On life...

People

2006-12-21T20:21:00.000-08:00

I don't understand people. Why does Christmas seem to bring out the worst in some people and the best in others? What exactly do people think they are going to accomplish by yelling at, cussing and degrading others? What makes people think they deserve special treatment or a special deal? What makes a person think they should be waited on hand and foot while never muttering a simple "please" or "thank you"?
I do have to say that my time spent working in San Antonio this week has made me appreciate the kindness of Oklahomans. Of course there are always a few bad eggs everywhere, but for some reason I seem to have found every bad one in San Antonio.
Just in case you were worried...as Carol likes to say...Christmas is still in my heart. I am excited to get home to everyone and have a great Christmas focused on the real reason we celebrate...the birth of our Savior!

Turkey Day

2006-11-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

First off, thanks to everyone who still checks my blog and thanks to all those who commented.

This is going to be a random entry in response to some of the comments left for me on the previous post...
Life is good. I am still working at the ski shop and I still enjoy my work. We are headed into the teeth of the Christmas season so the hours are getting longer of course. I think my time at the shop has started to wind down actually. I am currently looking into grad schools and other job opportunities. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I would love to hear them! I will keep you all up to date as these future plans develop.
Yes, I am still living with Matt2. We have an empty room though, so if those in far off lands need a place to live upon their return please let us know.
Let's see what else...I am spending turkey day with my girlfriend's family. Yes, you heard that right. I do have a girlfriend and suprisingly she has put up with me for over a year now. My family is out of town and her family was nice enough to adopt me for the day! My stomach is already looking forward to turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc, etc.
About a week ago I went skiing for the first time this season. We had 16" of snow during the first day we skied. It was crazy, but great fun at the same time! It definitely got us all motivated (or "stoked" as the ski bums like to say) for the upcoming season.

Well I think that is enough randomness for right now. I am hungry and mom's left over spaghetti is calling my name. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! Until next time...

Anyone, anyone...

2006-10-31T21:35:00.000-08:00

It has been 7 months. I wonder if anyone still checks this...

It's a tough job...

2006-03-22T20:07:00.000-08:00

...but someone's gotta do it! I am headed out tomorrow morning to test new Nordica skis for next winter. So this will be a quick update while I wait for my laundry to dry.

I have been working a ton lately and I am glad to finally have Spring Break behind me. I never imagined I would ever say that. The weeks leading up to Spring Break are complete craziness at work as people scramble to get outfitted for their Spring Break ski trips. We are now transitioning into summer at Sun and Ski and our business has dropped off considerably. I thought summer was just around the corner but I was sadly mistaken as it is in the low 30s outside and snow is forecast for tonight!

Let's see...what else have I been up to? Not much really, my life is pretty routine. I am sure there is more to say but I am going to quit for now and go finish packing so I can get some sleep before I leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

Hope everyone who reads this is doing well. I appreciate all your comments and "gentle" reminders to post. I will try to keep you all up to date on a more regular basis. Have a great day! Until next time...

Be patient

2006-03-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

Alright everyone...I am getting alot of pressure to post something new here. I apologize for being away for sooooo long. I am still alive and doing well. I am on my way to work right now but if you are patient for a couple more days I promise to give you all a big update very soon!

Mmmmmm...Crunchy!

2005-12-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

Finally! The snow is here and there is finally a purpose to this brutal cold we have been tolerating lately. Snow always makes me happy and brings back so many great memories...
- Sledding in the park up the street from our house in Canada.
- Skating at our neighborhood rink.
- Snow football.
- Hot chocolate by the fire while we watched huge snowflakes fall for hours.
- Walking around Vienna, crunching through the snow, soaking in the spirit of the Christmas markets and warm, inviting churches.

The list could go on and on. What are some of your favorite snow memories or activities? Now I just hope that this dusting sticks around for more than one day! Have fun out there everyone, and stay safe. Until next time...

Numero Uno

2005-11-18T08:36:00.000-08:00

How cool is this?...If you go to msn.com and type the following phrases into the search area, my blog comes up as the first or second choice! I am famous!

"picture of god's creation" (1st site out of 775,000)
"roll roll your boat" (1st out of 530,000)
"the view of gods creation" (2nd out of 280,000)

Anyway, I just thought that was kinda cool. I just got back from skiing at Loveland in Colorado. Had incredible snow and I got to test lots of new skis. Definitely put me in the mood for winter. Hopefully it wont be to long before I get to ski again.

Guess that's it for now. Until next time...

I didn't even cheat...

2005-11-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

You're Canada!

People make fun of you a lot, but they're stupid because you've
got a much better life than they do. In fact, they're probably just jealous.
You believe in crazy things like human rights and health care and not
dying in the streets, and you end up securing these rights for yourself and
others. If it weren't for your weird affection for ice hockey, you'd be
the perfect person.

Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

Randomness...is that really a word?

2005-11-01T00:56:00.000-08:00

Been awhile, eh?

I don't know why, but I just haven't been in the mood to write lately. Could be the fact that nothing interesting has really happened to me in the last few weeks. Despite my boring, routine life I decided tonight that if I really am going to have a blog that I should probably update it, so...get ready for some randomness. (oh yeah, please leave your thoughts on whether or not "randomness" is actually a word)

I am going to go backwards in time during this blog. I am going to "Tarantino it" as the great stand-up comedian Dane Cook would say. First subject of the day, Halloween. I, like most little kids, always dressed up for Halloween and went trick or treating. As I got older I lost interest in Halloween and pretty much stopped paying attention to it all together. In the last couple years and especially this year I have had a renewed interest in this controversial day. In fact, this year I dressed up for the first time in a long time. I dressed up as tennis player Andre Agassi. (pictures coming soon I hope!) Not the boring, conservative Andre that you see playing today. I was the Agassi from the 80s. The one with long blonde hair and pink bike shorts under very short denim shorts. I can honestly say that despite the embarrassingly short length of my shorts I actually had alot of fun wearing this costume. I wore it to a party Saturday night and again to work on Monday. I think my interest in Halloween this year was influenced by many of the girls in my life. One I work with has been talking about dressing up for the past month. One of my friends had a big party and left me quite a stern, but funny, message informing me that I better be at the party or else. And a third and fourth convinced me to go to my first haunted house ever. Each of these things were new experiences for me and each was actually alot of fun!

So continuing on with our backward theme...Early last week, my regional manager(RM) called me while I was at work and offered me the assistant manager job at our store in Tulsa. This is would be a promotion and a fairly significant increase in pay. I am sure you are all on the edge of your seat wondering...did he take the job??? Well, after much thought, prayer, worry, dread, talking, thinking, and wondering, I decided not to take the job. This same job had been offered to me earlier in the summer and I turned it down then as well.
These job offers always get me thinking about life and my future. I was very content leading up to this new job offer. I was, and still am, happy with my job and enjoy going to work each day. I was, and still am, involved in a couple different ministries at church. I was, and still am, having alot of fun with great friends. Part of the reason for turning down this job is because I know that I don't want to be in retail for the rest of my life. The problem right now is the fact that I don't know what I want to do with my life. I know alot of things I don't want to do, but I feel that I have yet to find the thing in life that I am truly passionate about. (When I say all this it is in reference to my career. I, of course, am very passionate about my faith and relationship with Christ) I know some things about myself that I would like to integrate into my career but I just haven't found the career that fits yet I guess. My mind plays little tricks on me. On one side I think, "I am only 25. It's ok to not know what you are going to do." Meanwhile the other side says, "You are almost 26. You need to figure out what you are doing with your life. You need to save money and settle down and find a career, not just a job." So which one of these is right? Which one should I listen to?

I think those are questions for another blog entry. Right now its time for bed. I am working open to close tomorrow, ouch! Until next time...

Seplilng desnot mtaetr...

2005-10-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

(you can read this,and fast) I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed Typoglycemia :)- Amzanig huh? Yaeh and yuo awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

Pretty cool, eh?

Absence makes the heart grow fonder (I hope!)

2005-10-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long absence...its been a long, busy couple weeks. I spent the last week in Tulsa and I have been/will be working this weekend at the Rowing Regatta in OKC. I promise to post again soon. Until next time...

Some people...

2005-09-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

"These tickets are 6 months old."
"But we didn't use them then. It's the same flight number, today."
"And you want to use these tickets today for a flight that you missed in November?"
"Oh, we didn't miss it. We decided not to go. We'll need the same seats for today, my knee is bad."
--An airline check-in agent, and a passenger, seemingly talking to each other, but not really hearing anything.

For those of you who are interested...I got this quote from a website called http://www.inpassing.org. Its a site put together by a girl from Berkley, California. She posts quotes and conversations that she overhears in passing during her daily life. Its really quite entertaining. Check it out if you get a chance!

Live the Life

2005-09-08T10:52:00.000-07:00

I have been inspired the last couple of days. Inspired by the lives of my roommates. Inspired by the lives of my friends and family. People are doing great things in this world and they are right in my own backyard. They are changing people’s lives and spreading the good news of Christ and making a difference in the world around them. They are great Christian men and women and great friends and I am going to brag on them for a moment. They are helping hurricane victims, they are sacrificing their time and money, they are teaching kids about Jesus, they are furthering the education of kids in this city, they are pursuing their dreams, stepping out on faith and changing jobs, caring for mothers and fathers and children, raising families, they are leading bible studies, singing praises, making me smile, making me think, motivating me to do more in my own life, teaching me life lessons.

