Facing my own mortality

Its funny, in school I remember learning about invincibility that kids face. They do things without really thinking about the consequences because in their mind they can not get hurt or killed. Its something you are suppose to grow out of.



Some kids are absolutely fearless, they can do things and not give a second thought about what might happen. I was a little different growing up, I thought to much about consequences which has held me back on a couple of adventures.



Death is something we all think about. I have thought about it a lot lately. Not really that I was afraid I would die but more just thinking about what happens after you die. I know I will die but for some reason most of the time I have this invincibility complex that allows me to think that I will be fine. This complex keeps me from the Doctors for the most part.



Two years ago I had a physical so I could drive a school bus. In that physical they were checking for drugs in the system, but the strip they used also detected other things. The thing it detected was a little bit of blood in the urine. I was concerned but really didn't think to much of the situation and allowed my life to go on as planned.



Last Monday I had a problem with my throat and scheduled to see a Doctor but decided to make it a physical instead of an appointment. I told him about what went on 2 years ago, so he decided to check it out again along with some blood test. That Thursday the results came back with the same message, there was still blood in the urine. It suggested I go to a urologist for further testing. This was a scary situation, I really started to think about life. I thought something was really wrong for this "suggestion" to be in place.



My wife and I talked for the first time about death together. We talked about what we will do, what she should do. (I know that I had not had test and I was over thinking the situation but again the post is called Facing my own Mortality) We talked about my life and my calling!!! It was a scary conversation, I didn't sleep well. It was premature thought but since it was to late to contact any Doctors office there was no real easing of emotion.



The next day I scheduled an appointment with the urologist. (They said are you available for Tuesday, my response um...how about today) The urologist told me that in most cases, because of my age, there was nothing wrong, BUT there have been people tested positive for cancer in my age group, even though that result was small. He told me he wanted to do a procedure and a CT Scan. He told me I could do them next week, I decided to do the procedure that day.



I tried calling my wife and then my mother but could not get a hold of anyone. So I had the procedure done without anyone in the family knowing about it. It was the loneliness I have felt in a while. So the procedure was done (I will spare you details) and they found nothing in the bladder.



Tuesday I did the CT Scan and got the results yesterday. Nothing was in the kidneys...so I am good. No further testing is needed.



The whole experience, even though some might say I overreacted, brought me to realize my own mortality. The truth is we don't really know how long we are a part of this world. I have been reading about Saddleback's One Month to Live Series (I would be interested in seeing how it was done) and really tried to put that in perspective. What have I done with my life? What have I done for my family? For God? For Friends?



Those days of thinking about what could be happening, really allowed me to enjoy Malachi and Elizabeth a little more. It helped me appreciate my parents and siblings a little more. After this experience it makes me want to really make a difference, to be more involved in my calling, in what God has designed me for.

My day in New Albany

February 15, 2006 was the last day I spent in New Albany, IN as the youth pastor of the First Church of God. That was a sad day for me, I was leaving a place and church that I really loved. For 2 years I have thought about the people and especially the youth that were a part of my life while I was there. I had promised I would return to see them but because of one thing or another was not able to.

Yesterday, I was able to return. I drove down Veterans and was surprised to see new stores and got myself a little lost in the process. I finally made my way to New Albany and stopped by some of the people who meant a lot to me. I spent about 30 mins with each of them, we caught up, laughed, and said our goodbyes. I look forward to stopping by again sometime to see them again. They are saints and I am so thankful I have had the pleasure/honor to meet/befriend them.

After that I played basketball Ben and we got whooped (I only played like 7 mins though). Then we went to Tumbleweed and met Ashley, then called Jay and he came over to meet with us. Unfortunately that is all that came but people are busy and I can understand that.

We took a couple of hours and really caught up.

Side Note: Ben and I tried a buffalo burger from Tumbleweed and its was surprisingly dull. I think the service at Tumbleweed is good but can't say I care much for the food.

It was hard to go back. I always felt that I turned my back on them. I would have almost done anything to stay there. I look forward to the next time we can come to visit and be apart (for just a little while) their lives again.

Kicking out a whole youth group

A couple of weeks ago I was listening to the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast and the discussion came up about kicking out a student. Andy told of his recent experience of telling a youth that he had to home. On the chat room, stories started popping up about other youth pastors experiences.

I have told youth that they couldn't go on trips but had never really asked youth to leave. When I started at the First Church of God in IN, they had some discipline problems within the youth program. A lot of that had to do with organization but it was a problem none the less.

As time went on, the youth group got a little more tamed down. But discipline was still a problem. The first thing we did was split the groups to Junior High and Senior High. That helped because the Senior High was causing some problems because they didn't like being mixed with the Junior High. Some of the Senior High would come on Wednesday to help and that really helped discipline because a lot of the younger ones looked up to them.

