how ghetto is holly springs? part 1

update on the diet, plus much much more

First things first, I lost 3 more pounds last week. That's 5 total, bringing me to 188. Eight more pounds until my goal. After that, I'm going to set a goal a little farther back. But one step at a time.

To aid my weight loss, I've begun tricking out my decidedly un-tricked out bicycle. I mean, it's pink and purple for crying out loud. However, it's a 10-speed that my brother's ex-girlfriend gave to me a few years ago (thanks, Michelle!) and is still in good condition. The seat is kinda tough, though, so I bought and installed a new one this weekend. Also I bought new brake pads that I found for $1.00 at Wal-Mart. Not bad, eh?

Also last week, something happened to me that I didn't know was even possible. I slipped on a banana peel as I stepped out of my car. I've seen it happen in many Looney Tunes, but never in real life. It was a little traumatic but much more funny. Especially for all the people who saw it. No one laughed in front of me, but I know that as soon as I dragged myself up my stairs, the chuckling began.

The big news this week has been the oncoming potential ice storm. I woke this morning to a car completely frozen over. Once I got my door open, I realized I had neither an ice pick nor a can of de-icer spray. Then I saw an old Limp Bizkit CD from my old roommate's collection lying in my backseat. It made the perfect pick.

On a more serious note, however, I was extremely touched this weekend. We took the youth to a children's home in Independence, MS where we played Santa to the 15-16 kids living there. They sent us Christmas lists and, due to a nice donation we received, we were able to buy each kid 2 gifts. Then they had us come play basketball/soccer/football with them until we had to leave. These kids were so grateful...they all hugged and high-fived us numerous times until we had to drive away. Needless to say, this place will continue to be a mission spot for us in the future.

And finally, I'm trying to learn Christmas songs for Wednesday Night Worship (what we call our weekly service). Since Christmas is pretty much here, if anyone knows any songs I could learn pretty easily (I'm still a novice) then I'd appreciate the tip. I have learned Silent Night and play a pretty funky rendition of Jingle Bells...

christmas with weezer

Weezer did a few Christmas songs, and here are two of them. The rest are on YouTube, if you feel like checking them out. I am totally in the Christmas Spirit.

The First Noel

O Holy Night

official weigh-in

Alright, I weigh in today at...drum roll...191. I lost 2 pounds this week! And it wasn't easy, either. I really had to resist some good food. And completely drink water all week. Also, not eat after 9:00 PM. I have always eaten after 9, so that's a hard habit to break.

But I feel better, and confident that I can make it the rest of the way.

hysteria

I have never thought of myself as weak, but I really want some chocolate.

I've been eating mostly fiber-based foods as of the last 3 days. Water and occasionally tea has been all I've drank. I like the food I'm eating. The Kashi Lean cereal I'm having in the morning is good, as is my daily pear. Lunch is pretty good, with the whole wheat pita bread and turkey and assorted nuts and berries. But I would kill someone for chocolate.

Perhaps I chose the wrong month for dieting. Maybe? But I do feel more alert and happy now that I have better stuff in my system. Still...chocolate.

Anyway, onto other things. I have recently discovered last.fm. If you don't know, it's a music site where you choose your favorite bands/artists and it plays their songs for you. It's nice to have going at work and, if I had internet at home, it would play constantly. You should check it out.

Also, speaking of music, the Raveonettes have put out a Christmas EP called "Wishing You a Rave Christmas". It's really good, if you like foreign garage rock.

Other great Christmas albums: James Taylor put one out a year or so ago, as has Relient K. Depending on your tastes, I'd check 'em out.

Alright well I have to get back to work and NOT eating chocolate. And tomorrow...weigh in.

correction, plus a cool thing

I was wrong in my last post. I hadn't adjusted my scale. I officially weigh 193 pounds. So that means 13 pounds until my target weight. I feel better already!

And now, a cool thing. A coworker told me about this thing at Wal-Mart called RedBox. It's a DVD rental vending machine that costs $1 per day. I rented "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", which I had seen once before, and just finished watching it again. Hilarious. I love RedBox.

Tomorrow (or, today rather) the great diet/exercise plan begins!

a new leaf. dieting. yeech.

This weekend, it hit me. I had to buy new pants that fit better.

After that, I went to the store and bought a scale. I decided to find out exactly how much I weighed and then find out my ideal weight. Based on my height (5' 10") I should weigh around 180 pounds. I looked that up last night. I didn't get on the scale until today.

