One Nation, Under God
One Nation, Under God
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Wednesday, June 21, marked ten years since I moved to the great state of Montana. That same day marked a day that I felt like a real Montanan. On that day, I was tasked with driving to Miles City to pick up our newspaper from the Miles City Star. They have been printing out papers since the press went down at the Havre Daily News. To me, a native Chicagoite, an eight hour round trip drive takes forever! Somewhere along that trip to Miles City, I met road construction and decided to take a...
I will admit, I was not ready for my first few experiences of -40 wind chills when I moved here in 2012. The weather in the Chicagoland area is similar; meaning cold, but I don’t remember the weather being under -10 degrees. As a kid, I remember it being so cold that it hurt to run. I remember salted streets. I remember snowball fights, snowmen, and the occasional sled or two, but what I don’t remember is it being so cold that we couldn’t go outside for recess. Moving here has been an adjus...
INFO I meant to thrive but could only survive as our editor was on vacation. There is never a great time to get sick, but as Mark left town, an upper respiratory infection ran through me, making the week a lot harder than it needed to be. I tried to be a hero and work through it, but eventually I ran to the Phillips County Clinic. Before I got there, I couldn’t breathe, my body was sore from coughing, and I had a pounding headache. It took a while for the good doc to get to me, but I gathered th...
It took me a whole two years, but I finally went out to Nelson Reservoir to fish. I almost forgot how nice Nelson was, though I typically get a weekly reminder from our area’s athletes. When I ask kids where their favorite spot in Phillips County is, a majority of times they respond “Nelson.” After my trip a couple of weeks ago, I remembered why Nelson was so awesome. Nelson was one of my first impressions with the Phillips County Area seven years ago. Bottom Bouncing was one of the first skills that I had learned since moving from the Chica...
I did something strange a couple of months ago and it paid off! I bought a pair of second hand Jordan IV Retro shoes for $40. These shoes have clearly seen better days. They are scuffed up and have pen drawn in where the paint has chipped off. I have a newer pair of shoes that I bought, but they are now designated as shoes I would wear at nice events because they were kept in mint condition. The first shoes that I mentioned are classified as beaters or shoes that are beat up and thus suitable...
I know I was skeptical at first per my previous write up about our new vehicle. But I have been driving our family minivan for a week or so and I love it. I know praising the room, comfort and dependability of our van does not give me my cool card back, but I think I actually like this thing. I have had my product at various events and farmer’s markets and all I can say is wow. I packed that van down with my supplies and had plenty of room for my family and other things. I love the fact that our...
It went against everything I know, but it’s all over. So, I took the leap with my wife. To sell our family SUV and get a van. Ugh, a minivan. The day that PJ was born in June of 2012, we realized that our car’s air conditioning was not adequate and that we needed to upgrade our vehicle. I took over the search and found a sports utility vehicle that we have grown in and have enjoyed. Fast forward to today and I get a little emotional that we had to upgrade. That SUV felt like my last tie to truly being young. I am no longer in a “cool” family...
INFO Though I missed a lot of it, I thoroughly enjoyed what time I did spend at the Malta Chamber of Commerce’s Malta Crazy Days event. Like the First State Bank Car Show, or any other big event that occurs in Phillips County, I get encouraged by the show of familiar faces interacting with each other. The growth in the City of Malta has been made apparent by a few things that I have seen or have heard about recently including the fact that there are almost fifty kids in PJ’s graduating cla...
Yeah, I quit for about five years. But when on the keto diet, it helps to have healthy snack options, which is why I dove right back into eating sunflower seeds. I normally eat those jokers by the handful, with a spit cup at my desk. I can’t get enough of them. I have tried almost every flavor that Phillips County stores have on hand and I have to say that like five years ago, David Jumbo BBQ is my favorite at the moment. During this binge of sunflower seeds, I have also realized that I am n...
I’m not sure if I have written anything about this but…Our house is unofficially off the market. It looks like we are setting up to rough it through at least one more winter here in Malta. Simply put, we need to redo the siding on our house. Staying for us is not a bad thing. There are worse places I could be. We love it here for the most part. We love our jobs. We love the people here. We love the community. Everyone has been really encouraging throughout this process. Thank you for your kind words and not wanting us to leave. The last mon...
I was going to write about how I purchased my first pair of Jordan brand shoes at age 31, but I have a more important story. PJ started tee-ball! It is his first time playing in a real baseball game. I also have to shout out Malta Parks and Recreation for their kickball league (PJ’s first team experience.) I know we may technically have one foot out of the door (nothing is guaranteed), but one of the things that Susan and I appreciate about Malta is that in the last few years extracurricular s...
I see it coming. This week I had the chance to cover the 2019 State Class A-C Track and Field Meet in Laurel, MT. At this event were the three Class C teams that are covered in the PCN. I know it’s coming. Why didn’t you go to the 2019 State AA-B meet in Kalispell to cover Malta’s track teams? Over the years I have gotten flak for covering the smaller schools, but I have always responded the same. All of our local kids work hard and we are the Phillips County News, meaning we cover every sport...
