Today is January 1, 2010. It’s the start of a new year and a new decade. I hope everyone’s time last night was fun and safe.

As I mentioned a few days ago, today I am launching a new blog to document my adventure down under. The new blog address is www.dustinjamespetersen.com. So go there and subscribe and read the posts there to keep up with what’s going on with me.

That’s my new blog. This one will stay up, but it will be very silent and no new content will be posted here.

So go check it out!
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It’s cold today. I checked the weather and then decided to check what it’s like where I’m going to be soon.

24 days…

Over the last few days, we have been absolutely dumped on with snow. Wednesday alone, we got almost twenty inches at my house. The snow has been both beautiful and dangerous. (There have been tons of car accidents in the Anchorage area. My mom was even in a small collision. Everyone was okay.) Anyway. All of this snow has gotten me really excited about Christmas. So I went out and searched for a video of one of my favorite Christmas songs, O Holy Night.

This song gives me chills every time when it goes to the minor on the words “Fall on your knees”.

What is your favorite Christmas song/carol?

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My mom and I got home Monday afternoon from our week long trip to southern Idaho. Unfortunately, I accidentally left my body clock in the hotel room in Boise. The trip though was so good, catching up with friends and family I haven’t seen in over six years was so much fun and seeing my grandpa again was worth the trip itself.

Another awesome part of the trip was getting to go to the football game at Bronco Stadium on Saturday.

I can’t remember the last bronco game I was at before this one. But being there on Saturday was so much fun. I love bronco football and to be there in that atmosphere with the tailgaters, all of the blue and orange, the band, and almost 34,000 people screaming and cheering was so much fun. I actually teared up at one point.

As good as going to the football game was, Saturday got even better with meeting up with friends I had in junior high at Chili’s after the game to catch up and hang out. And then heading to my brother and sister-in-law’s house and visiting with them.

My time in Idaho wore me out. Eating out as much as we did wreaked havoc on my digestive system, but it was such a good trip.

I’m thankful that my mom and I had the chance to go down when we did.

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My mom and I got into Boise on Tuesday at about 5:30 local time, we got our rental car, found a hotel, and immediately headed out to meet some family from the Boise area for dinner. It was such a surreal feeling to be back in Boise for me. I called Boise home for two thirds of my life and I was amazed at how unfamiliar I felt with everything. Familiar had now become foreign. After an amazing dinner of laughter and catching up with family, we headed back to our hotel and called it a night.

Early Wednesday, we slept in a little bit before going to breakfast and then hitting the road to Pocatello about 210 miles east of Boise.

I had forgotten how flat the drive between Boise and Pocatello is. I guess when you live in Alaska, you actually forget that not all places are mountainous. It’s all agricultural and livestock area.

Now the primary reason for this trip was to visit my grandpa before heading to Australia. He’s ninety-two and I haven’t seen him in two or three years. It was great getting to see and visit with him while we were in Pocatello.

We’re back in Boise now. Spent most of today driving with stops between Pocatello and Boise to visit some people we haven’t seen in years.

Tomorrow is breakfast with my brother and sister in law, a little bit of shopping, and then the Boise State game. This trip has already been so good for me that I can’t really even put into words yet what it all has meant for me.

I love mi familia.

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Today is my twenty-first birthday. As I was thinking about it and how this is a “milestone” birthday, I remembered how, for me, each “milestone” birthday has a had a distinct feel to it either before, on, or after.

I never thought I’d actually turn ten and make it to double digits.

Thirteen seemed like a myth, “Me? A teenager”.

Sixteen was intimidating, I could now drive by myself and, in a sense, take my own life into my hands.

The first two months after turning eighteen were the hardest months I’ve gone through.

And today I turn twenty-one. I’m officially “an adult”.

And this is probably, no, definitely the most ready I’ve ever been for a “milestone” birthday. That’s because I am a completely different person than I was three years ago. Over the last three years, I have been stretched, pulled, pushed, and loved by God and those he has placed around me into the person I am today.

Thanks to everyone who has had a role in shaping me into who I am.

I love you all.

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Last night, some friends and I had a small party with food, Wii, and Wallace and Grommit. We each had awesome costumes. Here was mine:

Did you dress up? If so, as what?

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I’m leading worship all weekend for our senior high retreat. It’ll be a great time with students and I’m really looking forward to what God is going to do this weekend.

Be back Monday.

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Last night, I was helping at a little, mini-retreat for the group of student leaders that is starting up for our senior high youth group. One of the best things of the overnighter was choosing to sleep outside under the stars. My humble setup was on the deck upstairs.

I fell asleep to this…

… and woke up to this.

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I got this package in the mail yesterday from Centricity Music. In it was the five CD’s I won in the Sunday Setlists 1 Year Anniversary Celebration. Three of the five albums are not in stores yet.

Of the four artists included in the pack, I was most excited about the two Matt Papa records. His music was recommended to me a few years back but I never got around to buying one of his albums. The album I’ve been listening to first, the new one called Your Kingdom Come in stores August 25, is thoroughly amazing. Quite a bit of the lyrics to the songs on it are straight up scripture, and it’s arranged in a really neat and fresh way. It also has a few short tracks between songs similar to the David Crowder Band’s A Collision. I’m stoked that the CD’s are here and I really want to listen to each one in detail since I’m not very familiar with any of the artists.

Is there any new music you recently found that you’re totally digging right now? Who?

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