Thank you. Thank you for caring and loving and sharing and praying and going and doing. God is using you all in awesome ways and I cannot wait to see what else He has in store for our futures. You are in my thoughts and prayers everyday. God Bless!

Roll, roll, roll your boat

2005-09-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

Funny title, isnt it?! Haha! Anyway, just thought I would include a couple pictures to illustrate my activities for the day. I spent this afternoon doing the activity in the bottom picture so that one day I will be able to do the activity in the top picture.
One of my co-workers and I had the day off so we went over to a local swimming pool to practice rolling a kayak. Being able to roll back upright after being flipped upside down is an absolutely vital skill to have before attemping to paddle any treacherous whitewater river. He and I have become addicted to whitewater paddling since the day we received a demo boat in our store in OKC. We go to the pool every chance we get to practice our roll and hone our boat handling skills.
We are hoping to one day find the time to take a trip out to Colorado or New Mexico or anywhere with whitewater paddling. Despite being an avid paddler for a few years now I never gave much thought to whitewater paddling. It always seemed to dangerous to be really fun. Since acquiring a whitewater boat I have done a complete 180 when it comes to my opinion on whitewater paddling. I can't get enough of it now and I am looking for any and every opportunity to squeeze myself into the tiny cockpit of the Dagger GT and head out to the pool, lake, or river.
Unfortunately my friend/co-worker is moving out of state next week so...I am looking for a new rolling buddy. If you are interested please let me know. No previous kayak experience is necessary. The only pre-req is that you dont mind being trapped in a boat, upside down, and underwater. Sounds easy, right? If you can get past that you are on your way to mastering the cornerstone of whitewater kayaking. Until next time...

Desire

2005-08-27T22:24:00.000-07:00

Delight yourself also in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.
- Psalm 37:4

When you delight yourself in the Lord do the desires of your heart change?

What do you think?

Faith

2005-08-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back from D.C. and should be here for at least a couple weeks. The little mini-essay that follows is something that I wrote a while back while sitting in a airport on one of my previous business trips. I found it again while I was sitting in the Houston airport for 4 hours Tuesday night. Anyway, if and when you read it I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on the subject...

What kind of faith must a man have to be willing to blow himself up for it? What kind of faith must one have to pray 5 times a day no matter where they are or what the circumstances? Although I don’t agree with the followers of Islam, especially the radical terrorist type I have to say that I admire their faith and devotion. I think most Christians could probably learn alot from that aspect of their religion. I realize that these men, these boys even, that choose to blow themselves up are wrong. I know they are misguided souls who unfortunately don’t know or accept the loving, saving grace of Christ. But the faith they have is amazing. What breeds this type of faith and unwavering devotion? What would it be like if Christians began to exhibit this type of faith? Not the same behavior, but the same faith. A faith and belief and devotion so strong that we would be willing to commit suicide for it. A faith so strong and dedicated that we would take time out of our day, 5 times a day, to pray. How would our lives change? How would other's lives change? How much would our faith grow and our relationship with God deepen? These people, these practicers of Islam that we see on TV and read about in the paper have faith just as we do, but what makes them stick out is that they have actions to accompany their faith. The Bible says that faith without actions is dead. I am starting to think that that passage of Scripture might be one of the most overlooked and underused in Christianity. How many of us are actually putting our faith into action? Not just going to church every Sunday or donating money to charity. How many of us are setting aside multiple times during the day to pray? How many of us are memorizing Scripture? How many of us are making our faith our identity? How many of us are known by our faith and subsequent actions? Probably not very many, and definitely not me.

Washington D.C.

2005-08-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update...
I am working in D.C. for this weekend and the first part of next week. Kind of a spur of the moment type trip. I was informed I would be leaving at 6pm on Thursday and flew out at 7am on Friday. Anyway the trip out wasn't to bad, with the exception of the insane amounts of traffic in and around this area. It took me 2 hours to get from the airport to the store covering a distance that is probably about the same as Edmond to the airport in OKC. Crazy!
I have got to get to work now but I will post more soon. Until next time...

Mountains and Deserts and Lakes, oh my!

2005-08-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, just a quick little update...

Rob (my brother) and Andrea (Rob's friend from college) and I had a great time on our trip to Colorado and Utah last week. Spent a week doing some of my favorite things in the world and fulfilling a dream that I have had for a long long time. We went rafting, did some fly fishing, camped out, saw a zillion stars, went hiking in the awe-inspiring desert of Arches National Park and (drum roll please…) hiked TWO 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado. I realize that hiking two “14ers” doesn’t really mean much to those of you who may be reading this but it’s a big deal. I will explain the significance in an upcoming post, I promise.