I weighed in at 200 even. That is the most I have ever weighed in my life. I feel self-conscious, my legs and stomach have gotten the most of the extra weight. Every once in a while I get told that I've "really put on weight" lately. It's been within the past few years. I weighed 150 lbs. just 4 years ago. There are different reasons why I haven't kept the weight off, whether it be general laziness or stress or whatever. I'm sick of it though, and it needs to go.

However, I have no one to keep me in check. That's where this blog comes in. I will weigh myself every Friday and discuss my week in dieting/exercise. I hope to lose the weight in a few months. I'm smart enough to know to pace myself, and don't want to binge. I want a healthy lifestyle and a weight I can manage.

So if anyone reading this knows any tips that could be benificial to me, please let me know!

a suggestion to music blogs

The albums above are current (and older) favorites of mine. On all of them, there are catchy melodies and interesting lyrics. Not world-/life-changing stuff, but enjoyable music that makes me happy. All (in some form or another) harshly criticized.

I'm not so happy when I read certain music blogs. I was angered recently by a review of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals new album "Cardinology" when a reviewer panned a few songs for being "radio-friendly". Okay, what's wrong with writing a song that doesn't alienate people? One song in question is called "Magick" and it's a pretty good song. It has chord changes and a catchy chorus. I tend to think that if you can write a song that will make people happy, then you've done something kind of good.

Not so with music sites such as Pitchfork (who overanalyze everything) and It's Hard to Find a Friend (who I generally love...save for this ignorant statement about Adams). IHTFAF even mentioned that Adams' album "Rock n Roll" was horrible. Not true. It was an artist who is normally in the alt-country genre branching out and making really good sounding classic rock. What's wrong with that picture? Nothing, except for the reviewer's inability to listen to these songs while at a stop light with his windows down and be seen by others as so much "cooler" and "different" for not liking what they like.

Am I saying that I don't want to be different? No. I'm not saying I do, either. I just want to like what I like. Why do we have to harshly criticize music (or anything personal) just because it is or isn't the way we see that it should be? In the case of music, let's just let it be. If you like it, good. If not, that's fine. But please stop being so pretentious. It's not cool. It's annoying.

week in review

Wow, didn't mean to go so long with a basically negative post greeting anyone stumbling onto this page. Guess I should update.

I've become a morning coffee drinker. All day long I'm guzzling this huge water bottle, so I don't get my caffiene during the day anymore like I did when I was a Coke drinker. This had led to headaches and a bad temper. My co-workers have even referred to my attitude as "doo-doo on a stick". So coffee has helped temper my...um...temper.

This past Wednesday I had to go back to the doctor to check on my stone. For the first time in my life, I had a good looking nurse. Wait, scratch that. TWO good looking nurses. They were really nice and smelled amazing. That was great, because next I got to see the X-Ray of my stone. It's friggin' HUGE! I shuddered when I thought of having to pass this thing. Still do.

The wedding last weekend was actually not that bad. I got to see some old friends and make new ones. My only complaint was...get this...the kidney stone. I was so high on painkillers during the wedding that I thought I was going to pass out. I was seriously shuffling and blinking a lot. Thankfully no one seemed to notice and the wedding was a success.

And Thanksgiving is here next week, which is great for two reasons. One, I love the food. Two, I can get into the Christmas spirit. My work has been playing Christmas music already and I'm sort of a Scrooge about that. I want Thanksgiving out of the way first. Then we can celebrate.

On a different note, I have been reading a book that has been pretty hard to put down. I started it yesterday on lunch break/before Oxygen/before bed and got about halfway through it. It's called Pathways to Abandon by Nathan Schnackenburg, and it's about a guy who grew up a missionary kid in Japan, moved back to America, and went a little crazy. It's basically a testimony, but it's been pretty entertaining. I like to hear stories of where people have been and what shapes them into who they are now. So if you need something to read in this cold weather, this is a pretty good choice.

a complaint-filled post

Money. What a concept. We need it but don't want to be consumed by it.

I have a couple things to vent about. For my own personal safety, I'll be vague about one of them but explicit about the other.

