Thursday, November 03, 2011

Interview

I have never done an interview in my life until two weeks ago. I did two in one week. One was for a radio station in Virginia. Then, I did one online. Brock is definitely a natural at it and me not so much, but go here if you want to see it.

Friday, October 14, 2011

I Lost the First Dog I Never Owned

I am not an animal person. I didn't grow up with any pets except for a couple of goldfish and two tiny turtles. However, my goldfish ate my sister's fish (I don't think we fed them often enough) and my cousin sat on my turtles killing them (she was a little on the chubby side). So, when a puppy came into our lives I was not especially excited. I was unloading our luggage in my bedroom last spring and there was a puppy...a dirty, nasty little puppy...in my room! A couple of weeks went by and the puppy tended to linger in our yard. Every time we drove up the driveway, the puppy was there to greet us. We found out that our neighbor, Barefoot Billy, had taken him in. He has a tender heart for animals. The problem is that he barely has the means to feed himself and his girlfriend, much less a puppy. The puppy was so skinny. Finally, I gave in and fed him. We taught him to stay on the front porch and not come in the house. He looked like a chocolate lab, so we named him "Caoni" after our favorite chocolate bar. We called him Cao for short. I told Brock he should call him Kay, since that's my sister's name and she had named her dog Haley (which happens to be Brock's sister's name...he always found it weird when they were calling for Haley). The puppy began to grow on me. He was such a good dog. He wasn't loud and obnoxious. He was so sweet and gentle yet full of energy! We had someone living with us at the time, so I had her feed Cao when we were gone. She moved out and we were going to be gone for the whole summer, so I was sure Cao would run away or starve. Then, a guy who was having a difficult time, Randy, moved into our house for the summer. He found a true friend in Cao (K.O. as he calls him which really corresponds with my sister's name..haha). After the summer, we came back and Cao was there waiting for us. Since nobody was living with us anymore I didn't know how we were going to keep the dog fed. A couple of days after we got home from the summer, Cao sat on the front porch all day with me. For some reason, I thought, "This is the last day I will see Cao." It was. He disappeared after that. I was sad, but I didn't know who was going to feed him while we were gone anyway. Brock said that it would be just like the Lord to bring Cao just for Randy's benefit. Go here to read what Randy says about the dog none of us ever owned. It's a touching story.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Prayer for Upcoming Shows

Last week was awesome! We did a show in Baton Rouge, LA and Houston, TX. At one of the shows, an atheist came with her brother and gave her life to the Lord. The Lord broke that wall down in her life and drew her to Himself. At another show, a girl walked into the church from the neighborhood. She had never been to church before. She had been kicked out of school and had a reputation of being a troubled teen. She said that she knew that she was a sinner and was ready to surrender her life to the Lord. That girl was desperate for forgiveness and she received it the other night! I ask you, no I beg you to pray for our upcoming week. Tonight, we perform a date night in Missouri. Pray for marriages. Please take this time to pray for marriages all over Wentzville, MO where we will be tonight. Pray for your own marriage (present or future) and the marriages around you. Pray for marriages across this country. Satan is attacking married couples in a big way. Then, we drive to El Dorado, AR where we perform 4 nights at a big outreach there. We will be in the schools doing assemblies during the day and then perform at a big high school arena at night this Sunday through Wednesday. Please pray for the Lord to work in El Dorado, AR in a huge way. Pray for truth to resound and the Lord to turn darkness into light.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

