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I am at Candyce’s house in San Diego. Her whole family is at Vacation Bible School for the morning, so it’s just her dad and I relaxing in the quiet house.

Last night we had a cookout and twenty-six people ended showing up. We were only planning on fifteen or so, but friends kept on stopping by. Most people plan for weeks in advance to host that many people for dinner, but for the Oertle family, this kind of thing can happen at any time. Before the dishes were even finished, people were playing music and singing and dancing around the house. It was crazy. Dustin and I left to play pool.

I’ve been traveling and speaking heavily for the past several weeks, and it’s nice to see Candyce and her family again. She’s wonderful. So I am just going to relax and be bored. Yippee!

It’s been a long weekend down in Tucson for the Steubenville Conference. I was one of several speakers leading the weekend for 1800 teenagers. Steubenville Conferences are always powerful and life-changing. All that being said, this conference is more fun than most, because I’m with close friends in my own state. It don’t feel like i have to be “on” for a bunch of strangers.

It’s always a mystery how God works at something like this weekend. Without a doubt, some things happen that absolutely cannot be explained away by a skeptic. God moves with power. Us speakers and musicians are left in awe of God’s glory.

It’s difficult to describe what it feels like to stand on that stage and at nearly 2000 teenagers, knowing that this experienced will be tattooed on their soul.; I don’t know where there journey’s will end, but it’s a rush to be with them for this precious moment.

My drive back to Phoenix from was adventurous but quiet. There were dust tornadoes (sun devils) that raced along side me as I drove. That was cool. The desert landscape is so baron, but still intriguing. It’s like each mountain has a story to tell. I listened to oldies and thought about how much I wanted to just drive straight to San Diego to see Candyce. But I couldn’t miss tonight’s Life Teen Mass at St. Timothy.

There are hundreds and hundreds of teens there who came up after the conference, and it’s good for me to be there to hang out with them. I don’t get kicks out of signing autographs or taking pictures with strangers, but it means a lot to me to help someone through life. Sometimes that means just signing a song sheet from Mass.

:::

9:30 PM
I am sitting in this empty airport staring out the window wondering when my the airplane will get here at take me away. I am supposed to be in the air already on my way to San Diego, but they don’t think the plane will show up for another two hours. Ugh…I should’ve just drove out there. This is so frustrating because I haven’t seen Candyce in a month.

All the restaurants and bars are closed for the day. The janitors are mopping the bathrooms and pushing vacuums. The airplane gate people are kicking back in their chairs and yapping with each other, trying to ignore the hundred of us staring blankly through the window.

Last night I was walking back to my hotel after a long day at the Steubenville Conference. My friend called me to tell me he saw Theo from ‘The Real World Chicago’ at my hotel. I went to the front desk and made a few phone calls. I found out which room he was in and ran up to surprise him.

Theo was so shocked, he hugged me at my waist and lifted me up like he was going to through me over the railing. I go to meet his parents and he got to meet my friends. A big group of us went out on the town for dinner.

It was fun watching a Real World friend interact with my real life friends. For so long those two worlds have been so separate. It was therapeutic to watch both realities gel together in such peace. All my friends soon became Theo’s friend. It was magical.

I have to believe that God is truly working in my life. I know that all good things take time, effort, and dedication. I am patient, but not I’m not going sit around and wait for things to work out. I have to do my part.

I woke up early this morning so I could get my life back together. I’ve been away from home for over two weeks, and things have just gotten messy. After an hour of yard work, I pulled out my paint and brushes.

I started this painting of pope John Paul II a couple years ago. I got frustrated with painting his facial features and I took a break. I hung it on the wall to dry. I figured with a one-eyed pope staring into my dining room, I’d finish it sooner than later. Well I watched the pope watching me for over a year, and today I stopped the staring contest.

It was embarrassing, really. Once I mixed paint, it only took me four hours to get it done and hang it back on the wall. Inspired by my accomplishment, I started assembling the last half of my NoMoHo belt buckles. Two hours later, that was done too. I felt good but kind of dumb. I should’ve done this a long time ago.

So I am thinking about getting a NoMoHo pimp wagon. I want a promotional vehicle for my website: NoMoHo.com. It will bring a lot of people to the site, and it’ll be a lot of fun too. A Cadillac from the 60′s and 70′s would do well to accomplish the pimp image. But, once I put on big rims and lower it on bags, it will get stolen. I’ll stay away from ghetto gangsta and go for badass gangster with an early 50′s sled. Bart came over and we discussed the possibilities.

Mass was nearly empty tonight because everyone was getting ready for the fireworks. I usually have to get there a couple hours early to save a seat, but today I had the second row all to myself. Afterwards a few of us went and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the lake. We sat outside and a perfect view of the fireworks. It was a perfect night to be outside.

Tonight Nick had a big party at his house. There had to be 50 of my friends there just having a good time. I wish Candyce could’ve been there with me. I miss her.