First of all, I'm finding myself to be running out of money fairly often these days. It seems like I'm having to coast the last half of the month. Granted I took a vacation last month which was a drain financially (but good for me otherwise), but something pops up all the time. Like this month I have to go to a wedding (more on that later) and of course next month is Christmas. My ski trip is in March and I have to plop down $375 in a couple weeks for a ski pass. And today I found out that some much needed money I was expecting will not be coming to me after all. I had thought about getting a credit card for such emergencies (I know, I know, bad idea...I've read Dave Ramsey's books) but I get denied every time. Turns out that people my age are least eligible. Needless to say, I'm a little bummed about it all.

My other gripe is about this wedding. I'm really happy for my friend, whom I have had a tumultuous relationship with, but by God's grace I've been able to get past it all. I'm actually really excited to see him at this huge time of his life. The thing that bugs me is how much trouble the tuxedo situation has turned out to be. First off, Ben and I went to get fitted a few weeks ago and the store was supposed to call in our information to the Paris, TN (where my friend lives) tux place and we could just pick it up there. Good, sounds simple.

But it wasn't. And isn't. We got fitted by the worst fitter ever. She had to go back and do it again after someone told her she did it wrong. She tried fitting my pants by asking this question, "Where is your belly button?" Did she think I hiked my pants up that high?!? Ridiculous.

Anyway, after all of that, we paid a deposit only to have them return the deposit to us the next day. Apparently we had to pay in Paris. Okay, fine. Then a week later I got a phone call from the store letting me know that my order had to be redone and I had to pay in Oxford. Okay, fine, I went and did all that. They informed us that we had to pick up the tuxes in Oxford now instead of Paris. Alright, can do.

Then this morning I got a phone call saying that I need to come try on the tux because they're afraid that the measurements were wrong. WHAT?!? So I have to go down there and try it on. I'm crossing my fingers that it's right because I have to leave town tomorrow afternoon for rehearsal. I don't think the couple will be too happy if we show up tux-less.

Yeah, it's a frustrating day. And I have to pay for the tuxes today, too. Not to mention the gas to get up to Paris (a 3 hour drive).

As of this point, I'm taking donations.

adam is dum

I know I just posted earlier today, but I had to put this up. This past Sunday night, one of my youth told me to come into our room because this little girl named Kristin had drawn a picture for me. I went in expecting something heartwarming...but I got something much better. If nothing else, self-depreciating humor is one of my favorite things. So to be immortalized on a dry-erase board, frowning, with a message beside me claiming that I am "dum"...well...let's just say it made my night. Thanks Kristin!

(Click the pic to make it larger)

going fast when i should wait

I went to the doctor yesterday about my kidney stones. I never like going to the doctor. I sat in his office for a few hours on painkillers. I fell asleep a few times...and reportedly was a certifiable jerk on occasion. Those pills do that to me. Anyway, I got checked out and now I know that I have a 3mm stone on the outside of my kidney that gets stuck in my tubes and makes me act like a baby. I have a 60-70% chance of passing it.

So even though I have been slowing things down a little bit, I have to slow it even more. Doctor's orders. Also lots of water. And maybe lots of Drank, too.

But at least I'm off work today. Veteran's Day! I've been able to clean up a little around the house and play some Gears of War 2. I'm a 25 year old kid. But I love my multimedia.

And speaking of which, I am ready for this album later on this month. Check that hair.

an early November update

It has been quite a week so far. New president-elect, and because of that there's nothing to watch on TV. But I'm wondering...when are all these people moving to Canada/Australia?

And I really don't want to get into the election stuff. I could talk about it all day, but for what purpose? Speculation? I don't know what the next 4-8 years will bring. I will just say that regardless of our leader, we need to pray for God's will to be done. Same for Obama as it would have been for McCain. And let's stop with the hate speech, Christians. Some of you are so worried about the anti-Christ...well the Bible speaks of many anti-Christs. Think of what that means. Against Christ. The opposite of Christ. And who exactly does that apply to? Everyone who says that Christ is not who He says He is. All liars and slanderers of His name. So...let's think, people. Don't become an anti-Christ. Pray, be diligent, and trust God. You know your Savior...let Him continue to be that.

On a lighter subject, I really got a kick out of this: an older man (83 years old) came in and did a loan today and I had the privilege of talking with him. This guy was hilarious. He wasn't the crotchety old man who's mad at the world, nor was he the super sweet old guy who all the women say "He's so cute" about...he was just an older guy who, while a little senile, has seemingly stayed relevant his whole life. Among his words of wisdom ("you shouldn't have kids if you're not willing to take care of them even when they're in their sixties...", "I think we should give Obama a fair chance before we throw him out..."), he also said lots of old guy stuff ("...it's really hard to write with this arthritis in my hands. It's also in my feet....blah blah blah...").

