Freakin’ Fantastically Fun Friday!

Or as I like to call it, “FFFF.” Much to the discontent of anybody within range of my spit.

So, my very dear and amazingly awesome friend Erin (visit her blog here) was sweet enough to include me in a post concerning her favorite blogs that she enjoys visiting, so I figured I should probably cook up a nice little post. Had some fun stuff happen in the past couple weeks, so here’s a rapid fire update for you, starting with something incredibly exciting.

I got a haircut.

Okay, okay, I’m sorry.

I grilled a heart-shaped ribeye for Jenn and me on Valentine’s Day.

I used a new seasoning on it that I hadn’t used before, much to the delight of my easily amused palate. Jenn loved it, too. She cooked a mean pot roast that day for lunch. Our V-Day gift to each other was to stay at home and cook for each other. Best V-Day ever, seriously.

It snowed shortly before V-Day.

Just a little.

Some jerk kids knocked over our snowman. Here’s a dramatic reenactment of the discovery from after our second snowman fell over on its own…

Also, here’s Maddie catching a snowball.

Words With Friends is awesome. Here’s a screencap of the most epic opening word I’ve ever started a game with.

You can see my username on there, so feel free to challenge me. It’s a fun little diversion when I have some downtime at work.

I found this really awesome artist who makes some killer poster art based on favorite comic book characters. Here are two of my favorites, Green Lantern and Iron Man.

I especially love that GL poster. I mean, GL’s my favorite in general, but that’s just cool in its simplicity. Wish I had it framed for my nonexistent man cave. Heck, might as well throw in that Iron Man poster, too, if we’re talking nonexistent things. 🙂

Let’s see, what else? School’s going okay, graduation’s getting closer and closer. Work’s going fine, even though I’m beyond ready to move up into the world of teaching.

Jenn and I doing marvelously. We had our first premarital counseling session with our pastor and his wife last Sunday, and we’ll do our second/last one this Sunday. Planning the wedding and the honeymoon have really brought us together as a team more than ever before, and it makes me all the more excited to tackle life together with her.

Speaking of the honeymoon, I’ve been using Yelp and this excellent book to assemble a “bucket list” of sorts of restaurants and other stuff we have to check out while we’re in Kauai. It’s turning into quite a list, and I’m having a blast compiling all this info. There’s so much to do during the week that we’ll be there, and we’re so freakin’ excited about it. 🙂

Guess that’s about it for now. I hope you have a blessed and FFFF.

Excuse me, I need to get a paper towel.

Coming January 31st…

If you’re anywhere in the D/FW area, come join us at First Baptist Grand Prairie on the night of Sunday, January 31st. We are starting a new monthly contemporary service, and we’d love to see you!

Ho ho ho.

Been real busy this month! Biggest thing was probably wrapping up my next-to-last semester of college. One more semester, and then I’ll be done forever. 🙂 I’ve been enjoying this past week of not having to go to school in the evenings. It’s nice to be able to relax with Jenn, eat dinner at a normal time, and just generally not having a whole lot to do. Makes me look forward to being done with school even more.

Can’t believe Christmas is just over a week away. We had our Christmas program at church last Saturday. Jenn had an awesome solo right at the beginning, when the choir sang “Joy To The World.” Erin and Kevin had an amazing duet during “Ring The Bells,” which made Jenn and me even more impossibly excited about having them sing at our wedding. Click on the picture below if you’d like to see all the pictures I took:

We had the choir Christmas party at church last night. We watched the DVD of the Christmas program, ate several different varieties of cheese log (Jenn’s is SO my favorite), and then went caroling through the neighborhood behind the church, which was cold but quite fun! The only part I was sad about was the party was basically over soon as we got back. I wish we could have all sat around just a little bit longer and had some laughs. Though we did get to have plenty of that at our Refuge Christmas party, which was a total blastie blast.

Once I’m done here at work today, I’m heading up to the FLC at church to help Matt setup his blog that he wants to start. I tried to convince him that if he wanted to connect with his Youth, he needed to call it “Kilo 4 Christ” (his last name is Killough). But he said that was a loser name. Hey, if the shoe fits. O SNAP. Anyhoo, after that, Jenn and I are going to ol’ Arlington High School to see their Christmas orchestra concert. I am SO excited we’re going, I haven’t been to my old high school in several years. And the Symphony orchestra does Sleigh Ride every Christmas, so I can’t wait to see that again. The memories, they will be a-floodin’ back into my noggin, I tell you what.

