The Nellie Spot

Emma has taught me YET another lesson this week. I guess I should start off by saying that she is often the one to remind John and I to pray before we start eating. She will look at us with her hands clasped together ready to pray. It is sweet.
We have had two incidents this week that have needed prayer. One being a friend that just had a baby and the baby was having some difficulty. I got off the phone with another friend who had updated me on the situation and I told Emma we needed to say a little prayer for him. She immediately stopped riding her bike, clasped her hands and bowed her head. I looked up at her in the middle of the prayer and she was still praying. (even with her eyes closed) This family is doing much better and will probably be going home from the hospital today or tomorrow!!
Tonight we got some disturbing news that John's 83 year old Grannie was in a car accident and was barely hanging on. We were at the park with Emma when the call came. John and I were talking about the whole situation and it was like Emma had been listening to everything going on and somehow understanding. She had been swinging and she came over next to me on the ground and sat. She, once again, clasped her hands and wanted us to pray. So right there in the middle of the park the three of us prayed for Grannie, John's parents, aunts and uncles, doctors, etc......My prayer life has been rejuvenated in the past few days because my 20 month old child spurred me to start praying more. Thank you Jesus for children!!
Allison

I just read this Business Brief about the NWA Mall getting a Cinnabon! Man, we ARE big time, now!! Take that Bentonville/Rogers! First comes Steak n' Shake, then Cinnabon, then the tallest building in NWA, next, maybe a movie theater to rival the Rogers Towne Cinema!! Holla!

Allison, Emma, and I went to the Razorback Fan Appreciation Day at the U of A campus today. There were TONS of people there, waiting in line to get coaches and players autographs. The mascots, cheerleaders, and pom squad were there signing autographs and taking pictures, too.


The 3 of us dressed up in Razorback attire and went to take some pictures. Emma was a huge fan of Boss Hog (the tall inflatable Razorback mascot). We waited in line to get a picture with Pork Chop (one of the human-sized mascots), and she was fascinated with him! Not so much while we were trying to get a picture, but more so afterwards. She kept sneaking up behind him and touching him.

We watched the cheerleaders do a pep rally and Emma danced to the music. I wish Blogger allowed short video clips so I could post a video of her dancing to the music...it was really cute! For more pictures of the day, visit Emma's photo blog!

As you already read (the post before this one) the family went for a stroll up on campus tonight. We returned home around 8:30 which is past Emma's bedtime. I'm telling you that because normally the moon is not out before Emma goes to bed. We were out the other night and she did see the moon for the first time. (or the first time that she ever noticed it) It was just a sliver, but she was interested. Tonight it was very full and bright. We got her out of the car and took her down to the street so she could see the moon through the trees. She was in awe of it. She kept pointing and walking quickly down the sidewalk reaching up into the sky. She wanted so badly to touch it. It was neat watching her discover one of God's greatest creations. A creation that I often taken for granted.
All I could think was that I wanted so badly to help her touch the moon.
Allison

RSS internet technology has totally changed my online lifestyle, and possibly my life in general. Now I don't have to wait for television news programs to give me slanted and biased views on reality...I can just refresh my RSS feeds and get completely unsubstantiated information in seconds!

Here is a new site that will change my life, and I had no idea it even existed: XBOX 360 News! Holla!!!

Now, I know y'all are saying "That's not news", but here's an example of why I'm an idiot:

Allison and I babysat our friends' (Benton & Jenny Beth Walker) son, Ben last night. He and Emma were playing together outside as I grilled some pork chops. I grabbed my video camera (a Canon Z85), and shot about 30 seconds of video before my battery died. I obviously forgot to put it on the charger. So, I set it down on the patio table and continue grilling.

My wife informs me tonight that she brought the video camera inside this morning, as I had left it on the table last night...and it poured last night. However big of an idiot I am, God is gracious and merciful to stupid people like myself. I opened all the little nooks and crannies to see if there was moisture on it...none to be found. The lens looked fine with no condensation on or in it, as did the viewfinder and LCD screen. The moment of truth: turning it on. The video camera turned on without a hitch! Granted the battery light came on and it shut off after about 10 seconds, but the fact that it turned on and showed a crisp picture in the LCD means that no major damage was done.

