Once a year, the city will pick up anything you put out for trash. I guess the only requirement is that they can lift it and throw it in the back of the truck. Take a gander at the incredible stuff I will be throwing out. That's right...I have somehow accumulated the following items:1) The "A" sign from Chic-Fil-A
2) A toilet
3) A baby pool (inherited from previous house owners)
4) A nasty end table
5) About 25 pounds of blinds
6) And our normal trash
I'll be very interested to see what items remain when I get back home from work tomrrow.
We started a ritual with some friends of ours last August, and Wednesday quickly and easily became my favorite night of the week!
Every Wednesday night, we have about 4 friends over to the house for
dinner and great TV. Since we're the only ones with a child, we always host the event. We usually rotate the responsibility of providing food for the group each week. As we eat, we watch American Idol and laugh all the way through it! After eating, Josh Hale usually chases Emma around, tosses her all around (which she loves!). This past Wednesday was one of the best times I've had in a long time. Todd went out of town and we dog-sat Maggie. He left her crate for us to use. And though Maggie didn't give it a second glance, Emma sure did find a
new toy! She spent the evening crawling in and closing the gate. She even coaxed Josh to climb into the crate with her (above right)! Being over 6 feet tall, we were all pretty darn impressed that he got in. But he's only about 8 inches thick and pretty limber, so it all worked out. Todd gave him a little help getting out (left). As I mentioned, Emma loves Josh...we tell her that Josh is coming over and she spends the remainder of the day saying his name (over and over and over).
Josh also managed to squeeze into a boa that appare
ntly separates and turns into a feathery tube top (left). The sad thing is, he only showed us he could do it because HE HAD DONE PREVIOUSLY SOMEWHERE ELSE! Talk about strange! But it was worth a picture and well worth a good laugh.
About 8:15, Allison or I start the process of putting Emma to bed (which a whole other blog by itself). Th
is night, Josh took the opportunity to read a book to Emma. Either that, or she duped him into reading her a book. I lean toward the latter. But it made for a sweet moment and a great picture.
Once Emma goes to bed (read: once we have prayed 4 times, tucked her in 3 times, and tucked in her stuffed animals 2 times and told her to go to bed 10 times), we fire up the DVR and begin watching LOST. LOST is the main reason we get together on Wednesdays (and American Idol now that it's started). We're all addicted to the show, and it's fun to watch with others in case you miss some small clue...others can fill you in. We also talk about crazy plot line theories, which is fun. Afterwards, we kind of hang out and talk a bit more. Then everyone goes home, and we get ready for bed.
I love getting together with friends to eat, and to watch American Idol and LOST. However, the shows are not nearly as great as the fellowship. If you're into AI or LOST and don't have plans on Wednesday nights, give us a call...we'd love to have you over to our Watch Party!
3 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on January 26, 2006 at 8:58 PM.
Every Wednesday night, we have about 4 friends over to the house for
dinner and great TV. Since we're the only ones with a child, we always host the event. We usually rotate the responsibility of providing food for the group each week. As we eat, we watch American Idol and laugh all the way through it! After eating, Josh Hale usually chases Emma around, tosses her all around (which she loves!). This past Wednesday was one of the best times I've had in a long time. Todd went out of town and we dog-sat Maggie. He left her crate for us to use. And though Maggie didn't give it a second glance, Emma sure did find a
new toy! She spent the evening crawling in and closing the gate. She even coaxed Josh to climb into the crate with her (above right)! Being over 6 feet tall, we were all pretty darn impressed that he got in. But he's only about 8 inches thick and pretty limber, so it all worked out. Todd gave him a little help getting out (left). As I mentioned, Emma loves Josh...we tell her that Josh is coming over and she spends the remainder of the day saying his name (over and over and over).Josh also managed to squeeze into a boa that appare
ntly separates and turns into a feathery tube top (left). The sad thing is, he only showed us he could do it because HE HAD DONE PREVIOUSLY SOMEWHERE ELSE! Talk about strange! But it was worth a picture and well worth a good laugh.About 8:15, Allison or I start the process of putting Emma to bed (which a whole other blog by itself). Th
is night, Josh took the opportunity to read a book to Emma. Either that, or she duped him into reading her a book. I lean toward the latter. But it made for a sweet moment and a great picture.Once Emma goes to bed (read: once we have prayed 4 times, tucked her in 3 times, and tucked in her stuffed animals 2 times and told her to go to bed 10 times), we fire up the DVR and begin watching LOST. LOST is the main reason we get together on Wednesdays (and American Idol now that it's started). We're all addicted to the show, and it's fun to watch with others in case you miss some small clue...others can fill you in. We also talk about crazy plot line theories, which is fun. Afterwards, we kind of hang out and talk a bit more. Then everyone goes home, and we get ready for bed.