After the Break In

It seems that when you pray, you begin with your agenda, but the longer you stay, the more the Lord's agenda comes out. My initial prayer after the break-in was that the guys would not drain our personal and business bank accounts. Since it happened Saturday night, I was not able to cancel my debit cards until Sunday morning and not the checks until Monday morning. So, I prayed continuously for the guys not to go and use the cards or the checks. When I pray, I picture everything. Using Carl's description, I would picture the guys and what they were doing. I pictured them going back to their poor houses and families. Somewhere along the way, I stopped praying about what they would do or not do and simply began praying for them. We had just been at that event with a room full of teenagers hoping for a bright future. I bet none of them would say that they wanted to be a thief when they grew up. No, theft is for desperate people. I had heard some of those desperate stories Saturday. If I had met that lady living on the street when she was 13 years old, I would have wanted to walk up and hand her my stuff. She was desperate! First thing Monday morning, we went to the bank to close our accounts. I nervously shifted in my seat waiting to hear all of the charges that had been wracked up on our accounts. There were 0 charges that came in that weekend! My prayers had been answered. Now, we just needed to see what the insurance would take care of. I had no idea if they would take care of anything. Brock called and they told him that they probably would not cover the business stuff but they would file it anyway. This was bad new since most of the stuff was business anyway. Later that day, I received a phone call from a bank in Atlanta. A guy had seen our checkbooks on the side of the road and picked them up. He turned them into a Regions bank there (he happened to work at a bank and knew this was what you are supposed to do when you find checkbooks). Through this guy, we found out where he found the checkbooks and had someone in Atlanta go look and see if he could find any of our other stuff. I waited anxiously to hear. Maybe I would get my bag back or my books! (I love books can you tell?) Unfortunately, he did not find anything. They literally threw our checkbooks out. I have no idea why except that is what I prayed for. Monday, we replaced most everything because we were going to a show on Wednesday. The good thing is that our computer began acting up on us at the show on Saturday. We were planning on possibly getting a new one Monday anyway. The only thing we could not replace was our introduction videos that we play at our shows. Then, it hit me! I accidentally left a copy of the videos at the show Saturday! I rarely do that. So, I will have them mail it to us. Tuesday morning, our insurance called us and said that they were going to take care of everything with a $1,000 deductible and $200 cash limit. This means that we are only out $1,400 which we would have paid on a new computer anyway. The Lord worked everything out.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Best and Worst Day Part 2

As we were coming out of Pappacito's, we saw some of our friends, Carl Cartee and his family, from home walking into the restaurant. We had not seen them in years and stopped to talk for a while. We found it so ironic that we were from the same town yet only tend to see each other on the road. Carl is a worship leader, so he and his wife travel as well. After visiting for a little while, we walked to our truck. We were parked in the lower parking lot right by the steps leading to the upper parking lot and restaurant. Brock clicked open the locks of the truck by his remote and I bounded down the stairs to the driver's side. I was anxious to get home and had already decided to drive us there since Brock was exhausted. I sat down behind the wheel of the truck and adjusted my seat. (I am 5'2" and Brock is 6'4"...much adjustment is needed.) Then, I went to program the gps to go home. "That's strange!" I said. I could not find the gps. Brock asked, "Do you think someone could have stolen it?" I looked in the backseat and my face grew very hot. Both of our bags were gone. When you travel, you carry everything with you in a bag. These bags have our "everything" in them. Passports, my camera, my wallet, my business and personal checkbooks, the ipad Brock got me for Christmas, Brock's laptop that we use to play our music for the show, the book that I was in the middle of (and I had just gotten to the good part), my Bible study book that I had just purchased at Women of Faith and had just begun, my overnight bag with all of my toilettries, priceless magic, magic tricks and dvd's Brock had just purchased from a conference from people from Europe and Canada that would be almost impossible to replace. The list just goes on and on. We called the police and waited a while for him to get there. In the meantime, we called the credit card companies and canceled my cards. Sometime during this, we saw that they had broken the lock on the door. We just had not noticed since we used the remote to open the door.

