I tried.

My brother and my sister-in-law made a dance video a few weeks ago…watch it here.

Then my other sister, her husband, my uncle and his wife made a response to Chris and Laura’s dance party…watch it here.

Well, I tried to make one too…I really did. But within two minutes of placing it on youtube it was flagged and removed by Sony Entertainment, because of the song. Very sad.

I know you don’t believe me…you don’t have to, I know the truth.

J-Burg?

Several months ago my church began planning a trip to Johannesburg, South Africa. They asked if there would be any staff who would be willing to go. At first I thought, “wow, that would be something I would love to do.” But then I made the mistake of asking what it would cost to go on the trip. $4,000.00. WOW! I didn’t have an extra four grand at the time…and still don’t (to donate the the Scott and Amanda Woods debt relief fund; send me an e-mail, only serious offers please.).

I didn’t think much of it after that. So I continued on with my life. Until last Wednesday, when the Compassion Director at my church e-mailed me. Asking if I would be willing to still go. So I called her back and said “sure”, but cost was a big obstacle. She proceeded into a long story about a man who was shot and killed tragically about 5-6 years ago. All the money that was donated to his memorial has been tied-up due to the court battles over the fate of the man who shot him.

Last week the money became available and the family called our Compassion Director and said, “I hear you are taking a trip to South Africa in a month. Can I scholarship someone to go with the memorial money.” Excitedly, she said yes and asked if I would still go.

So all that to say, I am going to South Africa in about a month. I will be there about 10 days. I am very excited and cannot wait to go. Amanda has been amazingly encouraging and is also excited about my opportunity.

I will do my best to blog  my adventures in Africa, but that is all pending the internet being available at our hotel in J-Burg.

(Special Thanks to my Auntie who purchased me my passport when I graduated college. I have used it before, but just for the Bahamas. I am very excited to use it on this trip)

Life’s Little Pleasures

or not so little.

There is not much better in this world than an 8:30am slurpee.

Twitter Glory!

I am a twitter-holic. I confess…but don’t care enough to stop. Today, I had a short conversation with Rainn Wilson. You might know him from movies like, “The Rocker”, “The Last Mimzy”, “Renaissance Men”, the animated film “Monsters vs. Aliens”. Oh and yes…he also plays Dwight on the hit show “The Office”.

Read the tweets and be jealous…

VLOG for JIM (aka SKOOLA)!

So I attempted to be creative in my blog today. However, when that happens I tend to get in over my head and it takes wayyyyy to long to do something that should be very simple.

So here is what you do. Watch the first video until is says “pause here” then pause the video and watch the video below it. After the conclusion of the second video…watch the ending to the first…make sense? (ps. ignore the little ad at then of the second video.)

Good luck!

Well, my wife just saw my second video…She deemed it inappropriate. Thus I have removed it. She said it was hazardous to my career. So enjoy the first video. VLOGGING IS HARD!

Good Morning, Bad start.

well, I ran out to take out the trash before the garbage man arrived at our house. Still in my pajamas, I darted out to the curb. Recycling…check. Garbage can…check. Unlocked door? Locked door…check.
With no cell phone or keys, I couldn’t even ask my neighbor to use their phone. I doubt speed dial two calls my wife on their phone. So … Read Morestanding in my garage all I had was a knife and hammer from my tool kit.
So I started cutting away, right through the dry-wall. I got through the first wall, then had to pull out the insulation then cut through the second wall.
Finally getting enough room to reach through to my door knob. I slide and scrape my arm until I am able to unlock the door and walk in. I was expecting my dog to be standing there with curiosity…Nope! She was upstairs cowering. Not much of a guard dog is she?

The Power of Sunshine.

I am becoming a firm believer in the power of sunshine. I believe that it is possibly one of the greatest gifts that God has given us, after Jesus of course. After surviving 3 winters in the Chicagoland area. I have begun to appreciate it so much more. The truth is, we are not out of the woods yet. It is only March…a snow storm could develop at any moment. We’re still one month way from leaving the danger zone.

