Find a dollar, pick it up...

Well, life without speed bumps has been pretty nice. Not that I've been around too much to enjoy it. Since my last post I have had a couple week long jobs out of town with some down time in between. It's been pretty cool, I was able to visit two places I've never been before; Seattle, Washington and Green Bay, Wisconsin. 

Seattle was cool. We booked an extra day in town after the job was finished so that we could go do a little sightseeing in the city. We had time to go to the Pike Place Market for a few hours, drive around the city and see a few things, then we loaded a ferry to cross Puget Sound for Bainbridge Island. The sun was setting as we rode towards the island and we had a pretty nice view of Mt. Rainier along the way. Once we were on the island we had enough time to drive around a little before we ate dinner at a nice little diner at the marina. Shortly after, we had to jet back over to the ferry so that we weren't stuck on the island for several more hours with nothing else to do. Overall, I enjoyed Seattle.

Next we had a job in Green Bay. I was definitely surprised by this city. It was much smaller than I thought. I was expecting a small city but not this small. It's amazing that they have a NFL team in a town that small. It was nice though. Once you got out of "downtown" there were loads of little individually owned farms and some quaint little houses. I enjoyed my trip to Green Bay but I'm not going to be making any plans to visit again in the near future. 

That's what I've been up to lately. It was nice to go north for a couple of weeks before the summer officially sets in. Tonight the air was pretty nice so I took a long walk to enjoy it before the temps push just shy of 100 next week. And when I was almost home I looked down and found a dollar on the street. It was pretty random, and for some reason I felt guilty picking it up. I don't know why, but it felt like I was stealing. I wouldn't feel funny picking up a quarter but once you start finding actual paper money it feels different for some reason. (even though it was in the street and no one else was around to claim that they dropped it) I don't know why but I just thought I'd share that...

No More Speed Bumps!

One thing I quickly found out about my "new" apartment is that when they built this place someone got really excited about laying down speed bumps. In fact if you want to drive into my parking garage and come visit my apartment you will have to pass over 14 individual speed bumps. And that is only one direction. For a complete round trip in and out of my apartment you have to cross over 28 speed bumps! It's a little insaine, I know...  Not to mention the fact that these are not your little run of the mill average sized speed bumps either. Whoever constructed these suckers was serious about the 5mph speed limit within the parking garage. If you go much faster over these little mountains you are liable to be knocked out of the driver's seat, or at least spill your drink all over your car. 

If you can't tell, it has been a small source of frustration with me since I moved in.  I don't really mind the slow leisurely pace that the speed bumps require you to drive within our parking garage, but it can get quite annoying to be jostled around your car every time you have to enter or exit your apartment building. 

Well, I'm happy to say, relief is on the way!!! 

Last night when I came home from work I noticed that two of the speed bumps were completely gone. I was wondering to myself if they were merely replacing them with some more tame ones or if they were getting rid of them completely. When I left my house today I noticed a couple guys working on them so I decided to stop and ask. They informed me that they were removing all the speed bumps within the parking garage for good! There are a few bumps that are at the entrance of the parking garage that might stay, but I have to admit I'm pretty excited about not being thrown from my car anymore whenever I want to come and go...

Old friends and music...

Last weekend I had the joy of playing music with an old friend. He called me at the very last minute, but luckily enough I was free that night and I was able to make it to Fort Worth just in time for the concert. He has a new album out and I had not yet purchased it, but when I got home from work I had just enough time to download it and burn it to a disk so that I could run through a couple of the songs on the drive over. If you are wondering why the "concert" looks like it is in someones living room, that's because it is. With his new CD he is doing something a little different but its very cool. He is doing "house concerts". He will come to town for the weekend and have several concerts throughout town in different peoples homes that have offered to host a concert. It's a pretty cool idea. It's more laid back but it's also more of an intimate setting. In the end you feel much more connected to Ross and his songs because he explains a little about each song and what the inspiration was behind it when he wrote it.  Check out his website (linked below) for more info if you are interested in attending a house concert in your area. Or look at his blog (which is updated more regularly) linked in the right sidebar of my blog.

www.rosskingmusic.com

It was so good to see Ross and Staci again. It's been a few years since I've seen them but we traveled and played together so much in the past that it pretty easy for me to get back in a little groove with him during the concert. He's a great songwriter and if you've never heard of him or his music this is my little plug for you to check out his music. 

Mmmm....

It's that time of year again! One of my favorite seasonal treats. One year I got so excited I think I bought four boxes. Needless to say, I went a little overboard that year. I had almost forgotten that they were on the way but when I got back form Colorado I ran to the store for a few necessities and there they were.....taunting me...

...of course, I went home with some.

Trip update...

Well after a 13.5 hour drive on Wednesday I made it to Denver safely. Thursday looked pretty bad at the mountain so I decided to wait until Friday for my first day. When I woke up on Friday I checked the road conditions and I-70 was shut down due to poor road conditions and 70-80 mph winds. Needless to say Friday was out of the question. Knowing that it was the weekend, we decided to wake up early (5 am) and beat the traffic. Success! The snow conditions were some of the best I've had in a few years. (8-10 inches of fresh powder!) I took my last two runs with Lanny and Ethan. I was very impressed how well Ethan did. He's not quite 5 years old and he was like a little rocket down the mountain. He went all the way from the top of the mountain to the bottom without stopping. Look for him at the end of this short little video in a full out tuck.