Can’t wait for Christmas Eve/Day. Jenn and I are going with my family down to West to see my grandparents on Christmas Eve. Then we gotta fly back here pretty quick after lunch so we can get ready for the Christmas Eve service at church, because Jenn and I (with the assistance of the epically talented Dr. Gordon Page) will be doing “O Holy Night.” I am very excited about that, I haven’t played a candlelight service in several years, at least not since I was going to St. Andrew’s UMC. Anyway, once all that’s done, we’ll spend Christmas day with Jenn’s family, which is always a treat. 🙂

So what are your plans for Christmas? Got anything big planned, or are you just staying home for the holidays?

I’m Provocative in Writeing!

Why hello fellow forum people! I just wanted to establish myself here as this looks like a dialect right interesting forum! I myself am provocative in things like writeing and computer revamping so if anyoune needs serve farm out me identify! I also Suffer from Sciatica so if you aslo have this condition cause to me know so we can share out some stretches!

How’s that for bizarre? I got that in my Spam folder as a comment here.

So this weekend freakin’ rocked. Saturday was the Grand Life Expo at church, which was a blastie blast. Food, classic cars, farm animals, dogs, bounce houses, music, all free. Very cool stuff. Then Sunday night, we had a party for the Youth called The Awakening, which featured laser tag, basketball, pizza, the Trae Castles Band, and an illusionist named Jared Hall. Jay Lowder also spoke to them that night, and it was intense. We had 50 kids come to Christ that night, it was amazing. We also gave away to the kids an iPod Touch, Airsoft guns, Coach purses, a Vizio TV, and a car. Yep, that’s right, a car. It was just a little ’91 Ford Probe. But hey, it was some kid’s first car, so that was awesome. Plus, it had been totally restored, so it was in practically new condition when the kid got it. Great stuff. 🙂

All in all, it was definitely one of those weekends I didn’t wanna have to go back to work after experiencing. Don’t you hate that? You have this life-changing, mind-blowing, multi-hyphenated-experience… then you have to go back to being Clark Kent. It sucks, y’know? I don’t know how we all get through it without going crazy.

Nevertheless, on and on we go. At least we have some chilly weather to enjoy. I’ve been wearing my jacket most of the past couple of days at work. It’s kind of a weird feeling, I’m not used to being cold like this on a regular basis. Usually I’m the one who’s all like, “Aww man, you weenie! Take off the jacket and be a man!” But now I’m getting cold a whole lot easier for some reason. I wonder if it’s my metamobomolism or the new diet or something.

That’s all for now. Have a good one, friend.

iPSotD:

Holy holy holy holy holy holy holy. . . . .

Dadgummit.

Sorry the blogging’s been all but nonexistent the past couple days. Between school and work, I’ve been having a hard time shifting gears enough to do this. Had a major paper due in Archaeology yesterday, plus an exam in Criminal Justice. So that was a little nuts! But, it’s all over now, so I’ve got at least a couple days of respite before it gets wacky again.

So Friday night, I surprised Jenn for an early birthday treat. I had Misty tell us that she wanted to go to Chuy’s for dinner with us after we finished registering at Home Depot. When we got there, Misty walked us back to where she had already got us a table. What Jenn didn’t realize was that there were a whole bunch of people waiting for us there. 🙂 My dad, Brad, her parents, her aunt and uncle, and several of our friends were all sitting there… and she walked right by them! Only when Kevin jumped out from behind a wall and surprised her did she realize what was going on. We got her good! LOL So that was a lot of fun. She totally had no idea, which was awesome. Tomorrow night is her real birthday, so we’re going to spend some time with her family to celebrate it.

Let’s see, what else has happened?… Oh yeah, Halloween was Saturday! That was a hoot. I volunteered my car to participate in our church’s Trunk or Treat party for the kiddos. I couldn’t believe I was the only one who decorated my car like this:

And the icing on the cake, of course, was Scottie volunteering to be eaten:

After we finished up there, we went to my family’s house for a little Halloween party. Nothing fancy, just hanging out and heating hot dawgs ‘n s’mores from the fire pit. The motley crew for the night:

So, fun little turnout there. 🙂

Sunday was our new music minister’s first day on the job. That was an absolute blast. Plus, even though we couldn’t have service out on the new property (dang mud), our pastor brought in a tub of dirt from the property and blessed it. It was very cool, and the service as a whole was SO much fun. We also raised nearly $200,000 in one-day offerings as part of the “first fruits” offering to go towards the development of the new church. I’m pretty sure that was the largest one-day offering in the history of the church. Very awesome.

That’s about all I got for now. Peace out, homeys.

Relief.

Well, thank God that’s over with. The Archaeology test I’ve been sweating over has been vanquished. I think I did a pretty darn good job on it, so hopefully the good doctor will see it the same way.