Anyway, we had a great trip and hopefully I will have some pictures to share with you all soon. For now I am in the process of preparing to spend the weekend at Lake Eufaula (spelling??). There is a wakeboarding tournament down there this weekend and we at Sun and Ski Sports are one of the sponsors. I have been asked, well not really asked, more like told to take a bunch of product down there and set up and tent and run the show for the weekend. This, on the surface, may seem like a fun thing to do. But I caution you against coming to this conclusion to quickly. Keep in mind that I will be sitting in the same spot all day for three days. I will have to sleep in a tent at our booth in order to keep kids and other “lake people” from stealing things. I have been instructed that I am never to leave the booth unattended. Oh great! Think about this…think about staying in one 10’x 20’ space for three straight days. Hmmmm…does that sound fun to you? Then add to it, random redneck, dirty, drunk lake people stopping by your space to make random comments, get mad at you for not having “good deals”, and trying to steal your stuff.

As you can all see I am not really looking forward to this assignment. Truthfully, I have actually been praying about this weekend quite a bit. I really do hope it goes well. I really do hope that we have fun and sell a lot and make a good impression on people. I hope that my positive attitude will rub off and people will be nice and patient and not try to steal things from me. I have my doubts but I am going to try my best.

Sorry for boring you with all that. Thanks for letting me get it off my chest. I will let you know how it goes when I get back. Check back soon for pictures of mountains, deserts, lakes and maybe even some quality mullets! If you are bored and get the chance come down and see me this weekend. I will be the one wearing the neon yellow "STAFF" shirt! Until next time...

Getting dumber

2005-07-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

I came to a sad realization a couple days ago...I am getting dumber! A couple days ago Lailah asked me to write a reference letter for her employment at the maternity home. No big deal, right? Wrong! I used to think I was a pretty good writer, having written many papers in high school and during the honors program in college. The truth is, it has been a few years since I have written anything of much substance and when I sat down to write the letter for Lailah, that time off came shining through. I couldnt figure out what to say or how to say it. My thoughts were fragmented and incomplete. I finally got a few things down, but after reading it through I still wasnt satisfied. What to do?
I ended up sending it to a friend to have her proofread my sad effort. She kindly helped me out by changing some of my 4th grade sentences into adult grade sentences and generally adding a touch of maturity to the whole thing.
As a result of this eye-opening experience I have decided that I am going to try hard to read and write more. I have many more thoughts as to the causes of my intellectual decline which I will share soon. Soooo...get ready everyone...it is my goal to post much more on my blog and it is my hope that doing so can help me regain some of the intelligence I seem to have misplaced lately. Until next time...

Who Am I

2005-07-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

I heard this song tonight on the way to dinner at Fazoli's. Its by Casting Crowns (awesome band!) and although I have heard it many times before it always seems to have a profound effect on me. Maybe it will for you as well. Who knows? Anyway, here it is...

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what you've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who you are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I'm calling
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

Quotes

2005-07-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

The following are some of my favorite quotes and passages of Scripture (in no particular order). Read them, think about them and let me know what you think. Have a great day! Until next time...

"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."
-Ephesians 2:8-9

"The mind of man plans his ways but the Lord directs his path." -Proverbs 16:9

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
-Micah 6:8

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes..." -Romans 1:16

"Sometimes it is not about choosing between bad and good, but its about choosing between good and better."

"Take yourself out of the center of your life and put God there." -Bob Stump

"Borders? I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the
minds of some people." -Thor Heyerdahl

"Trust is the highest form of human motivation." -Stephen Covey

"Marriage is not about finding the right person but being the right person."

God's Creation

2005-06-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

Isn't God's creation amazing?! The picture on the right is of Lower Falls in Yellowstone National Park. I took this picture last summer when I went out to YNP to visit my sister who was working there for the summer. Tough summer job, eh?

Yellowstone is an amazing place with natural features that are one of a kind. Tall mountains, huge waterfalls, geysers and other geothermals like no where else in the world. If you havent been to YNP before, you should definitely put it on your list of places to visit. And if you dont have a list of places to visit, you should make one!

Let me take this opportunity to make a few suggestions for your list...(in no particular order)
- Yellowstone NP
- Yosemite NP (hike Half Dome)
- Grand Canyon NP (at least see the view from the South Rim but if possible hike down to Phantom Ranch)
- The Oregon Coast
- Glacier NP (be sure to drive Going to the Sun road)
- San Juan islands, WA (check out Roche Harbor and Friday Harbor)

Well that should be good for starters. If you have been or ever go to these places let me know. I would love to hear about your impressions of places I think are absolutely amazing. Until next time, get out and explore God's amazing creation. Even if its only in your own backyard!

Its about time...

2005-06-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

Well, the day has finally arrived and I am now the proud owner of a Blogspot blog. I have been blogging on Xanga for awhile but decided it was time to add this site as well. It seems most of my friends blog on this site so I figured I might as well do the same.
I am going to keep this first post short but I will add more soon. If you happen to read this, leave me a comment. Until next time...