New routines...

So I'm finishing my last week as a full-time assistant this week. (by my choice) It's funny, I sustained myself as a freelance assistant for two years, yet it still makes me nervous. I have plenty faith in God's provision and my abilities, but it's still scary. Why is that? (rhetorical) God has shown me time and time again the he will take care of me, yet my flesh still doubts and I am scared sometimes. Anyway, I just thought I'd share that...

Lately I've been trying to get out of a routine that I've grown accustomed to. I'm trying to read as I go to bed instead of letting the TV "entertain" me as I drift off to sleep. When, I let the TV put me to sleep, I've found that I'll stay up later than I should and I don't sleep as well as when I read. Not to mention, that when I read I generally wake up with a better attitude about my day. Another part of my routine that is changing a little is my morning commute. I used to listen to my music or sometimes talk radio (I must admit that sometimes I can be a talk radio junkie, but the people I really like to listen to are either on in the middle of the day or after I get home from work), but lately I downloaded a bunch of podcasts of the church I attended in Colorado and have been trying to enrich my mind a little before I start my work day. Yet another thing that has helped my attitude throughout the day.

I've been reading "Searching for God Knows What" by Donald Miller, I enjoyed "Blue Like Jazz" so I figured I'd give his newer one a try. It's pretty good so far, a fairly easy read. I'm not sure what I should tackle next. Maybe some John Piper. We'll see...

Five good things:
1. My new MacBook Pro.
2. Going back to freelance.
3. New friends from Pennsylvania.
4. I heard from an old friend today.
5. Dinner at Pei Wei.

Man Chow and The Poconos

Okay, so I'm a little late on posting about my trip from two weeks ago but I still wanted to share a little. It was a great weekend! A much needed break from the crazy schedule I had been running. (Not that it slowed down any when I got back)

My weekend worked like clockwork without a hitch, that is until the flight home (I'll get to that later). I flew in to Philly on Thursday night and met the Bride-to-be and her family. Then I hung out till the wee hours of the night with Alex's (the groom) family. Friday we took care of a little business for the wedding before we met up with all the guys to spend the day in the Poconos.

Here is where my photos begin for you:


We arrived at the lake about 2:00 in the afternoon and made ourselves familiar with the place a little before we started to collect our firewood. A much needed part of a guys weekend. FIRE!

After building the fire pit, cutting logs and making a quick run to the local store everyone was very ready to hit the lake. This is where I learned a new game. I don't know the name of it, but basically you get a watermelon, coat it in Crisco and throw it in the lake. Everyone lines up on the shore and races after the watermelon. The first man back to the shore with the watermelon is the winner...

The race...

The struggle...

There were several games played with the watermelon...that is until it broke. We then hung out in the lake a little more playing some games made up on the spot with a tennis ball. Quite fun actually...

Now it was time to clean up and start the fire so we could start preparing what was so aptly named "Man Chow". During the clean up a request was made by the groom that I cook us some queso . I happily obliged.

Now, back to the Man Chow. This was a new venture for me, but it sounded pretty good. Man chow could be adapted to suit your tastes, but ours consisted of: potatoes, bell peppers, onions, carrots, ground beef, and seasonings. You layer everything and put the ground beef on top, season it as you wish, wrap it up in foil at least twice and throw it directly on the coals of your campfire for about 45 minutes or so. I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance...

The guys devour my queso as the man chow cooks.

The groom with queso residue on his shirt.

Me watching the Man Chow cook.

Man Chow ready for consumption. MMMM

One of my favorite pics from the weekend. Alex finished his Man Chow.

The rest of the night we hung out by the fire, talked, made smores, all the usual campfire stuff. The next morning we packed up and headed back to Allentown. We had a great time at the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. After the rehearsal dinner we all went out for a little laser tag. Not something I normally think of doing, but it was a blast. Sunday we woke up, went to church, and ventured on over to the church where the wedding was. It was a great ceremony and the dinner reception was a lot of fun too. I even broke out of my shell and got on the dance floor for a little bit. I think it was the Chicken Dance that brought it out of me. After the reception, me and some of my new friends from the weekend had a nice time at a little diner till about 1:30am or so. It was a late night but it was worth it.

Monday I boarded my plane back to Dallas. After an extra five hours in the plane and an unplanned landing in Oklahoma City to refuel, I finally made it back to Dallas.

Overall it was a great weekend!