What I've been up to this summer...

Well, I've been up to a lot, but most recently I've been traveling - for 3 weeks straight to be exact. I wanted to post about all of my trips and will do so in one way or another, I just decided it would take me forever if I tried to do it all at once. So here is the first installment.

My first trip of the summer was to Otter Creek's Christian Camp as a counselor. I had a blast! I was co-counselors with my wonderul friend Moriah and we had the 7th grade girls. It was a hard week but also very fun and rewarding. Luckily, Mo is a great photographer and she had the better camera, so I didn't even take my camera out once all week. If you want to see pics, she did a very cute, thourough collage on their blog, here.

After camp, I came home for litterally one day and then left Justin and Maybel again (it was very hard after being gone a whole week already) and headed to Orlando, FL to meet my best friend from college, Laura. She and her mom and grandmother always go to Sanible Island, FL for a week in the summer and this year I got to go again (I've been once before when we were both still in grad. school). This year, myself and one of Mimi's (Laura's grandmother) friends, Mary Anne, got to tag along and it was wonderful! Among laying by the pool, reading, relaxing, and playing games, we also took a boat ride to a nearby island and spent some time visiting lots of cute shops and yummy restaurants. We took the boat ride on Tuesday and it took us to a nearby island, Cabbage Key. It's very small and not very populated except for an inn and a restaurant. The restaurant is very cool (not temperature wise though, it was very HOT!). They have a great cheeseburger and legend has it that it is where Jimmy Buffet wrote his famous song Cheeseburger in Paradise. They also have a tradition of everyone who visits leaving a signed dollar bill on the wall or on the ceiling. It was very cool. Other than that, it was just a nice relaxing week at the beach.

So, there are the first two trips, next up...Vacation to Lake Ouachita!

Happy Birthday, America

Everyone be safe out there this weekend. I want to see 10 fingers and 10 toes on all of you.

In honor of the holiday, I give you the genius of Joe Dirt:



Light your hoosker do and hoosker dont's with Caution.

$39,492 and some change.....

AND IT'S PAID OFF!! YEAH!!!
Katie and I just became debt-free over the weekend. And I must tell you, it feels AMAZING! We started paying off the loans about a year ago and through our income, our stimulus check, tax refunds and some very amazing family members and gifts it is done!

With my job change we were a little worried about the progress we had made. We spent a lot time talking to our family about what we should do, and a lot of time in prayer. And God provided a way for us to be free from our concerns.

In other news, Katie is away at church camp this week as a counselor. So, its just a boy and his dog for the next few days. I have been thinking about this music video lately, not sure why. It fits this week in a way, pretty much the only way is that Jake and Maybel are both Labs.



Stay tuned for more news about my week without the wife.

Time for another Maybel post...

It has been a while since I've posted, period, so I felt like it was time to post and time to update you a little on what Maybel has been up to. As you can tell, she has definitely been growing! She keeps getting bigger and bigger and even seems to be catching up with her boyfriend, Maverick. As you can see, she has been playing with Maverick a lot this summer. They love playing outside together in Maverick's yard, since Maybel doesn't have one yet for him to come play in. They also got to cool off a little in a nearby creek and both loved it! They would run and chase after each other and sticks that Justin and Blake would throw for them. It really was so funny to watch them in the water - they couldn't get enough and both would just run right through it as though they were in the grass. They would even put their whole head in the water to try to find a stick they were going after. They were definitely stinky afterwards (and Maybel even hurt her toe) but they had a blast!

Maybel and I have been getting to spend some quality time together since school has been out for me. We usually try to walk in the morning before it gets too unbearably hot, but even by 8 am it is usually pretty rough on both of us. She has also been shedding, A LOT!!! I've heard that she isn't suppossed to shed more during a certain season or time of year, but I really think she is shedding more than she was when it was cooler. I mean, it is everywhere! The picture above is from ONE brushing out of 3 that I did that day. I had probably the same amount after each brushing too. It just keeps coming. I can't imagine how hot she must be with all that hair.

