South of the Border

I was watching an old video of a trip I went on with my friends Jon and Chad. We videotaped the whole thing. There are many funny moments throughout the whole trip, but the best one is when they left my in South Carolina. We had made a joke about playing a game called, "leave someone in another state" of which I made up and in the end I lost. We were at south of the border and Jon and Chad snuck out when I was not paying attention and before I knew it, they were in North Carolina and I was in South Carolina, as the story continues they came back to get me. I was being a "poor sport" as quoting Jon, when I took his new straw hat that he just purchased from South of the Border and tossed out the window. Well as we were turning around to get the hat some 10 seconds later and 100 feet from where we were a car of "gentlemen" stopped got out of there car and picked it up. (this is as we were driving up) The yelling and frantic noises from our car meant nothing to them. I had to buy Jon another 2$ hat, but I joined the groovy hat club in the process.

I have to be honest

I am going to be honest. I feel like I have let the blogging quality get a little crappy in the past few weeks. It has been a busy time of year and I have not had the energy when it gets late to write a good blog. I am going to work on that. A maple story is what you are going to get today. I was at the computer this afternoon doing this and that and I heard something thumping on the couch side. It was Maple. She was dreaming and while doing so, she was wagging her tail. I wish I could know what she was dreaming about that made her wag her tail. I bet it was her cow, duck, or food.

...

Welp, I am back in Jasper, Ga. Sorry about the few missed days, but while I was in Ansonville where I can only get reception to post at the end of the driveway and it was raining multiple days, I decided to stay dry. Also, take a day off for Christmas. But I do have a good story to share, I will put it in a short summary. My downstairs neighbor thinks that I jump around my apartment at night to bug her and keep her up. That is pretty much the jist of it, you know put on boots and run around in circles while getting Maple to jump up and down because she is a big dog in all and Maple likes to keep her up too. Yea.... That was a fun one and is still fun.....

Guess what I learned how to do

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Lights in trees

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Driving

Due to the fact that it is 4:30 am and we are just arriving in ansonville, nc this is my blogpost

Christmas Card preview

Spiders are Satans pets

So tonight was our anniversary. We were going to cook dinner and spend a nice evening alone. Until the spiders decided to come out of the light fixtures and crawl all over the ceiling. It sucked, I am to tired to elaborate.

I fell off my bike and got my nose bit off by my Dog

I fell off my bike yesterday. Sarah and I were talking yesterday evening. She was sitting at the table and I was on my bicycle next to the counter. I was just sitting on my bike with my feet kind of in the "butterfly" stretch position on the middle bar. We were just chatting about our days and catching up. It was around 1030 or so. Did I mention that my neighbor downstairs hates when we make any type of noise on the floor. She even hates when we use the vacuum. Yes I am telling the truth. So anyways we were talking and making eye contact so I was not paying attention to the front tire of my bike. I was just holding onto the counter with my right hand to keep my balance. All of the sudden my front tire decided to turn just a little bit, just enough to cause the whole bike to shift to the right and how do I put it... move out from under me. Since my feet were in an awkward position I had no way to even try to protect myself. (Sarah is laughing while I type this) So I ended up landing on my back/butt square on the floor, which made a sound like we had just dropped a piano off of our counter at 1030pm. Luckily my head missed the table to the left and the metal stocking holders that were hanging on that table missed my head when they made the two following smaller thumps on the floor. As I lay contorted half on my laid over bike and half on the carpet. Sarah got up to see if I was okay and once she was confirmed that no major damage happened she burst into laughter. No story would be complete without Maple, so I must include her reaction to all this which honestly could be a blog in itself. About two seconds after I hit the floor, Maple decided this was some kind of game and she wanted in. She came flying across the apartment (she sounds like a mini horse on the floor) and proceeded to try to bite my nose off, multiple times. I would push her back and she would pursue a different angle to set up her attack. It was funny that me falling set off a reaction to her that would make biting my nose the appropriate course of action. (I ended up kicking her butt, I am bigger and have opposable thumbs) Well thanks for reading the long story. Good Night

This is Pete. He can dunk and is 5'10

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Can you guess who this is?

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Blast from the Past

I was sitting today in our office looking out the window at the mountains and thinking about the past few years. I wrote all little bit about it, I used the story form to let my thoughts hit the paper. I began to write and thought I would share what I began reflecting on today.

It was still dark outside, the crisp air stung while I took a deep breath surveying the packed car and the city I was getting ready to leave. There were no cars on the highway yet, just me and some tractor trailers. I could smell the fresh cup of coffee from the cup holder as it resembled a chimney exhausting the smoke from warmth below. I tend to travel with the radio off except for the occasional talk radio, I enjoy time with my thoughts. To consider and reflect, plan and critique, each situation different than the one preceding it. I have always be aware that I was wired different than most. “Why change jobs? Why take a pay cut and move a thousand miles away?”. My decision made no sense in line of thought with our culture and went against everything understood to be rational. Some moments secretly, I wondered if I agreed. But I knew my passions and my heart. I knew it was right and would allow me many opportunities that could not be replaced with a dollar sign or ability to live a certain lifestyle.

Right there I trailed off into just sitting back and looking out the window, but I figured I would give you what I had.

Mario Party

Tonight I was playing Mario Party with two friends of mine Anthony and David. At the end of each round you play these things called mini games that are little games that you play for coins to buy stuff with. The best part of the evening was during one mini game we were playing. The three of us are trying out hardest to win and beat each other. At the end of the game we all go to compare points and Dave, has a funny look on his face and said, how did I get zero points. As I am typing this, i have found that it is not as funny as it was when it happened. But I am going to stay true to the story and power through. Another funny story today, I woke up this morning around 610. I took a shower and then was brushing my teeth in the bathroom and walked out into the bedroom to see Sarah's head pop up in the most cheery voice and say "Good Morning" and then her head fell one foot back onto the pillow back to sleep. Sarah is not a morning person, so it was pretty funny because she usually has the crazy tired voice in the morning. It made me laugh, I do not know if she even knows that she did that. She talks in her sleep.

I thought I would share this photo today. I was at the table on the computer and I look over and see this. I mean come on, that is enough to make you laugh out loud.

Sometimes it only takes a few words

ALL HAIL BRADLEY LANCE SPRINGER!! RULER OF CATAN!!!

Another Nyquil Story and Doc. Story

It seems each time that I get to take Nyquil, I end up having a good story to share the following day. As Sarah stated yesterday I have been sick the past few days and spent some large amounts of time on the couch. Although, I do not think that the description she gave is completely spot on, I am not that bad, she has been taking great care of me. So yesterday around 845 I woke up to take some nyquil to get me through the night. I was up for about five minutes of an office episode and then I was out. Well around 2 in the morning I woke up pretty wide awake and starving. Sarah was on the other couch across from me asleep and woke up to see me eating cookies and drinking chocolate milk. She look at me confused and said, "what are you doing", I responded with, "eating cookies, I am really hungry". She looked at me for a second and then went back to sleep. It was pretty funny, I had two glasses of milk and about 14 cookies and then went back to sleep. It was great.

My second story related to the sickness is one at the doctors office today. After getting my prescription Dr. Davis told me he wanted to give me a shot to help out with the sickness. After he left, a nurse came in to give the shot. I had that place cut off my arm two weeks ago and she said that she was going to have give me the shot on my hip instead. I thought to myself, I have never had a shot on my hip... I am not sure if I have to go down to my undies or what not. She looked at me like, okay lets get along with this. I was at a loss for words and after a few awkward seconds I said, "So how do we do this, what is the procedure for a shot in the butt?" She laughed and I figured it out that I did not have to get in my skimpies, I just had to give her a "suntan lotion girl" size target.

