What's Today?!

parenthood

2011-10-05T23:59:00.001-05:00

When I get into a show, I get into a show. It can be a bit of a problem. (see: Mickey Mouse Club, LOST, Friday Night Lights.) One of my favorite things about following a show is the pay-off you get when something happens between the characters and you can only fully appreciate the moment because you know everything that has come before it.

NBC's Parenthood is currently in its third season and it had one of those moments last night. (Fair warning this contains spoilers about the show.) I started watching it because I liked the movie a lot (trivia: a friend of mine in Orlando lives down the street from the house the movie filmed at) and it had a lot of the same behind-the-scenes folks as Friday Night Lights. I've been particularly pumped when FNL actors show up on Parenthood. Lyla as Max's behavioral aide? Score! Vince playing the role of Haddie's boyfriend? Go Lions! I miss having a team to cheer for like I did on FNL, but Parenthood is appointment television for me.

Michael B. Jordan, the actor who plays Haddie's boyfriend Alex is awesome. His arrival onto the show during its second season caused trouble for Haddie's family because her parents didn't want them dating. He was older than her, had dropped out of school and was recovering from problems with alcohol. Parents were understandably concerned. But Alex has cleaned things up and long story short, they work things out and he even plays basketball with Haddie's little brother and the rest of the family. In the beginning of this third season, he gets into some trouble with the law and Haddie's dad helps him out. However, shortly after that Alex decides that he and Haddie should call things off. Haddie doesn't respond well to the news and here's what happens when he takes her home and runs into her mom:

This is hands down one of my favorite scenes ever on this show. Several things about it get to me:

- The use of doors. Doors are instrumental to this scene. You see Alex and Haddie come in through the front door, hear Haddie slam her bedroom door, see Alex leave through the front door and see Haddie and her mom talk through the previously mentioned slammed door.

- Alex and this mom have come so far in their relationship. She tells him he's now like family. I don't think that Monica Potter, the actress who plays Haddie's mom, gets the credit she deserves for playing this role. She owns it. This mom is such a control freak, but she manages to somehow make the character likable and, I think, relatable. She just wants what is best for her kids. In this scene, things that are out of her control unravel before her eyes and she has to not be as pushy as she normally is. I don't think you can appreciate how she handles those interactions with her daughter and Alex without knowing how those kinds of things have previously played out. I love the look of restrained panic on her face, the way she pats the back of Alex's head when they hug, how she takes a deep breath once he has left and how instead of giving into her temptation to open Haddie's door, she gives her daughter some space by simply saying, "I love you."

- I love Alex's acknowledgment that he feels lucky to have gotten to know a good mom after losing his own a long time ago. I know these characters are not real, but my heart goes out to Alex when you see his response to Haddie's mom speaking into his hurt, validating him and telling him they love him. (Michael B. Jordan's agent needs to start his campaign for a best guest star Emmy or something.) Not only is he losing his girlfriend, he's losing the closest thing he has had to a family in a long time. He has been forgiven of his past and is loved by these people. And that's a lot to take in. As I get ready to go to bed, my prayer is that I would be as overwhelmed with the forgiveness and love my Creator has for me.

I don't know where this story line will lead to next, but if it includes more scenes like this one, it looks like my Tuesday night plans won't be changing anytime soon.

joy

2011-10-02T23:35:00.004-05:00

I've gotten into the habit of watching the 6:30 national news at night. NBC's Brian Williams is my anchor of choice. One of my least favorite things about watching the news, though, is hearing about the unemployment rate, especially because I am part of that percentage of people they talk about. While I am in this in between period, I have picked up some habits like spending too much time on Facebook and eating more junk food than I normally do and should. But some good ones have also developed. I get the proper amount of rest. I do some sort of exercise 4 or 5 days a week. I also make more of an attempt to take note of things, superficial or not, that bring me joy. Some of those things of late have been:

- A former student of mine now volunteers with the Youth Group at his church in college. One Saturday morning I woke up to a text message from him with the following picture:

As I scrolled down I read the attached caption: "middle school lock in. need i say more." Getting that text was especially sweet since I lead a few lock-ins with that student when he was a middle schooler.

- Re-reading some of my favorite books (Ender's Game, Harry Potter) and discovering some really good new ones (The Wednesday Wars, The Help, Room).

- Mat Kearney's latest album came out over the summer. I got a copy the day it came out, but waited to listen to it when I had a short road trip a few days later. Track 2 instantly became my favorite song. It is one of the few songs right now that can almost always lift my mood.

- Hearing my Dad say he was proud of me for being one of two final candidates for a job (even though I ended up not getting the job).

- Seeing the excitement on the faces of the team members of the Tampa Bay Rays when they won their Wild Card spot and overcame their nine game deficit. That was such good television.

- Getting Vanilla Coke from a fountain (courtesy of the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine).

- Visiting my elementary school and the secretaries in the office remembering me!

- Remembering my high school fight song when I went to a game and heard the band play it.

- Auditioning for Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Didn't make it pass the written test, but got a free shirt.

- My cousin Josh telling me he got engaged.

- Exploring the woods of a nearby Tampa park with great music playing in my ears. The soundtrack was music I'd heard on the show Friday Night Lights: "Remember Me as a Time of Day" by Explosions in the Sky, "Deus Ex Machina" by If These Trees Could Talk, "Stokkseyri" by Jonsi and Alex and "Devil Knows Your Dead" by Delta Spirit.

- Speaking of Friday Night Lights, I literally stood up and cheered when Kyle Chandler won the Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama for his work in that show:

In the words of Entertainment Weekly: "Clear eyes. Full hearts. Didn't lose."

an epic send-off

2011-06-08T10:38:00.072-05:00

Confession: During my sophomore year of college, I would often watch The View. But only because I thought Meredith Vieira was awesome. I remember thinking that she was funny, attractive and that I wanted to do something cool enough to get me interviewed by her one day. But I never felt like I could fully enjoy her because she was on The View. Then in 2006, right around the same time I made a transition in jobs, she announced she was going to be an anchor on the Today show. Finally! She was going to be on a show I could watch without shame.

In 2008, I had the opportunity to lead a group of high school students on a missions trip to New York City. Part of my preparation involved going on an orientation trip with other leaders. I loved being in a city I'd never been to before surrounded by things I'd only ever heard or read about. Hands down my favorite memory from that trip was when our group leader took us to Rockefeller Center and we were right outside the set of Today. It was around 10pm at night on a weekday, so there weren't too many people around. I peered through the windows of the Today set, but could only see one guy cleaning up. Although I didn't get to see Meredith in person, I made sure to take a picture of the next best thing:

Now, as I make another job transition, so does Meredith. This morning was her last day on Today. I don't watch regularly, but set my alarm to wake up and watch. I didn't really have any expectations for the show, but thought it was one of the best send-offs I've ever seen on TV. Below is video from what I think was the best part of the morning:

Yes, it might be over the top and a bit cheesy. But what stood out to me the most was how that surprise (and the other things they did for her) displayed how well they knew her and appreciated, valued and loved her. It was all so intentional. Maybe it was a ploy to get some good ratings, but I thought it was a great display of care for another person and it reminded me of the good good-byes I've recently been given. I admit I'm probably a bit of a sucker for this kind of thing right now with all the changes I've had going on, but who wouldn't love to have something like this put together in his/her honor?

lights

2011-03-29T23:23:00.000-05:00

The final season of Friday Night Lights has already aired on DirecTV, but I get to watch it starting Friday, April 15, on NBC. I've managed to stay clear of any major spoilers so far, and I hope I can keep it up. I stumbled across the following promo that DirecTV showed before it aired the finale and I am ready to see what happens in Dillon this year.

super 8

2011-03-11T10:57:00.000-05:00

A movie written and directed by J.J. Abrams? starring Coach Taylor? music composed by Michael Giacchino? I'm there.

grateful

2011-03-10T23:22:00.001-05:00

Some things I've been especially grateful for this last week...

1.) going to Chick-fil-a and watching the original 3 Ninjas movie with Reese

2.) phone calls from my friends Brad & Jenna, James and David that came at just the right time

3.) the awesome staff at the Waterford Chick-fil-a and my Chick-fil-a mug (in the above picture) that gets me free drinks at that store

4.) a rainy day followed by cooler weather

5.) encouragement & truth

6.) free rentals at Blockbuster Express

7.) overly enthusiastic contestants on Wheel of Fortune

8.) finding a Mat Kearney concert download on iTunes and having enough left on my gift card so that it cost me nothing

9.) getting to enjoy time with one of my favorite students, Michael, courtesy of the new banana pudding milkshake at Chick-fil-a one day and Simply Frozen Yogurt the next

10.) the following conversation with my dad, who loves singing and is really into karaoke:

me: Have you been watching American Idol?
Dad: Yes.
me: I watched it last night because I wanted to see the new judges.
Dad: Yeah, they've got Jennifer, Tyler and the Dawg.
me (once I was done laughing): It's really funny that you call him "the dawg."
Dad: That's what he says. If I meet him one day, that's what I'll call him. I'll be like, "What's up, dawg?!"

underground

2011-03-08T23:14:00.000-05:00

I've been drinking the John Eldredge Kool-Aid lately and reading Wild at Heart. In one of the chapters I recently read, he talks about Frederick Buechner's father committing suicide when Buechner was only ten years old. When Eldredge wonders how a young boy handles a tragedy like that, he shares the following excerpt from Buechner's book The Sacred Journey as an answer:

"A child takes life as it comes because he has no other way of taking it. The world had come to an end that Saturday morning, but each time we had moved to another place, I had seen a world come to an end, and there had always been another world to replace it. When somebody you love dies, Mark Twain said, it is like when your house burns down; it isn't for years that you realize the full extent of your loss. For me it was longer than most, if indeed I have realized it fully even yet, and in the meantime the loss came to get buried so deep in me that after a time I scarcely ever took it out to look at it at all, let alone speak of it."

After thinking I should add The Sacred Journey to my reading list, I pulled out my pen and marked that passage. As someone who lost his mom at a young age and has only recently started to realize the profound effect that event has had on my life and who I am as a person, I appreciate Buechner's words. It's actually startling to me how well his words describe me as a 13 year old trying to figure out life after experiencing that loss. I often avoided the subject. When my dad wanted to talk about my mom, I remember sometimes simply telling him, "I don't want to talk about it." So we didn't.