As things cooled down some more junior high started coming and the discipline was out of hand again. After about 3 weeks of the lesson taking 4 times as long because I had to stop a hundred times, I had finally had it. The next week we played a game and came to sit down for the lesson. The Junior High was especially hyper and I couldn't even get a sentence out. They were just very loud and obnoxious. I had to yell to get their attention and when I did I went on a spill about how they like to come for games but don't want to take 15 mins to listen and finally said, "I should just stop youth right now and try again next week...I think that is what I am going to do!!!" I told them to go home and if they wanted to come back they needed to straighten up. So I kicked the whole youth group out. I told my Senior Pastor with some MAJOR disapproving looks. He was almost speechless. I felt, and still do, that I did the right thing. Of course you know that Pastor knows best.

The truth was the Junior High liked coming, they liked the socialization and it was a real sign that they did something wrong. I wasn't sure about this until the following day when I ran into some of the youth at Wendy's. They were with their grand parents and they stopped me and said, "I think these boys have something to tell you" and in unison the boys said they were sorry. I apologized for my actions, but was stopped by the grand parents saying that I had done the right thing and next time I had problems to call them.

The next week youth was full with the same kids and I had no problems. Problems came back but were never to that magnitude. After that point I found some of the "leaders" and started eating, and spending time with them. I got them on my side and they helped me with their examples.

Church League Softball

Last night I played on the coed softball team for our church. I played softball at the church I served in Indiana, but they were SERIOUS softball players. I would come early, talk with the team and sit the whole game on the bench. Even the youth would get more opportunity to play. Of course I am not a great softball player by any means but if I go to play a sport I like to play. I mean they wouldn't let me play if we almost had the mercy rule against the other team. So after a year of mistreatment I retired from softball.

I have been going to the church in Frankfort for about a year now and have played on thier basketball team. I decided that I would give softball another try. So out of retirement I have come with my first game yesterday. Again I sat in the dug out but after the 3rd inning I was put in. I got to bat, hoping for a home run and I swung at the first ball. I actually hit the ball and ran because I hit a short grounder. Somehow I was able to get to first base.

Next person up, got a hit and I ran to second. They threw the ball to get me out but somehow it fell a few feet short of me and for some reason I decided to run. As I was running I saw that the short stop and third baseman was halfway between 2nd and 3rd base so I knew if I could outrun them I would make it to 3rd...which I did.

The next batter was up and they hit the ball so I booked it to home for my first run. :)

Of course that was not enough for my friend John Dudinskie. He had to call me and harrass me for almost being beat by a girl at 1st base. If I would have hit a homerun he would have said something about that so I don't really listen to him anymore. :)

I had fun hanging out and actually getting the opportunity to play softball. I sometimes listen to the Bob and Tom show (when they get nasty I turn it) and the song below will sometimes play. I thought it was a clever a comedic song so I thought I would share it with you. There are a couple of minor foul words so if you get offended please don't listen.

Church League Softball Fistfight by Tim Wilson

Malachi's Obsessive Nature

Malachi is 3 going on 4 and I have had the privilege of observing him through these short years. There is one thing that sticks out, he obsesses over most everything and they usually deliver themselves from one thing to another. Not that is unusual for a child but with him its a little excessive I think. Unfortunately I don't know where it comes from...

The most recent one is his little Tigger. He got Tigger as his bed toy from "Santa Clause". He woke up with it at the foot of his bed, He liked it but because Christmas was so piled with presents that he didn't really hold to it for to long. Recently he has reconnected with his Tigger and has decided to take it most everywhere he goes.

Side Note: I LOVE it that he loves his Tigger, he has gotten into Spiderman and The Hulk but for some reason I am not ready for him to be involved with those toys. I guess I am having trouble letting go of his toddler years.

And we're back: He loves his Tigger so much that when he broke he took it to his Daycare so they could fix him. Yesterday was a tragic day. When bedtime came, he wanted his Tigger. Elizabeth and I could not remember when or where we saw Tigger last. We looked under the bed, in the pillows, through the room, in our room, my parents room, the living room, called the last restraunt we went together, and I was even prepared to go to church to see if it had got left there. We could not find Tigger and so Malachi had to go to bed without his favorite toy. (I think he took it quite well, much better than Elizabeth and I)

I was prepared to go to the Disney store and buy another one, but as I was searching for my things prepared to go to work this morning, I looked in one of Elizabeth's bags and found little Tigger with his sown up back. He had spent the night in a bag not to far from us, so this morning we reunited Malachi with Tigger :)

The Weekend

The weekend was actually quite exciting, plus I kind of lied when I said I haven't had much to blog about. I couldn't mention anything because my Mother sometimes reads this blog and what I was doing was a surprise for her birthday.



I have been watching Simply Youth Ministry Podcast Live on http://www.ustream.tv/. While watching/chatting live I saw some really cool things you could do with this website. I mostly was thinking church related but somehow got to thinking about personal things such as live feed from a living room.



My siblings are kind of scattered, (Ohio, Kentucky and Florida), so I decided to call them to see if they can do a live feed. We tested it on Thursday with very bad results. Friday my brother and I spent most of the afternoon testing and it finally worked.

