Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Since We Last Met...
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Making Good Progress
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Four Whole Years!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The Next Steps
Let's be clear, Derrick is the one driving the cabinet ship. I like to call myself his apprentice. I am doing what he tells me and am trying to learn and soak in as much as I can. It was very cool to see the corner cabinet as an assembled product and I had a lot of fun helping and learning. As most of you know, I have not ever been accused of being handy, but hopefully through this project I will learn to be a little more handy than before. Now I just need some more tools...
Saturday, November 6, 2010
The Floors are In
Tomorrow my dad is planning to finish up the drywall. Allison and I are going to measure for trim, baseboards, crown molding, as well as do other odds and ends that we can get done. We have a long list of to-dos, but I think we can make a small dent in it tomorrow. Hopefully the roof will be replaced early next week. He said the timing will depend on if the shingles we picked are in stock or not, but he will let me know when they will be there. Moving right along...
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The Latest Home Update
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
First Trip to Neyland
Saturday, October 23, 2010
One Week In
Monday, October 18, 2010
And So It Begins
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Dungeon Living
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
We're Moved
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Triathlons
Well, this year I did it. I competed in the Music City Triathlon in July and the Cedars of Lebanon Triathlon this past Saturday. I had two really good experiences, although they were both very different. I believe the main difference was the weather. Both days were sunny, however, the temperature at Music City was probably over 80 degrees before I even got in the water and the temperature at Cedars was probably only about 80 degrees when I finished the race. The other difference is probably the most evident: swimming in the river vs. swimming in a pool. I am glad for the experience that I got swimming in the river, but swimming in the pool was definitely easier and made the transition to the bike a little more palatable.
As it happened with running, I think I have caught the bug. I enjoyed the change of pace that you get with three separate events in one race. While I would love to think that one day I can complete an Iron Man distance, but I am not sure that will ever happen. The amount of time and effort that takes is unfathomable. What I can tell you is that I am already thinking about which triathlons I want to compete in next season. My goal for next year is to complete at least one intermediate or Olympic distance triathlon and based on that I will try to figure out if a longer distance is even worth considering. The next race I will be competing in is the Middle Half. This will be the second year that Allison and I have competed in this race. We also have several friends that will be there. That should make it even more fun. And as that race relates to triathlons, a half-marathon is the third leg of a half Iron Man. Maybe one day...
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Stress Relief
I started running for two reasons: 1)I was 60 pounds heavier than I was my Senior year in high school and 2)my firm was participating in a 5k as a team and I wanted to participate. Before this I had always thought of running as punishment. Having played baseball since I was six and football in high school, running was issued out for messing up either on or off the field. Because of this I had a very hard time running and definitely didn’t enjoy it.
Fast forward eight years. (Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been running that long.) I have now ran several 5k races, 1 10k, 2 half marathons (now training for my 3rd), and earlier this summer I completed my first triathlon with a second to hopefully be completed on Saturday. If asked, I would definitely consider myself a runner.
Back in the days when I first started, I hated it! A guy I worked with would always talk about how he got stress relief from running. He even said that while studying for the CPA exam he would take a break and go for a run. I used to tell him “No thanks! I feel like I get more stressed out during and after a run. I have definitely come to understand what he was talking about. The longer I run, the more I want to run. During the house selling/buying process I have definitely found myself more stressed out than normal. In the times that I feel the most stressed I also find myself looking for the next opportunity to exercise. Whether it’s a 3 mile run, a 10 mile bike, swimming a few laps, or simply working out in the gym, I have come to use exercise as a stress reliever. Anytime I feel stressed and have a chance to exercise I feel an immediate sense of relief. It may not last too long, but it definitely gets me back on the right track.
I know this isn’t a scientific experiment, but exercising definitely reduces my stress level. What do you do to reduce or relieve stress?
Monday, August 23, 2010
House Hunting
Allison and I put our house on the market back in the middle of June. Exactly 8 weeks later we had a contract on our house, which in this market was definitely a blessing. As people learned that we had sold our house we started hearing things like, "you're in the driver's seat now," and "oh, now comes the fun part," and the one I have heard for months "this is a buyers market." Well let me say, this has not been fun at all for me. And because it hasn't been fun, and actually has been extremely stressful for me, it has caused extra stress on Allison.
Apparently what I consider a buyer's market and what others think is a buyer's market are not the same thing. My thought of a buyer's market is that people do not list their houses for more than they are worth, and if they do, they don't expect to sell them for more than they are worth. This also hasn't been our experience. We have made offers on three houses and have not gotten any of them. The first was listed far less that it was worth and we weren't the best offer. Fair enough. The other two offers we made, however, were fair offers. Apparently these sellers just weren't ready to sell their houses.