But one of the funniest things he said was when he was talking about his sons. He said, "I raised my sons right. I took them to church and made them sit beside me. I know they were saved. I lost one of my sons, too. He was about your age." At this point there was a long pause and I started feeling some sympathy for him. To lose a son at 25 had to be hard. Then he said, "Well, I don't know. He was 52. How old are you?" I almost laughed. I said, "25." Then we both laughed for a long time.

As far as my kidney stones, I think this round is over! I've passed 2 of them in the past 2 weeks. I'm still sore and I still haven't gotten into my routine of exercising again, but I'm positive that I can very soon.

Oh yeah...I'm exercising to get in better shape both for myself and for my upcoming ski trip in March. Speaking of which, my cousin backed out of the trip...so it will be me with my aunt and uncle and two family friends. All cool people, trust me, but still...it would have been nice to have another young person going. So if you want to go to beautiful Breckinridge/Keystone, Colorado in March (or know someone who does), please let me know! There's time to work out details. And it would be awesome.

To wrap up, I'm gonna post album covers of some of the most listened tunes on my iPod here lately. I encourage you to check them out. I'll write a little about them, and then it's back to work.

More brilliance from Adams and his full band. Alt-country with a contemplative swagger. My picks: "Go Easy", "Magick", "Let Us Down Easy", "Natural Ghost".

The Strokes' guitarist's second solo album, it's full of catchy riffs and songs that just stick in your head. My picks: "GfC", "Lisa", "You Won't Be Fooled By This".

Ex-Pedro the Lion frontman prepares for his full length solo album with an EP released last year ("Fewer Moving Parts") and this two-song single released this past Tuesday. Both songs are great. "American Flags" and "Please, Baby, Please (Demo)".

tired of pain

Amazingly, the self-torture I spoke of in the last post has given birth to another type of bodily misery...kidney stones.

I have had kidney stones off and on for about 4 years now. Most of them are attributed to carbonated drinks (Coke, how I love you...) and too much calcium (milk? cheese? I dunno). So now and again I'll go on hiatus from fizzy drinks to cleanse my body. And since I've been running in addition to chugging water daily, stones that have been dormant in my kidneys have decided to escape. Wednesday afternoon the pain was pretty much unbearable. I went home from work an hour early to go home and roll around on my floor while making ungodly noises. I eventually got some medication to knock me out. Later that night I passed a stone. One word: ouch.

At 2 AM Thursday, however, I had another pain in my back. I got up and took another pill to allow myself to sleep. I went to work later on and was in a drug-induced daze all day long. After work I went home and crashed for a couple hours. Then, miraculously, I felt all better.

Now here I am today, knowing that there's a stone inside me that is just waiting. I want it to get out, but I know that's not really up to me. Ah well. Maybe it'll hit me on this Halloween night and I can scare small children with my screams...

feel the burn

Over the last week, I have subscribed to a popular form of self-torture. Running.

In March I'm going skiing again. Last year my stamina wasn't that great and I would be wiped out halfway down the mountain. That's not good. So, since I have also put on some weight over the past year, I decided to get my act together and start working out. And man am I paying for it.

Saturday I ran around this local football field a few times. I was out of breath but really felt like I accomplished something. Then I got home and hit the Bowflex. I was jazzed...until about 4 AM Sunday morning. I woke up with cramps and pains I hadn't felt in a looooong time. Needless to say I didn't sleep at all after that.

But today I ran a little farther...lifted a little more...and I feel like I'm on the way to a better, healthier me. 

It just friggin' hurts.

why i hate the local fair

I don't know if anyone remembers, but last year on my old blog I complained about this annual fair being held literally in front of my apartment. Well, it's back, and this time they've gone even farther in messing with me.

It's called the Kudzu Festival (kudzu is this terrible plant that originated in China and was brought over here to help stop erosion. It didn't, but instead took over other plants and trees and looks ugly). I hate it. When I was a kid, I loved the festival. You could ride all the rides and they looked, sounded, and felt like they would break at any second...which of course made it more exciting! But the festival soon soured itself to me not one, not two, but three times.