Poor Little Bunny

Sarah here. Brad is on the couch, feverish, wrapped up in a sleeping bag, in and out of consciousness and watching The Office. If you have ever seen the video on You-Tube titled, "The Man Cold," he is the epitome of that currently. I even rubbed his head and said, "poor little bunny." So what does that mean for me? It means I have been getting water, medicine, making dinner, rubbing his head, rubbing his back, getting his pillow, propping it up, baking cookies, getting more water, and finally, writing his blog- all the while saying, "poor little bunny." I think he is going to give me what we call in the Springer family the "crown for December," which basically means he thinks I'm awesome. But I must admit, I love the guy. It has actually been kind of a fun night. And, Brad is really funny when he is sick. So, unfortunately, you won't be hearing from him tonight- chalk it up to the man cold. But, to end the blog, if you have not seen it yet, I recommend you take a quick look at this video (which I believe Brad may have posted before), which will give you a glimpse into my life this evening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXLHWmjA5IE

Christmas with the Springers

Today I am going to post a bunch of pictures. I did something today that I have never done before. I went and cut down a tree for our Christmas tree. It was pretty fun, we put up our decorations today and here are the pictures of our day. Also you can see the NCSU and UNC rivalry is in the Holidays as well. Maple got into the tree water right before we put it down.

Our Name

I was driving in my car tonight and a Jason Mraz song was on the radio. It was pretty catchy and a soothing song to listen to. It has a line that caught my attention. It said, "Your name is your virtue." This struck me and got me thinking. I know that I have blogged before about how I think that is your name is something that you own and no one can take from you. But tonight the song made me think about the idea of what is linked to our name again. Our virtue is linked to our name, which is our identity. I would like to dive deeper into this thought, but I am tired and it's bedtime, so I will go on another time. Night Night

Answer

So I guess either I have no readers or no creative guessers out there. The expression comes from when people used to put a cat in a bag at a market and sell it as a pig. When the cat got out of the bag, the person who bought the "pig" would find out they just got screwed. So there you have it folks, you all learned something new today.

Trivia Question?

Without looking it up on the internet, Where did the expression "who let the cat out of the bag" come from?

Thailand

I read an article today about Thailand and how the people pretty much just ousted there current prime minister and got the courts to elect a new one. I know that the old one was corrupt. I think that it is pretty cool that all the people pretty much went to all the airports and sat down and said, "hey we are going to live here and stop the flow of airplanes till you do something about this guy." They were successful and now they have a new one. One of the citizens was quoted walking out of the airport, "see you next time the government needs us." How cool is that guy. What power he knows the people have. I wonder what it would be like if that happened in America. One, if we all went to an airport and sat down, we would all go to jail. I know that for sure. But what if we all knew that the power to honestly uproot a government and get a new one was a power that we truly have. We do, but are I think unable to honestly unify to show that power exists. I think as long as the American people have the idea that they have to be on one side of things, then the suits in D.C. will always call the shots. Lets be honest, that is a pretty good way to keep control. Keep the people thinking the other side is the problem and the whole time most elected officials have a 95% re-election rate and nothing changes. I think the government has created a pretty good system to keep "change" where they want it and let us continue to think we are involved in the process. (and that "change" comment is not a shot at the new president elect by the way, just happened to be worded that way) Well that is my banter for the day. Hope all is well for everyone.

Grace

I was listening to a podcast today when it mentioned a comment that stuck out with me and I have not been able to get it out of my head for a while. I will try to remember it best I can, but this is a paraphrase. It said that we will grow faster and farther with grace than fear will ever take us. I had to sit there for a moment when I heard that for the first time. It then hit me that we are generally a world/society that is run on fear. Fear has been a great motivator for people since... well as long as I can remember. More specifically when I began to think of all the times in my life when fear was a factor behind and decision that I made. Then I started to think of the grace side of things. When I have reacted or been reacted to with grace, the world looks a little bit different. I usually walk away with a greater understanding of what just happened or a renewed since of faith in whatever situation or person I am dealing with. Think about the last time someone reacted to you with grace... think about the last time that you were motivated by fear. Contrast them , think about how they differ mentally. It will really give you something to chew on, it has pushed me to think about the motivators that I choose to rely on.

Winter Wonderland in Georgia

I walked out my front door today and what do you know, it is snowing. I figured that it would only last a short while since it is Georgia. But it outsmarted me and lasted all day long. It was really beautiful. I love it when it's snowing and you go outside and try to look up. It's nearly impossible to keep your eyes open that long but when you get a few seconds in a row and you can see up the thousands of layers of snowflakes above you, it's amazing. At one point while I was in my office, the snow turned to really thick sleet/snow for a bit and I went outside for a second to catch some in my hand. It piled up quickly and reminded me of being a kid. I enjoyed my snow day. It was somewhat surreal when you think about it. Snow seems to slow the world down for a little bit. Slow things down so you can have a moment to catch up and collect your thoughts and what not. It was a good day. On a side note, Sarah and I played Mario Kart tonight for a short bit and she beat me on two of the eight races. That is improvement folks, my wife can beat your wife in Mario Kart... easy.

Maple can touch her toes to her head

Yes that I had to show you. Maple was taking a nap and I look over and see that her back legs are rested underneath her chin. I thought that was funny.

Maple can touch her toes to her head

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Many Tech. difficulties over the Holiday

I have to come out and say that At&t needs to go ahead and invest in a cell tower in Ansonville, NC more specifically Cedar Hill. I have had a few issues over the past few days getting my blog to post and I am sorry for the problems. I thought I had a few posted that I found to be pretty funny and turns out they never made it to be viewed. So with that said over the next few days I am going to try to post some of the pictures that I wanted to get online a few days ago and catch up to speed. As for now, I am a bit under the weather and I am letting the nyquil set in.... ahhhhhhh

Turkey day

Happy Thanksgiving!

FYI

Also for the record I chekd my blog just now and the post from yesterday did not come up even though it said it loaded yesterday. So I still count the streek as alive.

Roadkill

The next few days might be alittle shorter than usual as I walk around the yard searching for a signal. I was driving late two nights ago and I noticed a bunny in the middle of the road. It looked at me and instead of running quickly, it decided to show me how good It was at slow motion or the robot. Needless to say, it was to late for peter and he got tagged at 80mph. That is my story for the day. It sounds worse when you say bunny instead of rabbit. I said I ran over a rabbit, I think of a stupid dirty rabbit that steals credit cards and identities, but bunny, that conjures up thoughts of free chocolate and goodies.

If you are sweamish do not look... seriously

I went to the doctor today to get a bump removed off my arm. It was pretty intense, I guess when I was younger and got stitches, my Mom was just so good at keeping my attention that I never knew that I could watch. So, I watched... most of it. So he used like a hole punch looking thing and some other stuff, I was actually proud of myself, that I was able to watch like I did. I looked away for a moment, and then when I looked back... BAAM there was a hole on my arm. He put some gauze over and went over to the table for a minute. I could not resist, I looked under the gauze again, to check it out. I am not normally like this, I am usually not big on blood etc. Then the doctor took out some tool that pretty much soldered my arm, there were sparks and all. Below is a picture of the aftermath. It is pretty crazy looking.