Big weekend ahead! Jenn and I are going to register at Home Depot, which will be our last one on the list. After that, we’re gonna go eat with Misty and then take a look at some furniture at the furniture store over in the Highlands. What is it, Ethan Allen? The one by PF Chang’s, whatever it is. Anyway, tomorrow is All Hallow’s Eve. Along with the el cheapo masquerade we’re gonna enjoy with the fam and some friends tomorrow night, I’ve volunteered my car as part of the church’s Trunk or Treat party tomorrow afternoon. If you’ve never heard of this, basically church members line up their cars in the parking lot, decorate ’em all spiffy, and the kids go around trickrtreatin’ for candy from the trunks. It’s meant to be a super-safe way for the kiddos to enjoy Halloween without worrying about evil folks out there in the world. Should be a lot of fun. I heard through the grapevine that everyone’s doing a fall/harvest theme with their vehicles. I’m like, UM WUT!? I’m so turning the trunk of my car into a monster mouth. Rawr! Happy Halloween!

I know, it’s a little early.

So, this was a nice weekend. Went to choir practice on Saturday morning with Jenn. I don’t think I’m going to sing in the Christmas pageant, but it was still fun to hang out and hear everyone sing. It’s sounding fantastic, I cannot wait for the holidays. 🙂

On that note, I was talking to Jenn about this on Saturday afternoon, and I think it’s true. I think people REALLY need to get Christmas’d up this year. The way the country is going lately, we are in such a deep state of depression, and we need some holiday spirit up in this joint. Now, I’m not talking about presents. This is definitely going to be a lean Christmas this year, that’s a fact. I’m talking about everything else. Christmas trees, Christmas music, Christmas smells, Christmas sounds, Christmas specials on TV… You know, the blitz that always really starts the weekend after Thanksgiving. Not the Black Friday aspect, but the seasonal aspect. Just the feeling of the holiday season. You know, that warm and cozy feeling! It’s something I’ve just been craving lately, personally, and I think a lot of people feel the same way and don’t realize it.

Along that line, I’ve noticed in recent years since I’ve really dedicated my life to Christ, that warm and cozy feeling is even better. Something changes in you when you get saved (well, a lot of things change in you, but that’s not the point), and in the weeks leading up to December 25th (yes, I know that’s not necessarily his REAL birthday…), if you let it in, that awesome feeling you get knowing that you’re preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus is one of the most comforting and wonderful feelings you’ll ever experience in this life. I remember watching “The Nativity Story” with Jenn last year for the first time. I never got to see it when it came out in theaters, and she has it on DVD. Anyway, THAT is an awesome movie. If you ever get a chance, watch it. The way they act out the story is just fantastic, especially the birth of Jesus at the end of the movie. It’s some of the most moving stuff I’ve seen on film, and it’s definitely something we’ll be watching every Christmas now.

Anyway, long story short, I think we’re all going to benefit from having a sweet little Christmas this year. Focus on your family, your friends, and Jesus. This year is as good a time as ever to start doing so, if you haven’t yet. We’re all blessed in so many little (and big) ways, and given the nature of the world right now, we should be grateful for all that we have.

… Man, I guess that was weighing heavier on my heart than I thought it was. It’s not even Halloween yet! LOL

Anyway, back to Saturday. Fun day. Okay, got it. After we went to choir practice, Jenn had a dentist appointment, and then we went to Bed, Bath, & Beyond to create a wedding registry there. We ended up spending at least three hours there working on our registry. It’s definitely our biggest one yet, but it’s mostly made up of little things, like, towels, picture frames, and kitchen utensils. Lots of cool stuff. 🙂

Jenn sang Revelation Song in church on Sunday. It was absolutely amazing. Folks were kidding around with me about the performance after church, though. The way the orchestra is setup on stage, I sit directly behind where the preacher stands at the pulpit. So as a result, when Jenn was standing there singing, I was sitting right behind her. And I was mouthing the words to the song the entire time. LOL! I wasn’t the only one, there were many folks in the congregation doing the same thing. But since I’m her fiance, and we were BOTH on camera at the time, I was the one who was given heck about it. Haha!

Next weekend, we’re going to try again to have the big tent service out on the new property. There’s rain in the forecast for a couple days this week, so I can’t say I’m fully confident it’s gonna work out. I really hope it does, though, because this time we’ll also be celebrating our first Sunday with our new music minister. Seems to me like that’s some good timing, so hopefully it’ll work out and the field will be nice and dry(ish) for Sunday. Here’s hoping!

<3 Friday.

Oh Friday, how I love you.