I love getting together with friends to eat, and to watch American Idol and LOST. However, the shows are not nearly as great as the fellowship. If you're into AI or LOST and don't have plans on Wednesday nights, give us a call...we'd love to have you over to our Watch Party!
My super-cool mom is a radio personality for KTLO in Mountain Home. I can't call her a DJ, because then I get an image of her with a nose ring and dredlocks, spinning records at a nightclub. And that's disturbing. I asked her to make me a compilation of John Williams movie theme songs, and God love her, she did it. I doubt all the songs are John Williams, but she gave me a great CD full of theme songs (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman, Olympic Fanfare, Back to the Future, etc).
I was just listening to it at work and the Legend of Zelda theme song came on. I immediately went into retro-flashback-mode! Dang that was a great game! As the song played, I could walk through the map in my head, shooting my little sword at red and blue Qberts and chasing floating hearts. I remember spending HOURS on that game, burning EVERY bush and bombing every rock on that that map looking for hidden doors. What a great day it was when I finally beat the game!
Just wanted to share that with everyone. If you still have the old NES, bust out some Zelda for a great retro-flashback moment!
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Published by John Nelson
on at 1:59 PM.
I was just listening to it at work and the Legend of Zelda theme song came on. I immediately went into retro-flashback-mode! Dang that was a great game! As the song played, I could walk through the map in my head, shooting my little sword at red and blue Qberts and chasing floating hearts. I remember spending HOURS on that game, burning EVERY bush and bombing every rock on that that map looking for hidden doors. What a great day it was when I finally beat the game!
Just wanted to share that with everyone. If you still have the old NES, bust out some Zelda for a great retro-flashback moment!
Last night, I was folding some clothes on the couch while watching American Idol. I paused the show because Allison was reading a book to Emma before she went to bed. In the quietness (which is rare in our household), I noticed something that brought such joy and love into my heart: my wife's beautiful voice.
As mentioned in my last post, it's easy for me to overlook a lot of things. I remember when Allison and I were dating and would talk on the phone. I loved hearing her voice on the other end of the phone. It's so delicate and sweet. Amongst all the noise and busyness of life since we've been married, the beauty of her voice was always in my mind, though somewhere in the back. To truly hear her voice again reminded me of one of the things I love about her. And it was all the sweeter to know she was using that wonderful voice to speak loving words to our daughter. I'm so thankful that this moment happened. It's great to re-discover one of the million things I love about my wife.
2 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on January 25, 2006 at 7:49 AM.
As mentioned in my last post, it's easy for me to overlook a lot of things. I remember when Allison and I were dating and would talk on the phone. I loved hearing her voice on the other end of the phone. It's so delicate and sweet. Amongst all the noise and busyness of life since we've been married, the beauty of her voice was always in my mind, though somewhere in the back. To truly hear her voice again reminded me of one of the things I love about her. And it was all the sweeter to know she was using that wonderful voice to speak loving words to our daughter. I'm so thankful that this moment happened. It's great to re-discover one of the million things I love about my wife.
It's amazing how you can totally look at something and not see it. This is true for a variety of things in life: nature, housework that needs to be done, and many times, even people. I have a 25 minute commute to and from work each day. NWA is growing at an insane rate...housing developments seemingly go up over night, business areas popping up left and right, traffic getting thicker and slower at every bend.
I was taken aback by my not seeing a huge development that is going up in Rogers at the Pinnacle Hills exit (85). I look at this one hillside every day as I drive past it going to work. I usually look at it, because our office may move close to this location this year. But the other day, I looked and the entire hillside was cleared off. A few trees remained, but mainly it was a giant dirt patch. I don't even know when it got cleared! On the opposite side of the road (East side of 540), there is a hospital and the Promenade being built. I didn't even think the Promenade had even been started yet. Until I came to a screeching halt on the highway (part of that whole traffic growth) going home a couple of weeks ago. I look to my left and see a sprawling complex, completely built, but not finished off. I was totally awestruck! I had NO idea they were that far along! How can you miss a building complex of that size? The same thing happened at church a couple of weeks ago. Fellowship is expanding a TON. Allison and I got to tour the new kids building. I looked out a window that faces behind the building and saw another building that's roughly 125,000 square feet! WHAT IS THAT??? My brother-in-law told me it was the new High School and Middle School buildings. How did I miss THAT???
Emma is so observant of everything. She spots little Razorback stickers on cars beside us and says "Woooo Pig". She stops and smells flowers in restaraunts. She finds food she dropped a week ago in her car seat and savors it (yeah, that's a bit gross). She notices boo-boo's on other people (more so the bandaid on them, but nonetheless). When do we get so busy and stop noticing all the things around us? What causes us to lose our faith like a child and sense of awe at the world around us?
0 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on at 7:33 AM.