Not sure what to name this one

"Love, by definition, seeks to enjoy its object." C.S. Lewis

I read this today and it got me thinking about our passions. I do not go hiking in the mountains because I am going to get paid for each mile I hike. I go hiking because of the surroundings, and the peace I feel as I walk through woods, the smells, the beautiful views. I go because I love to experience the outdoors. Our passions are driven by our loves. Poets do not write poems just to put words on paper, but they are laying down what they paint in their minds on paper. This is where their passions/love line up together. I hope this makes sense. I have been thinking about passions within life today and wanted to share.

Wuffy ate a Ram today

Today was a big day for the Springer household. The Wolfpack beat the Tarheels today 41 to 10. Can I add it was a great day again. What can I say it felt nice. Well Sarah and I talked today and have decided we are going to have a wager for each ncsu/unc rival game that they play. So if anyone has any ideas, let me know. Right now we are throwing around having to wear the other teams stuff out in public etc. But we are open to ideas.

the lost art of conversation

As I sit here tonight at the kitchen table with Zach Slay and Sarah, I am reminded of the old art of conversation. We have been sitting here for the past four hours just talking and talking. From Jim Jones and The Peoples temple, to Zach telling us about his time in Europe, to cellphones, to watching video on you tube of "The Do" who was the cult leader of the Heavens Gate group who "drank the koolaid" waiting for the comet" to get them. We have talked about so many things. One thing that we hit on was the Christian world today and the overwhelming feeling that the art of talking to people has been lost. It is easy to tell someone that they are wrong. It is easy to tell them why you are right and why you could not be wrong. It is easy to speak your peace with deaf ears and then turn around with your held held high and walk away feeling a sense of self worth. But what a challenge to stick around and hear someone else out, and to share your thoughts and to be shared to. This is something that we have lost, I feel like we have come to a point where if you have a different point of view you are now a heretic. I was reading a book today that talked about how the Evangelical world has been spending to much time working on fixing other people and telling them why they are wrong, and it needs to take a moment to look in the mirror and do some reflecting of its own. The Church cannot change people, Love powered by Jesus changes people.

Me and The Apple Lady

So I went to the Apple store today because my phone had been messing up. Come to find out she wanted to restore it. I thought I had my contacts safe but I did not, so she told me I could either, go home and back them up, a sheet of paper, or Mobile Me them. I asked if I could use mobile me in the store and she hooked it up big time. She got me a laptop and I proceeded to type in 160 contacts right there. It took a while. Then after all was said and done, she tried to restore my phone and the hardware was bad. So new phone for Brad.

Maple does it again

As I was sitting here looking at my computer screen, thinking about what I wanted to write about, Maple inspired me once again. She was walking around the living room and walked up to the kitchen table and off down the hall. Then all of the sudden I hear a noise behind me and see Maple sprint past me across the living room into the bedroom. I yelled in to Sarah wondering what was going on. She said Maple came flying into the room, went directly to her bed and spun three circles and laid down. She is still there right now. I sat here and thought about it for a moment. I always think about the book Marley and Me. Even though I have not read it and have no idea what happens in the book, it always makes me think of ways to learn from my dog. Tonight Maples' actions made me sit back and laugh. How many times, I sprint towards something to sit down on it. I think in my daily life how I will push quickly to accomplish some task or what not and sit down and plant for a moment. I am not sure where that brings me to as far as some insightful thought. But maybe finding a way to maintain a more constant pace is what she taught me tonight. I am not sure. To think how many things Maple has shared with me, without even saying a word.

natural alarm clock

I love how your body can be a natural alarm clock. I fell asleep tonight without writing my blog. I have been asleep for hours as you can see. All of the sudden as I am lying here sleeping my eyes pop open and I like, I forgot my blog. It is funny how that works. Wide awake as I can be I sittinf here typing away on my phone. I bet when I am done, I will pass right out and go back to bed. Today I wore flip flops to work thinking I would be inside all day so it would not matter about the cold. Wrong. My feet about froze off on multiple occasions. Also I have a question for everyone, you know smacks the ceral. Has It always been smacks or honey smacks. If you would let me know that would be great. I am counting on your knowledge here Pat.

I gotcha back

I was on the phone tonight with a buddy of mine Bradley. We were catching up on life and just talking about this and that. It is a great time to catch up with him and see what is going on with him. I was reminded tonight about the blessing that it is to walk through this life with friendships like that. I do not think we were made to walk through this world alone. We are built to interact with each other and love each other and that is where we come alive. It is truly an awesome thing.

Are you my mother?

Do you remember that book, "Are you my mother?". I think that was something like that. A little bird went around to a bunch of different animals and said, "Are you my mother?". He searched around and around asking over and over again. Looking all over for some closure for his journey, for the moment he was in, he wanted to find what he was looking for in that journey. I was thinking about how that reminds me of God today and how I interact with him. This might seem like a stretch, but it made sense to me. I think all the time in all kinds of situations, "Is that you God?".

MIA

So it would not let me post. Sorry about the tech difficulties last night.

Perception

Perception is reality. I think in many situations our perception of what we are dealing with becomes our reality of it. I think we can sometimes be blinded to the reality of what is around us, the truth. We can think we have been wronged or are right or deserved an apology or recognition etc. I could go on and on about the many areas I have seen in life that our perception rules over the reality. I think this can be seen in our Culture on a really big level. Lets look at Christians for example. I think this is one area that perception has really twisted the common view of a group of people. Christians, those Bible beating, hate gays, burn in hell if you drink, smoke, have had sex before your married, and its our job to make sure you know about what you have done and how we can direct you in the right path to fix yourself and we have no room to talk about it because we are right so do not waste your time. Wow. When typing that out, it seems a little absurd but I think that is the common view of the outside world to the Christian faith. But in reality this is a faith of love. Jesus commanded that we love each other first and most importantly. Not to look at others with what they do wrong, but to love... period. Jesus loved to talk to people and to meet them where they were no matter what. He was always around people and up for a conversation. That description is a little different than what I perceive the cultural view to be. Watch the news, talk to some people, ask questions, I think the perception will surprise you from the reality.

What you own

I was talking to a buddy of mine named Jacob. We were standing outside the office where we work and going over a variety of topics. Amongst many things that we had a chance to chat about, something came up that I have been thinking about for the rest of the day since then. We were talking about how what you can own as a person. As in, what you own that no one can take away from you. Something that cannot be lost or stolen but is completely yours. Integrity. That is something that no matter what, you stand to keep one way or the other. You shape your own integrity and stand to show it to the world in what you do with your life and interactions with those you come in contact with. Integrity is what you are made up of. I was thinking about the fact that everything you do and in every decision you make, you are consistently molding yourself into who you are becoming, which we all know. But Integrity is in the thick all this, always.

Middle Creek YL

I was watching some old DVDs tonight that I was given as a gift at my last club as a Young Life leader at Middle Creek High School. This was about three years ago. I watched a bunch of stuff, from singing songs, to doing a skit with my buddy Asa, to watching Harrison doing a skit in my sumo suit, to giving a talk about Jesus. I had always been very concerned with making sure that the clubs went well and as smooth as they could go. I was always thinking about what they next skit or song or thing that was coming us was. I was always looking to see how I could make sure things were running smooth and if not, what could be done to make sure the kids did not notice. I was very engaged in every aspect of club. I loved it, I watched smiles on my face that I could never reproduce outside of those moments. Those times at Middle Creek were very special to me. As I watched tonight, I thought about how consumed I was with the flow of club and the accuracy in that it was produced for our high school friends. I think sometimes I might have missed the point of what was going on, kids having a great time because they are being loved by people with no strings attached. I watched kids in the video watch games, sing songs, listen to talks. They were not worried about how smooth the transitions were, or if someone forgot a line. They were just enjoying feeling safe in a place where some college kids did not care about what they do or have done,just that they were loved.