I have to give out to applause:
1) To Canon for making a video camera that can survive a rough night braving the elements.
2) To myself, for being an idiot (once again).

In my huge anticipation for the next XBOX, called 360, I have had conversations (mainly with Miller) concerning the price it will sell at.

Apparently, there's been a leak on the internet about the opening price point of the Xbox 360: $477. Now, that's pretty expensive for what most people believe to be a game console...but it's OH so much more than that!

Wireless connectivity built in ("always on"), wireless controllers, removeable / changeable hard drives, sleek look, interchangeable face places, high def, DVD player, and media center capabilities...all for the super low price of $477.

I'm in.

Well, this is actually Allison writing, not John. This blog was created for both of us to post and for some reason I never have. I have had things I have wanted to post and just have never taken the time to do it.
On Friday morning, I loaded Emma up in the car to go run a few errands with me. I knew I did not have much time before Emma would get impatient being in the stores I wanted to go to. I felt rushed through my first stop, but our second shop was a children's consignment store and they have toys that Emma could play with so that helped. As we were walking to the car to go to our next stop, Emma started walking really slowly. I kept telling her we needed to get in the car. I looked back and she was bent over trying to smell some flowers outside the shop. (I love it when she tries to smell anything because she hasn't quite figured out how to breathe in to smell so she just puts her nose as close to the object as possible) I told her again to hurry up. She continued to smell the flowers. I guess I could have considered this an act of disobedience since I had told her twice to come get in the car, but for some reason it didn't matter that she wasn't obeying me. I realized that all morning long I had hurried her along to go do useless errands that don't matter in the big scheme of things. All she wanted was a few minutes to stop and smell the flowers that God had created without someone telling her to hurry up. I kneeled down next to her and smelled the flowers. She looked so pleased that she had finally coaxed me into getting down on her level to see and smell the flowers. On Friday, Emma taught me to stop and smell the roses. Not just in the literal sense, but in life. I need to slow down and enjoy the people, moments, nature, etc....... that I so often overlook.

Warning: this post is about a rather "smelly" subject matter...stopping up a toilet. I will be as tactful as possible, though the subject leaves little wiggle room for pleasantries. All in all, it's a good story based on a humiliating circumstance.


By now you know that I stopped up a toilet. At home. Now I've always been able to use a plunger to get the toilet working again...until this time. After 30 minutes of plunging and flushing, I was at a loss. I waited overnight to see if the water would subside, but it didn't. So the next evening, I called my "he knows how to do everything" guy, Lafe. He was at Steak n' Shake with his friend Justin, and told me I needed an auger (whatever THAT is), and to meet him at Steak n' Shake. I met him and the 3 of us jumped in his jeep to go get an auger. It was 9:30 PM, so Home Depot and Lowe's were closed already. We walked into Walmart to see if they had one, which they did (thankfully).

We drove back to get my car at Steak n' Shake, and I told them thanks. I was unsure whether or not to invite them to the house to see the "project" through completion, so I just threw out the offer to come over...which they accepted.

We get to the house and the 3 of us pile into the small bathroom to see what the auger can do. This thing is simple in concept...and also horribly vile. It's basically a long flexible rod with a drill on the working end, and a hand crank on the other. You put it into the toilet, push the rod in until you feel "resistance", then start drilling a hole through the culprit who is blocking the pipe. I have to say...reading it and saying it are gross. DRILLING is a whole 'nother ballgame. Being guys, we laughed and cringed and loved it. After a few successful drills, the water receeded and all was well in the bathroom. And we laughed really hard.

Mark me down as a fundamentalist right now...and if you're not very fundamentalist in your Christian doctrines, then you're probably going to get upset with this post. Forewarned.

I don't get this whole denominational movement toward allowing gay priests / pastors. The Lutheran's are meeting to vote on the issue. Here's my argument (with some devil's advocate thrown in, too):

Why I disagree with the idea of having a gay pastor / priest:
1) It's a sin, clearly laid out throughout the Bible in numerous places
2) If the person is actively living a gay lifestyle, they are living in sin and should not shepherd / pastor others in their walks (splinter / plank...)
3) Four words: Catholic church molestation scandal. I wouldn't want my son going to a gay priest for advice.