I was taken aback by my not seeing a huge development that is going up in Rogers at the Pinnacle Hills exit (85). I look at this one hillside every day as I drive past it going to work. I usually look at it, because our office may move close to this location this year. But the other day, I looked and the entire hillside was cleared off. A few trees remained, but mainly it was a giant dirt patch. I don't even know when it got cleared! On the opposite side of the road (East side of 540), there is a hospital and the Promenade being built. I didn't even think the Promenade had even been started yet. Until I came to a screeching halt on the highway (part of that whole traffic growth) going home a couple of weeks ago. I look to my left and see a sprawling complex, completely built, but not finished off. I was totally awestruck! I had NO idea they were that far along! How can you miss a building complex of that size? The same thing happened at church a couple of weeks ago. Fellowship is expanding a TON. Allison and I got to tour the new kids building. I looked out a window that faces behind the building and saw another building that's roughly 125,000 square feet! WHAT IS THAT??? My brother-in-law told me it was the new High School and Middle School buildings. How did I miss THAT???
Emma is so observant of everything. She spots little Razorback stickers on cars beside us and says "Woooo Pig". She stops and smells flowers in restaraunts. She finds food she dropped a week ago in her car seat and savors it (yeah, that's a bit gross). She notices boo-boo's on other people (more so the bandaid on them, but nonetheless). When do we get so busy and stop noticing all the things around us? What causes us to lose our faith like a child and sense of awe at the world around us?
It was a good, enjoyable weekend. I can't say that I was very faithful to my diet, but it was the best kind of cheating I can imagine.
Friday night, Josh & Margo, Adam & Sarah, and my fam headed out to eat some catfish at this place in the boondocks. Honestly...I believe the name of the place includes the word "backwoods". It's off of Highway 45 on your way toward Goshen. This place is a fried food smorgesborg!! It has fried catfish, fried chicken, fried okra, and fried shrimp. They also had some tastey strawberry shortcake. I ate too much...but I drank water instead of Coke, so I'm declaring the evening a wash for calorie intake! Afterwards, we came back to our house, put Emma to bed, and watched Wedding Crashers. Here's the thing...I can't morally tell some one to rent this...but it was easily one of the funnier movies I've seen in a long time. A few mammaries here and there, but overall very funny. Vince Vaughn is a genious.
Saturday, Allison went to get a massage (her Mother's Day gift from LAST YEAR). Emma and I bundled up and went to the Johnson park. You can see some of the images on Emma's blog. Saturday evening, we went to Rogers to shop at Belk's (Allison needs a dress for the Heart Ball in Little Rock). I ended up buying a couple of shirts. Then we went to Copeland's and ate appetizers for dinner. They have the best Spinach & Artichoke dip known to mankind. And it all hinges on the fried bowtie pasta they use for the dippers. It's amazing.
Sunday, we worked the nursery at Church. We got to work in Emma's room, which was really fun, and suprisingly easy. We chilled all afternoon, and went to Community Group that night. We watched a great episode of Desperate Housewives, and I started some laundry. Finished laundry around 1:20 AM, went to bed. Work sucked the next day because I was tired.
Can you tell I started to run out of time toward the end? Yeah...not much elaboration. Later.
5 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on January 24, 2006 at 9:07 AM.
Friday night, Josh & Margo, Adam & Sarah, and my fam headed out to eat some catfish at this place in the boondocks. Honestly...I believe the name of the place includes the word "backwoods". It's off of Highway 45 on your way toward Goshen. This place is a fried food smorgesborg!! It has fried catfish, fried chicken, fried okra, and fried shrimp. They also had some tastey strawberry shortcake. I ate too much...but I drank water instead of Coke, so I'm declaring the evening a wash for calorie intake! Afterwards, we came back to our house, put Emma to bed, and watched Wedding Crashers. Here's the thing...I can't morally tell some one to rent this...but it was easily one of the funnier movies I've seen in a long time. A few mammaries here and there, but overall very funny. Vince Vaughn is a genious.
Saturday, Allison went to get a massage (her Mother's Day gift from LAST YEAR). Emma and I bundled up and went to the Johnson park. You can see some of the images on Emma's blog. Saturday evening, we went to Rogers to shop at Belk's (Allison needs a dress for the Heart Ball in Little Rock). I ended up buying a couple of shirts. Then we went to Copeland's and ate appetizers for dinner. They have the best Spinach & Artichoke dip known to mankind. And it all hinges on the fried bowtie pasta they use for the dippers. It's amazing.
Sunday, we worked the nursery at Church. We got to work in Emma's room, which was really fun, and suprisingly easy. We chilled all afternoon, and went to Community Group that night. We watched a great episode of Desperate Housewives, and I started some laundry. Finished laundry around 1:20 AM, went to bed. Work sucked the next day because I was tired.
Can you tell I started to run out of time toward the end? Yeah...not much elaboration. Later.
