Friday, November 30, 2007

Emily's Birthday

Yesterday was my friend, Emily's, birthday. We celebrated her birthday all day only she wasn't with us most of the time. We had a card for her that said, "Whazup Nephew" on the front. If that wasn't funny enough, we had strangers sign the card everywhere we went for the day.

The people at the gas station signed it. Then, we went to Marble Slab to pick her up some ice cream (her favorite) and take it to where she works at a tea shop in downtown Franklin. We had tons of people sign it along the way. Brock was telling people to sign the card for his nephew, Emily. One lady asked if she was in therapy about that.

Some other friends met up with us at the tea shop. Then, we went to the tattoo place to finish up some ink on Brock. After that, we stopped by the Mexican restaurant next door and had the waitress and waiters sign the card in Spanish. It was so fun!

After stopping by another friend's house, we went to the Cocoa Tree. There we hung out until Emily was ready to go to dinner. We made her another card in the Cocoa Tree using a magazine, some notebook paper, and a sharpie. We ended the night eating dinner with Emily at PF Chang's where we gave her the cards. We also showed her video we had taken of people all over town signing her birthday card. We had the best time celebrating Emily's birthday!

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Thursday, November 29, 2007

Running

Remember how I told you that I don't have any kind of daily routine? I do now! Brock and I run almost everyday. Actually, we are training for a half marathon in April. It's so fun! We run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Then, we do some kind of cross training on Tuesday and Thursday. Saturday, we usually take a walk, and Sunday is a rest day.

I ran cross country in high school. I kept up running rather regularly until we got married. After we were married, it was difficult to run while we were on the road. It wasn't safe for me to run by myself in an unfamiliar area. Now that Brock is running with me, it's great!

We actually bought some really good running shoes at a running store. The salesclerk there watched me run (that was a little intimidating). Then, he told me what kind of shoe I needed. I purposely paid quite a bit of money for our shoes so that we would stick with it. We have been faithful in running, and now we are going to run a half marathon!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Pictures From Saturday

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The GUYS help clean up.

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We all ate taco soup and homemade pudding.

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The guys worked outside while it was sleeting!

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We had a bonfire during the day.

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Then, we went to eat at one of our favorite places...Thai Spice.

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Kristin (or Crackhead) joined us Saturday.

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Of course we had to end the weekend at the Cocoa Tree!

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Me, Emily, and Shannon

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Pictures from Friday

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We had a big bombfire.

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Some even made smoores.

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Lucas uses the wheel barrel to shield himself from the hot fire.

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Our friends from SuperWow, Kelly and Amber, came over.

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Lucas and Kyle talk.

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Then, Brock did some magic for everyone.

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Monday, November 26, 2007

Pictures from Thursday

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Brock cooks turkeys the best!

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Isn't it pretty?

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Look at all of that food!!!

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Manuel likes ketchup on everything!

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There were 13 of us for lunch. Some sat in the kitchen area...

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and some sat in the dining room.

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Then, we all watched the movie Elf

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It's so funny!

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Shane watched football in our bedroom.

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After the movie, some of us took a walk.

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We were all bundled up.

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The girls

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Thanksgiving Cooking

I've got to tell you that I'm not the most exceptional cook. I follow recipes very well. However, I cannot do several things at once especially if cooking is involved. I must follow that recipe to the letter and if I'm distracted, things go wrong. Therefore, I get flustered if there are tons of people talking to me while I try to cook. I simply must cook by myself. To add to this, my kitchen is tiny. At one point, I had to tell Brock and Lucas to give me some space or else none of the food was going to turn out. I literally kicked them out of the kitchen.

Also, if you can remember some of my "Lucille Ball" moments, there have been plenty that have happened in the kitchen. I've dropped the whole container of sugar and flour before. I've used salt in the cookies instead of sugar. I remember one time in college I was helping mom cook something. She left for a minute and came running back. Her comment was, "I didn't want to leave you in the kitchen by yourself." She knew that disaster could strike at any moment. Brock has found that out a few times himself.

I am getting better. I only burned myself two times this weekend. I didn't have a complete melt down, just got overwhelmed yesterday at lunch (that's why we went out to eat last night...I needed a break and we ran out of food). I cooked two new desserts, and one of them turned out exceptional. The other was just okay because I used goats evaporated milk instead of the regular. It was eaten up though!

