The Joshua Yoder Blog

 Today was a fun day for me and my twin because today we went to the Calvary Bible Church to support the Dream Center and their Overdose Awareness Spaghetti Dinner. After a few weeks of waiting, it was finally time to go out and get some spaghetti and a great cause. After a quick stop for my twin brother Chad, we were off to Burnham. We decided to got through Ferguson Valley mainly because we both like to just take a nice quiet drive through the back roads. When we arrived we were greeted back some lovely ladies and we made out donations and went straight to the spaghetti. Along with the spaghetti, there were also salads, some bread and of course some dessert. We then took our sings and ate some great and enjoyed ourselves along to some great music. Personally, I really loved the Strawberry Cake 😋. The people there again, were very friendly and I truly admire what they are doing for the community. There are many people out there who struggle with addiction and many overdose. To al...

 In a previous blog, I had written about me and my twin brother Chad hanging out at the County Memories Day event in McVeytown. But during the event, we got to meet a group of guys who were looking to help Veterans. The group is called Peaceful Mind Veterans Adventures. Peaceful Mind Veterans Adventures is a small veteran owned nonprofit organization. They offer stress free therapeutic activities such as fishing, hunting, group ATVing, breakfast and lunch get togethers, small picnics, coffee socials or to just sit and talk. Free of charge to the veterans. This mission will allow other veterans to connect with one another and bring the joy of camaraderie they once knew so well. The PMVA is determined to help veterans out there know, that they are not alone and that they can all heal together. The man behind this nonprofit group is Dan Bishop. Bishop is from Reedsville, Pa and is a Medically Retired Army Veteran. He served a total of 22 years with 14 of those being Active Guard Reser...

 Yesterday, my twin brother Chad and I headed down to McVeytown to do chill out at one of our favorite events. The Country Memories Day event, this has been something we have been doing since we were little kids. Personally I would love to show my little nephew Lukey around it someday. Of course, the weather wasn't exactly the best, but still, we had ourselves a good time. As we arrived into town we got to see plenty of vendors out there and we got to see plenty of our friends. Though we didn't get some see all of them, we did manage to check out some some awesome cars. Honestly this has been one of our favorite stuff to go see since we were little, me and Chad have always admired the craftmanship of these vehicles. We also got to meet a vendor called Peaceful Mind, Veteran Adventure, some pretty cool guys who are looking to help out other veterans. Thank you all who served! 🫡 In fact, I am thinking about making a blog post about them. Our next big stop was the Mason Lodge her...

 As I stand and face the mirror, I wonder to myself. What do I see? Is this really me? Is this someone that I was always meant to be? When I look into the mirror, I see a man trying his best but always seem to fail. My happiness seems harder and harder find like it was the holy grail. The darkness that surrounds my eyes are signs of my constant struggle from within. Every thought, every sound, every frustration just leaves me ready to give in. I'm so exhausted, I really don't know how to continue on. All the hard work that I have done feels so pointless, I feel like a complete moron. People always tell me that when you work hard, good things happen. Now they are all probably sitting in the shadows, staring at me laughing. The noises won't stop and leave me to rest. My mind races with thoughts and questions, leaving me to wonder is this really my best. Will this ever end? Can be something I throw away with a simple flick? Or maybe I can just make all go away with a sound of ...

Stumbling through this crazy world is never going to be easy for me. My mind is covered in a completely dark fog, my body is covered with scars that no one will ever get to see. I ask myself time after time after time. Is it really worth it? Yet there is comforting me and protecting me from losing it. I look down and what do I see? My pretty blue rosary. It brings me so much happiness and glee. To someone who is undeserving like me. When I feel like I am going to cry, I begin to hear the sounds of angels singing such a sweet song. It is a reminder that they are always there to tag along. Though my body continues to ail me, and at times, I never know if I can ever make it. I just look back and see how far I have come and remain grateful for it. Everything hurts, my body shivers, I feel like I was stabbed in the liver. Just got to keep telling myself that God has and always will deliver. I do my best get through each and every day, but I still can't help myself from being surrounded ...

 The good folks of the Dream Center will be hosting their Overdose Spaghetti Dinner over at the Calvary Bible Church on Friday May 30th from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.. This dinner to help raise funds for the Overdose Awareness event that will be held on July 12th. As the title says, there will be plenty of spaghetti to eat for all who chooses to attend. But they will also be serving salads, bread and some homemade desserts throughout the evening. There will also be some live music being played throughout the night as well. I think this is really cool what the Dream Center is trying to do. There are several people who are out there struggling with addiction, many of which feel hopeless and there is nowhere to go. So it really is amazing and heartwarming to see people like the Dream Center reaching out to people and bring hope to those in need. Especially seeing how far the creator of the Dream Center here in Mifflin County Chad Curry has come. Curry served our country 🫡 and had to overcome ...