Maybel is generally a very sweet natured dog and really does not do much, but sleep and play whenever we get her going. But lately she has become a little mischevious. Just the other morning, I was watching T.V. and she walked into the guest room where she doesn't usually go unless one of us is in there. She didn't come right back out and I hadn't really heard her do anything, but I was wondering what she was doing in there so I got up to go check out the situation...I looked around and didn't see her, thinking she must have gone to lay in the bathroom (she likes our bathroom rugs for some reason), but I happened to glance over and the little goober had jumped up on the bed and made herself comfy right in the middle of it! I couldn't believe it! I wouldn't have been so surprised, but she really does not jump up on things very often. We are still trying to get her to jump up on her own into the truck so I was really shocked, especially b/c she has never been up on the bed or been allowed to be either. What a mess! She also decided to chew up a Diet Coke box that was left out on the deck along with her while she was drying off from a bath. I guess she got bored and didn't like being out there by herself, so, she found the nearest thing to keep her occupied. I guess maybe she is getting bored just hanging out with me so she is looking for things to bring a little excitement to our time together. Oh well, at least she hasn't done any permanent damage and you can't help but love her when she looks at you with those sweet eyes :) We sure do love that dog and love seeing what she might do that is new and entertaining.

We've been busy already this summer and have several blog posts coming, so stay tuned...

iPod Roulette

I've seen this done on other blogs, so I wanted to introduce you all to it.
Basically, put your iPod (or other music player) on shuffle, and make a note of the first 10 songs that come up. Make no exceptions, no apologies. Hopefully the NSync or Dionne Warwick doesn't come up for you....but its almost a guarantee to have at least 1 song you are ashamed of. So, here we go....

1. Born on the Bayou - Credence Clearwater Revival
Not a bad start, My parents have CCR CD's, so this makes me think of them. John Fogerty is a good songwriter, and was the only reason CCR made it big.

2. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins
A nice instrumental piece, I always want to learn to play piano when I hear this. Song makes me think of middle school, because I bought this and listened to it all the time in 6th or 7th grade. One of my first CD purchases (Weezer's Blue Album was the first)

3. Lorelei - STYX
Not my favorite Styx song, but because of their other songs its something I can tolerate.

4. February Stars (from the Skin and Bones live acoustic album) - Foo Fighters
I have recently (in the last 6 months) become a HUGE Foo Fighters fan. I purchased There is Nothing Left to Lose when it came out, but have purchased all their other albums since then and this is a great one. Check it out.

5. The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore - James Morrison
Katie and I heard James on the concert for Diana last summer, and she wanted to buy his album. Its actually not bad, I decided to keep it on my iPod as well as putting it on hers. Seeing him live reveals his atrocious teeth, but he's English. It's to be expected.

6. Intervention - The Arcade Fire
I have to thank Adam for telling me about AF. This has become one of my favorite new bands and this is a great tune. Favorite line: "Who's gonna reset the bone?"

7. Pudding Time - Primus
Primus is another band I grew up listening to and then rediscovered. Again, thanks to Adam for the extensive Primus library.

8. My Little Man - Ozzy Osbourne
Sitar opening, always good. Just found out this song was a collaboration with Steve Vai. It makes me like it more.

9. It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) - R.E.M.
2 Things: Tommy Boy and Leonard Bernstein

10. Superman Song - Crash Test Dummies
Funny story on this one. I was a DJ on WTTU radio 88.5 in college for a few months, which I REALLY liked doing. We (Andrew and I) would take requests, and when no one would call in we would call people and tell them to call in or dedicate songs to them. We found it to be hilarious and groundbreaking radio. One day, we called someone and dedicated this song to them. And I played the wrong song. So, I stopped it in mid-song (which we were told never to do) and played the right one. Looking at it in print, its not as funny. But it was hilarious in the studio.

Give us your 10 in the comments, and don't be ashamed of your music.