The Farm Boy in ME!

My advice today is the same advice I gave at work last month on my 25th birthday. When 25 and still single, start to garden!

Picture one- Holy Molly Pepper

Picture two- The Holy Molly trying to grow

Picture three- The Jalapeno Pepper, started growing yesterday

Picture four- The Garden Pepper  

Picture Five- Baby Garden Pepper on it's way 

Picture Six- The Farm boy in me!
Picture seven- What more can I say?

Boys’ get blisters. Men develop calluses.

When pressure is applied to an area of skin two outcomes is possible. The skin becomes irritated; eventually the irritated skin weakens and gives way to a blister. Or the skin becomes stimulates, eventually the stimulated skin strengthens and a callous is formed.

Boys’ get blisters. Men develop calluses.

As a young boy I wanted to prove myself a valuable man. So I asked my grandfather for work. He told me it was time to cut the ditch banks. By this time in the year the ditch banks couldn’t be burnt because the crops were to high and too dry.  

I followed my grandfather to the garage, a place I knew a tractor wasn’t kept. I laid my eyes on the lawn mower, a mini tractor would do just fine I thought, but to my surprise the mini tractor had no heart, there it sat without a battery. I was perplexed; my mind was questioning how I would do the job without a lawnmower or a tractor. At that moment my grandpa pulled out a weed-eater. Eventually the weed-eater was put away when we discovered it didn’t have any blades.

Simi relived I turned to walk back into the house, as I did my grandfather sifted through rusted antique tools that rested in a splinter filled 55 Gallon barrel. He pulled from that barrel an odd shaped golf club. With the sickle in hand my grandfather headed towards the ditch bank.

My 80-year-old grandfather explained what he wanted and with ease showed me how it was done. He handed me the tool and walked away.

The first hour I worked very little, my time was spent envisioning different ways the ditch bank could be cut. Eventually I realized my visions of a cut ditch bank wasn’t going to be done on it’s own.

The second hour I spend tangled in monstrous weeds, flipping and flailing, hacking and screaming at weeds. It was drudgery. Over and over again I swung in different directions, doing anything I could to try and level those thick powerful weeds. I was hopeless; although I worked I had no vision.

It was sometime between the second and fourth hour that my dreams found work, and my drudgery found vision. I started to cut; my flailing became focused, morphing into powerful swings. Precision accompanied my every movement. I saw in my minds eye a ditch bank with weeds cut to uniform an inch above the ground. My mind saw a job well done and my hands wanted to be the author of it.

I can’t remember how many blisters I had on my hands that day but I do remember the callous that began to form on my heart. 

“Vision without work is merely dreaming, work without vision is drudgery, but work coupled with vision is destiny.”     Thomas S. Monson

All Aboard, Now Leaving Seattle, Next Stop.....

Pure goodness! 

Do I love Seattle, YES, why? Just look at me! How could I not?

There are few times in life that we're able to stop in the moment and say, "this is exactly where I want to be."  

Seattle was that moment for me. It was a touch of wild, (leave collage in the middle of the semester) a pinch of maturity (flying across the country for a girl). And finally a lot of satisfied goodness. (love in visual format, see also picture). 

As a college student I feel I'm obligated to learn. So, I asked myself coming home, what did I learn? I learned that grades can drop a complete letter grade in less than a week. I learned that life is meant to be lived, not to be simply planned and waited for. I learned that good parents are understanding and help in times of need, and support us when we're making big decisions.

Tomorrow my arch rival :), girlfriend, secret keeper, financial advisor, coach, running partner, phycologist, work associate, task master, and best friend leaves on a mission. She's headed to Brazil; all I can say is watch out world, here comes Chanel.  

So, most of you might be asking, why aren't you marrying her if you feel this way about her? Here is my public answer. (in short)

We step into the darkness not because we enjoy being there, but  sometimes something tells us, or better said we feel, that's what we need to do. Often times we step with the hope that the light will follow. Sometimes the light doesn't follow, rather in the darkness we see a light far in the distance. 

Once we see both lights we have two options, retreat or press forward. 

We're both headed for a light at the end of a long dark tunnel. We hope to see each other when we get there. But if not we've enjoyed our time, our ride, and our love. It was worth every penny. 

- Jake Dean Steel (A stranger to loneliness) 

Immune to Rain

We mask our faces trying to hide our emotions, why don’t we mast our hearts?