The police officer came up and we talked with him about everything that was taken and filed a report. Just as the officer was about to leave, the Cartees came down the stairs after eating their dinner. Brock asked Carl if he saw anything since he would have walked right by our truck to get up to the restaurant. He said, "Is this your truck?" He actually saw a guy sitting in the driver's seat of our truck and another guy sitting in a Chrysler right next to our truck. He was suspicious of them for some reason, but what was he to do? He didn't actually see him break into our truck and he had no idea it was our truck. He said that he double checked to see if his van was locked and escorted his family up to the restaurant. We stopped the cop from leaving and told him that we had an eye witness. Here was more irony that our friends were eye witnesses to the crime. We have had much theft in our day but never had we had a description of the thief. For some reason, this helped me. In the other cases (which you can read about here), our stuff was just gone! Now, I at least knew what had happened to a certain degree. Then, I realized something that made my skin crawl and my stomach churn. If the Cartees walked up on them and we were coming out of the restaurant at the same time, we would have walked up on them if we had not stopped to talk. I remembered how I ran up to the driver's door before Brock even reached the truck. I would have swung that door open coming eye to eye with the thief. I have no idea how desperate he would have been or what he would have done. He could have had a weapon or anything. Brock would have been walking to the other side of the truck only to come into contact with the accomplice in the car on the other side of the truck. Suddenly, having our stuff taken was not as big of a deal. God saved us from that one!

Monday, September 12, 2011

The Best and Worst Day

Saturday was the best and worst day. We began our day early in the morning in Macon, GA. We performed at the Georgia Youth Summit's Back to School Bash. There were hundreds of students gathered from all over Georgia for this event. I heard some wonderful motivational speakers. It made me want to be a better person. I heard stories from some that had risen up from such a hard life. One lady was homeless at age 13. I heard a teen mom's story who was so desperate that she was preparing to end her life as well as the life of her baby...until she heard one of the speakers, Gabe Salazar. When we took the stage, I looked out at all of the beautiful teens and my heart went out to them. In a room of about 1,000, there was a lot of hurt. However, I know the God who is the ultimate healer. I could not go to each individual person and ask them what was on their heart, but the Holy Spirit could. I prayed for every student in their and their future. God alone holds their futures anyway. The conference was not religious at all, but I felt the Holy Spirit move in ways that I had never felt before. It really was incredible! It was held at a church's sport's center. The lighting guy there said that he felt God in the place as well. He had goose bumps all throughout the day. It was such a great event for us. We left there on a high and went to celebrate at Papacito's in Atlanta. That's when my day took a turn for the worst...

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Spontaneity

During premarital counseling, Brock and I took a personality test. It wasn't your typical test, it simply would tell you if you were off the charts in a certain area. For example, if you are OCD, that would show up as being extremely high in the organization department. Everybody has an area that they are abnormal in...we all have our "things."

Our counselor began telling Brock that he was exceptionally high in one area only and that was spontaneity. He began to explain that if I were really planned and regimented, we would have a difficult time of it. However, I was off the charts in one area only too. That would be "spontaneity."

Twelve years later, spontaneity is still coming into play. Yesterday, we were driving our rental car to the Little Rock airport. We were discussing how much we were dreading the 4 hour layover in Chicago and checking in all of our luggage especially since one of our suitcases had broken on this trip. Brock said, "It would be quicker to drive home." We both looked at each other. "Do you want to?" Brock asked. "Yes!" I replied. I booked our rental car to Nashville and canceled our flight which left in an hour. (I love Southwest by the way. It's the only airline where I could get away with that!) We were home 3 hours before our flight landed!

Monday, June 06, 2011

Leaving for the Summer

In 2 hours I will be heading to Florida for the summer. I have mixed feelings about this. I am ready to go. I've packed up everything and really prepared more than I usually do. However, I am not wanting to leave my house and friends.

Florida is not a bad place to go to work, though. All of our summers in the past have been very hectic. We usually have at least 2 shows a day. However, this summer we are performing one show a week at Big Stuf camp in Panama City. We will fly out of Panama City often to perform in other places such as Ohio, Texas, California, and Oklahoma.

In between the Big Stuf shows when we don't have to fly out, we are staying in Florida. Since it's so expensive to stay in Florida, we are camping on the beach! That's what I said...camping on the beach! I am so excited!!!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Top Shot Audition

Watch Brock's audition for the show Top Shot on the History Channel.

