CFC Mini Olympics
- September 29, 2008 - posted by chicago wedding photographer nate mathai

categories: Modern Events
tags:

interested in booking? Head over to the the contact page or shoot me an email to info@natemathai.com

This past weekend I went down to U of I to visit my fiance and other friends out there, and my campus church (CFC) was hosting their annual Mini Olymipics event. Though I was on campus for about 5 years worth of Mini-O’s, I had only attended 2. This year, the Indian Christian Fellowship actually formed their own team to particpate, so I joined up with them to give my support. Mini O’s is such an amazing type of event, as it brings pretty much everyone from within the church together for all these different competitions and events. It really draws a lot of eyes to see hundreds of people people gathered around an open field (looking crazy), laughing and competing in all these weird games.

Although there were tons of people out there with their dSLRs (I’m constantly surprised by seeing so many undergrads with there cameras…where do they get the money?), but the official photogs for the event were Dan Lee and Christina Lee, so go check out their shots. Of course, I also had my gear with me, so I grabbed a handful of shots to keep me busy. I didn’t stay the whole time so this is just a small piece of what went on there. Enjoy!

These people are serious, no joke!

These are the ones with the most control – you mess around, you get sprayed.

I used to be an ISR guy when I was on campus, so this is my crew – I seriously thing we’re the coolest ones :)

The first “competition” is the chant, where teams create their own chants and perform it in front of everyone. Best chant gets the most points. These seem to be getting more and more hardcore at each new Mini-O’s.
Here’s Dan Lee doing his thing.

Obviously my fave – Jabba Wockees Inspired (done by an ISR group)

Like I said, each time it gets more complicated with different props and such. This group brought out a sheet a cardboard and had this guy do flares throughout the chant.

Here’s my friend Taniya, who is now a freshman at U of I. She used to be a cheerleader in high school, and they used that to their advantage.

This must be the longest game ever. The premise was to take a hula hoop and throw it around a team member, who was quite a distance away. That person could not move their feet and had to keep their arms to their side. The distance was a bit far, and with the wind, it took forever for people to do this. Funny to watch, but still a long game.

A couple times throughout the day there is something called “Spirit Points”. The main ref (Suggey) would run around through each team and they would scream/cheer/do whatever they could to get his attention and get some points.

There was also an “area competition” (as small groups in the church are broken down into about 6 different areas). One leg of the race was this triple push-up…it takes a LOT of arm/upper body strength to take care of this.

The final leg was a race by the pastors of each area. Here’s the ISR area pastor pushing ahead.

But coming down the stretch, he cramped up and couldn’t finish, allowing the FAR PAR pastor (my small group leader when I was a freshman…small world!) to pull past…

I told you that people will do anything to get some spirit points – this team was ready to do some bribing with cupcakes…

It was fun for all ages too!

And here’s the squad ICF got together:

[09.29.08] Monday Night Recap
- September 29, 2008 - posted by chicago wedding photographer nate mathai

categories: [MNR]
tags:

interested in booking? Head over to the the contact page or shoot me an email to info@natemathai.com

• [Night?] OK, more of a midday recap, because I took the day off to fight a cold and odd 3+ day allergic reaction.  And because of it, you guys win with a bonus post later tonight!
• [Photo Challenge] A couple more days left for September’s Challenge.  I’ll try to get the October challenge up by the end of the week…we’ll see how I’m feeling.
• [Fogo de Chao] On Thursday I got lunch with a friend at Fogo de Chao in Chicago – my first time to a Brazilian Steakhouse.  I never was a huge steak person, but I must say I was satisfied.  In addition to the food, our attention was taken by a few rather large men sitting next to us, one who looked very much Brian Urlacher of the Bears.  Towards the end of lunch they got up to leave and my friend asked to get a picture with Brian, to which he responded “I’m his brother, Casey”.  Sure enough, Brian does have a younger brother named Casey who plays for the Chicago Rush.  I wonder how many times that happens to him…
• [U of I] I made the trip down to U of I with a couple friends this past weekend to visit my fiance.  An extremely busy weekend with so much madness and very little rest.  Here’s a sub-recap…

• [Allergies] 24 years of my life and never had a reaction to anything.  But somehow at the end of the drive to U of I, my upper-left lip started swelling up.  It wasn’t going down, so I took some benedryl.  It started going down, then my upper right and lower left lip started to swell, so I took more bendryl.  I continued taking benedryl which helped through Saturday.  I stopped at around 3ish, and when I woke up the next morning both my arms had mosquito bite-esque spots from my wrist up to my biceps.  So I took a few more bendryl which helped for awhile, but later Sunday it started flaring up again, this time my entire face and my back and sides.  Another night of Benedryl and now I’m doing better, but got red spots still.  I went to the doctor, who said it was some allergic reaction, and referred me to an allergist.  So now we’ll see when I get an appointment and find out what this madness is all about.
• [Mini-O's] My campus church (CFC) hosts a mini olympic event every year, which is a fun time of competition between all the different small groups of the church.  Here’s a tease, and I’ll post the rest later tonight:



• [Dinner and a Movie] My fiance and I left mini-o’s before the final competitions, and got to spend a little time together.  First up was Tropic Thunder.  My review-  highy unimpressed.  The previews and the first 10 minutes for funnier than the movie as a whole.  For dinner, we went to Jim Gould’s, where I continued my steak-eating.  Nice food, a bit pricey but definitely satisfying.
• [Midnight Ball] Well…it was more like 10pm, but I got a chance to play some ball with the guys out there.  Word of advice:  Never eat a steak dinner before playing ball with people who have never seen you play before – it doesn’t do well for their view of your skills.
• [CFC] A line from Pastor Min’s message on Sunday morning that caught my attention:
  • (is doing good and going to church enough?) “Christianity is not that superficial.”
• [Dead Battery] Yep.  After church, went to get lunch, then swung by the place I was staying, packed up the car, turned the key…nothing.  Completely dead.  We called a tow (through my friend’s AAA), who came by, and jump started the battery.  Now we just need to drive it to an Auto zone and check if the battery is fine.  Driving down the road, coming up a red light, brake…dead.  In the center lane.  Called our friends to come and give us  jump, before they get there the tow comes back with the girl shouting “Don’t worry, I’ll help you guys!”  She turned around, got out of the car, and gave us a head start in pushing my car to a nearby walmart.  We jumped it again in the parking lot, and drove it all the way to the car center just before it died.  Awesome.  We got there just before they were closing (becuse they were short staffed), and they were nice enough to do a quick battery replacement for me.  Luckily we found out about the battery before even getting on the highway…that would have been rough.

• [MLB] Everything is set for the playoffs!  With the Brewers win over the Cubs and the Mets loss, the Brewers picked up the wild card spot, meaning the Cubs are playing the Dodgers in the first round this week.  I’m excited!  Craziness in the AL, with the White Sox totally crumbling at the end of the season are still 1/2 a game back.  If they win their game today, they will be tied with the Twins and have a one game playoff to see who makes it in to October baseball.  Woo hoo!
• [Fantasy] It’s not a good sign when you’re kicker is the second highest scorer on your team.  I got rocked due to the bye week…I’ve got a lot of ground to make up in the next few weeks.  Wish me luck!

Alright, my head cold and the benedryl are taking its toll on me, so I think its time for a rest before I post my pics on Mini-O’s.

[08.09.22] Monday Night Recap
- September 23, 2008 - posted by chicago wedding photographer nate mathai

categories: [MNR]
tags:

interested in booking? Head over to the the contact page or shoot me an email to info@natemathai.com

• [Photo Challenge] A little over a week left in the challenge, so get ‘em in!
• [The Office] It’s back!  TV has been rather boring outside of sports lately, so I’m greatly excited about the 1-hour season premiere of The Office this Thursday.  I watched a couple episodes from last season over the past week to get hyped!  So, what shows are you guys looking forward to?  Anything I should get hooked on?
• [Cubbies] We CLINCHED!
• [Bears] I don’t want to talk about it.  We should be 3-0.
• [Fantasy] After an 0-2 start, I broke out with a killer week this time, having the top score in the league, and the 2nd highest overall!  My team is pretty stacked even though I don’t have all the high-profile big name players – my guys just produce.  I’m looking to take this thing from here on out!
• [Rest] Yep…finally a weekend of rest.  I like it.  Got to hang out with my nieces on Saturday, watch my Cubbies, and on Sunday I had church, Bears (I said I don’t want to talk about it), some dancing, and then spending time with my fiance.  These are nice breaks in a busy schedule.  Won’t have another one of those until December, I think.
• [Revival] My home church is hosting a revival retreat (themed “Refocus”), and I wanted to give you all a heads up!  It’s an amazing time to regain that energy and focus to push through the rest of the year and finish strong.  It’s open to anyone and everyone, so spread the word and make sure you’re there.  The retreat will be held from October 2nd-4th, and you can check the site for more details.
• [Pic] Ummm…a post without a pic?  That would just be rude.  I messed around with some off-camera lighting on Saturday with a self portrait (I need models…) of sorts…what do you think?  Head shots can be fun/interesting, don’t you think?

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