What I say it true... really

I have a quick story for everyone. I rode in a bike ride this past weekend in North Carolina. It ended up being about 74 miles. It was a pretty intense ride across some of the country in Anson County. Anyways I have one specific part of the ride to tell you about that I thought was pretty funny. I had not trained in over a month for this ride, but I figured I would be able to push through. Around mile 64, I was going up a small incline nothing much and my left hamstring started to cramp. I kept pedaling and reached down to start to work out the knot as I have done before... no big deal right. Well, then about that time my right calf started to knot and each time I would push the pedal down it would stretch it out and when I would pedal up, it would knot again. It was pretty silly to watch I am sure. I think the calf was the straw that broke the camels back, about one minute after that, my other calf, hamstring and both quads all decided to start knotting up together at the same time. If this has every happened to you then you know what I am about to say and it's funny, very funny to watch. With all these knotting muscles when I would pull the pedal up on one side all the muscles would contract violently and pull my leg up to my chest area and on the other side the opposite towards the ground with the other leg and the sides would alternate with each pedal. You can imagine this was nothing graceful. Also, it was some of the most pain I have experienced. Well about this time, I could not pedal anymore and I was still on this hill that I was bent on climbing. I realized that was not going to happen and began to try to unclip my cleats and pull over. I got my shoes out of the cleats just in time to fall over onto the ground. As I laid on the ground and would stretch one muscle while the others would cramp because to stretch one set, I had to knot up the other. About this time a support vehicle came by and saw me on the ground... humbling... he said, "you know there's a rest area about 50 feet that a way don't cha". I looked at him and said, "yes I do, my body just won't take me there". After about five minutes of stretching and massaging knots out I was ready to get back on the bike and go to the rest stop. All said and done, I wish I had that on video.

Fairness Doctrine

Here is something to go google and look into. This will become a pretty important thing here in the near future, if you like talk radio etc. Also, I read today that there is talk about taking America's 401k's and putting them into a community account for all... Just throwing somethings out there to go check out I have been checking out some of these things on the internet tonight and think the word should be spread.

Two Things for you... Pic from yesterday and an idiot

Okay so the first picture is the one I was talking about from yesterday. Yes folks this was from the Ansonville BBQ parade. I guess all you need is 50 bucks and something to show off.

The next picture is someone from Dawsonville, Ga. The gas station on the right had gas for 2.07 and the gas station on the left had gas for 1.99. Do you see what is wrong with the picture here. Well the picture is a little blurry, but there is someone pumping gas, actually there were two cars getting gas for 2.07 instead of 1.99.

Look at my facebook pic I posted today. Tech diff with iphone.

sister inlaw on caffine

tonight I witnessed something that was amazing. Deedie had maybe two sips of coke and fell off the deep end. It was awesome. I think if you gave her a red bull she could punch through a brick wall. Since I am typing on my phone I cannot go into a lot of detail. I will fill you in later when I slip her some jolt.

Sleeping Pills

I took a dose of sleeping pills tonight. I did not sleep very well last night and wanted to make sure that I had a full nights sleep. I took them about one hour ago. I have been sitting here for a few minutes thinking about what to share with you tonight. The sleeping pills are slowly creeping up on me. As I was staring at the computer screen I noticed that I really did not want to lift my hands up to the keyboard. I started to and they just said, "naaww why don't you just leave us right here... ahh thats better." I have noticed that as I type my body is getting slower and trying to let me know that it is now time to sleep. It is kind of funny, when I blink I can tell it's a little slower and when I close my eyes they are very content. I have decided to give in. Good Night.

The Day Maple stood her ground.

So my inlaws dogs like maple in a not nice way. Every time she comes to their house they try to... How I put this nicely .... Hump her. Usually she can out run them because they weigh 125 pds or so . ( 3 of them) I will yell at them and after a while they calm down. Tonight Maple decided she has had enough. She went on the offensive, it was awesome. They would make a move an she would snap at them. She bit their necks, faces etc. It is cool to watch a 65 pd lab fight off 3 130 of dogs at the same time. She kicked serious butt, after a short while they left her alone and Maple won. Tonight my dog became a total "badass".

Why not get a little Polictical

I hear that if Obama is elected, that I will no longer have to pay for my mortgage and my groceries and gas are going to be free. Now that may be somewhat of a misquote, but that is what I was told a voter said today on the news when they came out of the polling place. That was why she voted, so today I will get as political as I get and say that I want free housing, gas and food too, so when the dust clears and if Obama wins, let me know how to sign up for that. Because I want to get on that train with that lady.

Maple and Me

I have been sitting here hanging out with Maple for the past few hours. It has been pretty fun, just chillin doing this and that... playing with Maple's cow and running around the apartment. I looked at Maple and little bit ago and said "is your Mom home?". That is when she knows Sarah is getting home. Maple got excited and went to the door to see if Sarah was behind it. Sarah was not to get home for about three hours. So Maple set up shop about ten feet from the door and laid down with her head between her paws and stared at the door. So Maple and I have been sitting here waiting for Sarah to get home. We are both pretty pumped to see her walk through that door. Maple taught me a little bit today about loving someone. I have been sitting here reminded constantly about Sarah getting home by Maples' unwillingness to budge from her post. (that is a little white lie, she moved after a while, but only to hang out at my feet) That dog sure does love Sarah and gets super excited every time I mention her name. So with that I am going to join Maple with the anxious wait for Sarah.

Where is your home?

Where is your home? What is home to you, what does that look like when you think about it. I have been thinking about that the last few months. You know sometimes when I go to Ansonville, NC where my extended family is from, and sit on the swing under the carport, I think man this is home. I can sit there with my family in the fall night air and chat about what is going on and life and think wow... this is what home feels like. Then I can be sitting at home in Cary, NC and hanging out at the Barn and reliving the ol' college days with JA or b-lew or straw and rock in Jon's old rocking chair and feel as if I couldn't dream of being anywhere else. I can remember when I was a kid sitting on the porch in Bear Den Campground on my Uncle Harold's and Aunt Judy's mountain house and listening to the creek flowing down the hill, smelling the mnt smells and the waffles that were awaiting me on the table that Harold had just finished making. I can specifically remember as a child, this is home, I could stay here for ever and be happy. I guess what I am trying to say, is home to you where you are, or who you are there with. As I sit here and write about it, family is those who you love to be around. The people who breathe life into you, the people who help you understand what true love is. I am going to the Ansonville BBQ this weekend, it makes me think... man that is going to feel like home, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Home I guess is who you meet up with.

I have a blank mind

I have to laugh because i have nothing to talk about tonight. I sat here and thought about what I would like to talk about and have had a fart in my brain. I just took another five minutes between sentences and have nothing. So goodnight. If you have anything you would like me to write about let's know. I always have something to say.

peg leg or eye patch and why?

question of the day. Would you rather have a peg leg or an eye patch and why?

Do not tell

I was thinking about something today. Have you ever been talking to a friend or someone and went to share something that was personal with them. People always ask that, "you do not tell." I find that to be funny, that when sharing with people we have to add, "don't tell." How would it change our world if when we sharing something with our friends, it ended at that. No need for anything to make us feel better.

bday

birthday. Chick-fila campout with Sarah Ryan and Jess. That's a good day.

My head is under attack.