Friday Night we celebrated my Mother's birthday. My sister and her family from Ohio came and we secretly had my brother and sister and their families from Florida on the live feed. They sang Happy Birthday to her as we turned on the computer and showed my mother her surprise. We all talked for most the night and was able to see the babies.

It was a fun time. We also played a little cornhole which I won two rounds of :)

I can see how ustream can be a good tool in ministry and for bringing families together for a short time.

When your mind goes blank...

I really haven't been doing to many updates to this blog. I am not happy about that but life has been busy and busy with typical things. Nothing really new or exciting. I also have writers block and have trouble typing my thoughts in a orderly manner. I do have a couple of post that I have worked on that relate to youth ministry but do not feel confident enough for them to be published yet but hopefully I will release them soon.

I just got done watching the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast for the 2nd time. I watched it live but I sometimes concentrate on the chat and loose a lot of what the cast is saying. It was a pretty good one. Its nice to see people relaxed and having fun. That show has been kind of a blessing, not being in youth ministry has been hard and its nice to listen to people you can relate too. Thanks for the awesome podcast!!!

Whats the deal?

Ever since High School I have had facial hair of some sort. I don't necessarily like it but I dont really like shaving. Every once and a while I go and shave the whole thing off. (I use to have a gotee but after almost 10 yrs decided to grow a full beard) A lot of times I try something different, mostly to be funny.

This was one of those days. I decided to do a different type of cut in which I was going to take it to youth with me just for laughs. My wife hates me clean shaven and loves the gotee so I told her that I would compromise.

When I get out of the bathroom, this is what she saw:

She was not happy to say the least. She really didn't think it was funny. I saw she that she did not approve so I took pictures and shaved it off. I made sure that my blog, facebook, and twitter got these pictures. :)

I tried photoshop Express on some of them, just for looks. I hope you enjoy my temporary face change.

Why change the name of the blog?

I have blogged here and there for several years. My first blog was through livejournal and quit blogging soon after my son was born. I started blogging a couple of years ago on blogger and titled my blog New Life.

New Life was a synopsis of my life at that time. New Life can mean several things but I thought when people saw those words it would give a positive feel to what they were about to read. I had a son, a great wife, and lots of things going well for me and my family.

As time has progressed I left this blog behind to die as my old one has. But this year I had decided (as a New Years Resolution) to write more on my blog and so in 2008 I have blogged more than ever before. This past month I have changed the layout and included some widgets. (next I am going to try and get my blog where it can be read)

As my blog has found new life so have I. As some of you know, I have temporary left full time ministry. Two years ago I left New Albany, IN and one year ago I left Lexington as a part time youth pastor. It was a painful experience because I have a passion for youth, and its been hard to be patient.

My life and my passion took me to a new place....a volunteer. Not as the leader but as a helper, its definitely a new perspective of ministry. To be honest, I would love to lead again but I am not ready so I type here as a volunteer. (I hope to share some of those experiences here, to help Youth Pastors see a different perspective)

I have been in ministry for over 5 years and had lots of experiences as a leader. I am learning new experiences as a volunteer so I am trying to write post on my past and current experiences. Anyone in ministry is a resource and I hope I can be one as well.

Even though Life is still New, I am learning the heart of a volunteer. So this will be a place where you still read about my life but you also might read about my heart. Some post I am working on and should publish soon:

Relational Youth Ministry

Volunteers are a funny thing

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Mother's birthday!!! She went to her office and found this from her coworkers. I hope you have a Happy Birthday!!!

World of Warcraft

Right before I moved out of our old apartment, my wife decided to get me a gift. It was Warcraft battle chest. She bought this thinking it was World of Warcraft, which I had been obsessing over for some time. I laughed and took back Warcraft Battle Chest and got World of Warcraft Battle Chest.

I am not a big RPG guy, in fact I kind of hate them. I use to constantly make fun of my younger brother because he loved them. It was mostly the fact that I didn't understand them. To many numbers, to many "rules". Then I went to college and met Mike Sanchez.. Mike and I had lots of things in common, but mostly he likes Ale81 and a friend to Ale8 is a friend to me. He invited me to play Magic. I have heard of magic and all the satanist views around it so I was intrigued to give it a whirl. So I signed up for Magic: The Gathering Online. He hooked me up with the elves pack which was a great start but from the very beginning he whooped up on me. It would take a while before I would gather my first win. At one point there were several people on Magic but the interest has died down some and not even I go on to play anymore. I hope someday we get back just for fun times but now the game lay on my laptop waiting for the next time to open.

After getting hooked on MTGO, I was invited to a release party for the new MTG cards. I forgot what they called them but the point was to pick go through some pack of cards and pick out one card you liked and pass it on. I didn't know what I was doing so I was very vulnerable and like a new guy playing poker was taken advantage off. I think it was double elimination and I was the first one out.

With all that said, I started to enjoy the games because of the interaction that came along with it. We talked, laughed, and beat each other up...well not really but we had fun. When my brother told me that he was playing World of Warcraft I decided that I would like to try it.