Recently, I've been really fascinated with my rear view mirror in my minivan (Geri). What I couldn't figure out is how I can see cars behind me at night when my mirror is flipped up. I've never claimed to be a smart man, but I really wanted to try and figure this out for myself (before Google-ing it). However, I'm still not a smart man, so I looked it up. Further proving my point of not being a smart man, I only slightly understood the explanation of how it works. So, I'm resolving to just think of the mirror as 100% magical.
When in Rome...
1 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on January 20, 2006 at 6:19 AM.
When in Rome...
This week has been spent at work, and on the couch watching TV. Over-educated people will tell me that I shouldn't do that...but I don't care what they think...it's been a great week of TV!
First, 24 is back on TV! It's easily in my top 3 favorite shows, and it's Allison's #1 favorite. They opened the season with 2 nights of 2 hour episodes. So, a show with 24 episodes is already 4 hours over with...and it was a pretty great opening 4 hours! I'm one who easily buys into a situation. So, I get sucked in quickly, and 24 is great for people like me...very thrilling.
Secondly, American Idol has started it's fifth season. I usually don't like the "tryout" episodes all that much, but so far this year, they've been pretty amusing and/or great. My favorite moment so far is the little Cowboy guy. He's a 16 year old cattle rancher from Wyoming. He currently lives in a town of 4. That's right...it's just his family in the entire town. He really hasn't been in society much...just hung out with farm animals. In a video clip, he talks about how he sings with one of his turkeys on the farm. He gets into the audition room, and is SO nervous, he can't even tell them what song he's going to sing. Judge Randy tells him (compassionately) that he can just sing the song without telling them the name of it. The kid (about to pass out from nerves) begins singing an Elton John song (Can You Feel the Love Tonight, I think it was). He had a really great tone to his voice, even though it was covered frequently by nerves. Aftwards, he mentioned that he had never sung in front of people before...only in front of his turkey. Simon told him to get some voice lessons, because he was going to Hollywood! The kid about falls over with joy in the audition room, and literally falls down with excitement when he sees his family outside. It was a heart-warmer, for sure!
Interesting note: my friend Josh Ayres' cousin from North Carolina (Heather Cox) was in the Denver tryouts for AI, and made it to Hollywood. I'm pretty sure I've met her before, though it was several years ago. Either way, it'll be fun to watch someone you have a connection to (even though it's a remote connection). Good luck to Heather!
1 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on January 19, 2006 at 11:24 AM.
First, 24 is back on TV! It's easily in my top 3 favorite shows, and it's Allison's #1 favorite. They opened the season with 2 nights of 2 hour episodes. So, a show with 24 episodes is already 4 hours over with...and it was a pretty great opening 4 hours! I'm one who easily buys into a situation. So, I get sucked in quickly, and 24 is great for people like me...very thrilling.
Secondly, American Idol has started it's fifth season. I usually don't like the "tryout" episodes all that much, but so far this year, they've been pretty amusing and/or great. My favorite moment so far is the little Cowboy guy. He's a 16 year old cattle rancher from Wyoming. He currently lives in a town of 4. That's right...it's just his family in the entire town. He really hasn't been in society much...just hung out with farm animals. In a video clip, he talks about how he sings with one of his turkeys on the farm. He gets into the audition room, and is SO nervous, he can't even tell them what song he's going to sing. Judge Randy tells him (compassionately) that he can just sing the song without telling them the name of it. The kid (about to pass out from nerves) begins singing an Elton John song (Can You Feel the Love Tonight, I think it was). He had a really great tone to his voice, even though it was covered frequently by nerves. Aftwards, he mentioned that he had never sung in front of people before...only in front of his turkey. Simon told him to get some voice lessons, because he was going to Hollywood! The kid about falls over with joy in the audition room, and literally falls down with excitement when he sees his family outside. It was a heart-warmer, for sure!
Interesting note: my friend Josh Ayres' cousin from North Carolina (Heather Cox) was in the Denver tryouts for AI, and made it to Hollywood. I'm pretty sure I've met her before, though it was several years ago. Either way, it'll be fun to watch someone you have a connection to (even though it's a remote connection). Good luck to Heather!
Along with every person in the United States, I made a New Year's Resolution to loose some weight. I'm only about 25 pounds over my ideal weight. 25 pounds sure doesn't sound like much does it? 25 pounds would be super easy to loose and pretty quickly...if it weren't for the fact that I have absolutely no self control. The fact that I have no self control applies to most facets of my life, but for simplicity's sake, I'm focusing on my lack of self control in the eating area right now.
I don't have a specific diet I'm following...I'm just focusing on lowering portion size and calorie intake throughout the day. I'm cutting back on cola intake, and drink Diet Dr. Pepper in place of regular Dr. Pepper (that's 180 calories per can right there!). I'm trying to snack better, but that's difficult considering I work for Nestle (two words: Haagen Daaz) and sit behind a desk all day. I'm allowing myself a larger calorie intake in the morning, as I will probably burn them off just walking to the printer 50 times a day. So far, I've been pretty successful. It also helped that I didn't eat for like 3 days after my Barf-O-Rama, and lost an immediate 8 pounds from puking. But man, what a mental faith-builder that can be!!! You start a diet, and 3 days later you're already 8 pounds lighter...a certain confidence booster, regardless the reason!