First, I played football today after work, and my body is completely pissed. Before that I closed down the waterfront today at camp which is one of the most labor intensive days of the year which also beat the crap out of my body. But anyways back to my head being under attack. Yesterday I was at work and a buddy I work with Anthony, threw a Frisbee in my general direction, the only problem is I was unaware of it. At the last second he yelled my name, it hit me right in the forehead and set me flying to the ground. Today, I was climbing a ladder to put some stuff up in the Gym and stood up and hit my head on the corner of the heating unit which also sent me almost to being knocked out. Finally today during football, I went to dive for a flag and about that time my buddy puffer swung around and gave me a black eye with the back of his head. I do not think my head can take much more.

What do you worship?

I was listening to a podcast today, called "The God Journey". I would highly encourage anyone to listen to these guys, they are big time ballers. They buck the church, challenge you to think about things that are not the sugary world we are convinced we are in and take a real look at who we are as people in light of who God desires us to be. With that introduction said, they made a comment today on the show that struck a deep chord with me. "You become what you worship." Wow, that is a heavy thing to grasp, or maybe really easy to grasp, but quick to heavy the heart. What do you worship, I asked myself, Christ, Sarah, myself, Iphone, my stuff, desire to love and please my family, my pride, my stubbornness. All of these things began to flood my mind as I thought, what will I become. If I am in transformation of becoming what I worship, how far along am I, if I am going the wrong way, how do I turn around. I want to worship what is truth, not what will fade away with time. If I worship truth, then I will become truth to those around me. I will become truth to myself, a honest reflection of what I desire to be. But why then is it so hard to journey down the path of truth. Why is this a battle with everything around me,and in me, consistently pulling me in the wrong direction. Why? Because not facing truth is easy. It is easy to not face the truth that stares you in the face every morning when you open your eyes and look in the mirror to splash water in your face. It is easy to make a comment that you know might hurt someones feelings but make you look a little better. It is easy to keep quiet when you know you should say something. It is easy to let your words flow without a thought. As I stood still letting all of this soak into my mind, I felt like I was in the Matrix with a bunch of stuff floating around my head. I can honestly say, this one stopped me dead in my tracks and forced me to ask myself what I think we are all afraid to approach, "what do I want to become?" Honestly the choice is mine, I think that is what scares me the most. After I had collected my head and put the mush back on my shoulders, the weight of the statement, "you become what you worship" has taken different look to me. It is a soul stirring question that forces people to question who and what they are.

Tetris Continued

As I was unable to write in the detail that I desired, due to the fact I was standing in the driveway last night in NC trying to get enough reception to publish my blog, I would like to do a part 2. Today, you can see the picture of the two people dressed up like tetris pieces. One is at the ATM, which I found pretty funny. I had a few funny things happen to me in North Carolina. I was in a Starbucks with my mother in-law and my father in-law as well as my parents and Sarah, when we noticed a homeless guy who was sitting directly across from us with a magazine in his lap completely knocked out asleep. He was in and out for a while, he had fake teeth he took out so he could eat his bagel. Also, when Sarah and I were driving out of the city, another gentleman yelled at us, "get the !@%# out of my city, yeah get the hell out of my city". I had no idea the mayor was walking around that part of town. It made me laugh out load, it was a really fun day with the family, I really cherish those times.

Ansonville driveway post

I am sitting here in the driveway in ansonville bc service is not that
Great. It was a good day spent in charlotte hanging out with family.
I have a picture here of some people who were walking down the street
dressed like tetris pieces. They were awesome. I think that would be a
fun way to spend an afternoon. it will not let me upload the picture so I will add it tomorrow.

Constant Reminder

I am consistently reminded of what real conversation and real friendship can mean to an individual. Think about the last time that you had a really good conversation with someone. A conversation where you didn't think about what you were going to say next, but yet spoke with a freedom that was not worried about how what you said would be received. Those exchanges are very priceless. The opportunity to share your thoughts and heart with someone and to have them do the same is rare. I am just thankful for the chance to have that in my life. I have been reminded today of the people that love me for who and what I am... period. I consider that a true blessing that I do not deserve but am fortunate enough to have. Sometimes, it is worth a moment or two, to slow down, take a deep breathe and be thankful for what is around you, not what you are looking to obtain or go next.

Rabies

I have to inform everyone that I gave a presentation today at work on Rabies. Yes... Rabies. It was pretty sweet. So if anyone has any questions on the subject matter of rabies, please feel free to ask me below. I have a wealth of knowledge about a disease that do not really kill that many people ever anymore.

I saw a bear

So this may seem like a rather simple story, but I thought it was pretty cool. I went hunting this morning for deer although it is bear season as well. I took my climbing tree stand, a book I have been reading, and a thermos of coffee. It was a nippy early morning and I was in the tree before I could see five feet in front of me. The first hour or two was spent nodding off and waking up. At about hour three, I heard a crash and a bunch of tree limbs break and out of the clearing comes a bear. I have never seen a bear before while I was hunting so I was a little bit stunned. It cruised along and stopped for a moment to catch its breath and then went on its marry way. It was pretty cool, the bear was huge. I am glad I did not walk up on it when I was walking out in the dark with a tiny flashlight. I would have busted a cap in yogi.

We are conditional people

I have been reminded in the past week or so how conditional we are as people. We are bombarded daily with get this, and it will do this for you. Do this and you will get this. But I think this bleeds into daily life more so than anything. How often is what we do for others based on what we will get in return. It is a really hard thing to look at that in our own daily lives. I challenge you to look at how you respond to things people ask of you. It is pretty crazy to see how quickly our minds go to, "whats in it for me." I know that sometimes we do things because we love people and want to help in a genuine act of kindness. It has just really challenged me as a person when I watch to see what my first reaction is to someone when they ask for something or want help with something etc. We are built on a platform of gratification in our society and gratification is conditional. So how do we fight something that is the fabric of what we live in. How do we fight something that we know is not the "real" way of living. I think that deep down, no matter who we are and what we believe, we would rather not be conditional people.

I do not care who you are voting for, this is funny.

Okay, so I do not know who you are voting for. McCain or Obama... your choice. I have seen them both do a lot of stupid things as far as messing up the words they use when speaking to people. This video was sent to me today and I had to share it... funny.

Joe and I broke a Bed...

So my neighbor Joe(also good friend I work with at STC)got a new bed today from Ikea. I was helping him put it together and he gave me his old frame. I was going to use it with my current bed because have wood slats instead of metal across the middle so they dip in the middle and Sarah and I usually roll towards each other through the night. I brought the bed frame back to our apartment and put it together. Joe stopped by to see how it was going and about the time I finished putting the mattress back on frame. I hoped on to see if it felt any different than the old one. Also about that time, Joe decided to take flight and squash me. It was just about mid air of his jump that I thought... this could be bad, yep this could break the bed frame. Joe landed... the bed frame split in half. It was pretty funny.

The Power of a name.

So today I was reminded of the power of a name. The one thing that we outwardly truly possess is our name. Someone can assume whatever they would like, but at the end of the day we still have the same name. Have you ever been around someone that you have not seen in a while and you cannot remember their name, but they can recall yours. That is a interesting feeling. You feel special because they can recall what one thing that is yours, your name. It is a powerful thing to remember someone's name. Because, that says that you validate who they are, they are important enough for you to hold onto their name. It is a way to care for someone.

Wow what a Sunset

I am working this weekend at SharpTop hosting a YL group from Tennessee. I was driving around camp this afternoon and was thinking about a bunch of things that have been on my mind and looked up. Then I saw that. That is a beautiful thing right there. It made me stop and just be for a moment, so I thought I would share with you what I saw today.

