The Lockin

For the past year I have been volunteering at the local church. As a youth pastor, I was not fond of Lock Ins and would attempt to not doing them at all cost, but the youth liked them therefore twice a year lock ins were presented and we would have more students than expected. They were exhausting, frustrating, and would test me on my knowledge of students.

On a personal level I am not a planner, on a professional level I plan with excessiveness. So when doing lock ins I would try to have every minute planned from registration, eating, games and yes even free time. Every time I planned I would be disappointed because the youth were not interested in doing a "planned" activity. At one point, I was discouraged and talked to my youth that I was closest to. I asked them, "Why doesn't anyone want to play games?" and one particular youth said, "Sometimes we just want to chill?"

"Sometimes we just want to chill?" That answer was, at the time, a little confusing. I asked myself, "Why even do a lock in?", "Why take the time of the adults and myself to chill?", but as I kept pondering his answer I realized a couple things:

• Youth are not free to be out all night for no reason
• Youth like to be with friends
• Youth like to break things...ok I just threw that in
• Youth like to have fun in the way THEY know how to have fun not the way I thought they SHOULD be having fun

His answer and my thoughts helped me ReThink lock ins. I do believe they need to be organized, but not to the very end. Put some games in to help keep youth moving and being a part of each other and not in their own clicks. But leave a good amount of time so they have just "chill" with their friends, allowing them freedom.

I went to my first lock in as a volunteer and for the first time was did not plan any activities. I was at the mercy of the youth leaders and being a former youth leader myself it is hard to keep my mouth shut. (honestly, youth leaders don't care about your personal opinion about lock ins) I decided when I started to attend and help out with youth I would be a youth helper and support whoever was leading youth and I stand by that. It has helped me gain insight about future volunteers that I may have.

Our student:Volunteer ratio was 1:1 (4 youth total), which made organizing a cornhole tournament quite easy. I brought my xbox 360 and we jammed all night with Rock Band. We played 3 rounds of flash light tag, unfortunately the church doesn't have to many hiding spots but still the youth made it a long fight to find them. I say all this because this particular lock in was not "planned" and we did these things as the night progressed. It was still fun, it was still a great bonding experience (I think more for the counselors because we stayed up longer than anyone), we still filled up the time allotted to us...

Planned or unplanned, wanted or not lock ins are successful for what they are intended for..."Chilling out"!!!

All OUT (4:00 am)

All the counslers are still up plus the youngest of the bunch. We are getting ready to play cornhole.

We did have good 4 rounds of flashlight hide and seek, in which I am the only person to find all people :)

There will be pictures to come later!!!

Rock Band (Lock In Update 2)

12:36

A youth ministry must:

ROCK BAND

We have had a blast with this game as a group, from singing, druming and playing Guitar, everyone is involved!!!

Here you see the band: 3 Girls Trying to be Stars

Cornhole Tourny 1

Our first double elimination game of the night. The final game consisted of T.J. & Ben vs Trevor & Jessie. It was a close game but overall Trevor and Jessie took on thier undefeated role and won.

Other exciting things throughout the night..... a nice game of Halo 3

Sorry not much going on yet I will put in pictures soon!!!

Lock In

I am not a huge fan of lock in's but our current youth leaders are putting one on this weekend. As a youth volunteer, I will be there every step of the way. I am however going to try something different, throughout the night I will be blogging about what is going on during the youth lock in. If anyone has no life come back to check throughout the night to see what we are doing!!!

Easter Sunday

Sunday was a blast, it was relaxing and fun. We had the Pastor and his family over for Easter dinner and really had a good time together.

Typically we eat Ham for our Easter dinner but this time we decided to have steak and it was GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!! It was from Critchfield Meats in Lexington.

After dinner we played Scene it! Lights Camera Action on the xbox 360. Paul and Tammy seemed to really love the game. They did get beginners luck and won but only slightly :)

Malachi and Malory had a blast and played together very well. After everyone left I got on and played Halo 3. So the day was good, fun, and relaxing!!!

Snake Killer?

Several months ago I mentioned our cat Mouse, and his talent of killing mice and birds. THe running total has changed slightly and the mice still have one escaped and all the birds have not made it including one that was found without a body, just a head (and to this day we still have not found the body).