Instead I obsessed over school work...like staying up until one in the morning doing homework and practicing my saxophone obsessed. I guess it seemed easier to control. But when things at school didn't go well, it got ugly. The most vivid memory I have of that playing out was toward the end of my 8th grade year. Our English teacher, Mrs. Barnes, assigned our class to do a project on the book Ender's Game. I was furious at Mrs. Barnes when she determined I could have been a little more creative with my work and awarded me 93 out of 95 points on the project instead of the full 95 I felt I deserved. I proceeded to argue with Mrs. Barnes about my alleged lack of creativity and she told me, "Jason, you still got an A." Certainly a truthful statement, but I was so mad it didn't matter. You would have thought the world had ended. As Buechner states, though, my world had already come to an end. I just wasn't aware of it.

A counselor I've seen has said that something in me went underground when my mom died. I don't like how that sounds, but I can't deny that it feels true. I have theories as to what "went underground," but they remain theories in progress for the time being.

I still miss my mom. She was funny, loved the Lord, made really great spaghetti, hugged me when I cried, hooked me up with quality after-school snacks, took me to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles concert for my 11th birthday, stood in line with me for hours to meet the girl of my dreams from the Mickey Mouse Club (and gave me a stuffed bear to give to her!) and always managed to surprise me with thoughtful and creative Christmas gifts. It reminds me how grateful I am for the time I did have with her.

videos

2011-03-05T00:38:00.001-05:00

The last few days I've been wondering what I should post on here. I would love to write something life-inspiring or share some deep thoughts that lead to "Aha!" moments, but I've got nothing. So let's keep it simple: Here are some videos that I like in one spot so that I no longer have to search for them individually.

#1: I am a big fan of Mat Kearney and last April I had the opportunity to go to one of his concerts. I was in a good mood for about a week following that show. He co-headlined with another artist named Ingrid Michaelson. I'd never heard of her before, but left the concert grateful I had discovered another musician to follow. Her song "Soldier" has been played more times in my car than is probably healthy. That was the song she started her set off with and I loved how she displayed her sense of humor with a tribute to Lady Gaga about 3/4 of the way through the song:

#2: Last May I said adios to my friends Jack, Kate, Sawyer and the rest of the gang from the island of LOST. I was way too into the show, but wouldn't have had it any other way. This is one of my favorite LOST videos that promoted season 5..."We have to go back!":

#3: I don't watch "The Office" a ton, but loved the episode where Jim and Pam got married and this dance:

#4: If you don't watch "Friday Night Lights," you should. This clip is probably my favorite moment from season 4. When I watch it in the context of the entire season, I cry every time. Fair warning that it contains a big spoiler for the season:

#5: I am currently in between jobs, so this video that I put together of the Youth Group at church celebrating its 5th year has come to mean a lot to me:

#6: This video was probably my favorite part of the Oscars last week...

#7: A bonus LOST video that I found today! It has the theme song from "Friday Night Lights" - one of the best theme songs ever - combined with footage from LOST...

unexpected

2008-10-24T23:47:00.002-05:00

tonight i found myself with an unexpected free evening. i was planning on going to the high school football game, but the day's rain postponed the game until monday. i eventually found myself browsing the walls of blockbuster looking for something fun to watch. i narrowed my choices down to charlie wilson's war, a spanish movie called la misma luna and dan in real life. i wasn't completely sold on charlie wilson's war, i felt like keeping up with the subtitles of la misma luna would be too much work for a friday night, and although i'd seen dan in real life when it was in theaters, all i could really remember about it was that i liked it. so dan in real life came home with me.

if you haven't seen it, i definitely recommend it. i've been pretty tired lately. a bit worn out and grumpy, too. things are fine overall, but i haven't completely felt like myself. i got to go on vacation last week and visit my cousin jeremy, his wife(my cousin-in-law) kierstin and their son (my nephew cousin) eli in tennessee. it was a much needed and enjoyable rest filled with good conversation, good laughs, good music and really good food. a refreshing time. i always love being with that part of my family.

i mention that because i think it helps (me, at least) make sense of why this movie got to me the way it did. in one scene, there is a family talent show. the two brothers perform the song, "let my love open the door":

i know i've heard this song before, but i heard it differently tonight. i felt as though the words "let my love open the door" were being sung to me by God. a reminder to not close myself off from Him. while i was in tennessee i came across John 14:1, where Christ says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." i guess my heart has been troubled lately and it hasn't really been open to God. i've been trusting myself more than anything.

after the movie, i looked up the lyrics to the song and here is what i found:

When people keep repeating
That you'll never fall in love
When everybody keeps retreating
But you can't seem to get enough
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart

When everything feels all over
When everybody seems unkind
I'll give you a four-leaf clover
Take all the worry out of your mind
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart

I have the only key to your heart
I can stop you falling apart
Try today, you'll find this way
Come on and give me a chance to say
Let my love open the door

It's all I'm living for
Release yourself from misery
Only one thing's gonna set you free
That's my love

Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart

When tragedy befalls you
Don't let them bring you down
Love can cure your problem
You're so lucky I'm around
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart

pete townshend is the name of the guy who wrote the song. i don't know anything about him personally, but despite some of the lyrics being a little cheesy, i feel like these are words that the Savior could have written, especially when it says, "Release yourself from misery. Only one thing's gonna set you free. That's my love." it was a great reminder to me that the Lord has given me a new heart and that the only place to put my trust is in Him. the last place i expected to be reminded of that truth was in this movie. glad that game got postponed.

circle f flashback

2008-08-11T21:20:00.009-05:00

today i got to visit friends at circle f. although i don't work there anymore, i love to visit when i get a chance. i was particularly excited to go today since i knew a lot of the counselors this summer back when they were campers. it's crazy to me to look at pictures from almost ten years ago and then today...

me with Jordan, one of the guys in my first cabin, in 1999

me with Jordan today , who is now a sophomore in college

me with Logan, in 2001

me with Logan today...could i look any smaller???

Afton, me, Cecily and Ashley in 2002

me and Afton today

me and Cecily today

me with Austin in 2002

me with Austin today, as he prepares to be a freshman in high school

Jake on my shoulders, with Drew in 2003

me and Jake today

i feel so fortunate and blessed that i've gotten to be a part of something so cool, and that i have so many lasting relationships because of it.

juno

2008-01-01T23:09:00.001-05:00

i've always been a fan of movies. when i was in high school, i would spend summers catching the twilight showing of movies at the amc theater for something like 4 bucks a ticket. i loved it. every now and then a movie would come along that i would see in the theater multiple times. for a while i had a crush on sandra bullock and thought she was the best thing ever, so i saw movies like speed 2 several times in the theater just because she was in it. seeing speed 2 more than once proves how much of a die hard fan i was back in those days. i actually remember seeing the first speed with my dad and telling him i liked it so much that i thought it was better than the lion king. to this day, i have a soft spot for her.

one time my cousins were in town and they introduced me to the joy of watching happy gilmore. we laughed so hard at that movie and ben stiller saying, "read the name tag. you're in my world now, grandma."

i think in my junior year i became fascinated with the cheesy horror flick and wasted more hours than was healthy on viewings of i know what you did last summer.

while i was home in tampa over christmas, i saw a movie that i'd been hearing a lot about called juno. the short synopsis is that it's a story about a junior in high school named juno who becomes pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption. while there were a few moments that made me uncomfortable, it was the most fun i'd had at a movie in a long time. line after line had me laughing out loud. i read a lot about movies and i so appreciated that the laughs mostly came from clever dialogue. and for all of the sarcastic one liners, it had a lot of heart and sincerity.

on sunday, my roommate and i checked out the kite runner, a faithful adaption of one of my favorite books. it tells a pretty heavy story and we felt like we needed a pick-me-up after watching it. my roommate thought juno looked funny and i thought i could handle seeing it again, so we headed back out after a quick bite to eat at home. what i didn't expect was to like the movie even more after seeing it the second time. even tonight lines from the movie ran through my head and before i knew it i was laughing to myself. i'm a big fan of sarcasm, and i felt like this movie had plenty of it to go around.

below is a video of two of the guys in the movie that shows a quick clip with one of my favorite moments between juno and the father of her child, paulie bleeker. it's nothing fancy, but simple and funny...to me at least.

random and funny

2007-11-08T23:44:00.000-05:00

last october our church staff went to a conference in atlanta. we were treated to music from a variety of artists, many i had never heard of. my favorite performer i heard during those days was a guy named dave barnes. if you haven't heard of him, check him out (especially the songs "until you," "what am i gonna do" and "butterflies," just to name a few).

he happens to be coming to orlando this tuesday for a concert. i already have a meeting scheduled during part of the show, but i'm hoping i'll at least get to catch some of it.

some friends and i were talking about how much we enjoy his music and they told me he has some pretty funny videos on you tube. so i checked some of them out when i got home tonight, and this was one of my favorites. it's pretty random, but gave me a good laugh and some good tips for your upcoming valentine's day.

my morning

2007-11-08T00:06:00.001-05:00

i usually try to do something energizing on wednesday mornings since it is a youth group night. recently i've been going to the gym, but today i decided to get out and explore an area of town i've not really been to before. so i braved the orlando traffic (it took close to 45 minutes to drive about 9 miles!) and headed over to winter park to enjoy the coldest morning of the season so far. here are some pics i took to document my excursion.

as i walked down park avenue, i saw this really cool old car.

this is a shot of the amtrak train station.

central park.

most of the benches in the central park have these dedication plaques on them. this was one of my favorites.

this was by far my favorite find of the morning. a time capsule buried into the ground back in 1976.

since it was cool enough for me to wear a long sleeved shirt without sweating, i was in the mood for something warm. determined to not get something from a chain coffee shop, i found this shop. this is the inside of the shop, and below...

...is the outdoor seating area of the shop. while the mocha was good (although so strong that i was still jittery when i got home), i'm sad to say that the organic cookie i picked up was a letdown. i'm a big fan of cookies, and this supposedly good for me cookie tasted anything but good. at least i know better for the next time around.

chili's in lake wales

2007-08-16T08:36:00.000-05:00

i love the melted part.

rocking out

2007-08-07T20:55:00.000-05:00

I think that in the years to come I will look back at this summer as one of the busiest I've ever had. I could write a lot, but just wanted to post two pics I took with my cell phone this past weekend. My favorite band, Lifehouse, came to Tampa and I got to go to the show with one of my favorite people, my cousin Justin. The first pic is the band after their last song and the second shot is one of Jut & me.

The show reminded me that I love Lifehouse and my cousin Jut even more.

weekend menu

2007-06-17T19:47:00.000-05:00

For the first time in about 7 years I had a weekend during the summer to do almost anything I wanted. While I feel a little guilty about all of my friends that are working hard at camp, I have to admit it was a blast. I ate with a different person at every meal this weekend. And I ate out, so I need to be hitting the gym again this week. Here was my menu for the weekend:

Friday
1.) Lunch at Qdoba with Selig, one of my high school students. We ran some errands and I forgot to pay for the fax I sent at Kinko's, so we made our way back there before heading home.