When I get "old"

Today as I was sitting around with a few friends and my wife Sarah, she started to talk about what I was going to look like when I get older. We were sitting around with our friends new beautiful baby, Abbie. So the idea of age what an easy topic to grab onto. This is when I found out what my wife really thinks of me and what I apparently have to look forward to as an "old" man. At first I was thinking it was going to be a nice description, maybe I would have no hair or wrinkled skin or even an old man stroll when I walk. But I soon found out that my body is going to revolt against me in my wife's eyes. My ears are going to get really big, as well as my nose. My nose hair and ear hair are going to become out of control. My cheeks/jaw are going to sag or drop down a bunch. My eyes will disappear more so when I smile than they do now, they might even just be completely overlapped. Basically I am going to completely fall apart and begin to sag and wrinkle uncontrollably as al whole. Also, I will fart uncontrollably. (her words not mine) On the plus side she did not mention anything about the creepy old man hair that comes over your shirt collar, so I have that going for me. Which is nice.

The Man Cold

This is nothing less than amazing. I dedicate this one to Jacob and Kuban.

Perception is your Reality

We had the interns over tonight for "Intern Time". It was a pretty sweet time, we are going over a book, "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster. Tonight we talked about Study, and Simplicity. It was a really neat time to hear from others and to learn a good bit. Something that I think became a theme between these two chapters was the idea of perception being reality. We as people, view our reality in what our perception is. I think it is that simple. The question I have been challenged with today is to truly look at what is my perception. What leads me to my reality, and how and where is it derived.

My armpits hate me.

I listened to a Podcast the other day from howstuffworks.com about the difference between deodorant and antiperspirant. It said stuff about how the metal in the antiperspirant plugs up your pores and does not let the bad stuff out etc. It also talked about the long term problems that you can face when these things do not get out of your body etc. So now that you have the back story, I decided to try deodorant for a week or two. I tried Arm and Hammer, "naturals" with some mountain scent. Well it hated my armpits a bunch and made them hurt and burn. So I tried Toms, Natural Maine stuff... apricot scent... BURN BURN BURN. It sucked. So I took a day off from deodorant and went to the one place where you find all answers. Yahoo Answers. Then there was the answer, I am allergic to scented deodorants. I have used Mitchem my whole life. I also found out from Yahoo Answers, that Mitchem is the deodorant for people who are allergic to most scented deodorants. This leaves me with one last try in the deodorant world before I head back to the antiperspirants. Deodorant.. Unscented. I will let you know what happens... and yes, I just blogged about my armpits.

Estate Agent

I think you will all love this. Another one from "Man stroke Woman" odd name I know. This is from the same group who did the "may I be blunt with you" that I posted a week ago. The clown is my favorite.

Dork Time

Okay I am going to admit it today. I am going to be a dork, but I think what I am about to share is rather interesting a has made my brain fart numerous times this afternoon. So bear with me as I try to put into words what I have jumbled and grasped at in my head. I was reading today about something called, "Historical Structuring". This comes from a sociologist named Philip Abrams. He argues that, people are made by society as much as society is made by people. I read that and stopped for a moment to think about what that looks like in our world today. I think it is pretty amazing to apply that principle to say, MTV and look at the proteges from the "X" generation that were raised on MTV. It is very evident to me that society shifted people with MTV, but in return from that generation that came out of the MTV revolution, they tend to follow each other. People follow MTV, while MTV is paying close attention to see where they are going to go. But with that, people are running with what MTV has feed them... so who is making who. This gets me pumped up, I wish I was with my Buddy Scott right now, we tend to have really good conversations about stuff like this. I can just picture sitting on the front porch of Petra (building at Lake Champion, a young life camp I used to work at) in rocking chairs with Scott try to figure this one out, going back and forth with what ifs and but what abouts.

Below I am going to quote a part from what I read... I would love some thoughts on what comes to mind when you read it. I know what happens when I ask people to comment, a bunch of fraddy cats. (that excludes Patrick Allen, the posting Champion in my book, he is the leader on the leader board, do not worry Zach you are right behind him) But I would honestly love to hear what comes to your minds when you read it. Great things happen with a bunch of minds vomit out their thoughts for each other to read.

This is in regards to events of history, etc.

"At such moments, individuals stand forth as agents of history not simply because they possess a unique ability to act, but also because in them we see the force of the specific social conditions that allowed their actions to come forth. Individuals can "make their mark" on history, yet in individuals one also finds the convergence of wider socials forces."

That is some very dense stuff if you ask me. So I look forward to comments... if you comment, the next time I see you I will give you one of the following, a dime, a moonpie, or a dum dum.

Mario Party, Mario Kart, Friends, a good night

I have a short one tonight. I just spent the past six hours playing mario kart, mario party with Joe, Kuban, and Jacob. These are good times. Ton of Wii and good times with close buddies.

How are you today?

I just came in from taking my dog outside to use the bathroom before I go to bed. I usually take Maple out with my neighbor Joe with his dog Bear. It has become somewhat of a ritual. A few nights a week at least we take them out at the same time to "go potty" and get some energy out playing with each other. It is like two dads at a playground with their kids, at least this is what I imagine it to be like. It is a sweet time. We will talk about whatever is going on in our lives and just be real with each other. I think it is a neat reality check when you ask someone how they are doing and they actually tell you instead of says something like, "fine" as if you are saying hi and they hi back. I look forward to these talks and times of sharing that we have while watching our dogs play. It's something different when you can honestly relate and be open with someone. It is suspiciously freeing. The thought of two people sharing truths about their lives and who they are brings me to think about what it would be like if every time someone asked me, "How are you", I told them the truth. Whether it be good or bad, I answered in a way that was revealing to the real "Brad". I think we as the general public are afraid to answer what comes to mind when asked a question like that. I can honestly say that when someone says, "How are you", I have never thought in my head, "fine". There is always something more, even if it's small, its more than a one word answer. But why do I not share what is the truth in relation to the question. I am not sure. Maybe I am afraid to show who I am, maybe I keep my cards to close, maybe I am more concerned with what someone might think of me than to be honest. When it comes down to it, thinking about the time I get spend standing in an small grassy area in my apartment complex talking to Joe, watching Maple and Bear play like dogs on speed, I become very sobered to who I am, that is a gift to me.

It is time for me to get political, put the kids indoors

I think Neal Boortz should run this country. If you do not know who that is and live in the Triangle Area, NC, then tune into 101.1 he is on everyday from 10-1. But that is a whole other topic that I do not intend to write about today. Today I would like to talk a little about some politics issues. I heard a very interesting fact today that really made me think. It also made me wonder if we as a nation had the same principles as the earlier democracy, if this would still rein true today. Our government's approval rating is right at 22%, and this hops up and down a few percents here and there. The percentage of officials who get reelected year after year is 95%. This is a problem. What this says to me is, we do not trust the people who we put in the government, but we keep them there year after year and wonder why nothing changes. It has recently dawned on me the true power of a vote at a local level. These congress men and women who go to washington determine what passes and fails. I know that sounds pretty elementary, but I think I have overlooked this is the past. There is power in who we send. Of course the president can veto, but what gets to him is determined by those voting on the bills. But back to my main point, if the people do not get flushed out of washington and bring some in who care and are not comfortable with the 95% reelection rate, what can we expect to happen. If you are invincible, why not get money for yourself, take bribes, have special interests, put band-aids on things, leave it for the next generation, don't look at the real problem that everyone can see in plain daylight. I mean what is the problem, it's only bad if you get caught...right?