I have had a few cave-ins, mostly from work. One of our SAM'S Club guys always gets a big tub of powdered donuts for the office when he goes to the Club in Springdale. Normally, I'm the guy eating the majority of them. I told him not to bring them anymore, but he did just to watch me get mad at him. It's a bit messed up, but I'm declaring victory. Instead of eating the 10-15 donuts I would normall eat throughout the day, I had 5. Still not good for me, but a certain improvement. It also helped that I threw the 1/4 full box out at the end of the day. I also had a cave-in at Walmart recently. As I've stated before, I have an utter weakness for Sam's Choice Peanut Butter Cups. I went to pick up some items at Walmart the other night, and accidentally walked past the candy isle and the bag of little beauties caught my eye. They're gone now. Not good.
All in all, I'm doing better than I expected, and for much longer than I expected. Regardless, dieting sucks. I want some powdered donuts now.
2 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on January 18, 2006 at 12:32 PM.
I don't have a specific diet I'm following...I'm just focusing on lowering portion size and calorie intake throughout the day. I'm cutting back on cola intake, and drink Diet Dr. Pepper in place of regular Dr. Pepper (that's 180 calories per can right there!). I'm trying to snack better, but that's difficult considering I work for Nestle (two words: Haagen Daaz) and sit behind a desk all day. I'm allowing myself a larger calorie intake in the morning, as I will probably burn them off just walking to the printer 50 times a day. So far, I've been pretty successful. It also helped that I didn't eat for like 3 days after my Barf-O-Rama, and lost an immediate 8 pounds from puking. But man, what a mental faith-builder that can be!!! You start a diet, and 3 days later you're already 8 pounds lighter...a certain confidence booster, regardless the reason!
I have had a few cave-ins, mostly from work. One of our SAM'S Club guys always gets a big tub of powdered donuts for the office when he goes to the Club in Springdale. Normally, I'm the guy eating the majority of them. I told him not to bring them anymore, but he did just to watch me get mad at him. It's a bit messed up, but I'm declaring victory. Instead of eating the 10-15 donuts I would normall eat throughout the day, I had 5. Still not good for me, but a certain improvement. It also helped that I threw the 1/4 full box out at the end of the day. I also had a cave-in at Walmart recently. As I've stated before, I have an utter weakness for Sam's Choice Peanut Butter Cups. I went to pick up some items at Walmart the other night, and accidentally walked past the candy isle and the bag of little beauties caught my eye. They're gone now. Not good.
All in all, I'm doing better than I expected, and for much longer than I expected. Regardless, dieting sucks. I want some powdered donuts now.
Kid stories are great. That's half the reason for this blog. And I think this one is your typical kid story.
When we ask Emma to do something (like to put something back in its proper place or to stop climbing on something), we always say "Thank You" when she's fully obeyed.
Well, in recent months, Emma has started saying "thank you" back to us. And by that, I mean she will start to obey us, look at us, and say "thank you", as if that's her response back to us. However, we're still not sure if she's saying it to mean "I'm doing what you asked, so now tell me thank you" or if she means "You're Welcome". I guess we need to teach her to say "you're welcome", too, just to clear up any confusion.
Reading over this, it's kind of hard to explain. So, if you're interested in knowing what I'm talking about, you're welcome to come babysit Emma.
0 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on at 11:52 AM.
When we ask Emma to do something (like to put something back in its proper place or to stop climbing on something), we always say "Thank You" when she's fully obeyed.
Well, in recent months, Emma has started saying "thank you" back to us. And by that, I mean she will start to obey us, look at us, and say "thank you", as if that's her response back to us. However, we're still not sure if she's saying it to mean "I'm doing what you asked, so now tell me thank you" or if she means "You're Welcome". I guess we need to teach her to say "you're welcome", too, just to clear up any confusion.
Reading over this, it's kind of hard to explain. So, if you're interested in knowing what I'm talking about, you're welcome to come babysit Emma.
I really like Macs. I love the sleek design, impressive OS, graphics, and countless other features. However, I have been reminded of the reason I do not own a Mac: extreme arrogance and flat out childish marketing againt their competitors. What? You don't agree with me? That's fine...I would expect that from the brainwashed followers of Messiah Jobs.
Apple's latest achievement was to insert Intel chips inside their computers. And from what I've read, the results are extremely impressive...up to 250% increased speeds than Apple's previous computers running different chipsets. However, they pull out this commercial, which basically slams the PC. I have to admit, it's an effective ad campaign...but an 8 year old throwing knives at the other kids gets results, too. This ad campaign is simply childish and arrogant...two words I tend to associate with Mac-heads (not all Mac-heads...I have good friends who own Macs and they aren't brainwashed).
