Mr. and Mrs. Kraus Blog

Tonight Mrs. Kraus and I had the pleasure of seeing Phil Keaggy in concert at our church.  He was the best guitarist I’ve ever seen live.  Phil not only possess amazing skill on the guitar, he also has a cool style where he records himself playing a riff, then loops it.  Plays another riff and loops it.  Drums on his guitar and loops it.  After a few of those, the riffs would all play together while he then went on to solo up and down the neck, with the sound of 3 or 4 other Phil Keaggy’s playing along with him.  It’s so rad.  In case I didn’t explain that very well, here is an example:

I came home after the concert and played my guitar for over 2 hours.  Thanks for the inspiration Phil!  By the way, in this video does it look like he is missing the middle finger on his right hand?

Chad Kraus church, concerts, Guitar

As I was leaving band practice Thursday night I heard a voice from across the parking lot, “Hey Kraus! Your last blog is about the Minnesota Twins! What’s the deal??” I guess I just don’t have much new to talk about these days. Life has kind of worked itself into a nice groove and I have no complaints. But I suppose I could work up a series of random thoughts for my buddy Adam (and my 3 other readers…).

The Mrs. has finished another semester, and is very happy to have a month break now. I asked her the other day, “So… now that you have a month before you have to do anything, can you handle the laundry during the day while I’m at work?” I had gotten in the habit of helping out with the laundry because she was so busy with studying for her classes. I thought maybe during this month she could just handle it. She responded, “No! If I take over laundry duties, you’ll forget to start helping again when I go back to school.” I opened my mouth to protest, but she’s probably right.

This Saturday I went to the cities with my wife, mom, step-dad and sister for a Christmas get-together with my mom’s side of the family. I hadn’t seen that wing of the family since before I graduated high school, something like 10 to 12 years ago. It was a great time seeing them again. It’s mostly my mom’s aunts and uncles and her cousins and their families. Kinda like the other family Christmases I go to each year where it’s all my aunts and uncles and my cousins, but like shifting a generation. Very cool.

Let’s talk sports! The Vikings are looking pretty good today. As I write this, they are up 35-14 on the Arizona Cardinals, with T.J. at QB. He’s thrown 4 TD passes, wow. Pat Williams went down though. It’s nice they didn’t suspend the Williams Wall, but then one of them goes down. Hmmm, hopefully he’s ok.

I’m reading an interesting book called “The Case for a Creator” by Lee Strobel. I’m 63 pages in, and so far it’s quite good. If you’re looking for something to read, pick it up. It’s written by a journalist who became convinced of Darwinism from his studies in high school and college, and became a stout atheist. One day his wife came home and informed him that she gave her life to Jesus Christ, and had decided to follow Him. His response was a sarcastic, “What has gotten into you?!” Over the next few months he would come to wonder, “What HAS gotten into her??” She started to become such a kind and wonderful person, that he just had to investigate the whole God thing again. The book goes through a number of his interviews with experts in different scientific fields. The arguments he came to accept in his studies have become obsolete and new research is supporting the conclusion that the universe was intelligently designed.

Well… that’s about it for now. Hope everyone has a great week.

Comments from old site:

Written by Chad
Posted: Monday, January 12, 2009 at 6:01 AM

Yeah no kidding, that’s the last time I name any articles after you, fella… maybe.

Written by Adam
Posted: Sunday, January 11, 2009 at 9:33 PM

I’m so glad that I could be the impetus for this wonderful installment. Also, notice how long it took me to finally read it. I must really have been waiting with baited breath.

Chad Kraus church, holidays, Minnesota Vikings

The wife and I have been in Minnesota now for over 2 weeks. Things are going great here! First, it’s just really good to be back in the Midwest. Immediately after my arrival, I fell in love again with the state of Minnesota and life among it’s inhabitants. I love the attitudes of the people, the things they talk about, and the hard Midwest work ethic ingrained in them.

I love my new job! The first two weeks went great. Everyone there is really nice and gets along with one another. Another great thing is that everyone really likes the boss. Those two things are such a blessing. I’ve heard stories of when fellow employees don’t like each other in the workplace, and it doesn’t sound like a good environment to work in. Furthermore, when the employees get along, but have a common dislike for the boss, I would think that could get really old too. I’ve been lucky and had good bosses and fellow employees, so I’m not speaking from experience. My point is, this place does not suffer from either of those two problems, and I really love that.

Then there is what I do all day at work, my job responsibilities. I love what I do! It’s exactly what I have always wanted in a job. I enjoy it so much in fact, then after I begin work in the morning, before I know it, the clock is saying noon and it’s lunch time already. Same thing after lunch. Before I know it, it’s time to go home for the day. There is plenty of work to be done there at all times, and it fun, fulfilling work. I’m doing pretty much all programming so far, but am really enjoying it. I’m excited to do the sales part of my job description when they are ready for me to do that too. When I was on my own, I really enjoyed that part of the business too, so I am certain this new job is only going to get better as I take on more responsibilities.

The wife is doing well too. She applied for the college in town and is awaiting an acceptance letter. They told her it would be 3-4 weeks before she hears back. I am so proud of her for getting on that right away. I know she’s going to do great!

We are really enjoying our family and friends in town. One of my best friends and his wife live just a minute away from our apartment and we love spending time with them. We also enjoy going over to my mom’s place and chatting with them. I am developing a great relationship with my sister too. She is really growing up to be a great young woman! Sometimes we even get together with her on Friday nights. Other family we have gotten to see in town since we got here have been my Grandma J and my aunt and uncle that live next door to her. We went over there last Monday evening for rice and beans, and homemade apple pie. Grandma, you are such a wonderful cook! We ate the leftovers for 3 straight days! Please come over to our apartment sometime and let us cook for you in return. I also got to see my other best friend/cousin this weekend. It was great hanging out with both of the buds! Oh, and I can’t forget those family members that helped us unload the moving truck! It was great seeing all of you and thanks for the help!

I’ve been keeping in touch with my brother in Florida too. It sounds like he is doing really good there. He got moved to a different store and is really liking it. He doesn’t have as far a drive, and he really enjoys the customers at that particular location. I was proud to hear too that my sister-in-law was awarded “Teacher of the Week” recently as well! How long have you been there? About a month? Good job! Well, we miss seeing the Florida family, and hope they are all doing well.

Lastly, the wife and I are extremely excited about the church we are joining here! We love it! Today was our third service. We are going to get involved there too. Today after the service they had a little fair in the community hall were everyone could sign up to help depending on their talents. I am hoping to get involved in the music ministry, whether it’s playing guitar or doing sound board, and helping out with the direction of the church website. The wife wants to get involved in youth group and sports ministry, and might sing in the worship band. We both signed our names on a bunch of lists, and we’ll see what the needs of the church turn out to be.

We joined a Sunday night Bible study. There are 5 couples total, including us. Our good friends from down the street are in it too. Everyone is so nice, and I think we will develop friendships with all of them. Currently, we are doing the 40 Days of Community. It’s something we did at our old church in Florida, and it is highly recommended.

That’s it for now. Any family or friends in the area that want to get together, don’t hesitate to call or stop by!

Chad Kraus church, Minnesota, Mrs. Kraus