The heart can’t lie; it’s not a filter, rather a distributer. The heart takes what it’s given, uses what it needs then gives to everything around it.

The heart speaks through two-way communication. If the heart is being deprived it becomes evident through the windows of your soul.

Why do men’s hearts fail them?

A failure to distribute creates a failure to receive. A failure to receive creates a cardiac arrest.

What next for the heart that fails?

Out with the old in with the new, out with the old end with the new. Time after time, the heart needs to be manually pumped by skilled hands that are persistently delivering a new life support. The hands masterfully helping the heart distribute until one day the heart needs no support.

Eventually the heart gains rhythm and beats independently.  

Gavin Shane Steel!

Meet My Friend! 

Meet my new friend his name is Gavin Shane Steel. He's a really good kid. My grandma approved of him, says he's a good example to me. I met him on January 28th.

We already compared weight he is 7 pounds and some odd ounces. I'm only 143 pounds heavier than him. He's 19 inches tall; I'm 48 inches taller.  

I hung out with Gavin today, I enjoyed how peaceful he is. I admire his contempt in life. I want to be more like him. He didn't try to be the center of attention, he wasn't story topping or even using sarcasm. He just listened and enjoyed the good company.

I think the thing that I admire most about Gavin is the spirit that he carries. I want to grow to the point that I carrie the same spirit that Gavin does.  

I hope you all get the chance to meet Gavin you'll never be the same! 

From My Eyes to Yours

 Looking into Lebanon

 
Cliffs of Arbell
 
Akko (Mediterrean Sea)
 
Bunker looking over Syria used in the 6 day War (Andrew and Jake)
 
The Jordan River
 
My new Favorite Flower, next to 2) The sun Flower and 3) the Lily
 
The Hills of Upper Galilee
 
Sunset at Akko
 
Looking over the Galilee (Cliffs of Arbell)
 
The Sea of Galilee

To blog or not to blog

Oh life, you know the more I think about life the more I don't understand it. Today I said to myself I should blog, and then another voice in my head said, why? You have nothing to blog about. And then my voice came in and said really? Really? I'm living in Jerusalem and I have nothing to write about. If I can't write about something here then I shouldn't ever write.


I got 7 new facebook friends! I'm very excited, they are all girls, (sorry Chanel) they are all Muslims and they live in the West Bank. While I was in Bethlehem I had this great desire to ask a Palestinian what they think of the Isralie Palistinian conflict. (For those who remember, I often get strong desires to ask people I don't know questions I shouldn't ask. like the one time I asked the prostitute what she was looking for in life). Back to my story, while I was at Bethlehem University I found seven girls sitting together so I went up and said I don't know what I'm allowed to say to you but can I ask you a question. Long story short I found myself saying, so do you girls want to be my friends on facebook, they all laughed and then I whipped out my book and got new friends.

What else did I do this week? Um... I went to the place they believe the last supper was held, I wrote a 14 page paper on Islam.

Oh yes, I also made olive oil, I enjoyed every minute in those trees. people were commenting on how I looked like a natural, so Naturally I put on my Farm boy Jake look and worked even harder, by the time I convinced myself I was amazing I decided to get down from the tree. I don't know what happened but two feet off the ground I fell and landed on my back. I put farm boy Jake back into my pocket and walked home as just jake.

Leech me Alone!!

I went through Hezekiah's tunnel last week. (That is the tunnel that was built under the city of David to protect the water). I pranced through the tunnel and eventually found myself swimming and dipping my body under the water. I pretended I was an alligator, acting like a fourteen year old (minus the menace to others i.e. splashing people, pushing people in). Anyway I swam for a while and then realized that the water wasn't as clean as I thought. I got out and started drying off when I saw a creature that looked leechy on the ground. I said to myself, boy that looks like a leech, I should take a picture with it pretending that I have a leech on me. I tried to take a picture to no avail. Later I realized leechy thing was truly a leech. How did I find that out? Well the epiphany came when I pulled up my pant leg and saw one trying to suck off my leg. (If you don't have a visual then pretend walking in on lane kissing his girl friend, minus the girlfriend and adding my leg). I got it off and in my frustration I yelled at it, as though it understood. After I yelled at it I did the routine body check starting with places I've had leeches before and ending on places that I didn't care so much about. After the body check I heard a male senior couple whisper to his wife, "serves him right". You know what, I guess in many ways it did serve me right; I'm not even mad, why? Because I got a leech in Jerusalem. When was the last time you met someone that got leeches in Jerusalem!!!! Touché Jake (the crowed comments)

The coolest family in the world

                                            On top of the World!