Brock Gill Top Shot audition from David Altizer on Vimeo.


Do you think he has a shot?

Thursday, May 05, 2011

On Wings Like Eagles

When I was in DeRidder, LA setting up for our 14th show in a week and a half and feeling very weak, I prayed Isaiah 40:31. "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." This was not working at the time. In fact, I had a fever from sheer exhaustion and the show had not begun yet.

Somehow, I made it to showtime, probably because we had such good help there. When Brock begins giving the gospel, I always pray fervently backstage. On this night, I had no energy, so I tweeted a desperate prayer requests. Then, it happened! I was pacing around aimlessly backstage, and I stopped dead in my tracks. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit like I had never felt before. I immediately began weeping. Then, I felt a strength entering my body. My steps literally felt lighter for the rest of the night! I will never forget that night backstage when the Lord truly renewed my strength in a supernatural way. He is my strength!

Monday, May 02, 2011

Show Attendance

The Lord really blessed us with attendance at our shows this Spring. In Hampton, VA, the church sat 1,200 people. It was full. At intermission, Brock went over to the overflow and performed a few illusions there to give them something live. There were 500 people in the overflow!

In DeRidder, LA, the auditorium at the school where we performed the big night show sat 850 people. It was full within the first couple of minutes. The gym which was overflow seating with two huge screens showing a live feed of what was going on in the auditorium had close to 1,500 people in it. Wow! That was exciting! Brock rode his dirt bike while blindfolded off of the stage in the auditorium and down the hall into the gym and back around to the stage. There was so much energy in the place! It was awesome!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

A Very Unusual School Show

In Hampton, VA, we went to a school where they had never before allowed anyone like us to come. However, the principal was only going to send about 100 of the students to the assembly. That was fine with us. It was going to feel small considering we were in the auditorium that seated 850. We were okay with it though. Right before we began, one of the youth pastors said that it was an even smaller crowd. When Brock walked out onstage for his first illusion, he noticed that only the first 2 rows of the middle section were taken...35 people in that big auditorium.

Then, as Brock was onstage doing his first effect, one of the youth pastors came running up to me backstage. He nervously began, "I don't know what is up with this principal..." "What is it?" I interrupted. "Every single person in the audience is special needs and he needs to know that!" The guy said pointing his finger back at Brock onstage. "Yes, he does," I replied.

I went out onstage and informed Brock. He took it like a champ. He seemed to know exactly what to do. He could not change any of the show since he was already onstage and could not set up anything new. However, he adapted a few things. For example, he had me turn the music down. He did not touch the students that came onstage as volunteers even to put them in the right spot as he usually did. He allowed them to stand wherever they wished. The only thing that he did not know how to adapt was the envelops trick. This is where he gives three students an opportunity to choose an envelop. One has $100 in it. In the end, Brock always wins the $100. Of course, he gives them a consolation prize, and then he talks about making the right choices. He did not see how to do this with special needs students, so he gave one of them the money. They all ended up loving it and the principal was very pleased. She said to call her whenever they were offering another school assembly. In the future, she would let her whole school attend!

After it was over, I asked how Brock seemed to know what to do. We had never done a show exclusively for special needs people. He said that on the way to the school that day, he was reading his Magic magazine. He happened to be reading an article about how to do a magic show for special needs people. Wow! That was totally God!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Biggest Month Ever

We just had the biggest month we have ever had in the last 12 years of doing this. We went to Hampton, VA where we did school shows and a big 2 hour show each night Monday-Wednesday of the first week. Then, we drove to Virginia Beach and performed that Thursday night. Then, we drove 7 hours to Charlotte, NC to perform the following night. We left early Saturday morning in order to hang out with our friend, Will Graham, at the Cove in Asheville, NC. We got tickets to tour the Biltmore Mansion there. Brock, me, and our intern, Andrea, were joking around as we first began the tour. Brock kept asking everyone where Walt Disney slept or where the Elvis albums were displayed (acting as if it was their house). After about an hour walking around the huge house, we were done! Our feet could not carry us any further. I think we would have enjoyed it more if we had done it on the front end of that week instead of at the end. However, we met up with Will after that and had a great time.