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Thanksgiving Weekend

The party continued yesterday. The ones who stayed overnight just chilled out with us. We had leftovers and turkey sandwiches for lunch. Then, a friend and his parents stopped by yesterday afternoon. I took a nap while the others went around the yard picking up sticks and cutting up branches for the fire.

Last night, more people came over for dinner. Brock made a gumbo. Some people had never had gumbo before, but they loved it! Then, we had a HUGE bonfire. Brock brought in our sound system that we use for some of our shows. We played music on it all night. We even turned on a little Group 1 Crew and danced like we do at FX. It was fun! After that, we came inside and Brock did a little magic. What a perfect night.

So far, we've had 23 people come over this weekend. Seven of them have stayed overnight like a slumber party. We are going to do it again today, and Kristin will be here!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Thanksgiving Day

Yesterday was wonderful! We had so much food! I was proud of our community. They brought some really good things that they actually cooked. Single people ordinarily buy things and bring them when we have pot luck at our house, but many of them treated this special. There were 13 of us at lunch time.

We ate until we were stuffed. Then, we watched the movie "Elf." Everyone was passed out all over the living room. One guy went into our bedroom to watch a football game. Then, a few people had to leave. After the movie, we took a walk. It was chilly, but it felt good to walk after such a huge meal.

After watching another movie, we pulled out all of the food again. It was great the second time too. A couple more people came over. After dinner, we played two truths and a lie. You have to tell two true things about yourself and one lie. Everyone else must figure out what the lie is. It was fun! Brock's mom called and she even played. Brock put her on speaker phone.

I cleaned up a little and talked with Brock and Stephy (our former road manager) who had stopped by. Some of the people who had to work the next day left while others began another movie. A few people stayed the night. There's more to come...

Thursday, November 22, 2007

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I love Thanksgiving. You don't have the stress of buying the perfect gift for everyone, and it's centered around food...one of my favorite things! I spent all day yesterday cooking and cleaning. I cannot believe how long that takes! However, once people get here, I won't have to do much cooking. I already have most of it out of the way.

We have people coming over from all over. Our friends that live here that were unable to go home are coming...about 10 of us. Then, we have some of our friends from the road coming. Group 1 Crew is in town working on their new album, so they will be here. Tomorrow, Eleventyseven is going to come hang out because they leave Saturday for Punk the Halls tour. Today, we have a couple of people that we know from SuperWow staff coming in from Florida. Saturday, Kristin (or crackhead as Brock calls her because she's so crazy) is going to come stay with us. Friday, a guy from Atlanta who was with us for FX is coming. It's going to be a party!!!

Basically, we are just going to hang out at our house this whole weekend and let people come to us. We are going to eat a lot of food and have bombfires and such. I'm so excited!!! What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

College Campus

As we were driving to Brock's mentoring meeting yesterday morning, Brock made the comment that downtown Franklin was like a college campus. We parked at a little restaurant downtown where Brock meets every week called Merridee's. I met one of my friends there for coffee to pass the time while he was in his meeting. After a while, we walked down to the Starbucks to visit a friend that was working there. She was walking out and met us on the sidewalk. She happened to be on her lunch break and was going to the tea shop to visit with our other friend who worked there. We all went in the tea shop and pulled up a chair to hang out for a while. After she went back to work at Starbucks, another friend came in and hung out with us.

I told them all about Brock's statement earlier and everyone decided that he's right. There are all kinds of old buildings in downtown. Everybody knows everybody. You walk everywhere. The "police" give stupid tickets like backing into a parking spot. We decided that Merridee's is like our cafeteria and our friend that works there is on "work study" in the cafeteria.

If you've ever wished that you could stay in college forever, live in Franklin. It's just like a college campus!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

A Date!!!

After Brock had a long day of meetings yesterday, we ran at the park. Then, we stopped by our friends' house. One of the girls told me that she was about to go on a date as I was standing in her room watching her try on different clothes. I ran out to Brock to warn him not to embarrass her in front of her date. (He enjoys picking on this girl in particular.)

We all waited in the living room for her date to come. Brock said that he'd never waited on a date to come and pick anyone up before (because the guy does that!). It was exciting!

When the date knocked on the door, Brock said, "Hide!" and he jumped on the floor crouching down in a ball. I thought that he was going to surely embarrass her, but he didn't. After he picked himself off of the floor, he introduced himself. The only thing he said was, "Drive safely!" as they were on their way out the door. That was slightly dadish, but our friend said that he did "fine."