Oh, Sinai

Me. A mustache and 4 old triangles

$1 dollar picture $1 million dollar story

I decided I wanted to drive so.... I asked the guy up front!

The Nile!!

You Call me Crazy; I call myself Jake!

Sadly this week was a week for school and ping pong tournaments (oh and volley ball). I got organized and caught up on the things I need to and now I’m preparing for next week’s midterms. Don’t be fooled even though I’m trying to study, this semester won’t turn out like any semester before. To be honest shooting for average seems more my style anyway.

I went out into the city a few times; once I went to the western Wall for a Bar Mitzvah. What did I learn there? Well while I was there a friend pointed out that all 12-15 year old boys are the same. They were poking each other, laughing at girls, playing pranks, and making fun of tourists. After I went to the Bar Mitzvah I went to the Dome of the Rock. (Kind of a big deal). It was pretty amazing, I wish I would have enjoyed it more than I did, but I found myself trying to figure out how to get inside. (I’ll never get inside because I found a talk yesterday from 1989 from my good man Elder Holland about resecting Jerusalem, my heart has been changed). Later on in the week we went to the Western Wall for the last day of Sukkot called Hoshana Rabbah. There were thousands of Jews beating a bundle of five willow branches on the ground praying to God to bless the upcoming raining season.

We also went to the city and went to an Armenian Church service in the old city; it was a beautiful building, and nice people.

That’s what happened this week! I’ve loved it. I need to get out more, I need to be more effective on my homework, but I guess if we’re going to sit around wishing for things then I wish for the ability to have ultimate balance. You might think I’m stupid for writing that but imagine what you could do with ultimate balance, oh wait you can’t imagine it because the possibilities are endless.

Also there is a rumor going around about me being engaged. Well… instead of easing the minds of the few who really care I decided to be like Carley Simon and make you pay to find out the true answer. She Got $30,000 from an ESPN producer to find out who the song “you’re so vain” is about. I can’t imagine getting 30,000 but I was hoping mom would give me 10 bucks!!

Start the bidding at $1!!!

I don't feel there's enough in this blog to get mom to write me and tell me to grow up so to dispel the rumor of maturing Jake I have to say one thing. My body just got on a bathroom schedule. It sounds like a great thing but I’m not sold on the idea. I don't know what's better, knowing that WW3 is coming every morning or enjoying the element of surprise. Oh Jerusalem, I'm starting to understanding the conflict; I never realized how personal it was.

Egypt: Enough said!

Once upon a time I became a world traveler and added five- hundred stories a day to my inventory of unbelievable things that have happened to me in my life; let me indulge if you will. My way to Egypt we went to a few tels (archeological sites) then we ended up spending the night at a kibbutz called Ketura. What a Kibbutz is, it’s a little oasis in the middle of the desert and a socialist group lives on it. They share everything and they always remind you that they’re happy even though they have nothing (I was hoping for a little more self evidence: personally). They fed us dinner (their version of a hamburger) and we swam in there pool. I almost found myself staying when they introduced me to their massive dairy; my cow whispering scenes kick in and I found myself communicating with those animals they begged for a Kansas man to be their king; very tempting.


We made it into Egypt with a few small directions 1) Don’t drink the water 2) Don’t drink the Juice and 3) don’t ride the Camels. After getting to the Hotel I found myself being offered juice, it was really good! I then ate fish for dinner after I finished the doctor came up to us and said, it’s probably not best to eat the fish. I felt bad so I rushed home and brushed my teeth with the tap water. Egypt wasn’t my A game.