Devil's Advocate: (aptly named...)
1) Paul was a murderer of Christians and became one of the most influential New Testament apostles. But Paul didn't continue to murder Christians after he was converted. If a pastor is gay and not actively living a gay lifestyle but continuously turns toward Jesus for salvation and freedom from sin, then I have much less of a problem with that. Maybe I'm being like the Ananias, when he tells God that Paul is kinda known for killing Christians and that he didn't really want to meet Paul face to face and believe that he's been transformed by God's touch.

I have a real issue with all the church denominations meeting to discuss whether or not to allow gays in leadership. And I feel that my justification is Scriptural and relevant. But it's difficult to be objective of one's beliefs...so what do y'all think? Am I way off here?

Yup...I did say my inner 10-year-old-girl just got unleashed. No type-o there. Here's the lowdown:

Participants:
1) My wife, Allison (age 28)
2) My sister, Amy (age 32)
3) My neice, Grace (age 9)
4) Grace's friend, Mary Kate (age 9)
5) Mary Kate's mom (no idea on age...but I'm guessing mid-30's)
6) Pam Nolen (friend of Amy & Allison, lady we bought our current house from) (age 32)
7) Myself, John (age 28)

As you can tell, there are all girls in that group, except myself. But, this wonderful and majorly girly group headed to Norman, Oklahoma Wednesday to see the American Idol Concert Tour 2005!!! Yup! Me and every girl between the age of 5 and 30 loaded up and drove 4 hours to see the top 10 finalists from this year's American Idol contest perform at some joint on OU's campus (which is mighty pretty). Here's the breakdown of the trip:

Thankfully, I got to take my own car, so Allison and I drove up there by ourselves and met the other carload of giddy ladies in Norman. We met up with Brent & Jessica Orr and Erin Scoggins, who do campus ministry on OU's campus for Student Mobilization (StuMo). We ate at Moe's, near the campus and had some decent TexMex (like Flying Burrito, really) and great conversation (they're all old friends from college). After dinner, the ladies and I (from the list above) headed over to the concert.

We deflated a bit when we got there and saw a line WAY out the door, and the concert was going to start in like 20 minutes. We had Ticketmaster-printed tickets, while other folks around us had "real" tickets. Allison and I spread out and hit a couple of entrances to see if there were any shorter lines. Answered prayer: we almost walked straight in from a different line! We hit the bathrooms (they're girls...this happened a lot throughout the trip), then got to our seats as the lights went down and the theme song blasted its way through the stadium (I think it was the basketball stadium, I just don't remember the name of it). We had seats right in the middle of the stage, toward the top near the main walkway. The opening was pretty fun, and they started with the first person kicked off of the final 10. The first few people were OK...nothing amazing. Each contestant did 2 songs unti we got to Nikko Smith, and he did 3 songs. Now, I wasn't much of a Nikko fan during the season...he had a great voice, but I wasn't a fan of his song picks and style. He outperformed everyone but the final 2 (Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood)! His first two songs were really great, then he busted out a Justin Timberlake song and danced the heck out of it! It was incredible...dude had style! Anwar was great, and the thug Scotty the Body did pretty well, too. He actually did a duet with Jessica Sierra singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart", and it was maybe the best part of the whole show! Constantine wasn't all that great, though the girls thought we was still hot despite his mediocre singing skills. Nadia was really good and brought some much-needed stage presence and energy to the arena. That girl is 110% Tina Turner with an eating disorder thrown in. Great legs, big voice and hair. Very enjoyable. Anthony was just plain boring.

But when Vonzell came out, the place lit up like Razorback Stadium when we actually score! She sang a few Whitney Houston songs, and was truly inspiring! That girl can flat out sing! The place changed even more when Bo Bice hit the stage with his broken foot in an air cast. He hobbled out to a keyboard in the middle of the stage and sang "Desperado"...I got goosebumps! Then, he strapped on his electric guitar and played a 7 minute jam-session (I can't remember the song...but it was familiar and pretty hard-rock)...he was certainly in his rocker element during this part. This was my favorite song and performance of the evening! He also sang a single that will be released soon, which was pretty darn good, too.