Then, we came home and had one day there. Monday we drove all day to DeRidder, LA. We did 3 school shows on Tuesday, 2 school shows on Wednesday, and a big 2 hour show Wednesday night. Then, we had a 6 day stretch where we did 7 shows in Florida, Texas, Missouri, and back to Texas. Whew! It's making me tired just thinking about it.

We were definitely pushed to our limits, but we made it! Now, we leave Friday to go on a two week vacation. I will tell you a few stories from this last big month...

Monday, March 07, 2011

Sabbatical from Blogging

It was bound to happen. I have been blogging for the past 6 years. I need a break from it. I have found myself missing the 80's. Times were so much simpler then. I spent over 3 hours at the Apple store one day trying to fix problems with 2 computers, one ipad, and one iphone (I have the ipad and Brock the iphone). As I was sitting there watching the chaos around me, I began to realize how out of control it is.

Also, I wonder if anyone really cares where we did a show last night or what is my pensive thought at the time. Who knows how long this sabbatical will last. I just know that I need it. Thank you all for being faithful readers. I probably will keep posting on facebook and twitter. Talk to you later my friends...

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

What You Do is NOT Who You Are

One of Brock's mentors told him one day that what he does is not who he is. This guy was a pastor. When he stopped being a pastor, he did not know what to do or who to be. His identity was so wrapped up in being a pastor that he did not even feel like himself anymore.

Brock was told to think of one word to describe him. It was funny because the first thing that popped into my head for Brock was...Christian illusionist and for me was Brock's assistant. Then, I realized that our identity was too wrapped up in what we do for a living.

After thinking about it for a few days, Brock and I both came up with a word. For Brock we thought of things like "unforgettable" and "out of the box." However, these concepts contribute to the one word that really describes him...unusual. That's the reason he thinks differently from others and why a waitress that waited on him once 2 years ago will remember him today.

The word to describe me is adventurous. I wake up everyday thinking about new things I can discover. I never read the same book twice or rarely watch a movie more than once. If I can have it my way, I would eat a new food every meal (even if I hate it, I still enjoy trying something new). I will try almost anything once. When I drive home from the store, sometimes I take another (longer) route just for the fun of it. If I am not going on an adventure of my own, I will read one of my fiction books. They take me on new adventures daily.

Think about a word to describe you. You are not a teacher, banker, or mother of little Johnny. That's what you do which you may do very well. But who are you?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Live is Alive

"There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10. I was joining the party as I watched Ed Kowalczyk of the band Live perform last Tuesday night! Listening to their last couple of albums 10 or more years ago lead me to pray for the writer of the songs. They sounded like the author was so close to finding Jesus yet was still searching. Brock and I would pray for Ed Kowalczyk as we drove down the road listening to lyrics like "I don't need no proof when it comes to God and truth, I look at the sunset and I perceive."

Last year, Ed gave his life to the Lord. Yahoo! I cannot tell you what joy that brings to my soul! I've seen Live in concert years ago, but there was something so special about the concert I saw last week. I remember praying that entire concert so many years ago. This time, I was celebrating! I soaked up every word. Ed talked about how he loved singing these songs from this new perspective in Jesus. Every time I have seen Ed live he is always passionate, but this time there was something else as well...it was written all over his face and colored his every expression...JOY. Thank you Jesus for the joy only You can bring in our lives and thank you for drawing this man unto Yourself. Thanks for Your salvation!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Valentine's Day

I had a great day with Brock yesterday. We went into town early afternoon so he could get a massage (his back is getting much better lately). Then, we sat on a blanket at the park in the exceptionally warm, beautiful sun and ate truffles from the Cocoa Tree and read our books. After that, we went to see a matinee movie. We had some time to kill before our dinner reservations, so we strolled through the bookstore and browsed a store specializing in olive oil. We tried all kinds of unique olive oil. When the waitress at the seafood restaurant asked us if we wanted any appetizers, we declined since we had just had some samples at the olive oil place. Dinner was great just as the whole day was.