The first time actually started off nice. I was a kid, probably about 10 or 11 years old, and just starting to like girls. This one girl in particular seemed to like me, too. It was great...we played that game where you pop balloons and we both won these cool drawings framed in glass. I was so proud...mine was of Taz (my uncle loved Taz...therefore I loved Taz) and hers was a bunny or something. It was really girly. Anyway, we decided to ride this one thing that would jerk us around for a bit. I put our framed pictures beside me and we began. One sharp turn later and I smashed into the pictures...glass went all in my leg and cut my arm. I cried.

Second time was also with a girl. I was in high school now, and was skipping work that night to take my girlfriend out to the fair. I know, I'm so romantic. We were having fun until my boss saw me and made a very snarky comment to me. He then proceeded to make my life hell until I finally quit that job.

And so here we are. Third time. They say it's the charm...I say it breaks the camel's back. Last year the Kudzu Festival moved to the courthouse lawn/parking spaces. I live right across from the courthouse and park in those spaces! I was a little upset. My landlord gave me a pass to park beside the building but I still got hassled by police every night. And then the carnies. The carnies would walk along the square at all hours, howling and drinking and being...carnies. They really are a different breed.

This year it's all back, but with a twist. I can't have a parking pass! So now I have to park a block or two down and walk home. And the festival is staying open later, which means the loud music and flashing lights go on all night. I have to sleep on my couch (in the room furthest away from the insanity). Awesome!

So I hate it. And I think I have good reasons.

vacation recap

Well, I had an amazing vacation last week. I went to West Palm Beach, Florida (or more specifically, Jupiter) to visit one of my oldest and dearest friends, Corrie Edwards. After toiling months and months without end here in Mississippi, a nice trip is just what I needed.

So I flew down on Saturday and immediately we went to the beach. I got the opportunity to blind locals and tourists alike with my white body, but soon enough I got a nice tan/burn combination going on.

Sunday we went to Corrie's church, where I turned in an information card and, upon returning home, had a letter and a Starbucks giftcard waiting on me. Talk about an outreach team...

Most of the week was spent on the beach, soaking up the sun and taking on some waves. It was incredible. I seriously fell in love with an entire state in the course of a week. Everyone I met was really nice, too. Although, I tried holding the door for a few people and they looked at me as if I had a crab hanging off my face. Also, I got honked at and flipped off within the first 10 seconds of driving down there. The people definitely aren't as laid back as they are back home, so I had to be aggressive. Since returning home, my hand has hit the horn quite a few times. Sorry, Mississippi.

Another thing about Florida...I don't think a minute goes by when Lil' Wayne isn't on the radio. Either him or Pink singing her song, "So What?", which features the amazingly well written line "...and you're a tool so, so what? I'm still a rock star...". But as dumb as that song is, it was in our heads all week.

While I'm on the subject of radios, Corrie hit me with a great joke one day. While flipping through the stations, she stopped on a country song and said, without pause, "You homesick?". I wanted to make a great comeback but it was no use. She got me. There were other good jokes, too...I'll just have to remember them.

Other cool stuff we did...looked at the local landmark lighthouse (from a distance), saw two sharks, visited a turtle hospital, ate at cool restaurants (Hurricane's sticks out in my head), saw two bands play, and watched Desperate Housewives. Yeah, I watched it. And Eva is still hot as a slightly thicker lady.

So, in other words, I loved Florida. I think I will move there. Seriously.


Pics:

farewell, adios, etc

I know I promised an update on the geeky game room, and it's coming...I just haven't gotten around to taking pics of it yet.

But for now, I say goodbye for at least a week. I will be leaving Saturday morning (bright and early) for a week in West Palm Beach, Florida! I have never been to FL before, and I have some friends there who are just dying to see me (how's that for confidence??)...

Truth be told, I am very excited! I will be staying exactly 3.4 miles from the beach, and I'll be carrying my camera too. I'll try not to look too tourist-y, but who knows... Anyway, expect a pic-filled post upon my return!

Then, the geeky game room.

my itchy invention

My arm is itching like crazy, and I can only blame myself.

I have decided to try and conserve some energy (as well as some $$$) and not run my air conditioner so much. This has worked in my favor here lately, because the weather has turned a good bit cooler. So to keep some fresh, cool air in my apartment, I came up with this brilliant plan.

As you can see, the fan is in the open window. Blocking any further entry is a piece of cardboard which I cleverly cut with scissors (also visible). The feeling of cold air being pushed through the flowing box fan is really really great. But as you may be able to see, on the bottom left side there is a hole. This hole obviously let some pesky mosquitoes in, which chewed the heck out of me last night.

