DCI 2008 Drum Corps International Trailer

This is how you make lemonade out of lemons…

Movie Review - WALL-E at El Capitan.

I went to my second movie at the El Capitan theater yesterday, the first being Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian, and the experience was much better. They had about a 20 min pre-show (pictures below) where they had a medley of the past Disney movies. It was really good. As for the movie I would say that it was good as well. Short and sweet it was a typical feel good movie and that went further than the “actors” and went into the earth being destroyed but okay in the end. Not a movie that is going to blow you away but I would say it was worth watching. I give it a B.

My Letter for the Church.

Well the letter that the church requested me to get showing my service in ministry came in. This means I can actually be involved in leading a ministry now! I don’t know how well that is going to work since I am already involved in so many things in the church as well as working full time and going to be starting classes again in the fall but I am glad I can serve again. Hopefully I can make a positive impact on the church.

Relaxed Motorcycle Ride.

Halo Homicide Detective.

DCI at Americafest 2008 (Follow Up).

Where to start? I guess from the beginning… I got to the Rose Bowl early because they had a lot of pre-show attractions advertised on the website. To my dismay they had some inflatables, food vendors and a radio DJ. It took me a whole 15min to go through everything thoroughly. So I decided to leave to eat dinner and come back a little closer to show time (7p). Things started to change for the better as soon as I got back to the stadium. Before I had even walked back to the pre-show area my friend from Oklahoma called me and said that they had arrived and that she had some time to kill before she needed to warm up. I found her and after we talked for about 20min when she said that her parents had driven all the way from OK to see some of her performances and they were going to be at this one. I couldn’t believe that I was not only going to get to see one but 4 people from home! I couldn’t have been happier. I called them and met them inside the stadium a little before the show. The show was amazing. I haven’t been to a competition in a few years and I had forgotten how good they were. I thought that my friends band was one of the best if not the best. After all of that the night was capped off with a spectacular fireworks show that included some fireworks that I had not only seen before but I wasn’t sure were even possible. They include square fireworks and fireworks that exploded into smiley faces. It really was amazing and truly a blessing from God to allow me to see several friends and an amazing show with both the bands and the fireworks. Hope everyone else had a great 4th! 

DCI at Americafest 2008.

Well its the fourth of July and today I am riding up to Pasadena, CA to see the Americafest DCI competition. I have been to DCI competitions before but what I didn’t know until after I decided to go is that it is followed by the largest fireworks show in southern CA! Now I can’t wait to get up there and not only see an amazing competition and fireworks but also a friend from Oklahoma. Today should be great and I am ready to come home tonight completely spent. Oh and did I mention I have today off with pay because of the holiday? Icing on the cake.

Hands Free in California.

As of July 1st you can’t talk on your cell phone in CA without using a device that makes the cell phone “hands free.” Of course, we can still text, so all is not lost in the look-up-and-freak-out-slam-on-the-brakes department. Here’s a shot of an interesting idea for the new law. Think it will work?

Nothing Matters In This World.

Right now I wish things could be so different than they are. There are so many things that are amazing right now but I am still left wishing for more. Some of you already know part of what is happening but there is much more that I haven’t told anyone yet. First, I am missing everyone from OK so much. I am about to see a friend from Oklahoma and that is going to be nice. Not to mention that I am going to get to see some really cool bands and fireworks in the process. With all that though I wish all of my friends come come to CA and live with me. Second, I am still struggling with money. I know it hasn’t been that long but every paycheck I have gotten seems to come in one hand and then get paid right back out with the other. Hopefully that will ease soon. Third, I feel isolated. There are a lot of people at church to hang out with but I have no close friends nearby anymore. I have my brother but right now he has his own problems to worry about without mine getting in the way. I am not sure that this will improve very quickly though.

 

I know this all sounds so bad but the one thing that God has been teaching me through all of this is that NOTHING MATTERS IN THIS WORLD except our relationship with him. I wish I could remember this as strongly when things are going well but that is when my ego is puffed up and I feel as though I can do everything myself. Please keep praying for my family and I but no matter what thank God for everything he has blessed us with and will continue to bless us with. 

Funny Posters.

Camping in the Mountains.

Cory apparently has wanted to go camping for quite some time and he finally had the chance to last weekend. I tagged along with him and although the length of the camping (especially compared to the drive) left something to be desired it was still a great trip with some equally cool pictures. Some people have asked about them so I thought I would put them up here. They were all taken on my phone so the quality isn’t the best but I was surprised at how well some of them turned out. I hope you enjoy God’s creation as much as I do!

The Usual…

I am amazed at how busy I have been since I moved. I now have my job during the day and I have things going on several nights of the week as well. When I don’t have one of those things going on I am usually trying to get caught up on everything else. It just seems like I can’t turn around without another thing popping up in my face. But what can I say? I have also been enjoying California. I have liked this change of pace and my only worry is that I may not be able to keep up. 

This weekend my brother is taking some of the youth to Mexico on a mission trip and I am going to be filling in for him on the Sunday Night Service (SNS). I have known what to teach for a while because, unlike myself, my brother plans ahead farther than tomorrow and told me what is next in the series. I am not worried about the material but none of the kids really know me yet. One of the leaders in the youth suggested that I spend a little extra time talking about myself so that the youth aren’t just hearing a random guy speak. He said that they are probably going to be more interested in who I am then what I have to say right. I actually laughed when I read that (It was an email) but realized thought it is probably true. 

I am also still waiting on some papers to come in so I can start teaching as a “leader”. The church is very strict on who is allowed to do what and one members who have been there for 6 months are allowed to lead a ministry. I obviously will not have been there 6 months but I think they are bending the rules for me because of two reasons: 1)Because I am a licensed minister and just came from serving as a youth pastor of a church and 2) because my brother is the current youth minister of the church and they are allowing him to vouch for me. I am glad that they are letting this go because I have already been helping with training of some of the leaders and I am excited about getting involved in what my brother has already started and with what he is planning on starting. 

Thats about all for this post but I would love to hear from you. Especially you guys in Oklahoma. I love you guys and I hope that I hear from you soon. Thanks again for all the prayers (I know I say that a lot but I really am amazed at how God has answered them) and I hope you are having a wonderful week. 

Movie Review - Iron Man

I am not sure why everyone was so excited about this movie. I heard from several friends that it was an amazing movie and that it will surprise you with how good it is. I thought differently. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the movie very much and I give it a high rating but I just don’t think that it was any more amazing than other movies I have seen. I thought that the story line was a great one to make the movie from and I thought they did a nice job of making the movie seem real. I thought the action scenes and the computer generated material was done well also. The action and story line wasn’t a roller coaster like some other movies I have seen recently and it also had a nice amount of humor. If you are looking for a typical action film then I would definitely recommend this movie but I would not go into the movie thinking that it is going to be a knockout because that really brought the experience down for me. My rating for this movie is a B+.

Busy Busy…

Well there are a lot of new things to update. I guess the most important is that I now have two jobs and I am excited about them. I got one job at RadCo which in the last update I said that I had an interview with and I also got a job tutoring which will only be 3-4 hours a week but pays $20/hr. Now all I need to do is wait until I start getting paid because right now I am broke. For the people who saw on my facebook that I was doing laundry without a dryer I can now say that the dryer is working. I finally was able to get it working today and I have been doing laundry now for the last couple of hours. As for California in general, I am liking it a lot. I am getting to know some of the people at the church and I really like the style of living. Not to mention living with m brother and his wife has been a blast so far. I am not sure how they feel but hopefully it is close. I really like the place that we are living in too. All in all it seems like God is working things out and that I am really going to enjoy this new part of my life.