I planned a lot of the day since I am the planner. However, Brock got the reservations. Also, Brock gave me the best present ever...quality time. He turned off his cell phone as soon as we began our date. That was amazing!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Compassionate Empathist

I learned something about myself last week. I am a compassionate empath. I heard a speaker talk about three types of empathy. You can be a cognitive empath like counselors who can hear people's stresses all day and know their problems. However, when they go home, all of the complaints they have been hearing is put out of their minds. An emotional empath feels people's problems. A compassionate empath actually acts as if the problem is their own. That's how I am!

This explains so much. I am an extravert yet I need some time alone. I get drained when I pray hard for others. The biggest lightbulb that went off was how much I was not suited to be a social worker. The day one of my clients did not show up because she was hospitalized after trying to commit suicide the night before was the day I decided to seek another career. Luckily, Brock and I were about to get married and begin our new ministry together.

The speaker said that compassionate empaths are great at helping others, but they need to choose who and when to help. Otherwise, they feel obligated and end up resenting the ones they are helping because they give so much of themselves. I am processing what this means for me. I am trying to learn more about this and myself.

Friday, February 04, 2011

Crazy, Spontaneous Day

Have you ever woken up one morning and thought, "I don't want to do anything I am supposed to do. Instead, I want to be crazy and rebellious!" This is how I felt yesterday. I was so itching to do something so out of the normal that I googled "Crazy and spontaneous things to do." I found a list of 105, but they were stupid. On the list were things like: "Get sent to jail," and "Get your heart broken." Those don't sound very crazy or spontaneous to me.

Then, I looked up to see if there was a wedding going on. (I have always wanted to crash a wedding.) However, they don't just announce weddings online. Plus, it was Thursday...not a big wedding day normally.

Then, it hit me! I did some more research and texted my friend who I was meeting shortly. We were planning on going to a coffee shop. I told her to wear her bathing suit under her clothes because I had a crazy idea. She didn't hesitate. She said that sounded good. I knew she'd be up for it.

I walked into a hotel that had an indoor hot tub. I was dressed like I would be headed down to the pool with sweats and t-shirt as well as flip flops (the the trip through the parking lot was rather cold considering it was 32 degrees). You must have a hotel key to get into the pool area, so my plan was to knock on the door and ask someone that was already in there to open it for me. However, I could see through the window that nobody was swimming. The heated pool and spacious whirlpool looked so inviting. I sat down near the pool entrance and the elevator. By this time, my friend had joined me. We were trying to device a plan to get in. The lobby was so dead this random Thursday. I watched as a few workers passed by, but nobody who looked like they would open the door for me without any questions.

We discussed whether I should just go to the desk and simply explain that I stay in this chain of hotels often (we are diamond members if that tells you how much we stay) and when I stay on bussiness, I usually don't get the time to take advantage of the hot tub. I was in a sneaky mood, though. This would be the easy way out if they even allowed it.

Just then, I saw a worker walk toward the pool. I jumped up and followed him. When he got to the door, he said, "Going in?" A nervous giggle slipped out as I said yes. Then, he held the door for me and that was it. We were in!

We had fun just hanging out together and talking while soaking in the hot tub. Next time, it's going to be difficult to go back to our normal coffee shop.

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Feels Like a Week

Late Sunday afternoon, we flew to Toronto, Canada. Our flight was delayed, so we did not get there until midnight. Then, our luggage was delayed because the door to get the luggage kept freezing (Canada is cold my friends, VERY cold). Therefore, we did not get to our hotel until after 1am.