Carrie hit the stage after Bo, and the place lit up...the Okie's were foaming at the mouth for thier local American Idol winner (she hails from Checotah, OK, about 40 miles West of Fort Smith). She sang some country songs, and has apparently learned some stage presence since being on tour. She seemed much more comfortable on stage and put on a heck of a performance! She and Bo did an encore duet of Rascal Flatt's "Bless the Broken Road", and it was perfect...their voices go very well together. After the lights went down, all 10 finalist came out and performed a couple of songs as a group, which was a great ending to a really fun concert!

One small benefit to being one of 20 guys in the whole stadium was the fact that, at any point during the concert or after it, I could walk straight into the bathroom and have my pick of 15 urinals...all while 3,000 girls waited outside the bathroom to use their's.

So, my inner 10 year old girl was unleashed yesterday as I attended the American Idol Tour with a bunch of girls. Embarrising? Yes. But the most embarassing moment came at a pit stop on our way to Norman. We're in a McDonald's and see a few mom's with a bunch of 10 year old girls. The mom's asked one of the workers how far it was to Norman. At this point, Allison turns around and giddily asks them "Are y'all going to the American Idol concert, too??". I drop my head in shame. One mom replied, "No, we're going shopping in Norman." which Allison thought strange (why pass up Oklahoma City to go shopping in Norman?) Allison met one of the mom's in the bathroom, and the mom explained that they WERE going to the concert, but were waiting to surprise their daughters at dinner that evening. As we were leaving the concert, we actually saw the group of moms and daughters, and they exclaimed "Hey! It's the McDonald's guy!". At this point, my "inner 10 year old girl" alter ego was on, so I was less embarassed and just rolled with it.

So that's that. I'm out of the closet. Yes, I went to an American Idol Tour concert. And I loved it. I loved it so much, that my throught hurt from yelling so much. I'm slightly ashamed, and know that I will be openly mocked. But, in 10 year old girl fashion, my response is "Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" (and then I'll roll my eyes at you).

I'm only 28, but apparently I'm getting old. Here are a few reasons why I think this:

1) I choose sleep over late-night XBOX. I used to be able to start playing XBOX around 10:30 PM and play until 2:00 AM, getting up for work at 6:45 the following day without any indication that I got just shy of 5 hours of sleep. Now, if I get less than 7 hours of sleep, I'm completely worthless the next day at work (or whatever the next day events are). So I'm having to now choose between XBOX and sleep...and it's sad that I choose sleep.

2) It's getting harder to drive fast at night. During the day, I'm a 10mph over the speed limit driver. However, I've realized over the past year or two, that I'm slowly drifting down to a 4-5mph over the speed limit nighttime driver. This fact really bothers me. I don't know if it's my eyes and how they work in the dark, or some other "aging" factor. Either way, I hate it...and it kills my travel time.

3) I'm constantly shocked by the lyrics of popular songs on the radio. Now, I have to admit that I'm caught "mid-age" on this one. I catch myself listening to 50 Cent's "Just a 'Lil Bit", turning up the bass, and grooving along with a white man's head bob every now and then. However, when I stop and listen to the words, I literally stare at the radio in the dashboard and say out loud "What the? Did he really say that?" And this leads to my next aging reason:

4) I refer to current teenagers as "that generation". So when I hear 50 Cent tell me to "unbutton my pants just a 'lil bit", I think, "Man, this generation of kids! No wonder they're all having crazy sex with each other...just listen to what this generation is listening to! It's appalling!" Man...I am my dad.

5) Another "mid-age" reason (meaning, I frown upon it due to age, but still do it on occassion) is this: kids speeding through the neighborhood. Drives me nuts. Maybe it's because I'm a parent now, and I'm thinking of the safety of my child, but when someone comes speeding down the street (GASP! 30 mph!!! How dare they!), I get mad at them. I've actually caught myself wanting to shake my fist in the air and yell "slow down!". Thankfully, I haven't done that yet.

6) This one is the kicker and mother of all "I'm getting old" criteria: I'm contemplating getting a minivan! Yeah, just reading it on the page makes me want to laugh and mock myself openly. I've used the phrase "but it's so PRACTICAL and EFFICIENT for my needs!". Yup...I'm old.

We had another weekend at the lake, making it back-to-back weekends!! Last time, we went to Lake Texoma, and this time we hit up the local fav Beaver Lake. Our friends Adam & Sarah Eichler invited us to his family's lake house, along with about 10 other couples. My parents came into town to watch Emma while we went out on Friday & Saturday to the lake. Friday night, we just hung out and chatted with the other 3 couples already there. Then we got up Saturday morning and hit the lake. I skiied and tubed, so my arms are worthless today. I also got up around 59 mph on the Seadoo. The lake was crazy calm, so you could get some serious speed going on the seadoo.