 Wow! I can't believe that it has been two years now since I decided to launch my blog. Honestly, it really feels like only yesterday that I decided to just go with faith and just start writing about stuff that I enjoy and really open up to not only friends and family members but to people from around the world. Which I never thought would be possible, I mean, I soon discovered that people from outside the US like Germany, Ireland, Singapore, and so forth have been witnessing and reading my blog. It still is mind boggling how that is possible with someone like me. There have been so many things that I never thought I would even open up to and I am very surprised with some of the responses that I have gotten. Stuff like my constant struggle with mental health and self-harming.  But also stuff like self-reflection, looking back on things like the death of my Nan and Pap, making the baseball team my senior year of high school and also looking back on being grateful with my parent...

 Can't believe it has now been 15 years since the death of our arguably one of if not the greatest metal singers of all time in the form of the late great Ronnie James Dio. I obviously got into listening to Ronnie James Dio very late due to being born in 1990. But getting to listen to his music and hearing some amazing stories about him really made me want to do this little tribute blog post for him. When I was doing my research for this blog post, I was shocked to find out that Ronnie had been involved with music since the late 1950s 😮. Ronnie James Dio has been involved with such great bands like Rainbow, Dio, Heaven & Hell and of course Black Sabbath. Creating such incredible songs like Fear, Bible Black, Holy Diver, Rainbow in the Dark, Rock and Roll Angel, Breaking into Heaven, Mob Rules, Heaven & Hell and so much more. Many people regard Dio as one of, if not the most influential heavy metal singers of all time. Dio was also given credit for creating the "devil ...

 It is crazy to think how far the Doom franchise has come since 1993 and this game started it off. Doom was released by id software and to say it changed the game for video gaming would be an incredible understatement. This was the third independent released game by id at that point with the first being Commander Keen and then Wolfenstein 3D. But when Doom first came out, it blow the roof off the video game industry with its intense gameplay, loads of weapons and power ups, etc. It all led to Doom becoming one of the most influential games of all time, especially within the first person shooter genre. The original game featured three episodes with nine levels each including a fourth episode that was added a few years later. The storyline for Doom has the player follows an unnamed space marine who would be later known as Doomguy. He was sent to the planet Mars for assaulting his superior officer who had ordered him to fire on civilians.  Doomguy soon learns that he must fight h...

Well, this one is going to be tough to talk about honestly, wasn't really sure if I should be writing about something like this. But I keep reminding myself to be more open, to not be afraid and more importantly go with faith. Which is kind of the topic of today's blog, I've been doing a lot of self-reflecting lately and I am trying my best to work up the courage to talk about something. I was looking back on things when I really struggled with self-harming and one of the biggest reasons as to why I was self-abusing was my struggles with my faith and understanding of myself. Basically, I really do not know who I am anymore and I often wonder if anything I would even be remotely interested in learning or I think I may like, I quickly start questioning if I should be this way. I can trace this all the back to my youth back in the 90s. For the record, I do believe in Jesus, I just do not know how I really feel about organized religion.  Growing up, my parents although never re...

 Well, today was certainly interesting to say the least for me and my twin. Mainly because there was plenty for us to do today. It started with us heading down to REC Park for Kid Connection where we met up with the wrestlers of the HWF who were putting on a few matches to entertainment the kids. Afterwards I got to go walk around the park to see all the events that were going on there and there were plenty of stuff to do which was really cool to see. For starters, there was Merf Radio who was hosting a singing event where people could come up and sing their favorite songs to everyone at the event. I also got to bump into Mifflin County Head Football Coach Shane Breon who along with a few of his players got to help with the next generation of Mifflin County football players with an obstacle course, teaching them some tricks of the trade. That was where I got to hangout with Anthony Every who used to be the Mifflin County Boys Lacrosse coach and we got to chatting about football and...