Today’s been better than yesterday for the most part. I did have to report a couple of stolen mice from one of my labs, which sucked. But we’ll get replacements for them eventually. Also, I got to scan security camera tapes while ago, which was kinda fun (even though we didn’t find anything). Other than that, it’s been an okay morning. Even the rude person from yesterday is in a slightly better mood today.

After school, Jenn and I are gonna head straight to Target and work on our registry there. That’s gonna be a fun one, can’t wait to see what we can find there. 🙂 Then we’re going to Dave & Buster’s after that to celebrate our friend Scottie’s birthday. We’re not going to spend any money playing games, but we’re at least going to eat and hang out. I did just find a D&B Power Card in my wallet, so maybe we’ll be able to play some games, at least.

Tomorrow, we’re going to the State Fair, aka Frah’d Saturday! Can’t wait to try the new goodies this year. The one I’m most excited about is the Green Goblin, but I’m also looking forward to trying the fried butter and the fried peaches ‘n cream. And of course, Jenn and I must get our Fletcher’s cornydawgs. I can taste the mustard-covered goodness already. Mmmmmm. Also, this year, we’re going to take the DART there instead of driving. We’re betting that since it’s Texas/OU weekend, taking DART will be a whole lot easier than attempting to find parking out there. We’ve gone on Texas/OU weekend before, and while it is indeed as chaotic as it sounds, it’s also a whole lot of fun to see all the orange and crimson filling up the Fair and the Cotton Bowl. Fun thing to do: Ride the Skyway during the game. The view you get of the inside of the Cotton Bowl is freakin’ AWESOME:

State Fair 2007

I was actually contacted one time by Wikipedia to use that picture for an article. I think it was an article on the history of the Red River Rivalry, but it doesn’t look like it’s there anymore. Makes sense, they definitely found some better pictures. Haha!

After all that’s over with, we’ve got church on Sunday morning. We were supposed to be having a huge service under a tent on the land we bought to build our new church on. But apparently, the pastor went out there this week and walked out into the field, and sank about ankle-deep into mud. So it’ll be church as usual (minus Sunday School) this Sunday, and the tent service has been pushed back to November 1st. That’s also the weekend that our new music minister starts, so it should be one freakin’ sweet weekend. The Lord works in mysterious ways. 🙂

Anyway, that’s about all for now. Don’t forget to check out the For Sale section, still got lots of toys available. Have a great weekend, friend!

iPSotD:

XKCD. Making my job a little easier. Haha!

“Beautiful day for a wedding!”

Those were the first words out of Troll’s mouth when I picked him up on Saturday. How great is that?

Despite all the drama leading up to it, the wedding was awesome. I was with Matt every step of the way, and never once did I see a flicker of doubt cross his face. In the eleven years I’ve known him, this truly was the happiest I’ve ever seen him. Dude was lookin’ sharp in his suit, and Laura looked fantastic in her dress. Jenn couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful she looked in it… and if Jenn says the wedding dress looks good, then that means Laura did REALLY good! LOL! Laura was so funny after the ceremony. While we were all waiting in the bridal suite to be introduced at the reception, she was twirling around in place. Everyone was like “Aww, how cute.” She was really just trying to get some air under the dress so she could cool off. HAH. And really, that’s how the entire evening was. Matt and Laura were both hilarious. I can’t tell you how many times I was watching them when they thought no one was, and they shared a brief little “I love you” moment. They were so sweet to each other all night.

Hands down, the best part was when Laura surprised Matt with his groom’s cake. The big gag was that EVERYONE but Matt knew what the groom’s cake was. She even showed it to me right before the big unveiling, and I totally had to high-five her. For those of you who don’t know Matt, he has an unnatural obsession with “The Simpsons.” The dude loves that show to a ridiculous degree. Well, Laura did good, to say the least. She got Matt a groom’s cake that was a giant pink sprinkled donut, with Homer Simpson laying on top of it. I swear, Matt jumped out of his suit when he saw it. You could hear his “YESSS!!!!!!!!!” clear across town. It was greatness! He was so incredibly happy. I can’t tell you how many times I heard him say, “Best day of my life… so far!” throughout the day.

Something else I noticed was how great Laura’s family was with Matt. Matt has a pretty small family, and I think he was really excited to marry into such a big family. I watched in-law after in-law come up to Matt, give him a huge hug and welcome him to the family. The look on his face said to me that he had a feeling of acceptance that he’s never felt in his life. And I can’t tell you how happy I am for him to finally get to feel that. And Laura’s brother… oh man, is he a trip. His name is Matt, too, and the boy was huggin’ on Matt ALL night. They were calling each other brother left and right, and it was classic. Absolutely fantastic.