Oh well. A place for us to live is out there. It may just be in Heather and Derrick's garage for the time being.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
They Really Are Perceptive
Cooper: Daddy, are we in the car?
Me: Yes.
Cooper: Daddy, are we going home.
Me: Yes. (at this time I started to check out because he was asking questions simply to have something to say)
Cooper: some question that I don't remember
Me: Yeah
Cooper: another question I don't remember
Me: Yeah
Cooper: Daddy, you're not really listening to me, you're just saying yeah. You're supposed supposed to say 'Oh, yeah that's right!'
He totally busted me. So many times we think they aren't comprehending or paying attention. They definitely are. I guess I need to pay more attention, huh?
Monday, May 10, 2010
A Tale of Two Disasters
The next day I went out with LifePoint Church to help with the cleanup. We spent several hours cleaning trash and debris out of the yard of a friend. After that I spent the next few hours driving a gator around the neighborhood passing out cookies, water, and crackers to volunteers and victims of the tornado. I've never seen anything like that before. I literally stood on the foundation where, not 24 hours before, a house stood. I helped a lady try to salvage a tea set that her mother had brought her from England that was inside a kitchen of a house that only had one wall standing. The devastation was unbelievable.
As we sat in our living room two Saturdays ago, I again saw images that I will never forget. I saw a portable classroom float down I-24. The same stretch of I-24 that I had driven on about 24 hours before. I saw boats moving down that same stretch of interstate rescuing people on live TV. I heard stories of people being stranded on the top of a jeep for an hour before they decided it was safer to try to ride the current to keep from drowning (they were correct and they survived). I also, however, hear stories of a dad that saved one child and went to save the other only to be swept away as well as an elderly couple that were swept away by flood waters on their way to church.
This past Saturday I spent a few hours tearing down dry wall in a house that had about 4 1/2 feet of water inside during the flood. We literally removed everything in the house except the studs. Even 7 days after the flooding occurred, there was still water inside the walls of the home. Up and down the street we were working on there were houses with the same story. All of the insides were being removed due to flood waters. Just a few streets behind an elderly couple were killed during the flood. Just as I did last April, I stood in the middle of devastation. Among that devastation, however, I witnessed something truly encouraging...friends, neighbors, and strangers helping each other in times of need.
I am still not sure I will ever fully grasp or process what I witnessed while trying to help people clean up what was left of their homes. What I do know, however, is that the people of Middle Tennessee are great people. There has been an out pouring of support for the flood victims. Hands on Nashville has had over 8,500 people sign up to volunteer. Churches all over the area have stepped up and spent countless hours trying to help people pick up the pieces. I have, essentially, lived in the Nashville area my entire life. Never before have I witnessed people helping people as I have during these two times of difficulty. Never before have a I been as glad as I am now to call Nashville my home.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The Country of My
This was one of several things in Africa that put a things in perspective for me. So often we get wrapped up in our wants and put other people's wants and needs on the back burner. My prayer is that, because of my new friend from Africa, I will be more mindful of others' needs and not be so focused on me.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Not Just a Suggestion
Last night the six of us that went to Africa had the opportunity to share with the church about our trip. Mark gave a general overview of the trip and the David went through a slide show of pictures that he took while we were there. After that, Mark went through a series of questions that led the discussion. One of the questions was "What made the greatest impact in your life spiritually from this experience?" I felt that this question got at the heart of the statements that various people have made.
We spent a lot of time, while in the village, talking to the person that stood up and became the first follower of Christ during Mark's first visit into the village. He is a teacher and he is very eager to learn more about Christ and what it means to be a Christ follower. Beyond that, he is doing exactly what the stories say Christ followers do...tell people about Jesus. When we got to the village we learned that he was not in the village. We were told he was visiting another village that his mother is from, but he would be back the following day. When he returned we learned that he had been telling the people of this village about Jesus. He asked us if we would be able to go into that village because he wanted the people there to meet us and hear some of the stories that we were telling. We definitely felt that we needed to go to this village. If for no other reason, I felt this would validate what he had been telling the people of this other village. I don't know why, but I was amazed at the fact that the story says followers of Jesus tell others about Jesus, and that's exactly what he did despite the fact that he's only be a follower of Christ for a few months.