Cha Cha

If you have never heard of Cha Cha, it is time to become educated. My friend, Jacob told me about it the other day. If you text 242 242, you can ask them any question you want and they will have an answer. From if acorns are bad for you, to the difference in rain fall in Argentina and Spain in the winter months. So tomorrow you should try it out and ask a question, it does not cost anything just a text message. You can really ask them anything, you should try to stump them.

Ol Benny

So tonight I want to hit on briefly the other B. Franklin quote that I posted the other day.

"to know all is to forgive all"

I think this is any interesting quote. To forgive someone is a pretty big thing. To be able to look at someone who has wronged you and to say, I forgive you, I let it go. Not it's okay and I am going to think about it for a while when I see you, but it is behind us and over, buried and dead. So with that said, I think the idea to forgive being the result of knowing all is pretty powerful.

If I was a dog I would have a metal pillow

So today we are driving home from Iron Station, NC. Maple is a very good road tripping dog, never has to pee or poop, always waits till we get to the final destination and can sleep anywhere, anytime. Today on our 4 hour trip, she decided to use the bottom part of my handlebars for a pillow. This is not a comfortable way to sleep, I mean come on really?

p.s. Jon Allen, if you are looking at this... you can see your present.

"The Scootch"

I have a insight to the world of being married today. I am going to talk about the "scootch" which has plagued men for ages. Scientifically proven, woman are a billion degrees when they sleep and men are usually at a mildly comfortable level if not a little warm. I like to sleep with the fan on and usually do the leg kick out over the covers to maintain the perfect temperature. If you get a little hot, throw the leg outside the covers and bam, temperature neutralized. If you are a little cold, pull the leg back in a again the temperature is once again balanced. I have practiced this technique for years. Well when you put a wife in the mix, the whole world changes. I have found that when my wife falls asleep her body rises to temperatures that are not human, in fact I am pretty sure that could melt steel. But the completely confusing part to this mystery is that my wife still thinks that she is cold. So much so that she has too come try to steal what body heat I have to counteract what I believe to be a chemical imbalance, which tricks her to think that even though she is 1,000 degrees already, she actually thinks that she is -32. With this in mind I will explain the "scootch". I will be sleeping, and all of the sudden wake up because of two things, one my butt is about to fall off the bed and two because I have broken into a horrible sweat. This is because when my wife gets cold she begins to scootch over to where I am and I scootch away, all the way till I almost fall off the bed. I wake up and tell her or push her back to her side of the bed and in a sleepy voice, complain about all the open real estate that she has on her side of the bed and that I think her skin is going to make me melt. She responds to this by saying, I am freezing. What the crap!*? This is a battle that will be fought for the rest of my days. The "Scootch", helping men everywhere sweat off water weight because their wives are 1,000 degrees when they sleep.

This is a good one

This will be the first of a few that I am going to post. These are amazing.

My Sleep Walking Story

So I have another sleep walking story. This one is kind of funny and quite odd. I remember it a little bit to know that it really happened, but I am not sure what motives I had etc. I woke up the other morning remembering getting out two tee shirts from the closet during the middle of the night. One I put over the headboard and the other, I left folded on my night stand. No idea what in the world I was thinking.

Iron Station here we are. Also I have another sleep walking story

We just arrived in NC. It is late and we are sleepy.
I have a funny sleep walking story that I will tell tomorrow. It would
Be to hard to write from my phone. I know this is a crappy post. But off to sleep I go.

The second best male artist in the Springer family tree

Tonight, I was on the phone with my brother. I usually do one of two things when I am on the phone, I walk around or draw on a piece of paper. Most of the time it is walking, I will pace around the house or wherever I am, but tonight I was sitting when he called and there just happened to be a piece of paper handy. I started to make a small circle which then grew these kind of wings to the sides. That turned into what looked like to me a bowtie which reminded me of my brother who I was on the phone with. The rest is history, it ended up being a picture of my brother. I tried to shadow a few things in a then just ended up coloring in the coat. I had to erase the hands because I cannot draw hands very well at all. It looked better without them.

My wife is talking to the Dog, and she is amazing.

I have a quick comment for the night. As I type, I am watching Sarah play with Maple. She is extremely funny, as she talks to Maple about how she is going to see her sister Molly this weekend. When she mentions Molly's name, Maple's ear perk up. It is rather amusing to watch. This makes me think of how really neat it is to watch Sarah relate to people. I know that I am branching off of her talking to our dog, but it all makes sense in my head. She is very gifted in loving people etc. I just feel very blessed to be around someone with that ability to love others specifically. She looks at people through a lens that sees people for the beauty that they are. I think that is a wonderful gift, that speaks volumes for who she is. Well I am off to bed, I bet Sarah is going to be embarrassed when she reads this. Night Night everyone.

Ol' Franklin

I was reading the other day about Benjamin Franklin. That guy did a lot in his lifetime. He also had this thing where he would have a list of virtues he wanted to work on as a person. Taking one virtue at a time, he would work on one for a few weeks and really pay attention to it in his daily life. He cycled through this list throughout his life. Here is some of the list; his words not mine to follow, Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation, avoid trifling conversation, justice, orderly, resolute, frugal, industrious, sincere, humility, etc. etc. The list went on for a while. He added humility at the end because a Quaker friend of his told him he had the most problems with that. Franklin said about humility, "I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of this virtue, but I had a good deal with regard to the appearance of it."

That stirred something in me as I read. I started to think about times when I thought I was being humble. Which as I thought about them, I realized pretty quickly that I was not very humble in those times at all due to the rapid fire of things I could remember. This challenged me with a question. Do I work hard to appear humble, or is it part of who I am. I think we all possess this trait, but where the balance lies I am not sure. Am I more humble towards certain things, and for others does the balance shift to appearance. Working for a ministry, I think Franklin's thoughts on humility really pushed me to really ponder this one. Being humble pops up a good bit in ministry, it is a pretty sought after virtue and in many cases their is a lot of opportunities to be challenged in humility.

One other Franklin quote for the evening, that I will Blog about later, I just could not wait.

"to know all, is to forgive all"

King of the Kennel

Sarah and I were over at our friends the Wilson's apartment tonight. Maple's friend Bear is their dog. They love each other and play like crazy together. Tonight though, Maple had a new plan. She set up shop in Bear's Kennel. Then set up her defense to make ready for a battle. When Bear decided that he wanted to join Maple in the Kennel, it was on like Donkey Kong. Maple would not let him in. No matter what approach Bear tried, Maple blocked, bite, pawed, elbow dropped and body blocked. It was pretty impressive to watch, she totally dominated. Although to Bears credit, he kicks her butt in a sprint competition.

God is Love and I am a little iffy about it

"God is love and he who abides in love, abides in God, and God in him" 1 John 4:16

I read this today in "Experiencing God". "Understand this (God's Love) in its full dimensions will set you free to enjoy all that is yours as a "christian". But you must accept that God loves you." It then talks about if you grew up in a unconditional loving family that it might be easier for you to accept, but if love was void for you, it might be a little harder. "God loves you, not because you deserve, His love, but because, his nature is love. The only way he will ever relate to you is in love. His love for you gives you an inherent worth that nothing can diminish". That right there is enough to get the hamster wheels turning. This caught me off guard rather abruptly. I am not sure that I handle God's love this way, actually I know I do not handle God's love this way. I am sometimes, ashamed to take it because of who I am, not who God is. It goes on to mention that if you cannot accept the truth of God's love, then you are limiting your relationship with him. It puts us in a position that I have come to find pretty common in my life. That if God, disciplines, or say's no, or opens one door but not the other I tend to resent him for it, think he does not care about me. But in reality God is caring, and loving me with those decisions. His love is directing the life he wants for me, sometimes not the life that I lead. It also discussed that accepting God's love will in turn help you be able to love God and others with that same love. I question my nature when it comes to these ideas. It makes me wonder what is the hurt or pain that I have pinned between God and myself that blocks me from the true acceptance of love. What view of myself or skewed perception do I have, that I would be able to fight this perfect love. I think that understanding God's love and accepting God's love are very different things. Its a matter of the heart not the mind.