This interview is a little personal for me as it involves family. We are a day away from Mother's Day and today I got to talk with my sister-in-law, Christine. She is the mother of my nephew Luke and soon to be niece. Get to know her personal experiences as a mother. Hope you all enjoy! JY: Was being mom something that you have always wanted to do? CMY: Yes! I always imagined I'd become a mom one day. It was something I truly looked forward to. JY: What was going through your head when you were told that you were becoming a mother? CMY: Well, I wasn't exactly "told"-when you take a pregnancy test, you're kind of telling yourself. The test confirms what you already suspect. But seeing the positive result was overwhelming-in the best way. I felt a mix of excitement and amazement.  JY: Were there any concerns at first? CMY: Yes! What would my husband think? 😂 JY: What was like seeing your child for the first time? CMY: It was relieving. I knew the hard part of l...

Hello again everybody! I have returned with another fun interview with mothers who are sharing their experiences as a mom as we prepare for Mother's Day. Today! I got to interview someone who it feels like I have known for some time now. Her name Madeline Tressler and she is the mother of three wonderful children. Hope you all enjoy the interview! JY: Was being mom something that you have always wanted to do? ML: Honestly, I did not contemplate it very much growing up. However, when I did become a mother, it quickly turned into the most meaningful part of my life. JY: What was going through your head when you were told that you were becoming a mother? ML: I had my first child when I was 22, so I was quite young and naive! Naturally, like most first time parents, I was very nervous and apprehensive. No matter how many baby books you read or how much advice you hear from others, nothing quite prepares you for becoming a parent. But most of all, I felt very fortunate to be blessed wit...

 For the first time in a while, I got to go hangout with a long time friend Matt Silks, better known as TRK. It has been quite a while since we have seen each other. To be fair, we are both pretty busy trying to get ourselves with him trying to get the HWF going and me building up my writing and stuff. But when we do get to hangout it is always fun. Especially considering what we did today. Me and Chad got to meet with Matt over at the Heritage Volunteer Fire Company in Lewistown to do a special interview for the upcoming HWF show among many things. To be honest I really enjoy doing those interviews with him, mainly because I really like trying to help promote things for the local community. The HWF will be using the Heritage Fire Co building Saturday May 24th for their pro wrestling show where I will also be there to cover the event for Hometown Sports Magazine. The big discussion that we had was making a difference in the community and help bring hope to people in our hometown of...

 Well my twin and I decided to head back to the Clifton 5 theater to once again check out another movie. This time we went to go see The Accountant 2 which stars Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal. As the title implies, this movie is a sequel to the original film which debut back in 2016, nearly ten years ago. J.K. Simmons along with Cynthia Addai-Robinson have returned from the previous film and the cast was joined by Daniella Pineda. After getting some snacks and a drink, myself and Chad headed inside, found our seats, kicked back and let the camera roll. Without trying to spoil anything, the plot follows Christian Wolff (Affleck) along with his brother Bronson (Bernthal) and Medina (Addai-Robinson) as they uncover a plot following the assassination of a colleague that leads them down a very dark path of corruption. Overall, I really enjoyed the film, although I must say, it took a little bit of time for me to get into the movie. Mainly was I didn't really care much for the introductio...

 Well yesterday, I finally got to go out to the brand new Capouillez Field over at Mifflin County High School as I was covering a baseball game between the Mifflin County Huskies and the Mount Union Trojans for Hometown Sports Magazine. First, I must say, I am always excited to go see my old baseball coach Ray Hoppel as well as Coach Brett Leister. Seeing them again is always a good time, not to mention, I also got to see a lot of old friends and former teachers from my days at Lewistown Area High School. Ms. Matthews was there who I learned a lot about business from as well as making amazing Whoopie Pies and good ole Bret Treaster who is always a blasted to hangout with. As I stepped onto the field for the first time, It didn't take long for me to notice the difference between real grass and turf. It was kind of weird to be perfectly honest with all of you seeing all of the turf, including the "dirt" and lines that surround the diamond but hey, the field is finally here ...

 It is crazy to me to think that it was 45 years ago that the world of basketball, would be introduced to one of the all time greatest coaches in the history of college basketball. His name is Mike Krzyzewski, better known as Coach K. Nobody could have imagine at Duke University back in 1980 when Coach K was hired to be their next Men's basketball coach that he was going to turn the program into one of the most well known and elite programs in the history of college basketball. Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to the NCAA tournament 36 times in his storied career collecting 101 tournament wins which is most all-time. Under his leadership, Duke won a total of five National Championships, 13 Final Fours as well as five in a row from 1988-1992. 17 Elite Eights, 26 Sweet Sixteens including nine in a row from 1998-2006, 14 times the Blue Devils were the number one seeds, 28 Conference Titles (15 Tournament, 13 Regular Season), 10 of the 13 ACC Tournament titles from 1998-1999 through ...