2.) Mid-afternoon snack with Travis at Chick-fil-A. Check out the monster fudge brownie a la modes that they hooked us up with.

3.) Dinner at the Puckett's with other Christ Kingdom staff. Bubbalou's pulled pork and homemade whipped cream!

Saturday
1.) Panera breakfast with my friend Anne. We use to help out with the middle school students at UPC back in the day. It was great to see her. And I ate healthy there with a smoothie.

2.) Lunch at ABC Pizza, an old restaurant in Tampa. $7.99 for a large pizza and 2 liter bottle of Coke! Even better was getting to visit with Martha, a friend of mine from high school. We'd not seen each other for at least a year, so I loved catching up with her.

3.) Father's Day Dinner with the pops. He went for the steak, I just had a side salad. My body needed a break.

Sunday
1.) My traditional Sunday morning Panera breakfast bagel where I catch up on some of my one-year Bible reading and usually see a Puckett or two.

2.) Lunch at Chipotle with my small group.

3.) Another side salad dinner, this time with my roommate Dan. We went to Bennigan's, where my friend Beau (one of my favorite Circle F folks) works. We got to sit in his section and hang out with him.

All that to say I've definitely been putting my Cingular rebate card to good use.

feeling the love

2007-06-13T09:20:00.000-05:00

Things are good, but the past week or so has been kind of emotional because camp at Circle F has started and I'm not there for every bit of it. I've been there off and on and I'm glad I've been able to make it work. The first set of campers arrived on Sunday and I was there yesterday to help take cabin photos. We have the cabin take a regular picture and then let them do something fun for the second one. Below is the picture the Pioneer Girls had me take with them. Sad and fun all at the same time.

hits & misses

2007-05-20T19:04:00.000-05:00

Some moments from the past few weeks:

hit: Last Tuesday I got to have lunch with Ande, which was really encouraging and refreshing. He cracked me up later in the week with a phone call confirming that I am on the bulletin board at Cheeburger Cheeburger.

hit: From 2004-2006 I led a Life Group of guys during their 7th and 8th grade years. They are now freshmen (sophomores as of Tuesday) and one of them, Andrew, is moving to Maryland with his family in June. So we had a reunion/send-off for Andrew and it was a good time. Cool to see these guys come back together after doing different things the past year.

hit: Vanilla Coke is back! Now I just need the folks at Chick-fil-A to serve it again.

miss: I dropped several hundred (gulp) bucks on a new radiator and CV boot for my car and I've got a feeling something else is going to go on it soon. While the expense is a miss, the hit is that I unknowingly drove with my busted radiator for a while before I noticed it was leaking. And my car never overheated. Definitely God watching over me because car trouble is one of those things that can set me off.

hit: I got to have lunch with Lisa, Beau and Ashley from Circle F. Joe and Kristin came over, too, and Jamie's on his way this week. It's like the Circle F Inn at our place.

hit: Back in my U-Life days we had an award show called the Golden Frogs. I decided the youth needed something like that, so last Wednesday we celebrated the randomness of the Christ Kingdom youth with the 1st Annual Golden Ninja Awards. I felt like it went well, but I got confirmation today when I asked one of the students if she was proud of the Ninja she received. She nodded and told me it's standing on her dresser. Below is what one (that's right - we had six models of them) of the Ninjas looked like and under that is a shot of the winners.

miss: I saw Shrek 3 today and I don't know if it was because I was tired or not, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first two.

hit: Today at church one of my students invited me to take communion with her and one of her siblings. Without the prompting of a parent or anything! I loved it.

I'm sure there are more of both, but that's all I can think of right now.

recovery

2007-05-07T19:55:00.000-05:00

Cousin Jeremy has a new cd coming out on May 22. You should buy it. You should also eat at Chick-fil-A, watch Scrubs, Lost and Heroes and read Ender's Game and The Kite Runner. But for now, just buy this cd.

muggles rejoice

2007-04-24T17:10:00.000-05:00

Summer is looking good. And it definitely has nothing to do with my west-facing bedroom heating up from about 5:30 until sunset every afternoon. No, my friends, the trailer for Harry Potter 5 went online today and it looks pretty sweet. Although I don't remember Ron pumping his fist in the book like he does here, this preview makes it look like an awesome adventure. The kids are growing up, and I'll be there to support the rebellion beginning July 13.

i won!

2007-04-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

Around 5:00 this afternoon I found out that Travis (one of the guys who was in a small group I led for two years) was playing guitar with a band in a talent show over at Timber Creek High School. I always enjoy getting to see him and don't get to do that quite as much now that we go to different churches. It was so good to see him (and snag this quick photo for my phone).

I'm definitely one of those people who doesn't realize how much he misses someone until he sees them again. I felt like a bit of a dork when he was on stage because I was so excited. I was there with his parents cheering for him, and the thought crossed my mind that one day I might get to cheer for my kid doing something and I'd be even more proud.

But right before I had that grown-up moment, I won a raffle during intermission. The prize was perfect: a free Chick-fil-A sandwich.

busy busy

2007-04-08T20:45:00.000-05:00

A quick summary of the week:

1.) I've gone to the gym two times a week for three weeks in a row. Whoa.

2.) For the first time ever, I went to Circle F to visit friends and not to work. I thought it'd be weird to watch people do the things I was doing just a few weeks before, but I really didn't mind. A bunch of people came in to visit. Big Dave and Steph were there, so it was a bit like an Assistant Director Summit. We also got to hang out with Steph and Clint's little girl, Maddy. She may look innocent in these pics, but Maddy taught me the valuable lesson that diapers do not offer anyone complete protection. Enough said.

3.) Amy and the children's ministry hosted a Good Friday Celebration and it was great. The youth got to help with the set-up, games and egg hunt and they did an awesome job. Below is one of my high schoolers, Andrew, in what is probably my favorite shot from the event. If you can come up with a caption for it, post that bad boy in the comments section.

Hope you had a good Easter!

slacker blogger

2007-03-28T22:57:00.000-05:00

Tonight I ran into my friend Kelly at the gym and blogging came up in our conversation. I have been a slacker blogger. Things have been busy, but I've also still made time for relaxing and attempting to take better care of myself (hence the gym trip and ordering fruit cups instead of waffle fries at Chick-fil-A).

Not only are we still working on the cookies that Dan purchased (see last blog), but just a lot of life has been going on.

In no particular order, here are some of the things that have been going on (pics available for some):

1.) I joined Facebook. It's cool.

2.) My friends Amy and Russ got me a Chick-fil-A travel mug that gets me unlimited free refills at the Waterford location. Amazing.

3.) Evie turned 2 and got this sweet cup.

4.) Ryan and Jenny became a dad and mom to Hannah Elise. Hannah is already looking forward to turning 2 and getting a cool Evie cup.

5.) I lost one of my favorite Circle F'ers, Heath.

He was a counselor that worked for 2 summers and I adored him. He was such a solid guy. I really don't get why he's gone and it still makes me sad, but I am seeing God work in it. Despite the sadness of it all, it was so good and inspiring to gather with camp people and mourn together. And my family and friends have been incredibly supportive.

6.) I finally left the 80s behind and purchased new furniture. Loving the papasan.

7.) Connor (how great is this kid?!) and I made dinner for a family in our church yesterday. Thanks for the recipe, Anna!

8.) I am no longer the Assistant Director at Circle F. This is taking a little bit more to get used to than I thought it would, especially in light of Heath. I'm still working part-time, but Roger has come to take over and he's doing awesome.

9.) I had green beer on St. Patrick's Day and hung out at a piano bar. Good times.

Have something to share? If you read this, hope you are doing well.

overload

2007-03-08T21:22:00.000-05:00

Tonight when my roommate Dan came home I heard the familiar noise of plastic grocery bags swishing around as he opened the door. Traditionally Dan returns from grocery shopping with an arsenal of Marie Callender's microwave meals. Tonight, though, he proudly carried the following items from Publix:

Looks like my cookie addiction is nothing compared to Dan's.

nephew cousin eli

2007-02-06T19:17:00.000-05:00

It has been forever since my last post and a ton has happened. Some good, some bad, some just sad. By far, the most exciting thing that has happened has been the birth of Eli Henry Casella. He is the son of my cousin Jeremy and his wife (my cousin-in-law) Kierstin. I got to speak with Jeremy the day Eli was born (January 29) and we decided that since I don't have any siblings and therefore don't get to be an uncle, I will be known as Uncle Cousin Jason to little Eli. We're thinking we may have come up with a new kind of family relationship. Good stuff.

Anyway, below are a couple shots of the little guy and the proud parents.

27

2006-12-18T23:57:00.000-05:00

I turned 27 last Friday. This birthday has been one of the best ones I've had in recent memory. I know that I have great friends and family, but this birthday made me realize how insanely blessed I am. The value of this birthday didn't come from any presents, but only came from the generous hearts of the people that were a part of it.

Friday afternoon started with lunch at Smokey Bones, courtesy of Diana. After that I got to go to a student/teacher basketball game at Avalon Middle School and saw some students I'd not seen in a while. My phone rang throughout the day with friends and family wishing me a happy birthday, and right around 4:30 I received my biggest surprise of the day. I was supposed to be on my way to meeting up with a group of middle school girls from church, but instead I was treated to 20 middle and high school students tackling me at the park for a surprise party complete with cake and presents.

Later that night I was able to hang out with friends at home and ended the night by catching up with one of my favorite cousins on the phone. On Saturday night I met my dad halfway between Tampa and Orlando and had a great dinner with him.

Tonight I showed up at the Martin household to hang out and watch some Heroes. Although I assumed all of my birthday surprises had come to an end, they had one more in store for me. There on the table sat another cake and more presents.

As I sit in my apartment at the desk I've had since at least 6th grade, I am reminded of something that was preached on at church yesterday. We heard about the seven marks of a church where Christ has come. One of those signs is that we experience awe at the things God does. I have been so humbled and awed by the things that His church has done for me in the past days. At both of the surprises I was speechless. I don't know how to express my gratitude for what was done. I felt so loved.

Thanks to all of my amazing friends and family. I couldn't be more grateful for you. Because of you, it looks like year 27 is off to a great start.

tv update

2006-11-30T15:54:00.000-05:00

I often don't realize I miss things until I'm reintroduced to them. When I read (okay, skimmed over) this list I found courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, I realized I miss Lost. Today while I stuffed brochure envelopes at the camp office I watched some of the special features from my season one DVD set and it was good times.