I tried playing, with the purchase of the game you were given a month of play time. It was not fun, I was in the process of moving and had no Internet, so playing was difficult because it was usually playing at the local Panera. Nothing can make you feel more like a nerd than playing WoW at Panera!!! With the added frustration of having to type code to respond to a group, person or community I decided that I was not fit for WoW at that particular time.

Months have gone by and I have threatened to play several times but finally bought a game card to try it for 2 months. This past weekend was WoW opportunity for changing my mind. I had previously bought an adapter for my computer that allows my Xbox controller and microphone to be used in the game with the help of switchbade. With the ability to talk rather than type it made the experience more enjoyable. I was able to talk and have fun and at the same time was able to be helped in the game (before I would lose a person and by the time I figured out how to type and get it on the board they were far away from me).

I am starting to have a better understanding of the game and had a lot of fun. Saturday night I went to bed at 1:00 AM which I have not done for some time.

I can see how these games can take up your life. It was past 12 before I ever knew it. I enjoy the game and think it would be a great game on the weekend after Malachi goes to bed. I am excited about playing again although my Xbox was neglected.

My New Toys

I love the xbox and almost all its components. Yes, I did have to send it to get it fixed but I believe its a far superior machine than the other consoles out there. I really love xbox live which is why I bought the messenger kit to help with typing, and just won a xbox visual camera w/ two games.

Of course I know that these items are really not necessary but I had some money to waste and decided to get these because I was interested.

I will probably not get my camera until next week but it will be a joy to use.

ALSO...

I have got a 2 month card for WoW, so I am back at trying WoW for anyone interested!!!

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

The one where I took my wife out on a date

Last week I decided to take my wife on a little date, so I told her we were going out to eat for her birthday. We typically stay in Frankfort and go to a local restraunt but I decided we needed to get out. We were on our way to the Olive Garden when we drove across a place called The Pub, so she decided to be spontanious (which was a suprise to me) and decided to try something new. We waited for abour 25 mins to sit, and ordered our meal, since I had never eatin there before here are my thoughts:

THE PUB

• 25 min wait: The wait was not bad although by the time we were seated the wait was 1 1/2 hrs to be seated.
• Atmosphere: Was very comfortable. It was dark, had lights if that makes any sense at all. The booth was very comfortable, the acoustics were great I can actually hear my wife and talk without yelling.
• Service: Our server was a little sarcastic but in a place like this it fit quite well. She was not rude and was able to get our order right. She was very helpful in the selection of our food and dessert
• Food: I had the fish sandwich and it was GOOOOOOOD!!! I would definitely eat here again. The fish was cooked to perfection, the fried pickle was great, and the chips (french fries) were cooked well and tasted great.
• Dessert: Since it was Elizabeth's birthday they gave us a FREE dessert, and we could pick from the menu, not an ice cream but we could pick. We picked the Jamaican Cheesecake. It had to be the best cheesecake I have ever tasted.
• Price: A little pricey (about $30 after tip but we didn't get drinks) but we would have probably spent that or more at Olive Garden so I guess it compares to most restaurants of its type.

We have plans to go again when Samuel (hey dude they wear kilts) and Eyla, Brandon and Saralee, or Heather and Darrell come to visit.

After The Pub we were going to the mall so she could spend her Birthday money but instead she (again surprisingly spontaneous) wanted to see a movie. We both agreed to see Juno. A GREAT MOVIE by the way. It was a serious issue but dealt in a funny way without making it a joke. Ellen Page and Michael Cera were absolutely wonderful, Rainn Wilson (Dwight Shrute as I know him) had a great cameo and was particularly funny though it was a little type cast. J.K. Simmons did a great job as the father (very funny and clever lines). If you get a chance to see this movie do it, you will laugh and it is very heartfelt. And in a sense somewhat of an unexpected ending, well for me I was waiting for something different. I give this movie an A, 5 stars and 6 eagle eyes....or whatever

Our little date was a lot of fun. One thing that I should do with her more often, she deserves it. It was lesson to me as well. No matter how much life gets busy its important to take your wife on dates, show them that you love them, and have fun doing it. If you don't might lose her.

Rock Band XBL style

Since I have had internet at the house again I have wanted to try rock band online. But since my guitar was broken, I didn't try it. But last night I decided that I would try the drums and singing.

It was a lot of fun. I played for about an hour against different people. I was suprised to find out how bad I am at drums. I played 5 times and lost every single time. BUT on the singing I won every single time. It doesnt really make much sense.

Rock band has a community site, but its really a waiste of time. I thought it would give you rank and other inforamation on where you stood in the game. You can find it here

I will be on tonight to give it a try again. I will also be on Halo if anyone wants to play.

Ice

In Kentucky, we are blessed to have ice storms every once and a while. Did I say blessed? I meant cursed beyond belief. The ice storm that came by today was predicted yesterday and we (Harry Gordon Steel) kept a close eye on it.

