Hobbie and Interests

Interests:
I enjoy reading, and read about 1 book per month. I read biographies of any type, science related books, history, christianity, computers, geology and physics (my Dad was a physicist, and is now  science fiction writer). The last books I read :
 
 

Fiction	Biography/ History	Christian	"Other"
-Across the Nightengale Floor,  -Grass for His Pillow, -Brilliance of the Moon (trilogy about a boy struggling during the samuri wars in japan) - The DaVinci Code (bogus baloney.. but a good read) - A Painted House (J. Grisham) - The Broker (J. Grisham) - 5 people you meet in heaven - Chronicles of Narnia Books 1-3 (i.e. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Read, then gave to my 12 year old daughter)	- Biography of William Smith ("father" of modern Geology)zzzzzzzz - Benjamin Franklin (this guy was very cool) - Riding Rockets - (biography of a space shuttle astronaut through the 1980's &90's - Duel in the Sun - (covers the lives of Alberto Salezar and Dick Beardsley and their famous 1982 Boston marathon race) - Cook (Details the explorations of Captain Cook) - Off the Planet-(Jerry Linenger's account of life in the Mir Space Station)  - Little Crow: Spokesman for the Sioux (eastern sioux of Mn during mid 1800's) Brave Companions: Portraits in History (outlines key figures in the history of exploration and discovery)	- A Case for Christ (Lee strobel What an awesome book, especially for fact-minded science guys. provides fact-based evidence for Christ's appearance) - Wild at Heart(cool book, I read it while hiking and climbing. It provides good evidence that man is by nature a wild, energetic, exploring and crazy dude! So why be a wimpy Christian?) - Searching for the Invisible God (Feeling the presence of God in a world that isn't exactly tuned in to Him) - A Purpose Driven Life (Good book. Cliff Notes: "It's not about you")	- Freemasons (zzzzz.. never did finish it) -Atlantis Found (a "Dirk Pitt" book.. Fun!) - Treasure (another Dirk Pitt book... like the movie Sahara.) Ok... and about 6 other Drik Pitt books.. I'm in a 12 step program to stop! - How We Die (interesting book) - Clinical Exercise Physiology (must educate self grasshopper) - Confessions of an Economic Hitman(discusses the US role and economic "influence" in developing nations.. not our best hour!) - The Alchemist (classic) - A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle
Liberal Arts	COIS Community Reading Project	.	.
The World is Flat- Thomas Friedman Hot, Flat and Crowded- same Collapse- Jared Diamond Biology of Belief The Varieties of Religious Experience- William James (whew) Ishmael - Daniel Quinn The End of Poverty- Jeffery Sachs Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, nature and Climate Change- Elizabeth Kolbert	The Glass House The Kite Runner Long Way Gone Three Cups of Tea The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks	.	.

 
 
 

Outdoors!!
Psalm 46:10 (look it up)
Love to camp, backpack, hike, climb, kayak and about any other outdoor adventure there is!
 

2004- Climbed Mt Elbert, highest mountain in Colorado(14,430ft)
Hiked in the badlands of ND (hot!). Saw the Petrified forrest
Hiked in Nebraska (Scottsbluff.. Oregon trail)

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Rocky Mountain National Park- Colorado (great hiking and climbing)

Crater Lake National Park- Oregon (1-2 day visit. Nice hiking, bluest lake you'll ever see!)

Theodore Roosevelt National Park- North Dakota (stay in Cottenwood campground, hike into the wilderness and see buffalo!)

Arches National Park - Utah (bring water! Be sure to hike back in to Delicate Arch)

Next up..??.. 2-3 day Kayak trip along a portion of the Missouri where Lewis and Clark traveled (in Montana)
How about camping on Isle Royale just of Michigan's coast? Any suggestions?
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Hobbies

Lapidary, which is the art of carving and shaping stones into jewelry and Tae Kwon Do, a korean martial art. I competed a lot in Tae Kwon Do while in college, and even qualified for Nationals in 1985. I have taught both children and adults since 1984, and had my own "Dojang" for 7 years while living in Nebraska, and for 2 years while still back home in North Dakota. For 3 years (up until March 05) I taught TKD within a church setting as a Christian-based character development tool. I also teach it as an activity class for college students here at GVSU and train the women's golf team (look out golf ball!). I spend less time doing TKD now and more time training myself with weight lifting and running (taking some 'me' time)

	Step 1: Using a metal template, draw the shape that you wish to create
	Step 2: using a diamond saw, cut along guidelines to cut out the rough shape of the stone (water used as coolant.. messy!)
	Step 3: Grind the sides of the stone using a silicon carbide grinding wheel and shape to the exact dimensions you had drawn from the template.
	Step 4: Mount(glue) the stone to a large nail. Proceed to grind the top of the stone until you have a nice rounded dome.
	Step 5: Move to a sanding wheel, and sand the stone using 220, 400 and 600 grit sandpaper (diamond coated). Lots of water used.. messy.
	Step 6: Polish using a leather polishing wheel covered with a polishing compound.
	Step 7: Soak overnight in a glue dissolver (yuch), then place into the setting. DONE!