And now here I am at work, rubbing my arm furiously and wishing I had a number for a good exterminator.

Next post: the geek/game room.

darn you NBC!

So I went to Oxygen tonight and set a tape to record The Office. And before you ask, yes, I still use a VCR.

I get home, rewind, and press play...and what do I get? A vice-presidential debate! While I know it's very informative and important for the next 4 (or maybe 8) years of our country's existence...come on! I need some Office! I need Stanley's sarcasm...Jim's smirk...Dwight's idiocy...Michael's EXTREME idiocy...shoot, even Meredith's one line per episode. Not to mention the brilliance of Creed.

And oh yes, Jenna Fischer. My only current celebrity crush.


Palin and Biden may represent the future of our country, but come on...they're no Pam and Jim.

experimental tastes

I've been in an experimental mood as of late. Not in a dangerous way - like with drugs or alcohol or anything like that - but rather with cooking and cleaning. I know, dangerous. But that's just my style.

I've gotten pretty good at making vegetable stir-fry. I realize that's not a hard dish to make, but still...it's nice to not screw it up.

Another I'm decent at is spaghetti. In 2004, I had to make it for about 70 kids per week...so yeah. That kind of thing sticks with you.


And another dish I like is steak. In this instance, I made it with green beans, corn, and baked potato. I do my steaks on a Foreman grill after marinating them in a Jack Daniels marinade packet (which tastes amazing). The baked potato is easy...I just wrap the potato in a plastic bag and microwave it for about 2 minutes. It tastes just like it's been in the oven for an hour or so.

But last night, I made a huge mistake. I have made a couple cakes before, and it's not that hard. You just follow directions. But last night I was trying to make a thing of brownies and screwed it up bad. The directions called for 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and I misread it as 1 1/4 cups. So yeah, the mix was nasty and I had to throw it out.

This is why I'm sure I'll have a wife (one day) who can help me out with the cooking stuff. Crossing my fingers.

sick & tired...and the office

Well, I'm back at work today. I missed Wednesday and Thursday this week because of some pretty nasty virus I somehow contracted. I had a sore throat last week (around Thursday) and all throughout the weekend. On Tuesday night, the rest started kicking in. Headache, upset stomach...you know the drill. I was at band practice Tuesday night and I could feel my throat deteriorating as I tried to sing. One of the kids actually commented that my voice sounded bad. Gotta love teenagers and their brutal honesty.

So the last couple days I've spent in utter boredom, shut in at my apartment watching The Office (UK version) and Tom and Jerry in between sleeping spells. Crackers and chicken noodle soup have been my diet, and honestly they're all I've wanted. My throat feels a lot better today but the headache and rumbling stomach haven't quite subsided.

At any rate, I did get to watch the first episode of The Office season 5 last night. I gotta say, I loved it. I've read things online and asked a few people what they thought, and the reviews are certainly mixed. But I feel the hilarity is still there as strong as ever. Not to mention Pam and Jim...I have loved this storyline for its entirety (even though their giddiness did get on my nerves a bit last season...). The proposal was awesome though, and it took me by surprise. Kudos to the writers for keeping that storyline interesting. Oh, and Michael and Holly is a good development, as is the love triangle with Angela, Andy, and Dwight. How can one office be so interesting?

Having watched a good chunk of the British version this week, I couldn't help but draw comparisons between Ricky Gervais' David Brent and Steve Carell's Michael Scott. I mean, when Michael grew the goatee, visions of David Brent flashed in my mind. Ultimately Michael Scott is much more likable than David Brent, but part of me thinks it's because Steve Carell is playing him.

Anyway, I should get back to work. Missing two days leaves plenty of makeup work to be done.

deacon ordination

I was ordained as Deacon at Spring Hill Baptist Church on September 14, 2008. This is pretty significant because I have gone to this church since...um...birth. Also, I'm single and pretty young. My church still nominated, voted, and ordained me and I am very thankful for that. The service was really nice, and a lot of my family and friends got to come. My grandma Louise (my dad's mother) came, as did my grandparents on my mom's side (Howard and Eileen). My aunt Marie and her husband Tony got to make it as well. Of course my youth were present, as were old friends Jason Carter, Justin Curtis, Tiffany Wilson, Trey Hill, Matt Lott, and Ben. It was a really great day and having these people around made it even better.

