Dear Alex

You literally made high school twice as good by being there. You made me laugh so much and so hard that I often look back on those days and wish I could travel in time just so I could experience that amazing fun again.

You and I had a lot in common back then. We had some great conversations, and not all of them were in Musfinqil. :)

In fact, now that I'm looking back on it, that word seems such a natural part of my vocabulary and the language so ingrained in my mind that I can't ever remember not knowing and using it. (Does anyone still remember what "Musfinqil" stood for in the first place?) But it's kind of like you. I can hardly remember a time when you weren't a part of my life. And THAT is a good thing.

You've taught me a lot. Mostly because you talk a lot and you know about everything there is to know about anything, but I've had some amazingly deep philosophical conversations with you that I really do miss these days.

I'm super glad you're still around the area and that we're still friends. I'm pretty sure you're one of those people God put in my life for a lifetime, not just a mere season. And I've thanked Him for that MANY times.

Now I must thank you: Thank you for being such a good friend; thank you for teaching me things; thank you for always being willing to answer my questions, even when they were really hard ones; and thank you for including Jason and me in your game nights. One of these days we'll do those again.

I love you, my friend.

Beckdy

March of the Nerds

These...are nerds. Happy, smart and entertaining nerds, but nerds all the same. They are engineers. Today was the beginning of the university's March U-Days, a weekend event where high school seniors from across the country are invited to come explore Walla Walla U to see if this is where they'd like to get their higher education. I was helping with the admissions table at the departmental fair and happened to be next to the School of Engineering display. I gotta admit...nerds have cool toys. In addition to a robot, they also had a body heat sensor, which is what they're playing with in this photo. The gentleman in the middle is a professor; the other two are students.