So I've done a really great job this afternoon of cutting and consuming half a watermelon and not much of anything else. Which I'm sorta ok with since it is "weekend". It has been a good one though, complete with some pool time, a nice 8-miler at WR, making sugar cookies, and other random odds and ends. I just have a hard time being over-productive when it's so nice outside. I just want to be out in it all day long. But tomorrow? Game time. There's much to accomplish this week. SO, here's my list:

*oil change/get tires rotated
*finish designing Matt's business cards
*start designing Abby's invitations
*go get a new photo album at Hobby Lobby while they're 50% off
*leave Hobby Lobby with nothing more than above mentioned photo album
*log 30-35 miles/find a 5-15K race in the next month or so to enter
*register software with Adobe
*research Lightroom and camera lenses
*create logo for the big craft show undertaking
*solidify some plans for the next few weekends
*make something incredibly awesome for dinner one night
*find a good TV show to watch online while LOST and the Office are in hibernation

I think that'll be a good start...

And the week flew by... here are a few shots from last weekend.

Playin' in the rain with Pa...



How does that girl sleep like this?


Eye on the ball...


The swing...


The victory dance!


Emme tackled her Dad...


Smile, Emme Kate!


Some amazing clouds as a storm blew in the other night.


Be in prayer for the Kirby/Allen Family tomorrow...

Ready for a relaxing weekend here...

Ah, weekend. I love Fridays. Once I get to this point in the week, I don't feel so bad for not having worked all week. And if I did work, I'm glad to wrap it up for a few days. There have been some tough moments in the week, so I'm certainly glad to have this one over.

Camping, here we come! Amber, Rachel, and I are headed to Camp Constantine out by Possum Kingdom for the night. Then it's on to A-town to see those crazy kids that are growing up WAY too fast, and the rest of the fam as well. It'll be good to get outta town for a bit. Will try to get some pics up early next week.

Will miss the Heritage Picnic Extravaganza on Saturday, but hope it will be good for all involved. And nice weather too.

Working on some photographic endeavors this afternoon. Let me know if you have any cool filters/sites/inspiration to share.

Big news: There's a World Market going up two blocks-ish from the apartment. Yeah!

And I'll leave you with some quality song lyrics from Third Day. I typically get burned out on these guys pretty quickly, but I've been listening to them this morning and like this one a lot. I think it's good to have a mindset of looking toward Heaven, of longing to be there someday soon.


My Heart

I paint a picture, I think it's easier to live that way
But my heart is really broken
I'm not the man you think I am when you see me each day
Torn apart and then left open

Father come and fill me up
I can't wait for you to overflow my cup

My heart makes me wonder how much longer
'Til you're coming back to take me away
My heart longs for you to fly right through the sky
And take me to the place where I
Will never feel my heart break down again

I search the sky and then I try imagining you there
Looking on anticipating
You're standing by and knowing I will join you in the air
Until then I'll be here waiting

Ugh, can I take a sick day? Oh wait...

• Sorting. Cleaning out. Transferring pictures, files, and music over to Mac. Loading software and fonts. CS4 is up-n-running!

• The new Harry Potter looks fantastic. July 15, kids, July 15.

• Found an old cd from our UCC youth group back in the day (2002-ish). It's amazing. I tried to upload a song for your audio pleasure, but can't get it to work for some reason. A great loss, I assure you.

• Sat out by the pool for a long time the other night. Peaceful. Quiet. And then I had to go back to the real world.

• American Idol... Surprised, but glad. Can't help but root for the guy who plays the guitar, even if the other was the favorite to win. Still claiming that Kris looks like Freddie Prinze Jr. How has nobody else noticed that?

• Found an opening as a Designer/Illustrator at a stationary company that would be pretty neat. Too bad it's in FW. But don't worry, I applied anyway.

• Making weekend plans, though not sure what all that will entail. Who's surprised?

• Searching possible races, hoping to find one or two to keep the motivation up through the summer. 8K on July 4th? We'll see.

That's all I got. Enjoy the holiday weekend...

Oh, and have I mentioned that this dog keeps peeing all over our front door? Cause it does. Makes me SO mad!

Alright, so new discovery today. And a very dangerous one at that. Meet the self-serve yogurt shop:



Apparently this is the new thing in the Dallas area. Of course they're all over California and other places as well. So maybe it's just new to me. Regardless, it's amazing. Here's what you do:

Step 1: Get ginormous bowl and fill it with any combination of yogurt flavors, as much as you'd like, as many flavors as you'd like.
Step 2: Add toppings as desired. Anything from fresh fruit and cheesecake crumbles (which i highly recommend) to the usual candy pieces, chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc.
Step 3: Throw the bowl on a scale and pay by the weight. Yum!

