for him. It creates an interesting situation for me though. He’s trying to find someone to take on his part of the lease. At the moment it looks like it’ll be Lorenzo, the guy who’s been sleeping on our couch for the past three weeks. He’s got an interesting story, this Lorenzo fellow. He spent three years at a Bible institute in Tampa, has more scripture memorized than I do, but the Word hasn’t seemed to impact his heart. I’m torn about him moving in for a couple of reasons. He doesn’t seem to be moving out any time soon, so it will be good to be able to treat him like a roommate instead of like a guest. I’ve felt weird about laying down the law to my roommate’s guest, so I usually get Jacob to do it in the name of responsibility. Jacob and I have had to talk about Lorenzo on a variety of topics already including keeping his porn out of the living room, keeping his pot out of the house, and cleaning up the mess he makes of the place.

The rumor on the street is that my old roommate Scott P Moriak is returning to Tallahassee and is looking for a place to live. Personally I would much rather have him as the third roommate. But if all it means is that Scott will be the third and Lorenzo will forever be the unofficial fourth then I don’t know if I like that solution.

I will tell you this much: I will never again live with people I don’t know well when I have the option of living on my own. This has not been a good situation for me at all thus far. I’ve done some thinking on the subject. I think there are two types of discouragement: active and passive. Had I chosen to live by myself what I would have experienced was passive discouragement, because there would have been no one there discouraging me through word or deed, simply the lack of anything relational would have been a discouragement. But what I have right now is active discouragement. I have roommates who, while they could choose to be an encouragement, choose through their words and deeds to be a discouragement. Whether that choice be conscious or involuntary I don’t know. But I really don’t see it getting better any time soon. And I have to wonder, which type of discouragement is worse?

FSU vs Clemson – Well, I can’t say I didn’t warn you. I had a feeling we’d lose this game. I’ve been saying that since the middle of this summer. I am surprised by the way we lost. Our defense failed us in the last couple of minutes. That’s uncharacteristic of an FSU team. But the rest seemed pretty much by the book. Now, if our team holds to its “script” we won’t lose another home game this year, which would mean that we’d beat Florida. I have a feeling that’s not going to happen. In fact, we might even lose to BC.

The rest – I feel pretty miserable. I’m tired all the time. I don’t feel like I’m getting much out of what I’m doing with my time. I hate being asked how I’m doing. I had someone ask me that last night as I was leaving Kellum and I wouldn’t even stop to tell her. It’s ceremonial anyway; as soon as I said anything other than “good” or “alright” they’d regret having asked. I’m thinking about going to central Florida to see my grandmother this weekend. I just want to get away from all this for a while.

Problems At Home was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.