I find it sad that Apple can't play a nice fight. If they have the superior machine (and they do), why must they act so childish in presenting their product by slamming the competition? For that reason alone, I will not own a Mac.
3 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on January 17, 2006 at 1:45 PM.
Apple's latest achievement was to insert Intel chips inside their computers. And from what I've read, the results are extremely impressive...up to 250% increased speeds than Apple's previous computers running different chipsets. However, they pull out this commercial, which basically slams the PC. I have to admit, it's an effective ad campaign...but an 8 year old throwing knives at the other kids gets results, too. This ad campaign is simply childish and arrogant...two words I tend to associate with Mac-heads (not all Mac-heads...I have good friends who own Macs and they aren't brainwashed).
I find it sad that Apple can't play a nice fight. If they have the superior machine (and they do), why must they act so childish in presenting their product by slamming the competition? For that reason alone, I will not own a Mac.
Besides the barf-o-rama on Sunday night / Monday morning, it was a pretty great weekend! I actually don't remember what we did on Friday night...but I bet it was fun! On Saturday, the fam was headed over to the Kate, Travis, & Olivia Tokar's house to see their new baby goat and jump on the trampoline. We stopped by TJ Max to look for something. While we were there, I yanked a muscle in my back (a common problem...a good sign of underexercise) and decide to go back to the house and let the girls go have fun without me. It's all good, since I was supposed to be talking at the Fellowship College Service the following day and had done very little to prepare. The hand of God hurts sometimes, but it's always for the good. I got to hash out a sermon/talk thing and the girls had a great time at the Tokar's.
Saturday night, the Nate & Sarah McGooden had a few folks over for dinner and an informal birthday party for Grant. The food was great, the fellowship was great, and the cake & ice cream were incredible. We came home and just hung out.
Sunday morning, I drove around for a while, practicing my talk out loud to myself in the minivan.
Feeling a bit more comfortable with it all, I headed to the church to give my talk. The service is still very young (it's only the 4th official service they've had), but there were about 40 college students there. The only goal given to me was "speak about something college students are going through". Ok...it's been 5 years since I graduated...I should have some clue, right? Man...it was tough coming up with only 1 subject, and one that could be discussed in 30 minutes. I ended up teaching on holding firm to the gospel that was preached to you (Galatians 1:6-8). I know that when I got into collge, I was hit with a ton of "other" gospels...things claiming to be the truth, and some that seemed VERY alike to the gospel of Christ, but differing enough to make me nervous. I used an example (thanks to my sister, Amy) of real fruit and counterfeit fruit (plastic). Knowing what a REAL pear looks like helps you easily identify a counterfeit pear when it comes along. Same thing with the Gospel. Know the gospel of Christ inside/out and you'll be able to see right through a counterfeit gospel. I highlighted some of the "other" gospels that they might encounter, such as Universalism and Relativism. I'm not sure how good the talk really was. It looked good on paper and worked logically. The delivery might have sucked pretty badly.
That night, the puking began. Besides that, it was a pretty decent weekend.
1 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on January 11, 2006 at 3:54 PM.
Saturday night, the Nate & Sarah McGooden had a few folks over for dinner and an informal birthday party for Grant. The food was great, the fellowship was great, and the cake & ice cream were incredible. We came home and just hung out.
Sunday morning, I drove around for a while, practicing my talk out loud to myself in the minivan.
Feeling a bit more comfortable with it all, I headed to the church to give my talk. The service is still very young (it's only the 4th official service they've had), but there were about 40 college students there. The only goal given to me was "speak about something college students are going through". Ok...it's been 5 years since I graduated...I should have some clue, right? Man...it was tough coming up with only 1 subject, and one that could be discussed in 30 minutes. I ended up teaching on holding firm to the gospel that was preached to you (Galatians 1:6-8). I know that when I got into collge, I was hit with a ton of "other" gospels...things claiming to be the truth, and some that seemed VERY alike to the gospel of Christ, but differing enough to make me nervous. I used an example (thanks to my sister, Amy) of real fruit and counterfeit fruit (plastic). Knowing what a REAL pear looks like helps you easily identify a counterfeit pear when it comes along. Same thing with the Gospel. Know the gospel of Christ inside/out and you'll be able to see right through a counterfeit gospel. I highlighted some of the "other" gospels that they might encounter, such as Universalism and Relativism. I'm not sure how good the talk really was. It looked good on paper and worked logically. The delivery might have sucked pretty badly.
That night, the puking began. Besides that, it was a pretty decent weekend.
The 12-hour stomach bug hit the Nelson household last night. Emma started throwing up around 9:00 PM last night. We changed her sheets / gave her a bath 3 times before 10:45 PM. Then it hit me. I usually don't mind throwing up...in fact, I'd rather throw up than sit there and feel like I'm about to the whole time. Honestly, after last night, I might change my mind on that. My poor wife slept on the couch and tended to Emma's illness the whole night, while I did my thing on the other side of the house.