It's been too long...

I know, it's been almost 2 months since I've posted anything and while I could come up with excuses as to why I've been so absent, this time I won't do that. The new apartment is treating me well and any complaints I have are just me being petty. After the first few weeks of living without a couch I was very happy to get that remedied. I never realized how much sitting around I do on my days off until all I had was a folding chair. Luckily I was really busy for the first 3-4 weeks that I lived in my new place.

The end of January and the beginning of February have been a little slower for me, so I decided what better time to go snowboarding than the slow times. (not that I wasn't already planning it anyway) So tomorrow (..er....um....today), early this morning I head off to Colorado for my annual snowboarding trip. While I should have been in bed several hours ago, here I am posting this for you guys. And to make up for all of my absence, I decided to make a short little video. Just a little something fun that I threw together this afternoon while I was prepping for my trip tomorrow.

Enjoy!

...and pray for my safety while I'm gone...

The Move...

So, tomorrow I move. I'm leaving north Dallas (Frisco) and moving considerably closer to downtown (which means a much shorter daily commute). I'm looking forward to it, but I must admit it will be a little weird. It will be my first time to live alone....ever. In all my 31 years of life, I've yet to live by myself. It should be an adventure. There will definitely be advantages and disadvantages to living alone. I will miss having people around the house all the time, but at the same time it will be nice to have a place all to myself to call "home". Another thing that will be a little weird is getting used to apartment life again. I haven't lived in an apartment since my sophomore year in college (96-97). It's been a good run but it was bound to come to an end at some point.

And so, as I bid adieu to my former home, I must say thanks to the Carruths. You guys have been great housemates, it has been fun and I'll miss seeing you guys day in and day out. But I do look forward to meeting the new little Carruth who is on the way. You guys are going to make GREAT parents.

One of those mornings...

Overall, it was a good day, but on my way to work this morning I had a realization...

After I had already eaten my breakfast (an apple and a granola bar), after I had already stopped for some cheap wannabe coffee (no Starbucks this morning), and after I had already made it more than halfway down the road on my morning commute I realized that I had just done something for the first time in my life! I woke up, got ready, and left the house for work an hour earlier than I needed for absolutely no reason. I don't know what I was thinking! I even set my clock wrong when I went to bed last night. I didn't think twice this morning when I rolled out of bed. And I certainly didn't think anything about it when I walked out the door.

I was a little perturbed at myself. I could have had another hour of sleep! But what was I going to do now? I couldn't turn back around and go home, I couldn't stop at some cool diner for breakfast I had already eaten. So I did the next best thing, I drove around listening to a couple sermon podcasts. It's not a bad way to spend an extra hour in the morning but I don't think I'll be making a habit of it since my mental lapse required me to wake up at 5:30 this morning...

needless to say, I'm off to bed...

Fall has fallen!

I woke up today to the sound of rain and was totally oblivious to what was going on with the weather. Thinking it would pass and the sun would come out to make everything hot and humid like normal, I left home without a jacket. I quickly learned that it was a cold front. It became progressively cooler as the day went on and I began to question my sanity for choosing to leave my jacket at home. Not that it was super cold but something to break the wind would have been nice.

I got my first whiff of someone firing up their fireplace this year. Fall has officially reached Dallas.... not too shabby.

On a side note...
I have a program on my laptop that lets me use the built-in webcam to record time-lapse video. It's a pretty fun program, but it's one of those programs that's fun to play with but you never really use it. Well, I decided to use it the other day during a half-day fashion shoot. I set up my laptop in the corner of the room and told it to record 1 frame every 10 seconds. It recorded for about 5 hours and compiled everything into a 1 minute video. My friend added some music to it and loaded it on You Tube.

So if you have ever been curious as to what goes on during a photoshoot you might enjoy this.



-sorry for the video suggestions that pop up after the video ends. I tried to keep it from doing that but it didn't want to work...

Just a hint of autumn...

Well, even though it's still hot here in Texas I experienced my first little taste of fall today. On my way home from work I drove past a church that had a large pumpkin patch out front. I guess they were getting ready for a "fall festival" or something. I know it doesn't sound like much but I found it to be a nice little hint of the season to come. (I guess it's technically already here, but...) With fall pretty much being my favorite season I'm always looking for the signs of it's approach. And once it comes, I have to soak it all up because it's probably the shortest season down here.

What is it that I love about fall? The crisp morning air, throwing on a light jacket before you leave the house, the smell of someones fireplace burning, the changing leaves, the overcast skies, not feeling bad about spending $4 on a latte because it warms you up on the inside, the sound of fallen leaves blowing in the wind, sleeping under a nice warm blanket, a warm cup of soup on a chilly day, planning my ski trip for the coming winter....the list could go on...