Today is the season premiere of Scrubs. I've only discovered this show within the last year and it is so funny. I don't think an episode goes by when I don't laugh out loud. One of the episodes I saw last season featured Turk doing a hysterical dance to the classic "Poison." Check it out here. If you don't watch Scrubs (you should) then you probably won't find this nearly as entertaining as I do, but hopefully you can find some enjoyment in it.

firsts

2006-11-20T21:35:00.000-05:00

I had a lot of firsts this weekend.

First #1: I spent part of my Friday afternoon with 9 middle school girls at Crispers. Fun, but very loud.

First #2: My roommate Dan turned 26 on Saturday and another friend of his hosted a poker night to celebrate. I'd never played before and opted to just watch the first game thinking it wouldn't take long. Little did I know that those games can last over an hour. Halfway through the game I discovered that Texas Hold 'Em applies many of the same principles as Yahtzee. I found myself wishing that I'd joined the game in the beginning and had just folded the first few rounds so that I could jump in once I got the hang of it.

First #3: I went...well, attempted surfing on Sunday with 5 high schoolers and a dad. It was a blast. People thought we were crazy for going out there with the weather as cool as it was here in FL, but we'd made the plans two weeks prior and weren't going to let some wind chill scare us off. So we made our way to the surfboard rental place (5 bucks for 2 hour rental of board and rashguard...what a deal!) at Cocoa Beach and jumped in. I quickly learned that surfing is hard work. I also got confirmation that I'm not really an athlete and have awful balance. I managed to stand on the board for maybe two seconds, but did a little better on my knees. (I know that's not the goal, but I had to take what I could get.) My desire for Advil at the end of the afternoon reminded me that I'm no longer the young guy I was just a few years back.

It was great to get away for even just the afternoon and was such a bonding experience for the seven of us. We cheered for each other when we caught a wave, laughed when we messed up and simply got to enjoy nature. Even when I was just sitting peacefully on the board waiting for the next wave, it felt like we were enjoying God's creation the way it was meant to be done.

autumn

2006-11-14T22:30:00.000-05:00

Last week I went to Atlanta along with the other staff members of church for a conference. Lots of good info and opportunities to get to know my fellow staff members better. One of the other highlights was that it was cold (to me, at least) and I got to see proof that seasons do exist.

it's a fiesta!

2006-11-10T17:55:00.000-05:00

William Shatner always cracks me up, but this promo for his new game show gets funnier each time I watch it. I've not yet learned how to post video on my blog, so click here to watch it.

wish list

2006-10-31T23:03:00.000-05:00

When I got home tonight from a Halloween get-together, I thought I'd quickly check my email and do some reading. Somehow I ended up at You Tube and entertained myself for well over an hour.

I searched some of my favorite old TV shows and was happy to find theme songs, clips or entire episodes of them online!

If these shows came to dvd I'd be pumped:

1.) Bug Juice - a Disney Channel show that followed kids at summer camp
2.) Salute Your Shorts - another camp show, but a Nickelodeon classic
3.) Family Ties - I don't remember much about plot from this show, but remember always watching it with my parents and being so bummed when it ended

I'm sure there are more, but these are the only ones I can think of right now.

two things i like a lot

2006-10-24T16:58:00.000-05:00

#1: Cathy Martin Cupcake Goodness

#2: getting to wear a jacket today

camp, lunch, greeting & the evester

2006-10-22T21:03:00.000-05:00

Every now and then a weekend comes along and surprises you. This was one of those weekends. I wasn't dreading the weekend, but I wasn't eagerly awaiting it because I had to work Friday and Saturday at camp since we had a group of 375 staying there. We also flew in a guy named Roger to interview for my position and I wanted to be able to get to know him, too. Although I was exchausted by the time I got home Saturday night, things went great. The rock wall was also open, and we had a fun crew come and work (that's us in the above pic). We also ended up with some unexpected, but much appreciated, down time on the front porch of the office to just talk and enjoy each other's company.

Continuing on my Circle F theme, I got to have lunch with Tom, who was one of my favorite campers back when I was a counselor. We've kept in touch over the years and he is now a freshman in college. Wild. I got to hang out with him and his girlfriend (Ashley, another awesome former camper) Sunday afternoon. It was a blast to see them. The thing that I loved was that it didn't feel like campers and a counselor hanging out, but instead just some old friends catching up with each other.

From my first summer in 1999, me on the left, Tom in the middle and Jarod G. on the right.

From this past summer, Ari on the left, me in the middle and Tom on the right.

At church this morning it was the youth's turn to greet and I recruited some guys who were cracking me up the entire time. I felt like I was running all over the place before and during the service, but I was finally able to laugh at myself whenever things didn't go just like they were supposed to. Sample of what went through my head before I had to lead us in a prayer: "Okay, Scott will make eye contact when it's time for me to go up front...It seems like the end of the song, better get ready...Still waiting for eye contact...Ooops, I jumped the gun, song's still not over...Song's over, just grab the mic and pray...Who moved the mic? What do I do now?...Find it now, people are waiting...There it is. Thanks, Scott...Amen."

To top the weekend off I got to visit the Limbers and was unexpectedly treated to a great dinner. Although Evie gave me the cold shoulder when it was time for her to go to bed, it was pretty much a perfect evening.

pumpkins

2006-10-16T17:32:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was pretty enjoyable. My friends Ryan and Jenny were in town from Maryland for a wedding that a bunch of us went to on Saturday. The wedding was in Lakeland, and I discovered that downtown Lakeland is a pretty cool area. In front of the church where Nicole and Bobby got married, pumpkins were being sold and I thought they looked cool, so I snapped these pictures.

stupid vcr

2006-10-04T22:14:00.000-05:00

Tonight was good. I felt like our youth group meeting went well and I came home with a Chick-fil-A milkshake in my hand all ready to watch the season premiere of Lost that I had set my VCR to tape. This is when things turned ugly. My VCR that has served me well since graduating high school decided not to tape it! I was so mad when I got home. I got to see the last few minutes which left me even more confused, but then I remembered that the episode will be streaming on ABC's website tomorrow. Whew.

more lost!

2006-10-04T12:57:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the season premire of Lost and I am pumped. The other shows I watched on a regular basis last year are not on anymore, so I'm counting on Abrams & Co. to make it happen. This article has me thinking I won't be disappointed.

an evening with ty & co.

2006-09-24T22:41:00.000-05:00

I am a complete wuss. Is it just me or do I have friends out there who want to cry like a baby whenever you watch an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition? I usually do not make a point of watching this show, but if I am home on Sunday night and it's on, I will watch it. Tonight was the season premiere and I told myself I would only watch the first 15 minutes or so because I had to do some reading, but when that 15 minutes was up I found myself hunting for a blank tape so that I could record the rest of the show and watch it later. As I was watching I tried to pinpoint what it is that I love about the show. Yes, the houses always look cool and the designers are great hosts (Ty's constant use of the bullhorn reminds me of good times at camp). The show also features things you can count on: a deserving family, obstacles that challenge them finishing the project on time, lots of ads from Sears, people shouting "Move that bus!" and Ty declaring, "There's just one more thing to say...welcome home." We are fans of traditions and things that are dependable. More than that, though, I think we are attracted to these families being loved. These families have done nothing directly for ABC or members of the show, yet here they are building them a brand new home. As much as those families enjoy their new homes I like to think that they are even more touched by the amount of love poured out to them as a result of that show coming into their lives. Because that's what gets to me. I don't tear up when they show the before and after shots of the houses, but when the kids are jumping up and down and the neighbors are cheering for them, I begin to hope that my roommate doesn't suddenly open the door and see me pretending not to cry.

a good laugh

2006-09-13T21:01:00.000-05:00

My friend Ande sent this email to me today and I thought it was hysterical. Hope it makes you laugh, too.

katie's keepin' it real

2006-09-12T19:06:00.000-05:00

Tonight I watched the CBS Evening News with their new star, Katie Couric. It was fine, but I loved the end. Katie is currently looking for a sign-off like anchors before her had. Walter Cronkite said, “And that’s the way it is...”, while Edward R. Murrow used, "Good night and good luck.” She has invited viewers of the show to submit ideas for her catchphrase and after reading some of those ideas, she showed a clip from Late Night with David Letterman where they made some of their own suggestions:

- Save us, Superman
- Well, I’m off to the dog track
- Three of tonight’s stories were fake. Write in if you think you know which ones
- I’m gonna go get me some ribs
- That’s the deal, Lucille
- Next stop, Margaritaville
- Oh, Lordy, I gots the news fever
- Here, kitty kitty kitty
- Keep feelin’ the funk
- Til tomorrow, morons
- Putting the ‘BS’ in CBS

I personally really like the last one and the ribs comment. How about you? Do you like one of these or do you have your own suggestion for Katie?

the adventure begins

2006-09-06T21:31:00.000-05:00

I am exhausted. I know I am staying waaaay too busy right now, but today was a doozy. This new endeavour is far more work than I thought it would be. Last Wednesday was scheduled to be my first time leading youth group, but it was cancelled because of the threat of Tropical Storm Ernesto. I feel like that was a blessing in disguise because it gave me some much needed extra time to try and get things together.

So tonight ended up being my first time to lead a youth group meeting. I spent pretty much my entire afternoon making last minute preparations including coming up with some back-up games I could do inside since the possibility of rain was very high. I felt overwhelmed, but suddenly got excited...like first day of camp, I can't wait to see these kids I've not seen in a year excited. It took me by surprise. All of the anxiety I had been feeling for a week was replaced almost entirely with me looking forward to the evening. What a gift!

When I was thinking about taking this new job one of the first people I spoke with about it was my friend Kim, Ru's wife. She was unbelievably encouraging and I remember saying to her that one of the things I needed to remind myself regularly is that I'm not so big that I can screw up what God wants to accomplish. He's going to do it no matter how much I mess up. I think that might have finally sunk in because when I got in front of the kids to lead games and then give them a short lesson, I didn't even feel nervous. I wanted it to go well, but I wasn't freaking out and my heart wasn't going crazy. Just a few weeks ago when I had to introduce myself to the church my heart was pounding so hard I thought it was going to bust right through my chest. But tonight no heart pounding.

Did the evening go perfectly? It went well, but there was room for improvement. I definitely need to work on my speaking skills (one of the kids told me, "It's not a sermon unless you sweat."), but I feel God was there. And that's excitement. I also threw some shout-outs to places I love that have helped me get where I am now, which was a lot of fun for me. For our games I totally stole some of the Friday night games we do with adults on Family Weekends at Circle F. And while people were arriving I played a cd by 10th Avenue North, a tribute to my TNL days.

Here are a few photos from the evening:

Oh, yeah. Chick-fil-A before getting to the meeting.

So I'm pretty sick of pizza, but love it for pictures like this one.

Funny girls.