I hope those thoughts are clear. It is a very sobering issue I think. As always, I would love anyone's thoughts. I think sometimes when on an island, you would like to know that others are on an island somewhere else. It is amazing that when the God of the universe is knocking on the door, we have the audacity to stand behind walls.

Also, looks like the debate will go on. I think that they should scrap the questions, (which they may or may not really answer) and put on those big sumo suits and battle it out. I think that would make for good television. Obama V.S. McCain in Human Sumo.

My left eye quit on the right one

First off, let me go ahead and say sorry for the shortness of the last few blogs that I have written. I feel like the quality that I am shooting for, has been somewhat compromised in the past few days with some short entries, that are not bad... but yet no the detail that I am looking for. By this I am only applying the statement to the last two days, the Babies Post is wonderful and beautiful, just like my new niece and nephew. Which by the way they went home today and are doing great. Speaking of babies, how about a side order of babies with two friends of ours having babies today/anytime now. That is a lot of babies floating around here. So as for the title of todays blog, as I write this one eye will fall asleep and not tell the other eye what it's doing. Then the other will do the same and I will get mad and tell them both to wake up and no one is going to bed just yet, but they continue to go to sleep without telling me. So as for tonight, I go to sleep, but I will pay close attention tomorrow and have a good original post for you. Night Night.

Dan in Real Life

I just watched this movie. I have anxiety issues with romantic comedies. I cannot handle the awkward love moments. Something about the unknown and worry about what is about to happen in the next scene just gets me going and I cannot handle it. I am unsure what about my wiring when it comes to that, it just makes me laugh. I know this is short. I just finished watching and Sarah and I were laughing about my problem with Lovey movies.

Office pens and paper

I got home last night from football and poker and my wife had me a gift waiting on the table. It was Dwight Schrute pens and a "thats what she said" sticky note pad. I mean seriously, how cool can a wife be. When you click the top of the pen, a new Dwight quote pops up on the side from, "the schrute's produce very thirsty babies" to "will you form an alliance with me". It was a sweet gift.

I am an Uncle again!!!

Wow, what a great day. Will and Ruby were born this morning and are beautiful. What you see there is a picture of Will up close and below that, a picture of the two of them. They are absolutely beautiful. I cannot say enough for those little boogers. Tonight I have something to share that is about will and ruby. I was looking at a picture of them before I left the office today to go home and my eyes became filled with water or something of that nature. I have felt tears in my eyes before. Usually it has come along with hurt or pain or sadness. I have rarely cried from pure joy and happiness. I looked at those babies and baaam there it was, I was overcome with a joy that lead to tears. It was awesome. What a moment.

Freakishly Large Sea Animals on Land

I have been sitting her at work tonight hosting for a group that is in. I was at my desk doing some busy work and stopped to look at the screen savers that came up. These two large creatures where in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Youngs and the Springers went to DB for a few days before a conference for Young Life last January. Anyways, it was a really cool trip, with fun times and memories that were made. One of the nights we were there, we were walking down the strip and came across these bad boys. Giant Sea Creatures, yeap, Giant Sea Creatures. What a perfect picture oppurtunity. It was pretty funny. Next time you see me ask me about the tee shirt.

Self fulfilled Prophecy

I am going to be rather quick tonight, as it is late and I ready for bed. I let this night get away from me. Sometimes, I would like a stop watch on time so I could stop it for a few hours and catch up with myself. I have a quick thought for tonight. I have been thinking about the idea of the "self fulfilled prophecy" toady and the last few days, weeks or so. As people, we are always trying to grow into what we desire to become. This involves battling things that we do not like about ourselves or growing out of "bad habits" or ways of life we have grown accustom to. This could be anything for anyone. It is funny to me though, that when we recognize something that we need to work on or "fix" that has become a part of who we are in the past years, it becomes kind of a battle between self and what we want to be. We are all aware of the things we are working on but we are also aware of how hard it is to change, grow, etc. That is where the "self fulfilled prophecy" comes in. I think that we are our own worst enemy in this battle because we know our tendencies to fail. Victory can be close but we often fold with the fear of success. Being comfortable in who we are is a huge struggle of mine. Comfort does not have to mean that we are in a good place, it can also mean that we are afraid to see what the "other" life could look like and what that would mean to us.

I hope that makes sense. If not that is okay too. It is what is in the ol noggin tonight. Until tomorrow. Go Wolfpack, seriously did ya'll see that game. Clap for the wolfman. (clap, clap, clap)

Maple's sister Molly

My brother sent me an email today that I wanted to share with everyone. Maples' sister Molly is an exact replica of Maple. They are so alike it is crazy. When they sit down beside each other they both hit the ground at the same time and then once settled, they kick their right back legs out together at the same time. They have the same mannerisms. Every time they get together they just play and play for hours. Two peas in a pod. Anyways back to the email. Preston sent me a photo of Molly after he read the post about Maple and her duck. I was unaware of Molly's duck. This is just another way they are alike.

The worst Oatmeal I have ever had.

I went to a local dive this morning for some breakfast with my friend David Puffer (who is the man by the way). We go eat breakfast together every week. Each week I think about trying something different from the good ol bacon egg and cheese and muffin. But then I think why change when it is not broken. Well this morning I had a weak moment. I decided to go with the Oatmeal. The description on the menu was awesome, spices and brown sugar and raisins and all kinds of goodness. I waited with anticipation. I could see the kitchen from where I was sitting. I noticed above the grill was a tub of Oats. Plain regular run of the mill OATMEAL. I thought, "this could not be the spices, and raisins and sugars and goodness that was coming my way. I mean they make their own granola for Goodness Sakes, you would imagine that the oatmeal would fall into a similar category. Soon after that, the plate arrived. I have one bowl of off colored pale plain oatmeal sitting in front of me. I was not dissuaded, I thought, "all the goodness must be at the bottom." It wasn't. I also noticed a black saucer sitting next to the bowl with something in it. There in the little black saucer was a small block of brown sugar, and 8 raisins. Ah yes, the spices, sugar, and raisins. This oatmeal sucked big time. It was not worth the 3.35 that I was charged. I bet confederate soldiers ate better oatmeal than this.

Always check for crappy oatmeal before you order.

Maple got a duck

It's been a while since a Maple Blog. Tonight we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some food for Maple. We were in the pet isle and saw a Mallard. It did not have a squeaker in it but yet a duck call sounding thing. I could not resist myself. Sarah was on board so we bought it. When we got home, I said, "Maple you want a new toy?". She freaked. I made the duck quack, made a gun shot noise and threw the duck. She took off and man she has had a field day with that duck for about 30 minutes now. She has been taking laps around the apartment with her new toy. Its funny to watch. That is one happy pup. She also has a bone that she loves, now with the duck in the mix, she will go get the bone chew on it while the duck rests under her paw.