And, of course, with the approach of every fall I feel a call to the mountains. Colorado to be specific. As most of you know, both times I moved there it was in the fall. So every time fall comes around there is something deep inside me that yearns for the mountains again.

That being said, I'm happy where I am. I just like to take a lot of mental vacations soaking in what I can of this season and fondly remembering my time in the mountains...

Tall Corn...

On a drive along the Connecticut River, which runs down the New Hampshire/Vermont border, we came across some of the tallest corn I have ever seen in my entire life. The stalks had to be at least 12-15 feet tall. I jumped out of the car so I could get a picture next to it. It's crazy... It's twice my height! I don't know if it is just really fertile ground or if it is a different kind of corn from what we have here in TX, but I thought it was interesting...

It's time to vacate again...

Vacate meaning vacation!!!

I leave in the morning for a week of relaxation and family fun up in the Appalachian mountains. New Hampshire to be specific.
...see my Aug. 15th 2006 entry to see a picture and be oh so jealous :)
I hope to come back relaxed and full of all types of new pictures to play with...

Till next time...

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!

Update...

Sorry it's been so long. I could always give you excuses like work has been crazy lately (which it has) and when I get home at night the last thing I think of is updating my blog (also true), but I won't give you these excuses....oops, I guess I already did.

But I know it's time for me to update when within one day I recieved two different emails telling me that I need to update. To the two of you (you know who you are), thanks for the prodding. Sometimes I need it. And seeing as how it's been almost two months since my last update, I definitely needed a little poke in the side.

So what's going on with me these days? Well, I finally got my passport! I paid for expedited services and was told it would take 2-4 weeks. I was getting a little worried after six weeks had passed. I had one day where I freaked out a little, thinking that it had been lost in the mail, but the next day it showed up at home. It's now official, I can now legally travel the world!

And speaking of traveling, I'm headed to Pennsylvania tomorrow. I'm taking a long weekend and heading north for an old friend's wedding. It should be lot's of fun. Not to mention I"m excited to get out of Texas for a brief period of time. Over the weekend the guys are headed to a cabin up in the Poconos. I've always heard of people vacationing in the Poconos, but I've never been there, nor do I know what to expect. But I'm looking forward to it...

More updates coming soon....

Fun with passport photos...

I applied for my passport today! I've been meaning to do it for years, but today I finally did it. Soon I will have the freedom to be a world traveler. We shot my photos at work the other day when we had some down time and I had a little fun with them today so I thought I'd share...

That's all.

Have a great day!

Take a swim...

The guys at Google have a pretty good sense of humor. I caught wind of this and I wanted to see if it was real or not...and sure enough, here it is...

If you go to Google and get directions from anywhere in the US to anywhere in Europe (my test trip was from Dallas to Scotland), Google will give you directions that seem pretty normal until you get to the ocean. That's where Google tells you to take a swim. It just struck me as funny. Maybe Google thinks we are out of shape and need our exercise. But really....3,462 miles? Last time I went swimming at the gym I was out of breath after about 6 laps. I guess I should start training now.

click here to see it with your own eyes

check out step 26

It reminds me of a time a couple of years ago when I was going to play at a camp with an old friend. When I talked to his wife, who was giving me directions, we were dumbfounded when the directions told me to drive through a river. Seriously. The actual directions were:
-turn into the campground
-don't take any turns off the main road
-go straight until you see the river
-drive into the river and take a right...
...really! That's what the directions were, and so that's what I did. I was a little nervous, but it worked.

My current weakness...

I can't help myself sometimes. I probably drive past 15 Starbucks on my way in to work every morning and at least twice a week I end up stopping to grab a drink. My drinks of choice currently are: Caramel Macchiato, Cinnamon Dolce Latte, or a Mocha Latte with a shot of vanilla. Something about a nice warm drink in my hand when I walk into work just tends to put me in a really laid back mood. Don't ask me why. Maybe a warm drink in my hand makes me think it's colder outside than it actually is and maybe that comes from my short stint of living in colder climates and I'm just trying to prolong the winter and spring. I'm not really ready for the crazy Texas summer. I don't know...

You never know...

You never know when your midget (or to be politically correct "little person") is going to be just a little too big...

..another thing I can gather from the info on this box is: The smaller the midget, the better the radio.

OK, so I've been doing a BUNCH of spring cleaning at the studio lately. I found this box in the mix and I couldn't pass up taking a shot of it and sharing it. It still makes me chuckle a little.

On a side note, I've been back from my Colorado trip for just a little over two weeks now and if the opportunity arose it's little head, I'd go back tomorrow. For some reason the itch to be in the mountains just never seems to go away.

Post vacation life clarity

Do you ever have one of those mornings where you have such clarity of thought that it makes you think "What would my life be like if I thought this clearly all day, everyday?" Well, that was my state of mind this morning. I don't know if it was the vacation that did it for me or if God just wanted to show me a little extra favor today, but I wish I could live life with that kind of clarity of thought.

I had a great time in Colorado this past week if you were wondering about my vacation...

Maybe you'll hear more later...