Recently Mouse has taken it easy. Mice have not entered, been tortured, and died in the house for several weeks but a new discovery was found.

Saturday morning, Malachi and I were watching TV while Elizabeth was off taking a test. I walked to the porch and was amazed to find a snake. You know that I am terrified of mice and probably more so of snakes so I was not real happy to find one outside. I grabbed a broom stick, again Malachi jumping around that a new creature might enter the house, held him back, and opened the door.

STOP: It did come to me that I gave the snake access to our house, and it did occur to me that if he got in I would be helpless to find it and take it back outside. But I couldn't let a snake stay on the porch... and yes it did occur to me that I was putting my son in a little danger of a snake bite BUT

I poked it with the broom to see if this snake was alive. One poke and no movement, but I have been dooped by creatures before and decided for another poke...again no movement. After a moment or so I decided that the snake was dead and I was able to get the dustpan and give it a nice sling into the back yard. I also realized that I taught my son its OK to poke snakes...

I got to thinking...Did Mouse find a new prey? How was that battle created? When the mouse bit Mouse, Mouse ran like a little girl. Did he have Domino and the dogs for back up? (even though they are all chicken) Was it even Mouse?

I was left with many questions and a lot more fear. I definitely don't want a snake coming into the house...

Finally A New Car

After almost 2 years and 3 engines, we finally got rid of the Isuzu Rodeo. It was a hard decision...well not really. When you are paying on something and can't drive it than it makes it easy to say goodbye.

As several of you know, my dream car is the Honda Element. I have wanted one ever since I first saw them. I think they are practical cars.

Finally, after 5 years of waiting I got one. Pictured is the color and model but not mine. Here is my review:

2006 Honda Element EX-P:

From the very beginning it has been a dream to drive. The sound system is a booming, with surround sound speakers (including a sub woofer) conveniently located throughout the car. The seats are very comfortable and the added plus that it can be transformed into a bed is quite nice...probably never use it but nice to know I could if I needed it. The radio is equipped with XM radio, cd player and AUX (which I could hook up my ipod to).

No carpet, which is great because we live where there is a lot of mud and we have a 3 year old. The seats are water resistant and stain resistant as well. The back seats come out as well or they can flip up.

It drives really smoothly, I thought it would have a lot of road noise but it doesn't. THere are just to many things to point out on "whats good" about this car. I might never go to another car ever again.

The only downside is its a four seater...

With all that and even with the downside calculated in I give it an A+

This car is, because of its unique design, definitely not for everyone but it is what I liked before I got it and I can say I am not dissappointed!!!

Most Anticipated Movies of 2008

This year, is an exciting year in movies. There are some comeback films, some reboots, and some originals that make this years movies selection hard to pinpoint anticipation. But I have narrowed it down to 5 picks, that I am willing to fork out the $8 (plus food) to see on the big screen.

The Dark Knight: 1 of the last 2 movies with Heath Ledger, plus the return of Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale. The first (Batman Begins) was a good refreshing taste of the franchise since Tim Burton's Batman Returns. At first I was a little skeptical of Heath Ledgers portrayal of the joker (I mean seriously who can out do Jack Nickelson) but his new take is almost looking at a different character. If I go in thinking a new character with same name then I think I might buy into his new persona. I think Heath Ledger is a talented actor and picks wisely so I don't think I will be disappointed.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: I absolutely loved the first two movies, then liked the following two movies and again enjoyed Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. I really got into the books at this point (Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix), and fell in love with last two books. I love how they were getting darker in its nature and the writing was more intense. Because of the previous movie fitting to well in the franchise and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows being split into two movies, I feel that this movie will have to be in depth, well filmed, and filled with excitement, highlighting some foreshadowing circumstances. I also love that the key actors have come back to finish the series, I think this will be a must see for the year 2008 as it will be the beginning of the end for the franchise.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Harrison Ford coming back as Indiana Jones with the involvement of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas....well really enough said... but just in case that answer doesn't satisfy: I was 10 years old when the last movie was released and was disappointed that the Indiana Jones adventures would come to a close. Sure they tried the Young Indiana Jones series but it wasn't enough so after almost 20 years of waiting it has finally come and it looks pretty good, adding Shia LeBeouf as "Indy's Son" seems to be a nice touch. The only real downer is that Shawn Connery is not returning maybe we can hope for a surprise cameo. This movie really intrigues me because I see it as a possible movie that will reboot the franchise but not with Harrison Ford as the lead character but I can see Shia LeBeouf taking it over and really doing something spectacular with it. It will almost be changing the roles Shia to Harrison, Harrison to Connery. I dont know but it will be a good one to see, and I am all for a franchise reboot as long as its not like Episode I,II,III of Star Wars...blech!!!
Juno: I have already seen this BUT I was anticipating it. I loved the movie Saved! even though the people involved with this movie were not connected with that movie they seemed similar, but they were quite different in the approach of the movie. This is a young girl, gets pregnant and you see what she thinks and feels throughout the movie, Saved! seemed to be the internal struggle of a young girl being involved with a Christian School. Well I don't have much to say but you can see my review of the movie here.
Wall-E: I love Pixar they have not come out with a movie that I haven't loved. I own all except for Bugs Life (just because I can't find it). This is a story thought of with the original ideas of Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. The trailers look great and even though there is not to much to assume about this movie, because of the story lines that are created by the writers at Pixar, I don't see anything but a successful portrayal of a robot who cleans up trash on a post human earth.