In unrelated news, I picked up the 2nd season of Lost last night and have watched the first two episodes. I'd forgotten what a great show that is. Speaking of, I think I'll go unwind by watching that 3rd episode.

what is going on here?!

2006-08-31T18:29:00.000-05:00

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'

2006-08-30T20:28:00.000-05:00

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

2006-08-17T21:17:00.000-05:00

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

2006-08-13T22:36:00.000-05:00

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

2006-08-08T21:12:00.000-05:00

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!

2006-08-06T20:19:00.000-05:00

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!

home

2006-08-04T12:13:00.000-05:00

I am home!

summer 06 so far...

2006-06-19T16:23:00.000-05:00

Camp has overtaken my life, so I've not had time for much of anything else. It started for me the morning after Memorial Day and it seems as though everything has been going at full speed since. But the truth is I love camp. I love seeing the same kids each summer. I love that we can do just about anything as long as the kids are safe and having fun. Everyone should either be a camper or work at a camp at least once in their life.

We just wrapped up our 1st session this past Saturday and it went well. On Sunday we welcomed our 2nd session kids. This session has the highest return rate of all the sessions at camp, which means 2 things: 1.) it's a blast seeing the same kids year after year and 2.) these kids really know the ins and outs of camp, so we have to be on our toes. I'm looking forward to it, though.

Here are some pictures from camp so far:

Mark checks out an awesome sunset and watches over the canoe race.

Nicholas ready to go for MTV Night.

Me with the Devons, two of the best campers ever.

Me with the CoBuck Girls, who are quite possibily the loudest group of girls I've ever met.

On a separate note, Superman Returns comes out next week!

superman returns

2006-05-03T22:20:00.000-05:00

I've been a Superman fan since I was a little kid. I remember putting on a cape when I was 5 or 6 and running around the house pretending I was him. My dad and I used to watch Lois and Clark back when it was on ABC. I even watch Smallville on the WB just because it's a Superman story, although not always the greatest. Just recently I bought a hat with the Superman crest on it. And I am so stinking excited about the new Superman movie. Back in high school and during my first years at UCF there always seemed to be a movie out that I was really excited about. I would see movies in the theater sometimes 3 or 4 times. There hasn't been a movie like that for me in a long time and when I saw this trailer for the new film, I found myself hoping that this would be one of those movies I'd see at the theater over and over.

MMC lives on

2006-04-27T20:58:00.000-05:00

Tonight was unexpected. After running some early evening errands for work and making dinner I found myself with nothing to do. LIFE Group was last night, so I didn't have a lesson to worry about until next week. The bills are paid...even my checkbook is balanced. My room could be cleaner, but that's normal.

Somehow I decided to visit YouTube and do a search on the Mickey Mouse Club (MMC). When I was in elementary and middle school this show was my absolute favorite. Nothing else even came close. To this day, I don't think I've ever been such a fan of any other show, musician or movie. Here are just a few examples of the obsession I had with this show:

1.) We had the Disney Channel just so I could watch the show.

2.) I used to record just about every episode. (Uh, no, I don't have those tapes anymore and I never watch them.)

3.) I made mixed tapes of the songs they sang on the show. I would use my dad's stereo and put the mic up to the TV speakers. In some of the recordings you can hear my bird chirping and me saying, "Shhhh" to my dad.

4.) In 6th grade my parents announced that we would be going to the Disney/MGM studios, where they filmed the show, for Mother's Day. Two things made me very excited: there was a possibility that we'd get to see a taping of the show and I knew that there would be plenty of MMC merchandise for me to purchase. Unfortunately, the show was on hiatus when we were there so I only got to see the set and have my picture taken with the lifesize cut-outs they had of some of the cast members. I had also saved up all of my money from my birthday, Christmas and anywhere else I could get it in order to maximize my shopping experience. I don't remember exactly how much I had saved, but I know it was over $100. I walked out of that theme park broke, but with two bags full of MMC stuff. Whatever they had, I bought...even a MMC fanny pack! My mom became concerned that my dad would get upset with me for spending all of my money so she covered for me and carried one of the bags so it looked like she'd done some shopping, too. I still don't think my dad knows about that.

Anyway, back to my search at YouTube. I searched "Mickey Mouse Club" and to my great delight, several videos came up. The first one I watched was the opening credits from either the second or third season of the show. I got a smile out of that.

I continued on and decided I should try searching the names of some of the cast members that I liked a lot. Britney Spears and some of the guys from nsync were on the show, but they weren't my favorites. My favorites have gone on to do some notable things, but aren't as big as the others. I thought Ryan was cool and he's done some big movies like The Notebook and he's got a film coming out this fall called Half Nelson that is getting a lot of buzz. As for the girls, in the first seasons of the show, I thought Tiffini was the greatest. But then they introduced Keri Russell and I had a new girl. She has since been on a show called Felicity and is going to be in the new Mission:Impossible movie. I also read she's going to be doing some make-up ads.

So I did a search on "Keri Russell," and found some of the most hysterical videos. The one for "Live and Learn" really had me rolling. I haven't laughed that hard in a while. These videos are so cheesy that I couldn't help but enjoy watching them. I used to think the kids on that show were so cool. And I wanted to be like them so much.

It was so great to watch these videos and get all nostalgic about the show, good memories from those times and simply laugh at myself. And while I never did get on MMC, my mom and dad did eventually buy me the jacket that they had on the show. And if you think I ever wore that jacket to school and told random people that I had been on the show, then you might be onto something.

easter

2006-04-23T21:21:00.000-05:00

I was at camp for Easter last weekend and got to go to part of the sunrise service at Bok Tower Gardens. It is probably what Lake Wales is most famous for. Bok Tower is also the home of the highest point in Florida. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the service.

community

2006-04-13T20:47:00.000-05:00

In high school and in the beginning of my college years, I was a big fan of The Real World and Road Rules. Of the two shows, I was a bigger fan of Road Rules. Although I have to confess I did have a crush on Jacinda from the London edition of Real World. Whenever they had those all day marathons of either show on a Saturday, I was there. The idea of taking an extended road trip in a Winnebago and going on various adventures in unfamiliar territory is still appealing to me today.

When I was a freshman at UCF my roommate (a buddy from high school named Vadin who is easily one of the funniest people I have ever known) and I even made audition tapes for those two shows. I remember getting a rejection letter saying I didn't make the cut. I don't think we seriously thought we had a shot of being chosen, so I thought it was great to even get just the rejection letter.

What appealed to me the most about those shows, though, was the sense of community I thought they experienced. They would all be crying at the end no matter how many people had been voted out of the house or how many times they made the wrong turn while on the road and I would think, "I want to have that kind of experience with people!" I wanted to have people caring for me and I wanted to be caring for them. I was longing for it.

Flash forward to March when I was visiting my friends in North Carolina. I love these people. To the left are Kim, Ru and their son Jacob. Unfortunately I have no pics of James from this trip, but I've got plenty video of him channeling his inner Rachel Green.

I had a great time on this trip. Good chili, St. Patty's day parade and a psycho bowling tournament, just to name a few of the highlights. On the Sunday night of my visit I got to attend Grace Community Church, which is the church that Ru planted a few years back. It came time for communion and I had a pleasant surprise. When they serve communion at Grace, it is served to you by an elder and he prays for you right there. I was slightly intimidated by this at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. It was so personal. The elder asked for my name and prayed for me on the spot. Without even knowing anything about me. All he cared about at that moment was that I was celebrating Christ with him. I came home wishing the church I attend here could so the same thing.

Then tonight I went to a Maundy Thursday service at UPC and my wish came true. Mike O. announced we would be coming up to the table and the elders would serve the Lord's Supper to us and then pray for us. I loved hearing Mike call me "brother" when I took the bread. I loved seeing the elders put their arms around people as they prayed for them. What got me even more was seeing a couple or family go and be served together. What an awesome thing.

And then it dawned on me on my way home. That is community. Coming before the Lord together as a family. What better way to do it?

surprises

2006-04-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

I have been in a funk lately. But I love how God surprises me with the most unexpected things when I am in a funk. I have had a couple of those lately.

Last week I had Monday and Tuesday off from work, so I was not in the mood to be there on Wednesday morning. But I got a call from Debbie, who is one of my favorite people. She handles our bookkeeping, payroll and other things I don't understand and called to say she was giving Diana and me increases in our gas allowances. Awesome! It completely caught me off guard. She thought we deserved more, so she told one of the owners and made it happen.

A second surprise occurred when I called my dad earlier today to catch up. I asked him to specifically pray for me about something. For some reason, I usually don't call my dad with specific prayer requests, so I felt a little embarrassed to ask him. But God surprised me. My dad's response was, "I always pray for you." That made me feel so good and so loved. And I really needed that. I guess I just expected him to say, "Okay, no problem," but his response exceeded my expectations.

I also had LIFE Group with my 8th graders tonight and it didn't go as well as I would have liked. Distractions came up and I didn't handle them well. They were frustrating me and it was one of those nights where you wonder why you even bother. So I got home and signed on to iChat and up popped a window that says someone is trying to do a video chat with me. "Video chat?" I thought. I accepted it and all of a sudden I'm looking at Ben Seidman, one of my favorite campers from Circle F. (That's us on the left in 2003.) It was unexpected and just plain cool. It was like he was sitting in my room hanging out. (I totally want to buy a webcam now.) And it was great to hear from him. It also reminded me of a line from Patch Adams that Linc shared with us once during a ULife meeting and that I shared with the youth group last time I spoke. At one point in the film Robin Williams says, "When I took on the problems of the people around me, my own problems began to disappear." That's what happened when I talked to Ben. I sat down in front of my computer frustrated with my baggage and then he started talking about things he's dealing with as a sophomore in high school. Suddenly I forgot all about my problems.

All of this reminds me of a verse from Ephesians 3:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

I'm so thankful that God loves us enough to surprise us with things that we don't even think are possibilities.

race

2006-04-05T15:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I saw something really simple, but I loved it. I was walking around the Waterford Lakes Town Center heading over to Old Navy when I heard some commotion. I looked behind me and saw that a family (a dad, mom and little girl) was racing to their car with these big smiles on their faces. The mom won and cheered when she tagged the car first. It was so great. It immediately made me think how great it will be when/if I have a family of my own and can do things like that.

I also realized that that was probably the best part of that family's day. Whatever they bought at Waterford couldn't compare to the joy I'm sure they felt in that moment. It reminds me how we are created for relationships. I had spent the day unsuccessfully shopping for new furniture (conclusion: I don't like shopping) and decided that the coolest looking living room ever wouldn't really make me happy. What I want and truly need are valuable relationships. And the relationship I'll experience the most joy from is the one I have with God. What strikes me as crazy is that I was willing to drive all over Orlando looking for a couch, but have a hard time spending 10 minutes in prayer talking to God.

wow

2006-03-30T11:56:00.000-05:00

Today at work I have been trying to find a replacement sneezeguard panel for our salad bar. We've done it before and it's been easy, but it appears the part we need may be discontinued. I decided to google the manufacturer of the salad bar, Carlisle FoodService Products, and this is the desciption I got:

"Business to business marketer and manufacturer offering products for the foodservice industry, serving restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and even prisons."