Then, Monday morning, we got up and went with the Billy Graham crew (we were doing some shows for BGA) to Kitchener which was about an hour and a half drive. There we set up and performed at a school there. Right after that, we went to a prison for 14 to 18 year old guys. There Brock showed them some magic and shared the gospel. It was amazing. Those guys looked much older than teenagers. They were very hard. However, Brock told them about the Lord in a way that they could relate and understand. I just prayed for them the whole time. This was one of the coolest things we did while we were in Canada.

After we left the detention center, we went to a church to set up to do a banquet. This banquet was to kick off the year of ministry the BGA are going to be doing in Kitchener area. We will be a part of it next April by doing a big FX. I felt a little awkward at first. Banquets are a tough place to do a show, because everyone is a little stiff. However, Brock got them laughing and really encouraged them by sharing some from his heart. I think everyone there, including me, is excited about what is going to take place in this area for the next several months.

Tuesday morning, they picked us up bright and early to take us to perform at another school, see the venue for next year, lunch, and another school assembly that afternoon. Then it was onto the airport. We spent an hour waiting in line at customs and the rest of the night on planes. I got in my bed last night a little after midnight. When you have a schedule like that, it feels more like a week than just 2 days!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Putting Up the Christmas Tree

It was January 1998 and I had just come back to school after the break. I looked at the wilting Christmas tree and sighed. It's great putting it up but not taking it down. My roommate and I had found a fun way to get rid of our Jack-o-lantern when the season was over. We would take it up to the top of an outdoor tall flight of stairs and drop it while yelling, "Smashing pumpkins!". Then, we watched it break into a hundred little pieces. What could I do with a tree?

Then, I got an idea! I called my friend who was always up for something crazy. "Want to blow up an old, dead Christmas tree?". He said with no hesitation, "Sure! Come on over." I did that with the tree. I watched as my friend lit the tree on fire. Wow, how that puppy burned! The flames were so high that we were afraid it was going to catch some surrounding trees on fire. Instead of getting nervous like some others watching were, this friend just began laughing. Then I started to laugh, and that was how the tradition of blowing up my Christmas tree began. I did it again today with that same friend...Brock Gill, and we still laughed.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A Rhythm

We have sort of formed a rhythm of life. As I have said before, I know how to do life on the road. However, doing life at home is a different story. I never know what to do at home. Now, we have set up some sort of schedule when we are home. Here is our week:
Monday-Date Night
Tuesday-Mentoring Group and Errands
Wednesday-Small group
Thursday-Magic Night
Weekends-Usually out of town, but if not, we hang out with friends...go to the Cocoa Tree...stuff like that.

My favorite part about this routine is that it allows us to invest into people here at home. Brock and I form a stronger bond with Date Nights. When I run errands and Brock goes to his mentoring group on Tuesdays, we connect with people in our town. In our small group, we share prayer requests and laughs with each other. On magic night, we have some cool, young, aspiring magicians come to our house where we talk about shows and how to use our art to tell others the message of Jesus Christ. It's great!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Give Extravagantly, Live Frugally

This is our New Years' Resolution or theme for the year or whatever you want to call it...GIVE EXTRAVAGANTLY, LIVE FRUGALLY. One way we plan to exorcise this plan is to camp all summer in Florida. That's right! We are buying a tent and pitching it wherever possible this summer in between our camp dates in Florida (not a bad place to camp by the way). This will save us so much money on hotels...especially in Florida in the summer. I am also excited about the adventure it's going to allow us to have. (One week into it, I might be singing a different tune...we'll see.)

Another way we are planning to save money is to take our vacation using our points that we have incurred from various hotel chains and airlines. I think we are going to Puerto Rico. The funny thing is that Brock and I have flight miles on different airlines, so we are going to have to fly there and back separately. That's okay though because it helps us stay on theme!

