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?

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.

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!

Mos Eisley, here we come!

Click to embiggen.

This is SO freakin’ sweet! Check out the Eigenharp…

Demo video on BBC.

Basically, it’s the most customizable electronic instrument ever made. Part electric guitar, part synthesizer, part woodwind, part percussion. The possibilities are endless! I so wish I could get one of these. Hey, it’s a bargain at £3950.00. LOL!

Can you imagine my little brother (Mark) with one of these? They’d have him on stage in a heartbeat. Amazing stuff. I will never ever get tired of the classics when it comes to musical instruments (especially my cello), but this is definitely part of the future of musical instruments. So awesome!

Stressed?

Saw this at UTA last night. Given the context of the flier, I thought it was hilarious (and mildly scary) how the phone number tabs had been ripped off the bottom.

Isn’t that just classic? It’s kinda sad, though. I mean, either people are trying to be funny, or they really are THAT stressed. I feel bad for them. I mean, I have my share of stress, of course. The stuff I talked about yesterday, for example. But I’m able to calm it down after a while, whereas it looks like some of the people interested in this seminar just don’t have that ability. It’s sad. They need some Jesus.

Both tests went well last night. The Criminal Justice test had a couple of challenging questions, but I think I did just fine. The History of the Renaissance map quiz was a breeze. There was ONE place I wasn’t able to identify, and I still feel stupid for not remembering it. I can’t even remember it now! It’s silly. But I got all the other ones just fine, and I got both bonus questions, so I’m not worried about it.

Business Comm. and Pirates of the Caribbean tonight. Also, the Arlington High Orchestra is doing a concert at UTA tonight with a couple other high schools, so I may see if I can track down Keefer while they’re there, just to say hi. Not sure if I’ll have time to do that, though, because I’m going to get my hur-ah cut at 4:30. We’ll just have to wait and see!

Ever have a song really get to you at the most bizarre and random moment? I just heard this song on K-LOVE by Mark Schultz called “Walking Her Home,” and listening to it just made me think about how much Jenn and I love each other. And mercy, it just hit me like a ton of bricks. I can’t even look up the lyrics to post them on here, it got to me that much. I texted Jenn to tell her about it, and I think I might have made her cry a little. Heh.

Whew. Yeah, that whole situation didn’t help this headache much. I took some ibuprofen earlier, so that knocked it down a little. But I still feel it behind my right eyeball, and it’s driving me nuts. Sinus pressure sucks. I still have some crud wandering around in my head, and I hate it. Jenn’s feeling a little better though, thank goodness. I was a little worried about her, given the fact that she’s a kindergarten teacher. Not the healthiest atmosphere when it comes to viruses! Speaking of, a good friend of mine and her little boy are both home with the swine flu today, so please pray that they get through it quick enough. Sure is spreading like wildfire now. I think I heard yesterday that a teacher in Weatherford died from it? Awful stuff. Be careful out there, friends. It’s only gonna get worse!

iPSotD:

Thing? The hand of the space cadet of a tech specialist I had to work with yesterday.

“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...

Silly RetroJunk.com

They didn’t like me borrowing one of their Silverhawks pictures for my last post, so they changed the picture to the one you see there in the post now. Not really sure why, are they concerned about bandwidth? That doesn’t really make sense, since they’re still using the site’s bandwidth by changing to that picture. Are they being stingy about other sites borrowing pics from their page? If so, they’re silly. It’s just a picture of an action figure. It’s not an amazing piece of Photoshop work or a killer photo that someone took. It’s a picture of an action figure. Lame. But oh well, no harm done.

Here's your sign.

Anyway, Troll’s bachelor party went fine on Saturday night. We were about ten minutes late getting in because the manager at Billy Bob’s that Garrison knows took forever to get to the door and let us in. Then he disappeared on us, so we didn’t know where we could go sit. So we stood at one of the eighteen bars one can find in Billy Bob’s, watching from afar until about halfway through the show, when Garrison was finally able to find the guy so he could take us down to the floor. We got settled in at a respectable distance from the stage, so that was pretty sweet. The only dumb part of the night was when I asked the waitress to get Troll a shot that would knock him on his butt. You know what she brought him? A Vegas Bomb. It smelled like coconut and Froot Loops. Honestly, the only thing in it that got Matt all messed up was the Red Bull. LAME.