That's the angle your marketing team decided would be the best? Really? I love it.

furniture

2006-03-28T11:38:00.000-05:00

I am getting ready to kick things up a notch at my apartment, so if you or anyone else you know in the central Florida area needs a loveseat and chair let me know. They have been in my family since I was in 3rd grade and they are still in good condition. I'll be replacing them in early April.

funny

2006-03-20T21:29:00.000-05:00

This is Travis, one of the 8th graders in the LIFE Group I lead. I challenge you to find another middle schooler, guy or girl, who thinks they dress as well as Travis thinks he does. Not surprisingly, it took very little to convince him that it was a good idea for him to squeeze into this shopping cart. I would be lying, though, if I said I didn't become slightly concerned when he had trouble getting out of the seat. What would I have told his parents? "Well, Mrs. Crowley, I'm glad you asked why Travis now has a limp."

His willingness to pose for a picture like the one here is one of the reasons I love middle schoolers.

NC trek

2006-03-20T20:40:00.000-05:00

I love pictures. Photographs to be more specific. I do not have a great appreciation for paintings, but photos are another story. The screensaver on my computer often captivates my attention. It’s nothing fancy: just the screensaver that displays a different picture every couple of seconds, but I am so content watching those shots go by. I don’t yet have a digital camera, so the last time I was at my dad’s car lot, I scanned a bunch of pictures I only have hard copies of just so that I could have them on my computer and be able to watch them on my screensaver.

My appreciation of photos has expanded to include a greater appreciation of picture frames. I went through a phase around a year ago when I bought frames that I liked even though I didn’t have a particular picture to put in them. I would even walk around in Target or Bed Bath and Beyond (wow, I’m starting to sound like a girl) just to see if they had any cool picture frames I wanted to buy. I also have some photo coasters that are stored away in my closet patiently waiting for the day I get a coffee table.

I’d not thought much lately about the pleasure photos bring me until last week when I took a trip to North Carolina to visit friends from college. I drove there and decided it would be cool to get my picture taken with the welcome sign of each state I drove through. I knew it would only be 4 pictures, but I still thought it would be a fun way to document my excursion.

At first I wanted to take a picture with the welcome sign that was at each state border. My first (and only) attempt failed miserably. The “Welcome to North Carolina” sign is on a small bridge and is not an ideal spot for picture taking. I should have known when I stepped onto the bridge and felt it shaking that this idea was not one of my best. Besides the fact that cars were flying past me, each time I propped my camera on the roof of my car a gust of wind would take hold of the camera, turn it around and ruin my photo opp.

So I settled on taking pictures at each state’s welcome center. What I loved was the response I received whenever I asked a stranger to help me out. Each encounter went something like this:

Me: “Excuse me. Could you help me out?”

Stranger: look of panic

Me: “I was wondering if you could take a picture of me with the welcome sign.”

Stranger: The look of panic diminished, he smiled and gave a resounding, “Sure!”

I know they were initially just happy I wasn’t asking for money, but it also reminded me how much almost everyone likes pictures. Plenty of people turn down invitations to be in pictures (I have some painful memories of those pictures you took every year at school), but I can’t think of a time when someone has refused to take a picture.

In North Carolina the gentleman who took my picture was named Ferd. After he took the first shot, he totally got into it and when I said thank you and started walking away from the sign, he exclaimed, “Wait! Let’s try it from another angle. You never know how it’s going to turn out.” This is the 2nd shot, which did turn out better. Turns out Ferd's got a good eye.

In Georgia, I saw a lady smile as she walked past the guy who was headed to Fort Myers take this picture of me.

The guy who took my picture when I made it back home to Florida was on his way to Pensacola with his family. The picture he took came out blurry, but that's alright.

My portrait with the "Welcome to South Carolina" sign didn't happen because I was on a state highway and I didn't realize I was in South Carolina until I drove past the small sign. I did, however, get to drive past the world's largest strawberry and grab this shot as I drove out of SC.

It is amazing to me how a camera can capture a moment. How can that little tiny thing suck in that second of life and freeze frame it? Even after taking a photography class in high school I still don’t get it. I don’t think I ever will. I'm just thankful someone did get it.

highlights

2006-03-09T15:04:00.000-05:00

This week has been pretty good and here are some of the things that have made me smile, laugh or just plain happy.

1.) Travis wearing a pink shirt with tie

2.) the word "bee-otch"

3.) my dad channeling his inner Stevie Wonder and leaving me a voicemail saying, "I just called to say I love you."

4.) the staff at Firehouse Subs shouting, "Thank you!" whenever a customer left

5.) the ladies who work in the office across from mine coming over to talk about 24

6.) thinking about seeing my friends Ru, Kim and James this weekend in NC

7.) getting $11 knocked off of rent

8.) watching Scrubs

9.) awesome worship on Wednesday night

10.) getting HP & the Goblet of Fire on DVD

11.) riding my bike to Matt and Anna's and Evie being shy

when in gainesville

2006-03-02T20:41:00.000-05:00

The past 24 hours have been a lot of fun. I went up to UF in Gainesville with Diana, the director at camp, for a summer camp job fair. We go every year to recruit students to be counselors with us during the summer. I've gone on this trip four times and this was by far my favorite visit.

While we were in Gatortown, we stayed at a Holiday Inn and upon our arrival we were served cookies warm from the oven. Our hotel also had free wireless internet, and as someone who recently received his first laptop, I was pretty excited. We also met up with seven of our old counselors for dinner. I'd not seen some of them since the last time we were at UF so it was good to catch up with them. The other perk was that I got a free dinner at Chili's thanks to Circle F.

The highlight of the trip was spending time with my friend Grace. Last Christmas my friend Andy had his annual party for all of us who went to high school together and I found out that Grace & another friend of mine, Julia, live together and go to grad school at UF. I told them I would give them a call when I was in Gainesville for this job fair. I procrastinated calling them until I was on my way to our dinner at Chili's to see if they wanted to meet up when I finished my Chicken Crispers. Part of me wasn't sure if I should call because I thought maybe it would be awkward since we only usually see each other once a year, but I could not have been more wrong.

Julia was not able to make it, but Grace was and I was so happy to visit with her. We reminisced about my spring break trip to visit her and our other friend Martha when they were attending Boston University. On my first night there, they decided I would enjoy an authentic Boston clubbing experience. Being the clubbing fiend that I am, they were surprised to learn that all of my best clubbing gear was left in Orlando. This excuse did not deter them, though, as they called all of their guy friends until they found an outfit they deemed appropriate.

Grace also gave me an update on a guy we went to high school with named Bryan Edwards. I catch up with Bryan at Andy's parties, but don't keep in touch with him otherwise. I knew he'd been pursuing a country music career and that he was this close to being on "Nashville Star," but Grace had exciting news to tell. She informed me that not only is he now selling his cds on his website (I just ordered them!), but he opened for Keith Urban at a concert in St. Pete this past week. I'm not an avid country music fan, but I do know who this guy is because he's been mentioned in Entertainment Weekly and he's a big deal in that world right now.

I love hearing these stories about the different paths people end up on. It makes me wonder if there are other people I went to high school with sitting around asking each other, "Do you know whatever happened to that Jason Vargas kid? Remember when we had to sit through that lame senior class video he made? I wonder what he's up to now."

It also reminds me that God often puts us on paths that we never expected to be on. The tricky part is trusting that He knows what He's doing when He puts us on those paths.

car wash

2006-02-27T14:34:00.000-05:00

After spending about 15 minutes talking my dad through how you send an email with an attachment, I received the early 1980s newspaper clipping pictured above. The thing I find pretty cool is that just last week I went to visit my dad for his birthday and while I was there we washed my car. And this time he was on hose duty while I scrubbed my car clean. Another good thing is that my hair is no longer shaped like a bowl.

weekend revelations

2006-02-26T23:00:00.000-05:00

Here are some things that either 1.) became clear to me or 2.) were confirmed for me over the weekend:

1.) I am seriously lacking skills in the balance department. I was playing a game at youth group on Sunday night with various people where you stand face to face looking at another person and you try to knock each other over just by pushing the palms of your hands against the palms of your opponent's hands. No matter who I played against, I pretty much lost my balance after the first attack. I finally began to hold my own against Travis, until he miscalculated a move and stuck a thumb in each of my eyeballs.

2.) I have a lot of emotional ties to restaurants. On my way home from youth group I made a stop at the drive-thru at Long John Silver's. I have always been a fan of their chicken planks (and consequently, their grease) since the days of going there with my mom. So every now and then I swing by for the nostalgic feel of it. Other places and the people they make me think of: Chick-fil-A (my buddy Danny, the LIFE Group, mine and Anna's realization that food in Heaven would be even better than their original chicken sandwich), Bubbalou's (good times with ULife people), Burger King (sharing chicken sandwiches with my dad when I was little), and Starbucks at Barnes & Noble (Carla and I meet there to catch up when I'm in Tampa).

3.) I miss Cam. He was one of my campers during my first session ever at Circle F. I was at the ranch this past weekend with a church from Windermere, which is where Cam lives, and I found myself hoping he would show up with that church because 1.) it would mean he's hearing the Gospel and 2.) I'd get to see him. Cam and I did not get along at all when we first met. I vividly remember him telling me I was no fun and I thought this kid was going to be a thorn in my side for the rest of that 3 week session. But at some point, things changed and we clicked. I don't remember what the turning point was, but I guess he realized that my being overbearing was really me just caring about them. After that rocky start, seeing Cam walk into the Round Up on opening days became something I anticipated greatly. We got to hang out at camp for 3 additional summers and there were some times when we did not see eye-to-eye, but he has always been one of my favorite campers and one of the ones that made camp worth it for me. I don't really hear from him, but I think he's 16 or 17 and a junior in high school now. The first picture below is from 1999. I'm on the left, he's in the middle and my co-counselor C.J. is on the right.
This picture is from his last summer at camp in 2003. He's on the left and the other guy is Jordan, who was also one of my first campers. Cam and Jordan were inseparable at camp.
4.) I like Sunday afternoon naps a lot.

my 4 things

2006-02-21T20:05:00.000-05:00

ande tagged me on this, so here it is:

4 jobs you have had in your life:

1.) After school program counselor - During my junior year at UCF I worked at this place called Kids R Kids from 3-7 every weekday. I didn't think I was going to last when I first got the job, but I ended up loving it and was sad to leave at the end of the school year.