We saw it (on doppler) coming closer so work was called off so we got to go home 1/2 a day. Its nice to be home but it worries me. For the past several ice storms the electricity has gone out. One time the electricity was out for over a week. The good thing is I didnt live here during that time.


Today is my wifes birthday. She is the big 2-6 and she is not excited. I got her qdoba, a velvet cake and a ds game. Of course I will take her somewhere nice on Saturday with another present.

I hope everyone is in a better situation than us, and pray that the ice goes away VERY SOON!!!

Name Change

On Sunday night, there was a meeting for the name change of the church. Even though the website says a place of hope the church is actually the First Church of God.

I came to the meeting optimistic (and for me that is a good thing) that the name would change. I feel the First Church of God is a name that scares people from testing our church out. So in a sense it is a hinderance to the "unsaved" of our community. I know several people who have had negative experiences in a church but who are searching and I sense a name could drive them to another place.

Anyway...

I felt that the name would and should change. There was a long discussion that night, that ranged for reasons of keeping the name and reasons for changing the name. Some reasons were said out of ignorance and some were valid.

After the vote, which did not carry (so we are still First Church of God), I was dissappointed. I was discouraged. Not because I didnt get my way but I felt it was a step of doing the same old thing. We are stuck in the same old box we have been trapped in for years.

Our church has grown and it has had fewer people. But the truth of the matter is that the "lost" was not who grew the church. We were church-nappers, when someone wasn't happy with thier church they came to our church. We lost people for the same reason. When people werent happy they left to another church, they didnt leave to the "world".

People blame a lot of things, the people in the church, the pastor, the programs, the music, etc., I blame our inability to innovate, to look at things new and different. To share the story in a different and dynamic way, and whats new and works today might not work tomorrow. The process of the church is evolving because the world is evolving and if the local church doesn't stay with it, the name of the church will have no meaning because there will be no name, and there will be no church.

I am discouraged, but I also have hope. I see good things from our pastor, I see good things from our people. We need to learn how to "restructure" what we are doing, to utilize peoples gifts and talents that can further God's kingdom. We need to be intential on changing how we think in order to move forward and grow. We need to stop being church-nappers and become a place that truly is a place of hope and the lost will truly come and want to experience what we should be experiencing.

Guitar Controller

Today I got the box to send my defective guitar back!! Oh please get back to me soon, Oh how I will miss you :(

$5.00 Valentine

Earlier in the year, Elizabeth and I decided that we would not do anything for each other for Valentines Day. Yesterday, she decides that she wants to something but not as elaborate as past Valentines Days. So we went to Walmart, split up, and had a max of $5.00 plus a card.

I went in search for the perfect $5.00 gift and came up with this hair clip (came in a bundle of six), in addition I bought her a reeses Peanut butter cup and a coke, which came to exactly $5.00 and then I bought a sappy card.....

I told her I wanted Guitar Hero but I didnt get it. :)

Oh Rock Band :-(

My guitar has been the victim of the fatal strum bar failure. The upstroke works but the downward stroke is no good. I have put my request in and will have to wait for a box to come in to send it back and then wait for the new guitar to get to me.

Oh Rock Band guitar, the good times we have had, I can't believe you are going to leave me. My dreams of being a big time rock star are put on hold.

I hope the next guitar is much better and works longer.

XBL

In November, my xbox live account was put to rest and was not used due to lack of internet and eventually my xbox live account was cancelled after 4 years of service. It was a very sad day for me, I cried for months.

One day we were talking about the importance of having internet and it convinced my father to look into it, in the process he found that we could have internet and "accidently" signed us up through at&t. Last week the service was installed and on Saturday the day of renewal was upon me.

I signed up to renew my xbox live account and was very happy (I pee'd myself with excitement), I found some people from church that played and my day was even brighter (dominated). I have only played Halo 3 online right now but will play Gears of War and Rock Band soon (and if someone wants Halo 2 for fun).

If you have xbox live or are getting xbox live look me up, my gamertag is nebsllim

The Snow and ice

Unfortuanitly, the camera died before I could take a picture outside but got this blurry picture of Malachi. We woke up this morning to 4 inches of snow and a layer of ice and let me tell you it was a FUN morning. A layer of ice makes it not possible to sled, and the ice disabled us and we were trapped in the house. The good side is that I didnt have to go to work, but as the morning progressed the electricity cut off. This is depressing especially when you want a hot meal.

We managed by getting the fire going and getting the generator up and started. The generator did not want to start so that was a bit frustrating, but the gas was bad and after filtering new gas the generator worked great.

So our morning looked something like this:

A fire going

Malachi playing

The generator working (allowing the modem, wireless router and 3 computers to work)

Mom, Dad, and Elizabeth playing on the computer

Dad going down so often to cut firewood

Getting progressively colder

Busting ice and snow off car

Going to Panera

As we got suited up to leave, the electricity came back on!!!

I came back to play a little xbox which is awesome.

Arrested Development

One of my favorite shows has been rumored to be going to the big screen. I hope its successful and sparks the series to come out of cancellation.