To finish off the night, Matt and Laura invited family and friends to come hang out in their hotel room for the evening. Now granted, I know that sounds awkward as heck. And up until Saturday night, I thought it was a terrible idea. After all, they just got married. WHY would you want to use the hotel room that night for anything other than… well, you know?

But I got to thinking throughout the evening about how Matt thrives in the thick of the party. He’s always loved having his friends over to hang out. When we shared an apartment a few years back, there were MAYBE one or two nights a week where we didn’t have anyone over to hang out with us. So if he and Laura want to be with their loved ones a little while longer, not wanting the night to end just because they have to leave the reception hall at 8 PM… well, who are we to tell them how they should do it?

So yep, we decided at the last minute that we went to hang out with them in the hotel room. Jenn, Misty, Daniel, Allen, and I all went over there and hung out with them for a couple hours. Laura’s family came over for a bit, too. There was lots of drinking, laughing, throwing stuff, and fireworks! And you know what? Yes, it was a little awkward. I am one conservative son of a gun, and I’m a big believer in sticking to tradition for events such as weddings. But Matt’s been one of my best friends for eleven years, and I’m not gonna back out on him just because he and his wife want to get a little goofy with their day. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little for the happiness of the ones you care about. And I have no regrets whatsoever. 🙂

Matt told me that he and Laura, in an effort to save money, are staying home for their honeymoon. They’ve both taken a week off of work, and they’re going to spend time going to see movies, hanging out at Six Flags, spending quality time together, and whatever else they feel like doing. I thought that was a great idea, and I’m proud of them for doing that. I’ve been praying for them ever since I first started hearing about “the drama,” and I’m continuing to do so. I wish nothing but the best for them, and I hope everything works out for them in their new life together.

*whew* Man, got a little long-winded there, didn’t I?

Anyhoo, that wasn’t the only big deal this weekend. Yesterday, our church voted in our new music minister! Joel (pronounced Jo-el) Salazar comes to us after 19 years leading worship at Central Baptist in Livingston. He and his wife have two daughters and a son, all of whom are amazing musicians. Their 18 year old daughter plays the violin (VERY well), so woo-hoo, I’m no longer the only string in the band! Joel seems very down-to-earth and genuine, as does the rest of his family, so I’m very excited about him officially starting on November 1st!

iPSotD:

Allen eating a Texas Burrito at Monterey's yesterday. NOMZ.

Rain, rain on my face…

Seen the pictures from the Atlanta area? The flooding there’s pretty awful. I’ve got some friends out in that neck of the woods, so I’m praying that they (and everyone else) keep safe through this.

It’s certainly been a wet end to the summer, hasn’t it? Not just Atlanta, but definitely around here, too. All the craziness last week, and then that crazy squall line that moved through last night. I had the blessed fortune of walking to my car from UTA just as the storm hit there last night. Aaaand I forgot my umbrella in the car. So let me tell you, friend, that was one awesome walk. Especially since my two friends that I have class with every day BOTH remembered their umbrellas. I didn’t let them share with me, though, cuz they had silly little tiny umbrellas. My big ‘un could’ve easily protected all three of us, because I’m awesome like that.

Anyway, I made it to Jenn’s in one piece. Though it got kinda creepy on Pioneer Parkway for a bit, because the power was out between 161 and Carrier. And I mean OUT. The stoplights weren’t even flashing. It was eerie as heck. But still, made it just fine. We had a mighty good dinner, too. Jenn’s dad made some chili with deer meat, and it was nothing short of PHENOMENAL. He put molasses, cinnamon, honey, and who knows what else in it, so it had this robust sweet flavor to it. Not a normal chili taste, but it was still a life-changing event. It was so rich that Jenn couldn’t finish her bowl, so I ended up having a bowl and a half. No complaints here, though I wish I had some more today. 🙂

Well, Saturday is Troll’s wedding. Should be an interesting day. The rehearsal is Friday night, and I have to go pick up my tux on Thursday afternoon, which means I’ll need to skip class. I’m okay with that, though, because that means after I pick up my tux, I’ll be free to go to the first Refuge Bible Study of the semester. Woo-Hoo! See you Thursday night, Kilo.

Speaking of church, I did some digging regarding our possible new music minister. Found his current church’s website and took a look at the stuff he’s done for them. If what I found there is any indication, this guy could potentially be a huge benefit for our church. He definitely knows what he’s doing, and I can’t wait to work with him!

Big C’s iPhone Special:

My new wallpaper.

iPSotD:

My world is a flood...