After a few games of Cornhole, Allison and I headed home to relieve my parents and let them take my niece and nephews to Branson for the rest of the weekend. We got home, and then headed over to our friend Elizabeth Morris' house for a cookout with her and her boyfriend and the McGooden's. We hung out there for a bit and had a grand time.

Today, we slept in too late to get to the 9:30 service, and the 11:00 service is hard to manage as it overlaps with Emma's nap time. So, we just packed up the family (including Belle) and headed to Lake Fayetteville. We hit the swingset near the disc golf park for a bit, then headed over to Veteran's Memorial Park to see if they had a kids playground, which they did. It's a really great playground for kids, too! It's partly shaded and has 2 sets, one for smaller kids and another for bigger kids. We packed up after a bit and headed back to the house for lunch and naps (Allison and Emma took naps...I watched TV). I mowed the lawn, and then got a call from Josh Ayres saying people were coming over to their house to eat pizza and play games. So we loaded up and went over. Almost everyone from the lake was there, so we talked about how fun the lake was, then played Scategories, which is always a good time. After a few rounds, we left to put Emma to bed. Now I'm blogging yet another lengthy summary of our lake-ful weekend.

I'm pooped.

For some reason, at the lake this past weekend, I was putting on a ski jacket and was having a hard time with the zipper. As I stared at it, trying to get the two sides lined up, I started thinking about how truly amazing a zipper is.

Now I'm not a smart man (totally not debatable). I am really fascinated by zippers and how they work. The concept is utterly mind-boggling, yet the application is so simple.

So here's to you, Mr. Zipper Creator Guy: you're a real man of genius.

Well, I'm pretty darn behind in blogging. As others have cranked out the blogs, I've been trying just to keep up with reading them all!

Allison, Emma, and I went to Lake Texoma last weekend with our friends Josh & Martha Ayres and their son Evan. We stayed at Martha's grandmother's super retro cabin...and I mean retro like it was purchased and furnished in 1968...no changes since then. It was amazing!

We tried the kiddos out on the ski boat Saturday afternoon, and that didn't go over well. Firstly, no one in the group really had any experience driving a boat. I've driven a lot, but sporadically over my lifetime, and NEVER docking / undocking from a slip. All in all, we didn't wreck and didn't die (which was our prayer each time we got on the boat), so I call that a successful boat outing! After getting the kids off the boat (we only spent about 45 minutes on the water), we took them back and fed them and layed them down for naps. Josh stayed around to watch them so me, Allison, and Martha could go back on the boat. We skiied and tubed for almost 4 hours...tons of fun! That night, we just hung out, talked, and watched the World Series of Poker.

Emma was a spawn of Satan Saturday night. She woke up about 1:30 AM, and didn't go back to bed until roughly 5:00 AM. I was getting her, and had to use the bathroom. So I put her back in her pack-n-play so I could relieve myself. I hear her screaming (as the bathroom is right next door to her room), then I hear a big THUMP, a pause in the screaming, then a MUCH louder scream. Yup! She climbed out of her crib and fell to the ground! Allison and I finally got to her fall asleep next to us in bed around 5:00 AM, and got to sleep until around 9:00 AM.

We went straight out to the boat and got into the water pretty quickly, with the kids on board. they did much better this time, and Emma sat in my lap as I drove the boat...which she loved!
We slid up onto some shallow waters near a beach and anchored. We all got off and spent about an hour just playing in the water and on the beach...it was really fun! As we were trying to push off to head back to dock, we realized the boat had floated too far into shore and the motor was buried about 6 inches into the sand! Josh and I start digging and masking our pure panic. Then I realized I had seen a "trailor" button on the gear stick on the boat! Hooray! We lifted the motor up out of the sand and got back into driveable waters!

It was a really great weekend, and Emma did really well in the car (thanks be to God for the creation of portable DVD players and baby Einstein videos!). It was great spending some quality time with the Ayres', too! And I got to hone some of my boat driving skills...of course, I would prefer to not have done it around $400,000 boats!