2.) Indoor advertising intern - This was a paid internship I had shortly after I declared Ad/PR to be my major. I got 100 bucks a week for driving all over Orlando and maintaining the ads that my boss had placed in bathrooms at various restaurants and gyms. I never realized how disgusting of a job it was until I had some time away from it.

3.) Helper person for a high school guidance counselor - Somehow I agreed to help my high school's college counselor move all her stuff from her old home to her new one. What started out as a week-long project of packing and moving boxes ended up being a job that lasted almost the entire summer. I even dug up this lady's plants and replanted them at her new place. I'm such a sucker.

4.) Camp counselor at Circle F Dude Ranch - I got this job 3 weeks before their camp season started and it has since turned into a full-time job. I always get a kick out of running into people I was a counselor with and telling them I'm still at Circle F.

4 goals you've set for this year:

1.) increase my good cholesterol level
2.) pray regularly
3.) not eat out as much
4.) not eat as many cookies (I'm failing miserably at this one)

4 movies you could watch over and over:

1.) Adventures in Babysitting - I remember begging my dad to take me to this movie when I was 6 or 7. I know it's absolutely ridiculous, but it never gets old and I love it more each time I see it. "I've got the babysitting blues!"
2.) Billy Elliot - Jamie Bell is awesome. I bought this movie on DVD after only seeing the preview.
3.) While You Were Sleeping - Oh, Sandy B.
4.) Jerry Maguire - It rocks.

4 places you have lived:

1.) Tampa, FL - my hometown
2.) Orlando, FL - where I went to college and currently live
3.) Dayton, OH - lived here for 2 months with family while my mom was getting treatment for breast cancer
4.) Lake Wales, FL - my home away from home during the summer and on most weekends

4 TV shows you love to watch:

1.) Alias - JJ Abrams scores
2.) Lost - JJ Abrams scores again
3.) Scrubs - so over the top you've gotta love it
4.) 24 - so addictive

4 places you have been on vacation:

1.) Guatemala - This is where my dad is originally from. I've lost count how many times I've been, but each visit is better than the last.
2.) Johnstown, PA - I used to spend my summer vacations here with my cousins going to lots of theme parks, making lots of embarrassing home videos and playing even more Super Mario Kart.
3.) Nashville, TN - I went there 2 times within a year: once for my cousin Jeremy's wedding and the 2nd time to hang out with him, his new wife Kierstin and their dog and cat. Both times rocked. Too many good memories to list, many involving good food, but seeing Amy G. at the Pancake Pantry ranks pretty high.
4.) Baltimore, MD/Washington, DC - I visited DC for the first time last August. It was a pit stop on my way to my cousin Jon's wedding in MD. You can always count on a good time whenever any of my cousins are involved.

4 websites you visit daily:

1.) Entertainment Weekly - lots of movie and TV news
2.) All my road before me... - Jeremy's blog
3.) a net for catching days... - Kierstin's blog (this cousin-in-law of mine is such a great story-teller)
4.) Holding Out for Grace - great thoughts from my friend Ande

4 albums I am listening to right now:

1.) any Lifehouse cd
2.) Tenth Avenue North - Speaking of Silence
3.) U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
4.) The Message: Psalms

4 people I'm tagging to do this, should you choose to accept this mission:

1.) Josh
2.) Jeremy
3.) Kierstin
4.) you, the reader

camp pics

2006-02-20T18:13:00.000-05:00

I spent this past weekend at camp and it went well. But it reminded me how quickly the summer is coming and how hectic things are going to become. That's why it's good to look at pictures like the ones below that remind me how much fun summer camp is.

Two of Circle F's finest: Logan & Afton - and they're coming all summer!

This shot always cracks me up. Zan at his most entertaining.

Voted cutest couple at camp: Bo & Lexi

My favorite rock waller, Beau, getting a little tong crazy.

This pic has to be one of my all-time favorites. Her face says it all.

In unrelated news, Sawyer made it into EW's tv quotes of the week: "You even made Locke take a swing at you. Hell, that's like getting Gandhi to beat his kids."

mid winter 06

2006-02-14T20:50:00.000-05:00

I cheated on Circle F this past weekend and went to another camp. For the 3rd year, I went on the Mid Winter retreat with just under 50 of the middle school kids from church and a handful of leaders. I always look forward to this weekend. One of the reasons is because I get to be a camper for a few days and not be the one worried about everything going just right. It's also great to spend a significant amount of time with the kids and form better relationships with them.

The worship band was particularly great this year. (Check out Tenth Avenue North for more info on that group.) Middle schoolers know how to have a good time worshipping in song and I think we can learn a lot from them. I am not much of a clapper when it comes to singing during a regular church worship service, but when it's a group of 300+ middle schoolers and their leaders, my clapping is pretty much on cruise control. Because those guys have fun with it and just get into it. I wish praising God in song was always that enjoyable. But for some reason I find myself more self-conscious about "getting into it" at church.

In between the singing and games involving squirt guns filled with mouthwash, we had some good lessons. A lot of it was stuff I'd heard before, but I can always use a reminder. The idea that stuck with me the most was the fact that we are all part of a big story - God's story. What an amazing thought it is to me that we get to play supporting roles in His story. God loves me enough to use me? Really? Me?

Another story I am a big fan of is the Harry Potter series. I thoroughly enjoyed the most recently published 6th book, but the last lines of it are my favorite:

"We'll be there, Harry," said Ron.

"What?"

"At your aunt and uncle's house," said Ron. "And then we'll go with you wherever you're going."

"No-" said Harry quickly; he had not counted on this, he had meant them to understand that he was undertaking this most dangerous journey alone.

"You said to us once before," said Hermione quietly, "that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?"

"We're with you whatever happens," said Ron.

When I read that closing I remember thinking, "I'll be there, too, Harry, and I can't wait! What a great story this author has written!" It was then that I realized these books speak to a part of us all. We all want to be part of a big adventure. That same day I wrote in my journal:

We want to be part of something big, something epic, something that matters. And then I think about what it means to be a Christian and realize that if you are truly living as a Christian, then you are doing all of these things. And that's something to be so pumped about.

We, I especially, love to read and watch these stories about people risking their lives for the things that matter most to them. So why is it so hard for me to take non life-threatening risks for what matters to me? That's what hit me this weekend. That I don't put enough trust in the freedom God has given us. I can screw up and He's not going to love me any less for it. I know He's given this freedom to us, but I guess part of me just hasn't completely accepted it. How can I take for granted that we get to be a part of this mind-blowing story?! After this weekend I do feel more confident in it. And my prayer is that I'll be more excited to trust in Christ and take risks for Him than I will be to pick up the next Harry Potter book.

my dad the singer

2006-02-09T19:45:00.000-05:00

The older I get, the more I appreciate my dad. Earlier today I was reminded of an embarrassing moment I experienced as a kid courtesy of my pops. My memory of this event is a little foggy, but I was probably 7 or 8 and we had company over at the house. My dad decided that our guests would love nothing more than for me to perform a song for them. I declined, but my dad insisted. So I proceeded to sing "La Bamba" in front of my adoring fans while my dad cheered me on and urged me to swing my hips and "to get into it." I'm sure my audience gave me a big round of applause, but I couldn't have been more embarrassed.

Well, I never did "get into" singing even though I was in chorus for a few years. My dad, however, has always loved singing and music, and it shows when you enter our house in Tampa. In the living room reside several speakers that are bigger than some of the middle schoolers I work with. They are huge and they are loud. My dad used to buy karaoke tapes of old Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson and Ritchie Valens (I have him to thank for my "La Bamba" incident) songs and practiced singing these songs on a regular basis.

Once he and my mom went out with my mom's nephew, Greg, and his wife, Donna, to karaoke night at a local Holiday Inn. Everyone had such a great time listening to my dad sing and whenever Donna was around my dad was guaranteed to sing the song "Donna." They came home that night with a tape of my dad singing that song and they couldn't have been happier.

My mom was, of course, my dad's biggest fan. She always loved sitting on the couch as he serenaded her. Even when he sang songs in Spanish and she didn't understand a word that was coming out of his mouth, she sat there and smiled.

When I was in high school my dad's love for belting out those tunes did not diminish. And those speakers were happy to continue their mission of blasting my dad's voice for anyone near Sandcroft Court to hear. I remember talking on the phone extra loud sometimes when he was singing so that my friends could hear me. Other times I'd pull up in the driveway and could hear his voice before I even got to the front door.

During one Christmas break when I was in college and my dad was in Guatemala, a bunch of my friends came over and were in awe of the speakers. When they asked why we had them I shared with them my dad's love for singing. So what happened next? We did what would have made my dad proud: we sang our hearts out. And we had the best time. This past Christmas I saw a bunch of those same friends and when one of them saw me, one of the first things he asked me was, "Hey, do you remember when we sang all those songs on your dad's speakers?! Does he still have those things?"

I never realized how much enjoyment those speakers provided. Who would've thought that 10 years after those things shook my bedroom walls as I did homework, they'd make me laugh and smile with so many rich memories?

the nickname king

2006-02-07T11:03:00.000-05:00

Warning: If you watch Lost and aren't caught up with the 2nd season, this entry contains spoilers.

Monday nights are good. I meet with my LIFE Group of fellow youth group leaders and we share the concerns and successes we experience with the kids we work with. When Paul mentioned to me that we were going to start this group I thought it was a great idea, but what I thought made it an even better idea was his suggestion that we watch Lost together on a weekly basis. Because the group that prays together and attempts to figure out the mysteries of the island stays together. And cookies, cheesecake or any other dessert item only makes it better.

Last night we gathered around Paul's laptop (we're a dedicated bunch) to watch the further adventures of our favorite castaways. The two episodes that we watched were really good. We got our first real look at the island monster, witnessed what EW dubbed a "little Jungle U.N. Summitt," and were the fortunate recipients of several quality one-liners from Sawyer. I'm not sure whether or not I would really like someone like Sawyer if I were stuck on an island with him, but I love his character. Calling Locke Mr. Clean and telling him that all he was missing was the mop and earring? Classic.

But my favorite line of the episode took place when Jack, Locke and Sawyer were tracking Michael's trail into the jungle. The dialogue went something like this:

Locke:"Does any of this look familiar to you?"
Sawyer: "Oh, yeah, there's my favorite leaf right there!"

At that moment I couldn't have been happier to have Sawyer back in the game after being stuck in a bed for several episodes.