I'm a sinner

We all fall short, right? Its crazy because I lust and lust and finally give into my temptation. Sometimes I wonder if my addiction can control who I am and therefore ruins who I am trying to be. As some of you know from a previous post (found here), that I have been trying to lose weight, and of course I have struggled with it as seen here!

In January, I gave up pop for 6 months, I made a compromise and had sierra mist a grand total of like 6 glasses. Not having coke has drawn me to other things like a snickers bar every day. Yesterday I was really tired and decided I would drink an ale8 (refreshing, sweet, heavenly, wonderful....) to help me stay awake, and so I drank one, then went home and drank a coke, then today my Dad (pap pap as we like to call him) bought me an ale8 and snickers bar, in which I could not pass up.

SO TODAY I have decided NOT to drink any further carbonated drinks and stay clear of most candy bars until June and push for July, my own punishment for not staying on track.

The good news is that I am still playing raquetball everyday and won 2 out of 3 games today WHOO HOO

Game 1 15-11

Game 2 13-15

Game 3 15-5

(yes that is my sad work desk)

Healthy Breakfast

Just before Christmas I have gotten one of these (pictured above) every Thursday and just now decided to blog about it. It is a donut but not just any donut, its a Spalding donut. Spaldings is a locally owned company (Lexington) that makes these donuts, they are very good and believe it or not its healthy. It comes with 1 gram of fat, o calerious, and no carbs. Its almost better than air. So I eat about 2 (sometimes sneak in a 3rd) for healthly reasons. (You know I have to watch my heart these days) I can feel the energy rising in my blood. If you are ever in Lexington, go get one, they are good and did I mention HEALTHY!!! :)

Mouse Killer

Our cat, Mouse, has become a little hunter. Mouse is about 4 yrs old and is declawed but still manages to kill things. In the past several days he has brought in mice, on one particular day he brought a live one while my wife was home alone. I got a call with lots of screaming and a little bit of confusion as to do with the live mouse.

After a few suggestions, the end result was to lock Mouse and the mouse into the bathroom and let them fight it out. This is because every time Elizabeth attempted to separate the mouse from Mouse, Mouse would pick up the mouse and run with it. The end result was a dead mouse brutally slain by the cat. At this point it is Mouse 5 mice 0, Mouse 1 bird 0. Its a running count...

On Saturday, I was home with my son Malachi. He was playing with his toys and I was watching tv when suddenly we heard a bunch of rustling in the kitchen. As I turned I saw Mouse bringing in a mouse.

Because of previous mouth mutilations I had already shut the doors of the bathroom, our room and Malachis room, but forgot about Mom and Dads room.

As I stood from the tv Mouse saw me and knew I was going to take away his prize, seeing that the usual rooms were closed he darts, w/ the mouse in his mouth, into Mom and Dad's room. I cornered Mouse but he did not give in and found an escape route into the living room. I swat Mouse with a broom and he lets go of the mouse, the mouse runs underneath the couch and Mouse is waiting but I pick up Mouse and put him into the bedroom.

Now I find myself into a predicament because:

1. I am afraid of mice, a recently discovered fear
2. Malachi is completely excited about the mouse in the house and is running everywhere
3. the mouse is underneath the couch
4. I had to somehow pick up the couch, hold Malachi back, and get the mouse

I was in a doozy of a situation. I decided to do something different I got Mouse out and set him by the couch and demanded Malachi sit still as I lift the couch. So Mouse is ready, Malachi is waiting with anticipation and so I lift up the couch and Mouse charges the mouse and goes up over the gate and through the doggy door.

Most people would think it would have been a good idea to let Mouse destroy the mouse outside but not me I didn't want the mouse to escape and get back in. So I put on my shoes and go down the stairs (as I demand that Malachi stay on the porch but he could watch) in order to seperate the mouse from Mouse so I could dispose of the mouse appropriately.

As I get to the bottom of the steps Mouse jumps over the fence and so I go through the gate to get him on the other side in which he jumps back over the fence, goes up the stairs, and through the doggy door where he is back in the same house I was just trying to get him out of. (again Malachi jumping up and down with excitement)

I go back into the house and get Mouse into the bathroom somehow got him to drop the mouse and got him back in the living room with the mouse in the bathroom.

Again I find myself in a predicament because the mouse is still in the house and he is still alive. But I remembered that my Dad had bought a mouse trap that is a black box and when the mouse goes through the box it electrocutes him, killing the mouse. So I take Malachis toys, some bottles of shampoo and cups to make a maze into the black death box for the mouse. I somehow lead him into it, and I decide to leave him in there so he could die by himself.

After a while I go back in open the box and find the mouse. I call my Dad explaining what I thought was a humorous story but decide to take the broom handle and poke the mouse where I realize the mouse was still alive. The mouse gets out of the trap and runs into a nearby cup. The smart person would have taken the cup and put the mouse outside but not this man, I decide to reset the trap and make another maze and somehow the mouse got back into the trap. This time I left the trap for about a 1/2 hour before I went back to check on the mouse.