Um, great weekend... Katy came down and we enjoyed some good time together. We might've watched Twilight on Friday night. We certainly ran in and out of just about every furniture store on 75 in the rain on Saturday looking for the perfect chair, checked out the downtown Farmer's Market (I should really learn to like vegetables more...), cooked little hamburger pizzas and sat out on the balcony, good conversation, and church this morning.

Blessed!

Going on three months, I’ve been worshipping with the Heritage Church of Christ out in Rowlett. Heritage originated as a church plant in 1995 and has since gone through many transitions. But I believe that the heart of the church and the hearts of the people who have persevered are a rare find among churches today. Though not perfect in any entity (and I would hope not or I might not be included!) there is a spirit of welcome, of togetherness, of seeking truth among this small group of Christians. And the potential for growth and outreach in the community? Absolutely incredible.

(Oh there’s some risk, sure. By risk, I mean that it might entail me getting outside my comfort zone. It might mean going places and doing things that seem a bit ‘radical’. I have no doubt there will be encounters with people who are a little bit different than myself. But, I assure you, the danger of remaining complacent is a far greater risk.)

And so I’m excited about journeying through this part of life right now with some new friends (though there is no intent or desire to abandon my PC buds). Since the crew is relatively small right now (30-40ish), one of the things we’ve been able to do each week to get to know one another is to ask/answer some of the following questions:

What was your church experience (if any) as a child?
What are your fondest/more forgettable memories of church?
When did your faith become real?
What is the most difficult part of being a Christ follower?
What are your dreams for church, what do you want church to be about?
What does “authentic community” mean?

Actually answering these questions on paper and sharing them with a group of people has been a neat experience for me. It’s made me really think through and be grateful for where I’ve come from, see where I’m at right now, and dream about where I’d like to be headed.

So, in a (rather large) nutshell, that’s where I’m at, for those who have been wondering. Would love to have anyone out to Heritage if you live close by or are visiting the area. I hear the preaching is pretty decent…

“The American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don't swear, and good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered. That's for the 'radicals' who are 'unbalanced' and who go 'overboard'. Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe.”*

I came across this quote the other day and it fit in with a lot of thoughts I’ve had over the last few weeks or so. I don’t really feel the need to spew out my opinions on church and worship. I have no desire to turn this post into me telling you how I think things should be. Heck, I’m still figuring that out as I go anyway. Aren’t we all? But I do want to share some exciting things that have been happening…

After my initial church-hopping hunt when I first moved to Dallas, I ended up at Prestoncrest and landed in the middle of a great group of young professionals who were very active in fellowship and study… a mission trip to Honduras, monthly trips to volunteer at Fortress, Bible Study groups, and the perfect opportunity to meet some solid Christian friends all at my fingertips. And it was wonderful. A great fit for the last year or two.

But somewhere in the course of the last 6 months, I started feeling a lull. I started to get too comfortable sitting in a pew week in and week out, routine in my worship, complacent in my faith. No catastrophic event alerted me to these thoughts, there was just a gradual desire for something more. I began to realize that I had become, dare I say, a bit on the lukewarm side…?

“Lukewarm people attend church regularly. It is expected, so they go. Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act themselves. Lukewarm people are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. This focus on safe living keeps them from taking risks for God.”*

And so, while I’m not advocating jumping churches whenever your spiritual life hits a valley, I do believe that God has a crazy sense of timing. Sometimes we feel like we wait and wait while nothing happens, no response from up above… and then BAM! Opportunity – right in front of our faces...


*Quotes from Crazy Love, by Francis Chan: great read!

• The arrival of the Mac. It's pretty; I think I'll keep it. Shipped from Shanghai, China and through customs in Anchorage, Alaska before ending up in Dallas... all in 24 hours. Not sure how that happened, but no complaints here.

• Farmer’s Market raid. I found this great (though slightly ghetto) grocery-store-turned-farmer’s-market and convinced Amber to go with me to check it out. We came home with 4 lbs. of strawberries and 3 lbs. of blackberries, all for the low price of $10.56. Should I mention that we went back the following day and got that much more again? On sale this coming week: watermelons and tomatoes. This could be a dangerous discovery.

• I’ve been freelancing at a place for the last two weeks or so and have really enjoyed it. Funny thing though… this week is Associate’s Appreciation Week, whatever that is. So far it means “Wear-Your-Sunglasses and Eat M&M’s Monday” and “Hawaiian Day Tuesday”, complete with full outfits and lays. There is also a Guess-how-many-jellybeans-are-in-the-jar-contest set up right outside my workspace. I’ve been privileged to hear countless employees calculating the volume of a cylinder. Guesses range from 400 to 16,000. Go figure. Rumor has it, tomorrow is “Rock-n-Roll Wednesday”…

• Other events? BBQ and swirl ice cream. New roomie. Lots of rain. Even more humidity. Wyatt Cody on the phone: “I’m going to go to bed now, Aunt Gretchen. I love you, Aunt Gretchen.” Sweetness.