Lost has quickly become one of my favorite shows. I have been a fan of all things J.J. Abrams (one of the show's creators), even before Lost came around. I remember when it hit big and suddenly he became the go-to guy for lots of productions. He was approached for the new Superman movie, but has ended up directing the new Mission:Impossible that comes out in May. I felt like people were finally figuring out what I had known since Alias (another show he created) started. I proudly own every season of that show and am even a fan of his old WB show Felicity. Okay, I have that show on DVD, too. Yeah, I know, it's a bit of a girly show, but there are great characters on that show, just like Lost. (It also doesn't hurt that Keri Russell is in it.) That's what this guy does best. He creates great characters and puts them in fascinating situations. And I am happy to go along for the ride.

brokeback to the future

2006-02-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

I love a good parody. Entertainment Weekly has a blog that I read regularly. They recently posted a link to a Brokeback Mountain parody called Brokeback to the Future that is really funny. I've not seen Brokeback Mountain, but since BTTF is my favorite trilogy, I thought it was worth a look.

baby huff!

2006-02-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

Exciting stuff today! I open my email and waiting for me is the picture you see to the left: the first photo of Baby Huff. Clint and Steph, two of my favorite people from Circle F, are having a baby! I'm so excited for them. They already have one child in their boxer, Cailin, and here's hoping this newest addition to the Huff family doesn't have the same licking problem as Cailin.

hairy memories

2006-02-01T08:31:00.000-05:00

I'm not entirely sure why, but I've never liked getting haircuts. My true neurotic tendencies shine brilliantly as I anxiously sit and wait to hear my name called and trust my hair to a stranger with scissors. While I sit and flip through the year-old magazines they have available, I simultaneously size up all of the stylists and determine which ones I want to call my name. Because naturally you can tell how well someone will cut your hair just by looking at them.

When I was little my mom had to drag me to get a haircut. I think she would take me to Fantastic Sam's because they at least gave you a toy for submitting yourself to the parent-forced haircut. Once I actually asked my mom to take me for a haircut and I can still recall her saying, "You actually want me to take you to get a haircut?!" I ended up spending a lot of time in salons with my mom back in the day because she was always getting her hair colored and permed. After she went through chemo and her hair started growing back curly, I remember her joking and saying, "Think of all the money I'll be saving at the salon now that my hair is growing back naturally curly!"

When I was in high school and began to care about how I looked, I would strategically ask my dad to take me for a haircut on Fridays because then I had the rest of the weekend to get used to my new look before it made its debut at school Monday morning. Despite my efforts, my dad usually opted for Sunday haircuts and going to a place where I couldn't understand any of the ladies working there.

Fortunately, things went smoothly yesterday when I stopped in at the local Hair Cuttery. Thanks, Lee.

a humble reminder

2006-01-25T11:19:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday morning, I'm meeting my 8th graders tonight, and I still am not sure what I want to talk with them about. Last semester they said they wanted to talk about how to deal with temptations. When I asked them what temptations they were facing, the response I got was,"You know, just temptation in general." Right.

So we each picked a verse on how to deal with temptation and memorized one verse each week. It went well. I sent weekly postcards reminding the guys about the verse and several of them took turns leading the group, which was something we'd never done before. It was great for me because I got to see how different each of them truly are. It was also our first dive into accountability as a group and at times it was messy, but it was good. Disagreements took place, but there was also growing.

And now I'm stuck. I know I probably only have from now until the end of May with these guys as a group and I want it to matter. I want them to enjoy coming to LIFE Group, but not just because they get to be with their friends. I want this group to prepare them for the challenges they'll be facing once they get into high school and beyond. (Wow, I kind of sound like Buzz Lightyear with that phrase.) I want them to grow in their love for Christ, each other and everyone else. Maybe that's a bit lofty of a goal for guys who don't shave yet. Or maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way. Even though the things I want for them are good, I need to be asking myself why I want these things to happen. Yes, it is so that God will be glorified, but unfortunately, in typing this entry I've realized that I also want to feel good about myself. I selfishly want to say, "I made a difference," when the truth is that I can't make a difference in the lives of these guys without trusting and believing that apart from God I can do nothing. Hmmm...this being humble business is a lot harder than I ever thought.

things that make my day

2006-01-23T17:57:00.000-05:00

Sunday, Jan. 15: getting to play with Evie and visit with Laura in the nursery

Thursday, Jan. 19: finishing the first season of 24 without my computer battery quitting on me

Friday, Jan. 20: laser tag and jumping over 2 liter bottles of water with the middle school guys

Saturday, Jan. 21: getting two unexpected phone calls - one from my dear friend James telling me he is getting married in July and the second from one of my favorite Circle F'ers, Tre

Sunday, Jan. 22: getting to spend some time with three of my favorite freshmen: Ryan, Ryan and Taylor

Monday, Jan. 23: checking the mail and discovering a postcard from Jeremy and Kierstin

the cutest little girl ever

2006-01-15T22:19:00.000-05:00

I went to Guatemala for six days over Christmas to visit family. It was great. I expected to have a good time visiting my dad and family over there, but what I did not expect was to meet the cutest kid in the world. Her name is Carol. She moved into a house in the same neighborhood as our's in Zacapa and my dad introduced her to me as "the little Chinita." She speaks some English, so whenever I would see her outside she would wave to me or say something in English.

One night we went to visit some family in another town called Manzanotes, and Carol came along for the ride. She unfortunately discovered that I am still ticklish and she took every opportunity to jab me with her fingers. This picture is from that night and she is the one with a huge smile on her face and standing in front of my dad.

slaps 4 life

2006-01-15T21:23:00.000-05:00

To the left, please meet seven of my youngest friends (l-r): Kevin, Haughton, Puckett, Victor, Travis, Selig and Andrew. Thanks to these 8th graders my Wednesday nights are, to say the least, an adventure. They are members of a LIFE Group I lead that they have affectionately named "Slaps 4 Life" in honor of the card game we regularly play. Each Wednesday we go to Chick-fil-A for dinner and then motor on over to the church for our meeting where no subject is off limits. I've been meeting with them since they were 7th graders and I have to come to enjoy this group more than I would ever have expected. I really love these guys. It's a pretty eclectic group and it's been great seeing them grow in so many ways.

This past Friday we had our 2nd (what now appears to be annual) lock-in at church. We stayed up all night playing video games, air hockey, ping-pong, and Capture the Flag. This would explain why some of them don't look particularly alert in the picture. My highlight of the evening was the sleeping bag races. (Note to self: Be sure to take socks off before you begin to run at full speed on wood paneling.)

We ended the night by watching Signs and what would happen at the end of the movie was worrying me. I knew we had to set up tables and chairs for a meeting that was starting shortly after we left and we had to clean up the mess we had made over the night. These guys aren't fans of even cleaning off the table at Chick-fil-A, so I didn't think getting them to help clean was going to be any better at 7am after being up all night. I prepared myself for moaning, groaning and for Kevin to say, "This is stupid. I quit." But something amazing happened. I told them what we had to get done and they just did it. No complaining, no nothing. I was so happy to be wrong and so thankful for these guys.

Each time someone has asked me how the lock-in went, I can only think of what a fun night it was. They couldn't have been an easier group to stay up all night with. They had so much fun doing the simplest things. One of the reasons I wanted to lead a group like this one was because I wanted to be a part of something that gave kids significant relationships. By no means is this group perfect and I am certainly not the perfect leader, but I can't help but think that God is doing something great in this group. There are certainly times when some of them get on my last nerve, but that's okay. I know that God has blessed me richly by allowing these teenagers to be a part of my life. I only hope they're getting as much out of it as I am.

lessons from 24

2006-01-12T10:17:00.000-05:00

My buddy Danny recently gave me the first season of 24 as a birthday gift. I have been hooked. I've been so into it that I even watch it on my computer at work while I eat lunch if I'm there alone.

Without giving anything away, the basic plot is that Jack's wife and daughter (Teri & Kim) have been kidnapped and there is a plot to assassinate the man who would be the first black presidential candidate (Palmer). Somehow all of these things are related. Last night I watched two episodes before I went to bed ("10am-11am" & "11am-12pm"). They were so intense! I wanted answers to my questions: Would Jack get to his family before the bad guys killed them? Would the bad guys find the missing cell phone? Did Palmer do 24 or Allstate insurance commercials first?

But the best scene caught me off guard. Jack has been up for over 24 hours, 12 of them searching for Teri & Kim, and he has cornered a man he is convinced knows their whereabouts. When this man refuses to cooperate Jack kills him. And then something amazing happens. My favorite fictitious CTU agent breaks down and starts to cry and I almost did, too. While I've never dealt with stakes as high as Jack, I could identify with his feelings of desperation. You want something so badly and are so convinced that this one thing (or person) will bring you happiness and when it doesn't you are crushed. I used to do it all the time when I was in school: "If I can just get through this next test, I'll be fine." And that's good for a few days until the next test comes along.

Unfortunately, I still do it today when I go to work or am trying to fix other things in my life that don't go the way I want them to. Why is it that no matter how hard I try to make things perfect it doesn't work? It's because I forget that I'm not perfect and the only thing that is perfect in my life is Christ. I can't do anything without Him. I need to be pointed back to Christ and His grace on a regular basis. As uncomfortable as it can be and as much as I don't like to admit that I need help, I do. We all do. Praise God that we've been given a Savior who picks us up time and time again.

a recommended guilty pleasure

2006-01-10T11:02:00.000-05:00

For just a little more than $1 per fart, you, too, can have your very own remote controlled fart machine. I'm not sure what enjoying this product so much says about my maturity level, but I don't care. It may be gross and inappropriate, but I'm okay with that. I don't remember the last time something has made me laugh so hard that my stomach hurt. (Oh, wait...Jeremy did show me that R. Kelly video...put the phone on vibrate!)It's amazing that something so simple can be so funny. If you want to purchase your own, click here.

a little explanation

2006-01-08T22:40:00.000-05:00

"What's today!?" has easily become one of my all-time favorite phrases. It may even rank higher than some of my other favorites, including "Suck it up." For 6 summers I have heard this question asked at the end of every breakfast at Circle F Dude Ranch. Here's how it goes: Once the person making the morning announcements is done, someone shouts, "What's today!?" Each day has its own answer: Marvelous Monday, Terrific Tuesday, Wonderful Wednesday, Tremendous Thursday, Fantastic Friday, Sensational Saturday, and Su-u-per Sunday. (That "Su-u-per" is not a typo. Circle F law says that any adjective used to describe a day must be at least 3 syllables.) Once the day has been announced, everyone yells back, "How long?!" The response: "All day long!!!" "We hope so!" is then heard throughout the dining room. Everytime that this tradition is carried out I smile and am grateful to be at camp. One of the best perks of being the Assistant Director at Circle F? Getting to be the one to answer this question on Diana's day off.