After the 1/2 hour I check and the mouse is still but after the first time I decide to check it one last time, and again the mouse is still alive

At this time I am frustrated and decide to let Mouse finish the job but not in the house. I take the mouse outside and the mouse ran out and jumped off the deck, the deck is a good 15 to 20 feet in the air. I check and see a twitching mouse, so I get Mouse to finish the job. I take mouse down and the mouse is running towards the fence. Mouse darts at him picks him up, the mouse bites Mouse, Mouse lets him go runs up the stairs, and through the doggy door. The mouse makes a run for it and sees another day. Making this adventure Mouse 5, mice 1

My wife called me this morning to tell me that Mouse brought in a bird and the bird was flying around the house. But Mouse grabbed the bird and its now dead. Mouse also has killed about 2 mice since the last encounter so here is the new count:

Mouse 7, Mice 1 Mouse 2, Birds 0

Thought this was humorous and I hope you enjoy the true story of the Mouse Killer :)

Sorry for all the grammatical and spelling errors, hey Im not an English teacher and I dont proofread. :-/

Frankfort Basketball game

A victory for the Frankfort First Church of God basketball team. On Saturday we have our first win. I can't believe it and I scored a 3 pointer WHOO HOO!!! We are now 1-14 in 2 seasons. Take that Ben Walker ;) Plus UK beat Vandy a huge win for us!!

Weight Loss

It becomes a revelation when you step on the scale at it says 197.5. One week ago that is what my scale said. I am not morbidly overweight but I have a zillion bad habits and I don't think it would take much for to get reach over 200 lbs.

One of my many New Years Resolution was to stop drinking coke and lose 40 lbs. I am on my 3rd week of NOT drinking coke and on my 2nd week of only drinking water. I weighed myself yesterday and found that I had lost 2 lbs. Not significant but it was nice to see. I am not watching what I eat and play racquetball everyday. My goal is to start running 30 mins a day and do a little weight lifting to help my flabby body look a little toned. For those few (if any) who read this blog encourage me. I want to be healthy for my family. :)

Just another Jan 4, 2008

For the past 3 days I have been sitting at the front desk of the old steel company because our secretary is out sick. It can be a bit boring. The desk is way to small for me to actually do the work that I was hired to do so I am stuck until they give me a managable job that can be done from this desk.

When days are like this I do get to catch up on some of my favorite websites. Unfortuatetly I have ran out because I visit the same sites about everyday. My most frequent websites that I visit are:

gizmodo.com (Very good with new technology)

bungie.net (Even though I no longer have a XBL account I still like to see the new things happening because their will be a day when I shall return to XBL)

The Armory (WoW site, again even though I dont have an account it still has some interesting stuff on it)

xbox.com (Keepin up with whats new)

movies.com (Great reviews)

simplyjosh.com (A youth ministry guy who is highly successful and has a lot of cool info on the site)

Of course there are several other sites that I visit but really not enough to keep a day busy. If you have any suggestions with good sites to visit (that are not dirty) comment them below.

Christmas

My family actually had a great Christmas all around. We are currently living with my Parents due to the fact that my wife has to do an internship. This makes Christmas a bit stressful but we managed. We bought a little tree and decorated it in our room. On Christmas morning we woke Malachi with Presents around the tree.

Malachi woke up to a little Tigger for his bed present which "Santa" gives him, He enthusiastically opened up his other gifts which included a spiderman lego plane (bad idea it is already in pieces and all over the house), cars replica of toy story and monster inc (which are shown at the ending credits of Cars), and he got a helicopter that can be flown inside. He loves that helicopter and has really enjoyed playing with it. Plus he got a ton of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse stuff from both sets of parents.

Elizabeth got some pajama pants (Vera Bradley), ilive (generic ihome), idog, some books and some other things from me and got a digital camera from my parents. She was very pleased with Christmas this year.

I got a ton of things from Elizabeth, which included The Simpsons Movie, The Simpsons how to draw the characters book, The Office Season 3, Kentucky Sweatshirt, Kentucky Chair, Malachi got me a Kentucky Basketball which he picked out, and I got Rock Band from my parents. Which is a really awesome game by the way!!!!

We had the extra pleasure of having my sister Saralee and her family with us for Christmas.

For the first time EVER we deep fried a turkey for Christmas. It had to be the best tasting turkey I have ever tasted. It would be hard going back to the same old baked turkey after that delite.

This was a good holiday season all the way around, if you take away the presents that I got, it still was excellent, I had a great time with family. I got along with everyone, there was a lot of laughter. Lots of time to cherish with my nieces, nephew and Malachi. I wouldnt trade that time for anything. I hope and pray that your Christmas was as good as mine.