The giving extravagantly will just have to come to us spontaneously. We will give like we feel lead by the Lord like we always do, we just don't want to use the same motto while doing so. We don't want to pinch pennies when it comes to helping others out. I think you get what I am saying. So, now I have put it in writing and you all can keep me accountable.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Miami Pics

PhotobucketWe stayed in Miami the night before the cruise.

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PhotobucketWe ate at our place in Miami.

PhotobucketIt's a Cuban restaurant.

PhotobucketFor lunch, we had piella.

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Cruise Pics

PhotobucketLast week, we took some great people we have worked with on a cruise. It was fun!

PhotobucketHere is the crew. We all really bonded.

PhotobucketWe went to Key West and ate chocolate covered key lime pies.

PhotobucketYummy!

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PhotobucketIn Cozumel, some of us ate at a restaurant there.

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PhotobucketBrock performed a close up show for our guests one night.

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PhotobucketThis was my favorite part of the boat. It was called "Serenity."

Monday, January 17, 2011

Almost Arrested

Late last night, we were driving through the sticks of Virginia after our show trying to navigate through the dark, country roads. After getting lost for the third time, we were getting more and more impatient and just wanted to get to the hotel. We turned onto a two lane highway which seemed like it should be about 65 miles per hour road. We had not been on the road a minute when Brock got pulled over.

The police officer came up to the window and I observed him shaking. He was either really cold or very angry. Either way, he was serious when he said that Brock was going 72 in a 45. Then, he told Brock to come sit in his car. I have never had a police officer do that before.

After Brock left, I looked at Andrea, our intern, and said, "I hope he does not get arrested." She thought it was funny how calm I was. She said that I sounded like it would be more of a nuisance than a crisis. After all of the experiences I have had with Brock over the years, I have learned not to freak out. I begin thinking what to do next when something crazy happens (which is rather often). I was already thinking about bailing Brock out and postponing our flights.

Andrea said, "Brock's a nice guy. He probably won't get arrested. However, 20 mph over is considered reckless driving." I looked back to the car and Brock was sitting in the front seat talking with the officer. That was somehow comforting to me. If he was not sitting in the back, he would not get arrested would he? On "Cops," they always put people in the back seat when they haul them off to jail.

After a while, Andrea and I began talking about other things. Then, Brock got out of the car and came back to the driver's seat of our rental car. It's crazy to think that I was relieved that he had a speeding ticket!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Cruise

Right now, we are on a cruise to Cozumel and Key West with some youth leaders and pastors. It's a thank you to some that we have worked with. I will tell you all about it when we get back!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Galveston

My family went to Galveston for a few days.Photobucket

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PhotobucketWe went to a festival of lights

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Monday, January 10, 2011

Gifts

PhotobucketI saw this ball and chain from Alcatrez and thought of Brock. He collects old locks and chains like Houdini would have used. This was from Alcatrez! I told mom about it and she said to get it for her to give to Brock. I sneaked it in the backseat of the truck the whole way to Texas. It was very heavy. Little did I know, Brock hid an ipad for me in the backseat! I think we were both so worried about the other one finding what we hid that we did not notice what was being hidden from us! It was comical.

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PhotobucketMom accidentally opened the frame that said "Papa" and dad opened the one that said "Nana"

Saturday, January 08, 2011

Christmas with my Family

PhotobucketMy sister and her family were in from Bolivia for a visit.

PhotobucketThis is Maya. I got to meet her for the first time.

PhotobucketShe gave great kisses!

PhotobucketShe is a little doll

PhotobucketThis is Jack with his papa.

PhotobucketThey got really close.

PhotobucketJack also loved mom's ipad. Actually, anything technology...

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PhotobucketMe and my sister, Kay

PhotobucketThis is Kay, Trent, and Maya

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

At the Gills for Christmas

PhotobucketThere is always plenty of food at the Gills...and it's so good!

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PhotobucketHere is Brock's brother, Russ, and his wife, Renetta.

PhotobucketThe Gill guys

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