The movies that were denied from the cut but almost as equally anticipated are: Iron Man, Prince Caspian, Hellboy II, The Incredible Hulk.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree, disagree? What are the 5 most anticipated movies you are looking forward to in 2008?

Xbox is off

The time has come. My family did a little ceremony as the xbox was put into its final resting place.

It was sent off on Friday and hopefully will return to me sometime in the next couple of weeks. I will be on live but through the church so I will not be on as often. :(

Update: According to UPS it is now in Texas, this is going to be a LOOOOOONG wait

My 50th Post and Its Snowing

This post makes it officially my 50th post. Quite an accomplishment since I have had this blog since 2006 and in 2008 I have written 25 of them.

ANYWAY...

This week we have been dreading a snow storm that has been predicted since early in the year and the snow started on Friday. We got about 3 inches and we decided to take Malachi sledding for the first time. We had a blast, but Mom and Dad's hills are pretty treacherous and Malachi could not slide down the full hill. I did though :)

I love the snow, I love almost everything about it, but I like it during Christmas most. Anyway I have wanted to go sledding and wanted a big snow since I moved back north and it finally came.

Its 6:30 a.m. right now and outside there is close to a foot of snow (pictures later) and its still coming down. The downside is that we are stuck at home but we will go a little sledding later and probably take some pictures.

The best news is we get to have this big snow and by the end of next week it will be in the upper 50's so the snow will be almost gone. NICE we get the big snow, play in it, and then get to get rid of it.

For those who have it, what are you doing on the big snow day????

Below are some of my favorite post that I recovered from the 50 I have written, look back at them, comment on them and hopefully you enjoy them.

The dreaded Flashing 3 Ring of Death
Raising Cane's
The one where I took my wife out on a date
Healthy Breakfast
Mouse Killer
Malachi's first day at Ginza II
My Silly Little Brother

Malachi and Daddy's First day of fishing

Saturday's are difficult because I have to pick up Elizabeth from her work. So I had the challenge of making a decision to go home (from our basketball game) and get Malachi out of the car and into the house just to pick him back up and put him in the car and pick Elizabeth up an hour later or to find something else to do. I decided to go fishing w/ Malachi for his 1st fishing experience.

We went to the storage unit to pick up my fishing pole and tackle, then we went to Walmart to get my fishing license and worms and we headed to the game farm to try a little fishing.

It started as a warm day but as we parked the car, got the fishing stuff out and got situated the wind started blowing. He was really excited, jumping up and down, and throwing sticks into the water. The fish were not biting and the world in KY was getting a little colder, so after about an hour I decided to pack it up and go but not before my son said, "Daddy I'm crying" which basically meant he had tears in his eyes because he was to cold.

We went home with muddy shoes, 19 out of 20 worms and no fish. I hope his days of fishing with daddy aren't dismissed because we failed to catch fish, because it is days like these I cherish.

The dreaded Flashing 3 Ring of Death

This happened on Saturday (during the morning session). I felt it coming but I didn't believe it would. We finally it bit the dust and after talking to someone in India (for confirmation) it will be sent back to either be fixed or replaced. I am hoping for the latter because I want it fixed.