This is the ordination council with me after the service was over. From left to right (starting in the back row): Davey Newman, Blaine Davis, Bobby Snow, Jim Robinson, Andy Haney, Ray Minor, and Frankie Richardson. Front row: Jim Burke, Chuck Fowler, Adam Robinson, Tres Foley, and Bart Garner.


During the service, a few different things went on...my youth did a skit which was pretty powerful about laying down your burdens at the foot of the cross (you can see the cross behind us in all the pics). My dad also sang a song, which was great because he has a really awesome voice. He also has inspired me to start singing here recently.


Like I mentioned earlier, it was great to have my family come support me. Here they are, for your viewing pleasure. Starting in the back row: Tony (my aunt Marie's husband), my Grandma Louise Allen, me, Grandma Eileen Wyman, Grandpa Howard Wyman. Front row: Aunt Marie, Dad (Jim Robinson), Mom (Penne Robinson), and Ben Robinson (my bro).


We had the chance to do a pic with all of the original youth group at SHBC. Pictured here (doing our normal "Wolfpac" hand sign) are: Justin Curtis, Walker Dodson, me, Jason Carter, Ben Robinson, Corey Garner, and Tiffany Wilson in the front.


And last but not least, here are (some of) my youth today. Of course they're doing their goofy pic, which I wouldn't expect any different from them. Left to right: Thomas Garner, Corey Garner, Alex Miller, James Dykes, B.J. Snow, me (playing the straight man), Kaitlyn Skelton, Destany Oswalt, Hayley Davis, and Rachel Smith.


Once again, these are on my Facebook and also once again, if you don't have Facebook, you can use this link to see the album.

It was a great day that I won't soon forget. Thanks to all who came/prayed/thought about me during this time!

some of my old school art and such

I found a notebook at my parents house yesterday. This notebook had a lot of old artwork and stuff I did back in 1998. I decided to scan some of it and post it for the world (or more likely, two or three people) to see.

I called this one "Life on the Farm". I wrote a little essay along with it where I was brutally honest. I said that I had no plan, just cut out some pictures and glued them down...amazingly, they all kinda gelled. Then I did a couple variations.

Notice the Incredible Hulk down on the bottom right corner.

Here's an example of symmetry, using the Batman symbol. How much cooler would Batman be if he wore these colors??

My art teacher Sue Rowland had this cow skull for years. She's retired now, but I bet it's still sitting on her fireplace.

I've been trying to figure out who this guy is. I'm thinking Ben Franklin or Thomas Jefferson. My brother says the Quaker Oats guy. You tell me.

This one I'm actually kinda proud of. I used to love landscapes and colored pencils...so this kinda went hand in hand.

And this is what I looked like back then. I had the old school short sleeved hoodie and flipped up hair-do. I was awesome.

There are more pics on my Facebook...and if you're not on Facebook, you can still view the album here.

It was pretty cool going back and seeing that old stuff. Right now I'm working on a painting from last year's trip to Colorado. I have other paintings and scratch-art that I'll have to upload soon. Thanks for looking!

disaster!

Tumultuous. A perfect word to describe my last 3 days. Dictionary.com defines it as:

tu·mul·tu·ous
–adjective

1. full of tumult or riotousness; marked by disturbance and uproar: a tumultuous celebration.
2. raising a great clatter and commotion; disorderly or noisy: a tumultuous crowd of students.
3. highly agitated, as the mind or emotions; distraught; turbulent.

I'm going with number 3.

Work has been crazy, and a person I held in high regards inevitably fell from grace.

Then there was last night.

Blaine was out of town, so I was asked to do the lesson. That was no problem, I don't mind sharing the Word (especially since I got a new Bible from my ordination service. It's really cool...I'll have to talk more about it later...). But we also were doing worship before hand (and I play guitar/sing in the worship band). That's okay with me, but I didn't want the kids to get an Adam overdose. Also, after worshipping I usually like to just be able to sit and listen.

Anyway, to kick things off the wrong way, I forgot to bring my flash drive with all the PowerPoint slides. Strike one. Lena forgot the videos she was gonna use to preface our devotion. Strike two. And the last strike was a doozy.

We've been low on equipment for our worship team. We don't have but two microphones which really isn't many at all. Last night, though, a nice lady at church let us borrow her mic (which was really nice, by the way...) and suggested that I use it so it wouldn't get broken. Hmm.