I think the reason that I was amazed is because of my own lacking in this area. As we were going through the story he definitely knew what the story was about, but he couldn't tell the story back to us. This struck me because this is the excuse that I tell myself when I think about witnessing to someone. "I know the story, but what if they ask me a question that I don't know." This question plagues me, but not the villager. He just tells those around him about Jesus, just like Jesus told all of His followers. One of the main things I have taken away from this trip is Jesus didn't suggest that we tell others. He commanded us to. And that's what I'm going to work on. Doing what followers of Jesus do...tell others about Jesus.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
To The Ends of the Earth
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Will You Pray for Us?
For those of you that know me well know that I don't spend a lot of time camping and that I am not well traveled. This trip will definitely have its fair share of these activities. That being said, Allison and I have both felt for sometime that God was calling us to spend time in Africa. We had no idea when or how, but when Mark told the church about this people group we were both excited about the opportunity to be involved.
So, I am looking for people that will commit to pray for us. Please pray for our group as we travel. Please pray for safe travel, for good health during the trip, and that we will be able to make a great impact on the people we will be engaging. Also, pray for each guy on the trip and the impact that it will have on us. I know for me, this will be unlike any trip I have ever taken.
Will you commit to pray for us?
Monday, February 1, 2010
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
This was a great book. It was a very easy read, very funny, but at the same time it has a great message. I love that he was able to convey a lesson about making stories with your life while sharing some of the stories he has made in his own life. I write in most non-fiction books that I read. When I started this one I didn't get a highlighter or pen. After about twenty pages, however, I quickly realized that I needed to have something that I could mark pages with. I started this review with the quote that I believe gives the premise of the book. Because of this, it has really made me think about the stories that I am making and the memories that we, as a family, are making.
I definitely recommend this book. Especially if you are looking for something light, funny, but has a great message. To read more about this book you can read more here and you can buy it here.
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to give a positive review of this book and all of the opinions are mine.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Snow Day!
After getting home and eating lunch, I called our neighbor to see if he and his daughter wanted to go sledding. He did and we met at a middle school near our neighborhood with a pretty good hill in front. We spent 2 hours sledding and there were about 10 people there when we got there, but about 20 when we left. Cooper absolutely loved it! He was a little apprehensive at first, but by the end he was sliding down, head first, by himself. We had a lot of fun and will definitely go back tomorrow. Hopefully we can get 2-4 more inches tonight, which will make for a great time.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Encouragement
I don't think yesterday was going to be one of those days. I started off and felt really strong after about one mile. The difference was, I started thinking about all of the things that we needed to do. Take a shower, birthday party, grocery store, Target. Thinking about these things, I quickly decided that I was only running 3 miles. As I finished about 1.5 miles I could see a guy running toward me up ahead. When we crossed paths, he held out his arm, gave me a high five, and said "have a great day." I don't know if I appeared to be struggling, but that's what I needed to get going, a little encouragement. It wasn't anything huge, just a quick high five that, to me, said "keep going, you don't need to stop at 3 miles," so I continued on and finished a 4 mile run.
A little bit of encouragement goes a long way. Whether it's at our job, toward a friend, toward our spouse, or just another runner on the street. As I finished my run I began thinking about some of the ways that I can do a better job of encouraging people. Hopefully I can offer a little to someone.
What are some of the ways that you encourage others or like to be encouraged?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Disaster in Haiti
Compassion sponsors and donors serve more than 65,000 children in Haiti. At least a third of them live in the areas that were hardest hit. You can click here to give to Compassion's Haiti Earthquake Disaster Relief. For more information on how you can help those affected by the Haiti Earthquake you can check out this blog. And for bloggers, there is a lot of information there that you can use to post to your site in order to try to help Compassion raise as much money and awareness as possible for the people of Haiti.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Goals for 2010 - part 2
I was planning to post my goals on my blog, but after reading a blog post from Michael Smith, the worship past at our church, and Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson, I am even more convinced that it will help me be motivated to achieve these goals throughout the year. One thing that both of these posts made clear is that it is good to get your goals out there. Whether it's telling those you lead or your peers, or posting them on your blog for all to see, getting your goals out there gives you another layer of accountability.
I have a list of several goals. As I said in my earlier post, some of these were on the list last year but didn't get completed.
So, here they are - my goals for 2010.
- More meaingful and consistent prayer time
- More meaingful and consistent quiet time
- Read through the Bible by 12/31/10
- Memorize at least one verse every week
- Consistent posting to my blog (at least 2 times per week)
- Become a better writer
- Become more organized
- Complete a triathlon
- Finish a 5k in fewer than 24 minutes
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Goals for 2010
What about you, do you set goals for each year? Do you have a hard time reaching your goals each year?