New Years Resolution

I dont usually do New Year's Resolution but last year was a bad year and things need to change and a new NEW YEAR is a good place to start these changes. Here they are in no particular order:

Excercise More Often
Loose 30 lbs
Stop drinking anything with carbonation for 6 months
Read the Bible
Read more books
Write in a journal
Spend more time with Malachi and Elizabeth
Get out of stupid debt (I mean Credit Cards and things of that nature not home or school debt)

These are the main ones but there are always more. I am starting out 2008 discouraged with where I am at and I hope to end 2008 excited about what is happening and looking at a brighter future. I hope everyone had a Good Christmas and a Good start to the New Year!!!

Life in General

Life has been really interesting!!!! My wife started her Masters program last week and is on Stress overload right now. She is also working a job in which there is big stinch of incompentance roaming around. She is way over qualified while her higher ups are way underqualified. December will be a good month to put this period of time WAY WAY behind us and she can move on to her internship.

Malachi will be 3 on Friday. I am happy yet saddened. My little boy is growing up so fast. Of course there are certain aspects of growing up I wish he'd hurry up, one major being is pooping in the potty. I am currently making a minature cornhole set for him. It is really cute and should be completed sometime by the end of the week. All that is left is painting.

I am working still I did leave Panera, at least for a little while. I am ready for a career but trying to stay patient for Elizabeth. Things are picking up for me in Frankfort to really allow my skills to be used a little more. There are days I miss college, mostly for the unresponsibility related to it. The "real world" has hit hard the past 4 years.

Young Adult Camp

Sometime in February I was asked to be the director of our state Young Adult Camp. After a week of thinking about it I came back to say I would like to have a go at it. Of course my predicessor was an awesome director (and good friend) so I know I am already inadequate for the job. The camp is this weekend and I am excited about what is going to happen. I got an excellent speaker and dynamic worship leader (of course they are both related to me so I think they are awesome). The location is not my favorite but I hope to show a great time and to see this thing grow for next year.

I dont know what is in store this weekend. I know I had trouble with both the speaker and worship leader only because they are related so I tried for others first but at the end I decided to go with my heart. I know God will bless this thing, he always has.

Anyone can come that is out of high school and I encourage you to go. It is a lot of fun and great place to meet people or reconnect with old friends. I hope to see you there and I will give a post whenever its done.

Back from PA

Yesterday we got back from the big town of Ellwood. Our job there was to clean out Elizabeth's old room and take it back to Kentucky. She had a ton of stuff and so we boxed it and her brother brought back for us. Our next home will be filled with junk.

Anyway I had to get a storage unit to put all this stuff in.

Our second duty was to help her mother with a yard sale. Her mother put up almost everything for sale. It was huge, of course we got to search through and take what we wanted. I got two canopies, a tent and several other camping equipment. My wife got several things as well.

Our last duty was to load up on the food we liked. I got a ton of New Castle chili, cleaned out Giant Eagle (a grocery store in the north for those who don't know), my wife got her Augustine's Pizza and we got some loafs and puffs from Johnny's. It was great.

It was a nice visit and weird knowing we would not set foot in the house again and possibly not go to PA much after this point. I know it had to be weird for my wife to leave a place she has always known.

Going to PA

Today we (my wife, son and myself) are leaving for PA to see my Mother-in-law. Even though the town of Ellwood City is small and growing smaller instead of getting larger it is still a fun place to visit. I will get to eat at a little place called Johnnys and Red Hots. I will also come home with a TON of New Castle Chili which to date is by far my favorite. We will also come packed with Augustines Pizza.

While there, the Simpsons movie will be released. OF COURSE I want to go so bad I just pee'd myself. It should be good and the from what I hear I will not be disappointed. So I am hoping we can scrape the money to watch it of course I am sacrificing Harry Potter for a couple of more weeks but I will eventually get to that one as well.

Me

Just a pic of me for my blog...sorry nothing interesting here!!!

Cedar Point

I love Cedar Point. I went for the first time ever last weekend. IT WAS AWESOME. They had some great roller coasters but I only road 4 of them. I went with the church I am attending and volunteering at. Built some good relationships and had a ball.

Surprisingly, I liked the water park almost as much as the park itself. They had this huge raft thing and some of the guys decided to meet the weight capacity as best we could. So me and 3 others got in weighing in at over 720 lbs, 80 lbs less than the weight capacity. Lets just say it was a very interesting wet my pants ride. Then we did this slide that looked really slow but after getting on it it was super fast and pretty scary. FUN!!

Malachi's first day at Ginza II

A new japanese steak house opened in Frankfort called Ginza II and my parents took us there to eat. It was really fun to see some of Malachi's expressions of the big fire and learning how to use chops sticks. Great fun!!!

Our new pond (updated)

We completed the pond several weeks ago but I believe it turned out well...

of course now it has lily pads, fountain, and fish + a neighboring frog. Looks good

Where have I been

Its been a while since I've posted but that is the story of my life. I am at work today enjoying an empty office. WHOO HOO!!! and getting ready to go to Cedar Point. I have never been before and just printed off the map and ready to explore it. When I get back I will update my month of absence including an update on the pond, my son at Ginza II and a fire that started on the back porch on 4th of July. Should be fun!!!