I am fortunate because I know several people have had less time with their xbox's or have had to send it back several times. I love the xbox and believe its the best and most advanced system on the market. Unfortunately it IS built by Microsoft which is notorious for rushing products and taking to long to come up with a fix for them. I am interested in the Wii but not ready to fork out $250 for one.

I believe xbox live is definitely way advanced and I will miss it immensely.

I will await the box for return and hopefully it ships and gets home quickly, until then I will take my hard drive and put it in (I know Mike: TWSS) so I am able to play live with some of my fri...er...well just play online against strangers. BEN WHY HAVE YOU LEFT LIVE....GEEZ!!!

WISH ME LUCK!!!

Rock Band Guitar comes home

Finally after a short wait my guitar has finally come home, well actually its more like when a fish dies and your parents try to cover it up with buying a new fish but you know its not the same fish. The guitar is completely new but its cool.

Tried playing online for the first time and it was a lot of fun.

(sorry this post is outdated but if finally made it)

Most Anticipated Games

With my xbox 360 waiting for shipment to the customer care and awaiting my fixed or new xbox, I have been thinking about games that I would like to play.

In 2007 the best game (by far) was Halo 3, though it was not completely revolutionary (since it follows gameplay and story line as the previous two), it is fun, challenging, and multiplayer, with bungie.net stats, makes it compelling and interesting.

A close 2nd is Rock Band, which is completely revolutionary because of the drums that were added and the band play on xbox live (which sad to say I am not part of yet). A fun game but again challenging on Hard level and I can't even think about how Expert is.

3rd is Scene It: Lights, Camera, Action, which again has been revolutionary because of its controllers and 4 person play. The game has been a treasure and has entertained many of our friends through the holidays. The disappointment: No Downloadable expansions and no xbox live.

Other games that have caught my interest are Mass Effect, Assassins Creed, and BioShock but have decided to wait until those are a lot cheaper since finances are challenging these days and though they look interesting I have not looked forward to their releases.

BUT, 2008 is different, there have been several games announced that I am particularly excited about and don't know if I can wait the 2 or 3 years of depreciation in order to try them. So again I thought of the 5 games I am excited about and here they are:

1. Halo Wars (xbox 360)
2. Star Wars Unleashed (I fell in love with the Jedi Outcast Series) (MP)
3. Spore (PC)
4. Gears of War 2 (xbox 360)
5. Lego Indiana Jones/Batman (MP)

The ones that did not make are The Ghostbusters (lots of good prebuzz), Mario Kart Wii, and Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Since I don't have a Wii there is less anticipation. WoW is close because of the new expansion pack but since I have not yet gotten into WoW than the anticipation slowly decreases.

What are you top 5 most anticipated games?

Next week my most anticipated movies of 2008.

Raising Cane's

I am going to get in trouble for this one (by my wife), but I owed my Dad for some groceries so this is how I repaid him.

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite fast food restraunts of all time. Raising Cane's is a fairly new company and has some of the best chicken I have ever tasted. I love chick-fil-a but this is a little different and gives me a little more food for my money. If you get a chance give it a try.

Review:
The chicken taste fresh, and not to greasy. The service is quick. The sweet tea a little to sweet. Great value for price (I got 4 pieces of chicken, cole slaw, garlic bread, and fries for about $7.00) A-

Eating here made me think of "What are my favorite fast food restraunts?" I am going to give you 5 (tough to narrow them down) and post and give me your top 5.

1. Qdoba
2. Chick-fil-a
3. Raising Cane's
4. Pizza Hut (Slipping Quickly - bad service)
5. Wendy's (Slipping Slightly - bad service but not as bad as Pizza Hut)

(Those who did not make the list but were close: Chipolte, Penn Station, & Quiznos)

What are your favorites?

Joe Bologna's

Today my father and I ate at one my favorite restraunts of all time....Joe Bolognas. I had the Mexican Pizza, which is probably my favorite and the traditional HUGE breadstick.

mmmmm .....goood....gggggggggggggggggggg

I have been behind in post but have lots of updates including:

• Rock Band Guitar comes home


• The dreaded Flashing 3 Ring of Death


• HSA


• First Church of God


• Cornhole Season (Corn Toss game Mike...geez) finally arrives


• Malachi and Daddy's First day of fishing