But today is a gift…and I will accept it. I think I am going to go to the store so I can grill out tonight.

Funky-Funk?

I feel like I am in a funk right now. I don’t know exactly why. Life has gotten into a pattern. It goes something like this.

RUSH, RUSH, RUSH…

Home life has seemed rushed and relaxing moments are few and far between. I won’t even begin to tell you about work. Having your “love-language” be quality time, isn’t that great…especially when you do not have time. Let alone quality time. I have no time to connect with friends outside of work, I have limited time to connect with my wife, I have small amounts of time to connect with God.

That is a lethal combination. Your soul cannot thrive at such a pace. Another problem with the qualtity time thing is, other people have to give up time as well. Most people who I run with seem to be on the same schedule as me. Thus creating an even more difficult to find time together. Oh, plus…not all of them have the same “love-language” as me. So they look for other things such as: acts of service, words of affirmation, or touch (weirdos).

I know this seems like an odd post. Perhaps it accentuates my funk. I scheduled a hour and a half of solitude on Thursday. I think that will help. Time with the Creator would probably be the most important missing link in my life right now. I’ll keep you posted on any new developments in that department.

On another note:

We just got a new computer at the house for Amanda, it is a MacBook. But not just any MacBook it has a pink polka-dot skin on the shell. She really likes it. We bought it from a friend of a friend, he refurbishes old Macs. We got a really good deal on it. Plus, now we can do our taxes…I’ll keep you posted on any new developments in that department.

On another note:

We went to Medieval Times with Chris and Laura while they were in town. It was more fun being with them than it was going to the dinner and show. We must have had the worst table in the place. If you ever go and they try to give you table 24…run! Get your money back. We sat in the last row and the view was partially obstructed. I don’t know we would ever go again. It is kind of expensive, especially for bad seats. But is was a BLAST hanging out with Chris and Laura all weekend. I hope they return soon…I’ll keep you posted on any new developments in that department.

Well friends…that is 3 blogs in one. It must be your lucky day…or unluckiest?

A Medieval Weekend

My little brother and his wife are coming to town this weekend. I can’t wait for them to get here. It is going to be great. Tomorrow night we are going to Medieval Times. It is a themed restaurant and show. The outside of the building looks like a castle. Every time my brother would drive by it he would say, “someday I am going to go there.” Well I found out a couple of weeks ago it is closing down. So when Chris and Laura decided to come up this weekend, I knew we had go.

So I booked us reservations. It is going to be great. And today at Circuit City, I was able to get a new digital camera for 60% off. So I will take plenty of pictures. So stayed tuned…

Here is a funny video…

The Boys

In the willow world, our weekends tend to be Friday and Saturday, due to the hard work that takes place on Sundays. Well this last Friday a friend name Ernie gave some of us Autoshow tickets (thanks Ernie). None of us are really car guys, but we had a ton of fun going downtown and hanging out. We rode the train down to the city then got day passes for the El. We spent several hours at the car show, we walked off a lot of calories which was good.

It was really cool after a fun day, to sit back and reflect on how God has blessed me with some really good friends. Matt and I have been friends sense almost day 1…well his day 1. I love that he lives up here. Kellen moved up from Georgia to do an internship at Willow. It has been really awesome to get to know him and watch  him grow in amazing ways. Then there is Adam. What can I say about him? He has quickly turned into one of my best friends. My love language is quality time and words of affirmation. But I think the quality time sometimes drives him crazy, because I just love to hang-out, and he likes to be alone. But he seems to accept me as a friend anyway.

When I first moved up to Chicago on June 12, 2006; one of hardest parts was leaving all the people I knew and loved. And although I still love those back in STL (well…most of them). God has really blessed me with some amazing friends. Even though two of the three I mentioned, I supervise at work. They probably have no idea how much I look up to them.

Thank you God for providing for me in way I could have never imagined and blessing me with friends that challenge me to be more like you.

Matt

Adam

Kellen