what is going on here?!

When I got home today I decided to unwind a little by reading my most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly. One of the ads I thumbed past was this ad for monster.com:



Nothing special, right? I thought the same until something caught my eye as I turned the page. I thought I glimpsed the word "Hanso" on the page. If you watch the show Lost like I do, then the title "The Hanso Foundation" means something to you. Surely, I didn't see anything I thought to myself. But upon flipping back to the ad I saw this on the chair the guy in the ad is resting his arm on:



What in the world does monster.com have to do with solving the never-ending mysteries of Lost? Are they just trying to be clever because of the episodes with the monster?

Then at the bottom of the ad the following website is listed: hansoexposed.com. I checked it out and it confused me even more. What are these insanely creative writers up to?!

times are a changin'

I was on vacation last week, and like most vacations it went by way too quickly. Before I knew it I was back in Orlando. But the vacation was a good time. I spent 5 days in Tampa and they were great. It felt good to be home. One of the best things about being home with my dad and Judy is that I traditionally don't have to worry about much. My dad knows I have a tendency to overdo it, so he really likes it when he asks how my day was and my response is, "I watched 3 episodes of 24, went to the mall for some bourbon chicken, watched 3 more episodes of 24, and then watched Little Miss Sunshine (pretty funny) at the movies after dinner." I went on to completely finish that 3rd season of 24 by the end of my time off. It was so good!

I got to visit a bunch of friends, too. I loved just sitting and being in their company. A highlight was meeting Madison Huff, the little girl my friends Clint and Steph had on Friday, August 18. I got to be a part of Madison's first Thursday and it was amazing. The whole idea of women carrying babies inside of them and then suddenly holding that baby is beyond my comprehension. What a miracle it is. I'm so excited for them and know they will be incredible parents. (Check out Huff Haven for a blog they have started about Madison.)

As the end of my vacation grew closer, I was sad to see the time come to an end. But it also meant a new part of my life was going to begin, which was (and is) exciting and scary at the same time. Shortly before camp started this summer, I was offered a position as a youth director at Christ Kingdom Church, the daughter church of the church I've been attending for almost 8 years. It's all been a bit overwhelming because suddenly two things that have been a constant in my life pretty much since I started college are not there anymore. I am still working at camp part-time until they find my replacement, but obviously things aren't the same. I am going to miss those camp and UPC kids like crazy (I already do), but this move makes sense to me. I'm looking forward to seeing if working in youth ministry is something I want to do full-time. It's been a crazy experience so far and God has already reminded me of my need for Him in this job several times. I'm sure that will be a constant theme throughout this new journey. Fortunately, I've also received a ton of support from friends and family that I am grateful for. A huge thanks to all of you who have been praying and encouraging me throughout this whole thing!

I will be leading my first youth group next Wednesday. And if it's anything like the preparation has been, anything is possible.

movie music

Back in the day when I lived at home with my dad and had cable, I watched a show on E! called Coming Attractions. I don't know if they have time to air this show anymore in between airings of True Hollywood Story, but its concept was simple. For 30 minutes they played nothing but movie previews and I was a fan.

However, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with movie trailers. I love when they get me excited about an upcoming movie, but I hate it when I figure out the entire plot of the movie just by watching the trailer. I like to have at least one surprise thrown in there. Here's one example: I saw the preview for The Family Stone with Sarah Jessica Parker and Luke Wilson. I didn't have any plans to see the movie, but ended up seeing it over last Christmas with my friend Azuree. Going into the movie, I felt pretty confident that I knew who would end up with who because I had seen the preview. At the end of the movie I found out I was right (score!), but was surprised because I actually liked the movie. I definitely didn't see that coming.

Sometimes I end up liking the movie's preview more than the movie itself. Usually that is because of the music they put in the trailer. I remember when the first Spider-man came out I watched the trailer over and over because it had some cool rock music in it that I thought was great. Back when the girl of my dreams was Sandra Bullock, I discovered the song "Lightning Crashes" by Live through the preview for Hope Floats.

The latest movie trailer I've been hooked on is the one for The Last Kiss. I saw this preview for the first time in a theater over the summer and got excited because Zach Braff (Scrubs!)and my favorite Real World-er, Jacinda, are both in the movie. I can tell I won't agree with all of the things that happen in this movie, but I want to check it out. What I loved about the preview was the way the song that starts when you first see the girl from The O.C. carries the rest of the trailer. I recently learned that the song is called "Chocolate" and is by Snow Patrol. I'd heard of this group before from my cousin Jut, and this immediately gave both the song and movie more credibility in my mind. Here's hoping I enjoy the movie as much as I do the trailer.

a good weekend

I didn't do anything extraordinary this weekend, but it was one of the most enjoyable ones I've had in a good while. Some highlights:

- sleeping in on Saturday
- getting a call from a camper Saturday morning that cracked me up
- ordering pizza and watching Scrubs with my roommate (quite possibly the funniest show I've ever seen)
- picking up a new bookshelf for my bedroom and being surprised by how easy it was to put together (check it out below!)


- not having to get dressed until 6pm Saturday
- returning items to various stores with no hassle
- getting to catch up with a bunch of people over the phone...Limbers, Ryan, cousins, dad
- getting to visit with my friend Jenny

Hope your weekend was just as good.

a friendly reminder

Tonight I got to talk to my friend Jessica. (She is the girl in the picture to the left. It's a picture from high school...check out how high my sock is on my right leg!) Although camp is over, some things from the summer have been lingering in my mind and when I was sharing them with her I was reminded that I have a tendency to dwell on things too much. So we got to reminiscing about some high school memories and I was cracking up.

One summer we decided to enter this contest that AMC Theatres held asking students to submit short films that encouraged kids not to drink. I don't remember exactly whose idea it was (unfortunately probably mine), but we taped a parody of Speed with our friends as our entry into the competition. The plot went something like this: Kevin had placed a bomb under bus 2526 (actually Jess's Chevy Astro mini-van with a piece of posterboard taped to it) and it was up to Guy to save the day. Guy arrived to the bus, but faced a challenge because Imee and Danny were drunk and wouldn't listen to him. Fortunately, Sober Girl (Jessica) was on the bus and heard Guy's cries. She acted quickly and saved everyone from the scary bomb (actually fireworks we bought down the street). The moral of the story: Don't get drunk because you never know when someone might put a bomb under the Chevy Astro you're hanging out in.

I am proud to say that I was the director of this masterpiece. Shockingly, we never received any acknowledgement from AMC that they received our prized video. I like to think that the AMC executives bring it out on special occassions or watch it as a stress reliever when things get hairy.

pray for ande!

Today I got to have lunch with Ande & Kelly, two of my favorite people around. We were all in the same college ministry at UCF and we used to watch Alias together on a regular basis back in the day.

Ande will be starting an RUF at our alma mater this fall. He has his ordination exam this Tuesday and I'm sure he'll do great, but it'd be awesome if you could throw out a prayer for him.

You can do it, P-nut!

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