Oh, and remind me to use cash there from now on. They put $50 on my check card to start my tab, even though the bill was $20 (dummy put a couple of beers on there that I didn’t order, but Troll’s future brother-in-law gave me the cash for them since he ordered them). And since it was done Saturday night, my bank account still says they took $50 from me instead of $20. Granted, the money will go back in, but I still don’t like that. I only gave the lady two bucks for her tip. All of her cash tips were in the checkbook that held my receipt to sign, so I know that she wasn’t exactly hurtin’ that night.

But, I digress, it was still fun. Between Billy Bob’s and going back to Jacob’s house to hang out and watch Tropic Thunder (never seen it btw, AWESOME), Troll got pretty drunk, which is what he wanted out of his bachelor party. He also hinted heavily a while back to Garrison that he wanted strippers, but Garrison and I were like, “Uh, no.” But anyway, good times. Allen and I had to bail at around 2 AM, just because he rode with me and I had to get some rest for church that morning, otherwise we would have stayed and tried to make more of a party of it for him.

Speaking of church, I played a solo for the offertory yesterday. Felt real good getting to bust out and do some glorifyin’, and playing with Gordon was a blast. Also, we found out at the end of the service that the search committee has found a candidate to be our new music minister. He’s going to be leading the service next Sunday, and based on what Jeff (the head of the committee) and Dr. Skaar said, this guy is apparently one awesome dude. So pray for our church and hope for the best. We definitely need it.

iPSotD (taken Saturday, because I felt like it):

"My life.... my all!"

Washout.

So we went to the Brad Paisley concert at the Superpages.com Center (previously the Smirnoff Music Center, previously the Coca-Cola Starplex).

On a completely unrelated note, the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex has received roughly 800 inches of rain since Friday evening.

Heh, but really, it was a blast. Sure, we got BEYOND drenched after standing out in the worst of it for several hours. But we got to hear some awesome music! Jimmy Wayne opened up the show. I’d never heard of him, but he had some excellent tunes. Dierks Bentley (yes, that’s spelled right) came out next, and he was a blast. Then Brad came out and just tore it up. I always forget that the man can shred on the guitar. Dude could hold his own with Clapton, srsly. He is easily leading the next generation of guitar legends. Jenn took some great pictures of him performing, but I haven’t had a chance to pull them off her camera yet. Nothing on Flickr yet either, which surprises me, but I snapped a couple shots on my iPhone (through a protective Ziploc bag) of our friends having some fun.

By the way, iPhones work GREAT through Ziploc bags! I could even update my Facebook status through the plastic. LOL

Anyway, all in all, it was so much fun. We all went to Whataburger afterward (after going home to change) and got some brekfust taquitos. Almost as good as a bag full of Jack in the Box tacos after midnight. 🙂

Still raining outside. It’s really starting to affect my mood, unfortunately. Feeling pretty down in the dumps today. I know it’ll pass though, just gotta have faith.

iPSotD:

I’ve been here before, and here I am again…

Listening to Rush of Fools perform live on K-LOVE right now via iTunes. Pretty nice.

So I had to go on a headphone-hunting adventure this morning. Allegedly, we have 30 headphones for each of my four computer labs. That being said, I have never seen 30 headphones in ANY of my four computer labs. In fact, the one time I actually have a teacher request headphones for the lab she was using with her class (literally, this is the first time since I’ve started working here last year), said lab had no more than 9 functioning sets. AUGH. So I had to go scrounge up headphones from the other labs. I took every single set and put them in one box, and they’re all staying together like that for the rest of the year, unless another teacher requests them. We’ve had way too many walk away under mysterious circumstances, and I’m not gonna let it happen anymore.

That sounded entirely too passionate and resolute for a rant about… headphones.

Anyway, other than the Grand Headphone Quest (GHQ, if you will), things have been pretty quiet this morning. I’ve been watching the radar for rain– which, Praise God, we’re finally seeing. I’m hoping before too long, we’ll start to see some more colors on the radar besides green and greener. There’s a little yellow off to the west, which could be a good sign.

Ever wondered what someone from, like, the 1920s would think if they saw our weather radar technology today (nevermind all the other crazy crap we have that would prob’ly scare the 23-skidoo’s out of them)? I mean, they hear we have a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, look on TV, and HOLY SMOKES THERE’S POISON GAS AND POSSIBLY LAVA FLOATING OVER US.

Man, I gotta get out more.

Anyway, I’m getting a haircut this afternoon. Just so you know.

iPSotD:

A view from my "office."