We're all feeling MUCH better (we're past the 12-hour mark). Now we're just recupperating and weak. Good times!
3 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on January 09, 2006 at 11:09 AM.
We're all feeling MUCH better (we're past the 12-hour mark). Now we're just recupperating and weak. Good times!
It's all about the partying for the Nelson family! On New Year's Eve, we had some folks over to hang out, play games, and do the whole
NYC ball dropping thing. It was a really fun time! We had tons of desserts to eat, and the soda was flowin' yo! The surprise hit for the night was Loopin' Louie! Basically, Louie flies around in a circle in his airplane. 4 contestants have little chips that his plane will knock down if he hits them...the last person with a chip wins. You're only defense against the crazy flying Louie is to hit his airplane with a little paddle right before he gets to your chips. You can pound the hammer and send Louie loopin' up and around in hopes that he'll drop down mercilessly on someone else's chips without them being able to defend themselves. Or you can soft tap the plane and let him drop ever so slightly over the next player's flipper and take them out.
A
nyway, this provided at least 2+ hours of enjoyment for several people. The kids that came lasted until about 10:30 PM. Some folks left to take the kids home (or themselves home) while the rest of us busted out some good ol' Boggle. Thanks to the Miller's for bringing this gem of a game! We had a fierce battle of Boggle going for an hour or so, with your's truly squeaking by as the evenings winner. It's very fun to argue whether or not a word truly is a legitimate word...but it's also just a fun brain twister of a game.
Around 11:40, we started watching the NYC Times Square party that w
as happening. We got the Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice ready for the toasting, and relaxed until it was time to ring in the new year. Josh Ayres got in to position to "jump" into the new year...an apparent tradition he has of being suspended in air at the beginning of each year. Now if you happened to be watching Dick Clark's 11:00 (midnight NYC time) performance, you got to see something that might make you gouge your eyes out: Dick Clark mugging down with a chic. I'm sure hoping it was his wife! Irregarldless (a word you'll never get during a round of Boggle!), seeing a man in his 70's go all 15-year-old-boy with a same-aged lady is just not something I want blazed into my mind's eye. Unfortunately, it currently is. So...we rang in the New Year with toasting and kissing of our repsective spouses. Then we got tired and everyone went home. All in all, it was a really fun night with friends and great games. A perfect end to 2005!1111
The next day, my good friend Blake came up to stay the night. His birthday was on the 1st, so he came over to NWA with his parents to visit me and his brother (
who lives in Bentonville). We hung out and played a lot of Xbox (Call of Duty 2 stinking rocks!). Then, we all went to Copeland's for his birthday dinner. Stuffed ourselves silly there and topped it off with cake and ice cream. After going to see his brother's house, we came home and played more Xbox until about 1:00 AM. By that time, our eyes had dried out from not blinking, and our thumbs were numb. The next morning, we got up and went to get donuts for the fam. Then he headed out. It was a short trip, but a good one nonetheless. It's great to spend so much time with friends!
2 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on January 02, 2006 at 8:13 PM.
NYC ball dropping thing. It was a really fun time! We had tons of desserts to eat, and the soda was flowin' yo! The surprise hit for the night was Loopin' Louie! Basically, Louie flies around in a circle in his airplane. 4 contestants have little chips that his plane will knock down if he hits them...the last person with a chip wins. You're only defense against the crazy flying Louie is to hit his airplane with a little paddle right before he gets to your chips. You can pound the hammer and send Louie loopin' up and around in hopes that he'll drop down mercilessly on someone else's chips without them being able to defend themselves. Or you can soft tap the plane and let him drop ever so slightly over the next player's flipper and take them out.A
nyway, this provided at least 2+ hours of enjoyment for several people. The kids that came lasted until about 10:30 PM. Some folks left to take the kids home (or themselves home) while the rest of us busted out some good ol' Boggle. Thanks to the Miller's for bringing this gem of a game! We had a fierce battle of Boggle going for an hour or so, with your's truly squeaking by as the evenings winner. It's very fun to argue whether or not a word truly is a legitimate word...but it's also just a fun brain twister of a game.Around 11:40, we started watching the NYC Times Square party that w
as happening. We got the Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice ready for the toasting, and relaxed until it was time to ring in the new year. Josh Ayres got in to position to "jump" into the new year...an apparent tradition he has of being suspended in air at the beginning of each year. Now if you happened to be watching Dick Clark's 11:00 (midnight NYC time) performance, you got to see something that might make you gouge your eyes out: Dick Clark mugging down with a chic. I'm sure hoping it was his wife! Irregarldless (a word you'll never get during a round of Boggle!), seeing a man in his 70's go all 15-year-old-boy with a same-aged lady is just not something I want blazed into my mind's eye. Unfortunately, it currently is. So...we rang in the New Year with toasting and kissing of our repsective spouses. Then we got tired and everyone went home. All in all, it was a really fun night with friends and great games. A perfect end to 2005!1111The next day, my good friend Blake came up to stay the night. His birthday was on the 1st, so he came over to NWA with his parents to visit me and his brother (
who lives in Bentonville). We hung out and played a lot of Xbox (Call of Duty 2 stinking rocks!). Then, we all went to Copeland's for his birthday dinner. Stuffed ourselves silly there and topped it off with cake and ice cream. After going to see his brother's house, we came home and played more Xbox until about 1:00 AM. By that time, our eyes had dried out from not blinking, and our thumbs were numb. The next morning, we got up and went to get donuts for the fam. Then he headed out. It was a short trip, but a good one nonetheless. It's great to spend so much time with friends!