During a sound check, I stood up from my stool and bumped my mic stand. It was at this point that things started moving in slow motion. The microphone came out of the holder and began its descent downward to the floor. I watched in horror as it crashed and popped and hissed before finally growing silent.

Strike three.

The lesson was okay, though. I read from 1 Samuel 26 and talked about David and his respect for God...how he could have killed Saul and ended his problems, but he knew that God appointed Saul as king for a reason. David instead trusted God and let Him work things out in His time.

Then I got to practice what I preached. I apologized to the lady and she said it was fine (through clenched teeth...). I'm buying her a new mic this weekend.

But I hold hope that this week will get better. It's almost over, so I guess the odds are in my favor.

wrap up (for lack of a better term...)

Sunday was an amazing day. I was ordained as deacon at Spring Hill Baptist Church, and what a day it turned out to be. My grandparents from Canton showed up, as did my grandmother from Myrtle. Also, my aunt and her husband came, and of course so did my brother. As far as friends go, Trey Hill and Matt Lott showed up. Jason Carter and Justin Curtis did also, which was awesome.

Hopefully I will have pics from the service soon. We have a photographer who goes to the church and she was kind enough to take many many snaps.

friday night mumblings

What is up with these gas prices? This morning it was $3.57 at the cheapest station on my trek to work, and this afternoon it's $3.89. And the news reports that it could go up another dollar tomorrow. Ridiculous!

This has cost me a trip to Oxford to hang with my brother. I was really looking forward to hanging with him tonight, but I can't justify it. Also, I need to clean up my apartment. I stayed up pretty late last night washing dishes (I'm a bachelor, alright? Dishes pile up...).

So why the cleaning? Glad you asked. I'm being ordained as a deacon in my church this Sunday. My grandparents are coming, as are other various family members and friends. I'm really pretty excited about it. It wasn't the easiest road to this point. Last year I was nominated, and even asked, and though I was skeptical, I said yes. Deaconship seemed like such a big thing, something I wasn't at all ready for. But I could feel the Spirit saying, "Do it, stupid!"...so I did. And I got rejected because of some craziness (and politics) that would take too long to type out.

Then this year I'm nominated again. I accept and the rest is (almost) history. I'm a little intimidated, because I have a big interview to go to on Sunday afternoon. But I'm trying not to sweat it too much.

I'm guessing I should find something to eat tonight. Maybe I'll even rent a movie. Or learn a new song. Who knows? The night is as open as my relationship status! (Thanks, Tobias Funke...)

break the barriers (or, how a shy kid overcame)

Last night was awesome. But before I tell you why, first a little background.

After we took the group to camp this summer, Corey (former youth but now a fellow leader) and I decided to start up a little worship band for Wednesday nights. We started practicing and learning worship songs, and as of last night, we have led worship for about 5 weeks.

We've got a guy in our youth group (which we call S*M*A*S*H - Student Ministries at Spring Hill) named John who has been coming to hang out for a little over a year. He started out being really quiet and reserved. Over the past few months he's seemed to loosen up a little. He talks to people more, he hangs out afterward and plays games...it's just cool to see him do more.

Also every week we have band practice on Tuesdays. All the youth are invited to come play along if they want to participate in the following night's worship. Well, this past Tuesday night, John showed up...requested to sing "Hosanna (Praise is Rising)"...and ROCKED IT. The guy was awesome! He held the mic like a young Joey Ramone, and after I mentioned this, I got blank stares (except from Lena, who like me absolutely loves the Ramones).

Last night John was close to saying "no" to his upcoming performance. There were a lot of teenagers there (29, which is HUGE for my church) and he told me that he was nervous. But he sang anyway, to a standing ovation. Afterward, about 3 or 4 kids came up saying they wanted to sing next week.

It's just really cool to see how God works things out. And watching a shy, homeschooled teenager break out into song is also pretty neat. It's times like this when God just reaffirms that youth ministry is for me.

introduction

My first Blogger post...let me introduce myself. For future reference.

My name is Adam Robinson. I am 25, I live in Mississippi, I work at a bank, and I am also a youth leader at my church. For the past 5 years (yes, 5 years) I have kept a blog on Xanga. However, I sort of fell out of love with it and decided to try out Blogger. I've heard lots of good things about it...

So enough with formalities...let's get right to it.