I’m a man. So the thought of anyone touching my feet makes me uneasy. I cringe at the thought of getting a pedicure or a foot massage. Even going to a podiatrist is a no-go. That being said, I should’ve gone to a foot specialist years ago to help with a situation that I have had for the past 10 years. When I met my wife Susan in September of 2009, it was as a food runner at the U.S. Open in Flushing, N.Y. That particular gig was extremely hard on my feet. This event featured more walking and...
Selling a home is a waiting game. There is a slim chance that we may be here for a while; as long as you’ll have us, we will be happy. Thinking about the possibility of change can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. I love things about living here and one of those things has been the overwhelming responses to our family eventually leaving. We feel very loved and I am happy to feel like we haven’t worn out our welcome. So, in the meantime, we will be here until our house sells. While living here...
It is hard to talk about moving. We love it here. Ironically, thinking about it takes me back to when I moved here a little less than seven years ago. At that time, I was content with my job at Walgreens. I was in my mid-twenties at my parents’ house helping with groceries and toiletries. I had not a worry in the world. Then on April 4, 2012, (seven years ago and a few days) out of the blue, an old friend who I thought was a gorgeous girl from Tennessee sent me a Facebook message saying ...
I have to admit something. I am terrible at doing chores. No, not because I am a guy, but I think it has something to do with my attention span. Back when I was growing up, when it came to cleaning, I was the star of the show. After school, my two younger brothers would try to clean the house for our parents before they got home from work. It was during this time that we were taught how to clean dishes, wash our clothes, clean the bathroom, and everything else. I used to think I was great at...
If you have seen me moping around Phillips County lately, it’s because the whispers you have heard or seen are true; we are moving sometime in the near future. Though it will be a new beginning for our family, it has made me sad at times. This is because I wish I could take anyone who wanted to come with us. That’s the kind of community Malta and Phillips County has been to me. Gracious, loving, welcoming, and accepting. I will miss the people, the small town atmosphere, and the sports tea...
It’s interesting being a parent at times. I enjoy watching my boys play together. Now that Lincoln is starting to get around by crawling or assisted walking we get to see the boys interact more and more; it has been somewhere between perfect harmony and a 4-H pig show. On one hand, you have PJ, my four-year-old, who hasn’t had to share with anyone until recently, and on the other hand, you have Lincoln, my 11-month-old, who just wants to play with all of the same toys as his big brother. PJ sit...
Disclaimer: I am cheesy and definitely not always correct, so take these next words with a grain of salt. I mean well, even if it doesn’t translate well. For most of my life, Valentine’s Day has been a cloudy day. The day has been better the past seven years now that I have found my true love and wife Susan. While I am perfectly content with my love life nowadays, I know that there are a ton of people that are currently as bitter as I was in my teenage years and earlier adult years. I wan...
It was a cold day in the United States last Wednesday, January 30. People were freaking out because temperatures reached -50 below in different Midwestern states. Luckily for me, I know plenty of people in the Midwest, including my family. Throughout the day I saw various social media posts talking about how cold it was outside. I had never experienced negative 50-degree wind chill days while living in Chicago, so when it happened, I felt like saying welcome to our world. Yes, negative 50 degree...
I get into some weird hobbies sometimes. Roasting my own coffee beans is one of those weird things that I enjoy to do nowadays. I am not the only one. Most people just drink coffee no matter the situation. My new hobby has ruined that for me. I no longer can simply just go anywhere and drink whatever coffee is thrown in front of me. I was after that coffee house experience. The type of experience you would get from a Star-bucks or a Caribou or various coffee shops in the area. Places like...
I am not too fond of moving. And by moving, I mean moving my personal belonging from one building to another. As many of you know, we switched offices a week or so ago. I knew the day would be coming but I dreaded it. One of the main reasons I dreaded the move was because over the past six years working for the PCN I had accumulated so much stuff in that old windowless office. I packed up a majority of my old office before the Malta High School Weights Class students moved desks and other heavy...
It has been a weird holiday season for our family. But not weird in a bad way. It was almost like a mini vacation for us due to the fact that we had a few days off in consecutive weeks. Of course we didn’t have any gas money to “skip town” but we had each other and new Christmas presents! For PJ we bought a few action figures, a remote control motorcycle and various other things. Lincoln received a few baby toys including toys that will help him crawl and eventually walk. I purchased Susan...
So I had a cheat day. But I did not post that to my keto support group’s page on social media. That is one way to easily get attacked. If I know one thing about the internet, it’s that people are more prone to attack your joy if it’s something they don’t agree with. You can respond to this by writing a letter to the editor if you don’t agree but just know that I had a cheat day. That cheat day was Christmas. I ate carbs all day long. Yams, buns, peaches and cream pie; and I started the day o...
The Monday before last Monday was pretty intense. What I have feared would happen did. I got sick on a Monday. At the PCN, Monday is an essential day for writing news and general wrap up. My Monday morning involves talking to several coaches to recap sporting events that have happened over the weekend and then writing stories about our local teams or various other features. Because Mondays are so busy, if I haven’t written everything during the weekend, I absolutely need to be in office to take...