We went to the light and sound show at the pyramids and the next day we returned for a tour of a few tombs. As I was walking by myself some man came up to me and said, WOW are you Egyptian? I said no, He said are you sure because that’s an amazing mustache. (The man knew how to get into my heart). After a good conversation he told me he wanted to give me a gift, I refused for a moment and then took the gift; explaining to him I wasn’t going to pay him. (The gift was a head dress). Long story short next thing I knew this man had me on a camel in a head dress walking around by the pyramids. I knew I wasn’t in the best situation in the world however I knew I could get out of it. Just then uncomfort began to dwell within me as I saw my professor coming over screaming. He yelled at the driver to put me down, the driver (of the camel said no, I was in control of the ride not him) so my professor got up in his face and said if you don’t, I’ll call the police, the driver started to arguing and in a moments glance I remembered that I wasn’t supposed to be on that camel. As my professor ran away screaming I miraculously remembered the reason I was on the camel; I wanted a picture, so I told the man to take the picture and put me down, the man told me to hold on, I told him NO and I reminded him that this professor would send me back to the states if I didn’t get down. What did I do next? I got ready to dismount a camel Kansas style, I rocked back and as I was ready to jump the man knew I meant business so he took the picture (one is nice the other is me getting ready to jump). And he put me down. After I was down, that slime ball had the audacity to ask me for money. Let me digress a moment to fill you in on the Egyptian culture, everything at those sites are gifts from the people but they demand money as a thank you. Okay so back to the story after I was down and the guy wanted my money, I gave him an old scotch blessing, handed him a dollar, took my hat from his hand and walked off. The man again asked for more so Stepped back and demanded my money dollar back, he said no and shut his mouth. My professor was waiting for me arms folded and face angry. After being yelled at for 5 minutes (I don’t remember anything he said besides this is not funny, and they would take you to the wilderness and steal your money). Anyway He told me the whole bus was waiting for me so I ran to the bus to find nobody on the bus. Smartly, I didn’t go find them, I waited all by myself like a little child. The professor eventually came over and invited me to go back with the class as I walked away he said, oh by the way how much did they get you for? (In some ways I think he said that hoping I would have lost tons of money so I could learn a lesson. To inform you on how prevalent this is, one girl paid 30 dollars for a 3 dollar head dress, some paid 20 for post cards and 30 for camel rides.) When I told my professor that I got postcards, the ride, and a picture for a dollar he didn’t believe me, when he found out that was really the truth he said, Oh those guys must hate you, oh man you must have really pissed them off.

Because I wrote more than anyone is willing to read the rest of my trip (remember that was day one) will be quick. We road on a train, a plane, boats a few times across the Nile, carriage rides, we did a camel ride in which I found myself opening the eyes of the drives to a new world of farming and cattle. We went to Tomb of tut ankh Amun, Min-Rahina, the second Pyramid the Valley of the Kings, Giza Pyramids, Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple, the Luxor Temple, Karnak temple, Imhotep and Saqqara Pyamid, Hard Rock Café, KFC, an amazing museum, and we hiked Mt. Sinai. (We did tons of other stuff but that’s the main things that I can remember). Oh and I took a group of 13 girls into town, wow they were scared out of their mind when they realized we were in a dark alley in the middle of Egypt, (I don’t think any man can keep 13 girls calm).

Now for my last story, there is a song called the Walka Walka (spelling isn’t even close I’m sure). It was played for the world Cup. A kid in the group taught us the dance and I wired the song into everyone’s headphones, long story short we have 40 people at a time doing this dance in different places we go. (All the professors and tour guides love it, all but one (the one who yelled at me because of the camels). Anyway long story short we’re not supposed to do it anymore because we did it at one of the Egyptian sites and our teacher didn’t like it. Now let me tell you the story from our point of view. As we were doing this amazing (silent dance) people from all countries were filming us and taking pictures of us, as we were doing it once, a few officers came over and told out tour guide that we needed to stop because that wasn’t allowed, the tour guide (a local Egyptologist named Islam) was amazing and told the guards to let us finish and then he would go to the head officer and speak with him. As the tour guide went to the head officer he showed him what we were doing and the head officer said, “That’s awesome, how do they all know how to do that. They loved our dance that proves that music can heal the world.

Well I must conclude because I have a small feeling that nobody will make it through this blog besides mom. I have a large feeling that mom is very disappointed and scared for me. I hope you enjoy it. Mom I enjoyed my trip it was very spiritual and I learned a lot, don’t take what I write to heart, all the teachers Love me save it be one, however I do respect him and I’m doing everything he asks so I think we will be okay. I hope you enjoyed my trip I sure did, but I am glad to be back at Jerusalem which now feels like Home.

-Shalom

Us walking around Jericho!!

This is in old Jerusalem in a small shop. A few times people have screamed Kansas to me! Tell mike that I didn't see K-State or any of his lame teams up there

King Harrods temple