Our friend Allyn Elleman celebrated her 29th birthday party Friday night. A large group of us (pretty much the same group from the Gingerbread House Party), met to eat at Mermaids in Fayetteville. We hung out for
a long time and ate. Then she opened gifts and we all had some cake. At the end of the dinner, someone came up with the idea of going to the Electric Cowboy to dance. Since Aaron and Allyn rode with me and Allison to the restaraunt, we were apparently going to the club, too. Now I'm not exactly the clubbin type. I play golf and xbox and work on computers. And most of us (mid-20's to mid 30's) weren't dressed for going out...we were a bit preppy. But thankfully I had my can of Copenhagen, so I fit in just a little bit. I also hadn't been to a club since I was 16, and I was in Stuttgart, Germany with 30 other 16 year old Americans. That's a whole other story. For the most part, the guys stayed together off the dance floor while most of the girls shook their groove things on the floor with a bunch of cowgirls (there's a pun there...). I'm the kind of guy who likes the spotlight...in most things. However, dancing ain't my thing, and I prefer to be a shadow on the wall at dance clubs. Allison did get me out there a couple of times for some slow songs, though. To prove my point that I can't dance, by the end of the first song, I still couldn't get the hang of a basic two step. The biggest reason for that is that Allison lead and lead off her right foot, my left foot. I am severaly left-side handicapped. I'm actually surprised my entire left hasn't shiveled up and died due to lack of usage. Anyway, I spent most of the time hanging ou
t with the other guys (and the girls who were taking breaks). We came up with a theory, that I believe can immediately move to fact status: Girls can do anything on the dance floor and look good doing it. If a guy does the same moves on the dancefloor, he looks like a retard trying to hump a doorknob (Dodgeball quote). It's not very fair, but the theory at least gives guys like me good reason to not dance.
After inhaling all the smoke my poor eyes and lungs could take, we decided to leave. We got home, burned our clothes, took showers, and fell asleep. It was a really fun night. Allison and I both woke up with wicked headaches, that we are blaming on the smoke. Below are some pictures of the gang...no action shots, though. Just poses.
1 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on at 8:00 PM.
a long time and ate. Then she opened gifts and we all had some cake. At the end of the dinner, someone came up with the idea of going to the Electric Cowboy to dance. Since Aaron and Allyn rode with me and Allison to the restaraunt, we were apparently going to the club, too. Now I'm not exactly the clubbin type. I play golf and xbox and work on computers. And most of us (mid-20's to mid 30's) weren't dressed for going out...we were a bit preppy. But thankfully I had my can of Copenhagen, so I fit in just a little bit. I also hadn't been to a club since I was 16, and I was in Stuttgart, Germany with 30 other 16 year old Americans. That's a whole other story. For the most part, the guys stayed together off the dance floor while most of the girls shook their groove things on the floor with a bunch of cowgirls (there's a pun there...). I'm the kind of guy who likes the spotlight...in most things. However, dancing ain't my thing, and I prefer to be a shadow on the wall at dance clubs. Allison did get me out there a couple of times for some slow songs, though. To prove my point that I can't dance, by the end of the first song, I still couldn't get the hang of a basic two step. The biggest reason for that is that Allison lead and lead off her right foot, my left foot. I am severaly left-side handicapped. I'm actually surprised my entire left hasn't shiveled up and died due to lack of usage. Anyway, I spent most of the time hanging ou
t with the other guys (and the girls who were taking breaks). We came up with a theory, that I believe can immediately move to fact status: Girls can do anything on the dance floor and look good doing it. If a guy does the same moves on the dancefloor, he looks like a retard trying to hump a doorknob (Dodgeball quote). It's not very fair, but the theory at least gives guys like me good reason to not dance.After inhaling all the smoke my poor eyes and lungs could take, we decided to leave. We got home, burned our clothes, took showers, and fell asleep. It was a really fun night. Allison and I both woke up with wicked headaches, that we are blaming on the smoke. Below are some pictures of the gang...no action shots, though. Just poses.