Monday, November 19, 2007

The Work Continues in Grundy, VA

At our show in Virginia the other night, a guy from Grundy, Lee, who helped bring FX there a couple of months ago came. He told us more wonderful things that have happened in Grundy, VA. After we left, the sheriff, police officers, and the state troopers have all said that the crime rate has noticeably gone down. Even the number of speeding violations has gone down. They said that there is no other explanation because in the surrounding counties, the crime rate has continued to escalate, but not in Grundy. Lee said that revival is happening there!

There was one lady in town whose picture had been all over the newspaper the week before we got there because she was involved in a huge drug bust. Apparently, she came to FX. A week after FX, she was saved by Jesus Christ.

Lee said that people are still getting saved after the fact. The work of Freedom Experience is still continuing. That was so exciting to hear!

Pray for our ministry today. Brock is having meetings all day today and we need wisdom on how to do the administrative side of the ministry. Nothing bad is going on. We simply need to know what needs to change and what needs to stay the same.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Show in Roanoke, VA

I went into the show last night in not the best of moods (remember I woke up at 4am). However, the people were so nice when we got there that they lifted my spirits. I was able to set up everything fairly easily and quickly.

The show began at 9pm. It was after the service at the conference. I thought that the audience might be too tired to enjoy a show. Man, was I wrong! They all had a blast! They were ready to have a good time and they did. Brock was on too. He was extra funny. What a fun show!

Friday, November 16, 2007

On the Road Again

We are heading out on the road again. We leave early this morning and drive 7 hours to do a show in Roanoke, VA tonight. For some reason, I woke up at 4am this morning. Maybe it's because I'm anxious about this show. In some ways it's more reassuring to drive to an event as opposed to flying because we have more control of it. However, this is going to be a long drive to make the day of the show. Pray for a smooth drive.

Last night, we hung out with our friend, David Nasser. He happened to be in town. It was so good to see him. He is an excellent speaker and a man of God. I'm always inspired when I'm around him. I wish that we got to see him and his precious wife more.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Ryan and Rain

I found out yesterday that my cousin, Ryan, died in a motorcycle accident Tuesday night. He was in his early twenties and was newly married. My uncle (who is Ryan's grandfather) had a brother who just died in a car accident a month ago. What a blow for this family. They are very solid in their faith. In fact, Ryan's mother made a comment yesterday that the Lord "is still good." She definitely has a peace that only comes from the Lord. Nobody can say something like that within 24 hours of their child's death unless the Lord is giving them strength. However, this is still so devastating. Please pray for my family right now. My mom is flying from Texas to Florida to go to the funeral.

Death is such a weird thing for us humans. Ryan is in heaven. We don't mourn for his sake but for ours. It's so difficult for us to wrap our minds around death and heaven and such.

All day yesterday I was rather down. It simply seems so senseless for Ryan to die. As I sat on my hammock in the strangely warm weather contemplating this, it began to rain. Instead of running inside to avoid getting wet, I stayed right where I was and let the rain come down on me. It really felt good. I realized that there were a lot of things that I don't quite understand about the Lord. Rain is one of them. As I sat there feeling the rain on my skin, I just knew that the Lord is in control. I was seeing a picture of how He controls the whole earth. Even when the wind and rain strengthened, the Lord was commanding it. What a mighty God! How can I think that I can understand everything about Him?

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

More Pictures from Corpus Christi FX

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The Outcast bmx team

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Eleventyseven guys

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Team Faith freestyle motocross guys

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Some of the Boarders for Christ skate team at their table

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Tim Byrne

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Group 1 Crew

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Brock's parents and the director of FX Kim

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Our very own Shannon at our table

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Kyle (whom I gave the MVP award for FX because he's the hardest worker I've ever seen), Lindsay (Brad's wife), and Brad (who is our emcee/production director, etc.)

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Pictures from Corpus Christi FX

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The crowd on the second night

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The rest of the crowd on the second night

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Group 1 Crew and Eleventyseven join forces to perform an amazing number! It's difficult to see, but all of those little lights in the crowd are cell phones that people were holding up and swaying from side to side

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This is where we ate lunch everyday

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This is the view we had at lunch

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These are our hospitality ladies. Lily is on the right if you read her comment the other day.

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This is where we ate dinner after the show each night.

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Here is Brock's dad, Roger, blowing out his candle on his birthday cake. Happy Birthday!!!!

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Krista and her daughter

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Krista's son who was saved at the show

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Brock signing autographs after the show.