since my last post…

I spent 4 days in Elkhart, Indiana on a work trip.  Felt amazement at the vast expanse of corn fields along the interstate.  And partook of an almost live pig while there.

Went on a “stay-cation” in Pigeon Forge with Erin & Eli in early August for 4 days.

Took a 2 day golfing trip to Richmond, Kentucky with a great friend of mine who I had not seen in three years.

Saw Eli off to his first days of Kindergarten.  He’s doing rather well, I think.  Most days, his favorite part of the day is getting to choose what he wants to eat for lunch.  The choice is the key.  When I was growing up, they served what they served.  But he gets to choose between two main dishes, and can pick 3 of 5 side items.  Heaven for a 5 year old who loves eating.

Began shaving my head again.  I can’t help it.  It’s who I am.  I like it this way.

Saw our first ever sunflowers grow to be 6 – 12 feet tall.  Soon after, they got too top heavy for their own good and began to fall over.

Went tubing down the Pigeon River twice, once with 3 guys from small group, and once with Erin and our great friends Reid and Sarah.  I nearly broke my finger swinging from an old rickety rope swing on the side of the river.

Joined my first ever fantasy sports league of any kind.  And won my first matchup.

Celebrated my 5-year anniversary with Threds (today, in fact).  The longest I’ve ever been at one job in my life.

Saw my guys small group nearly double to at least 16 guys, maybe 18.  Sadly – and happily – we’ll soon be “reproducing” into two separate groups.

Heard the loudest singing from our community at Crossings that I’ve ever heard in my over-2 years of being there.  Tear jerking.

Rearranged my office at work.  Come visit me sometime.  You can see.

Spent 3 days in Charlotte, NC at the annual Salsarita’s franchisee convention.

Went camping for 2 1/2 days in Cades Cove with my good friend Chris.  My first time camping in about 10 years.  We saw 4 deer walking through the campground, saw 3 bears while driving the Cades Cove loop, did a 5 mile round trip hike to Abrams Falls, ate 4 fire roasted hot dogs each, and went through an entire bag of marshmallows.

Helped a new friend from small group move to a new apartment just days after he had a terrible motorcycle accident, broke his pelvis, busted his hip, and tore his leg up pretty good.  I’m so grateful to be in community with guys who are ready and willing to help.

Was thrilled to see my wife, Erin, be awarded the Golden BVD award at the last Crossings Leadership Community.  Congrats, honey!

Have thought often about the future direction of this blog.  I’ll get into that more at another time.  For now, please enjoy a sampling of pictures that help encapsulate some things I’ve just mentioned in this post.

limerick

I’ll tonight work from six until eight
With other brains to speculate
Efficiency plans
That down to a man
Will give us more work and less breaks

This weekend we’ll drive to the state
Where bluegrass and coal mining mate
To hang with the crew
Both Edelen and Booe
You need me to elucidate?

Last night watched a movie so wack
With Keanu the thespian hack
Where he Stood Still the Earth
Not a crap was it worth
Can I please have my two hours back?

In the comments I’d sure love to see
A writer who eloquently
Can write such a prose
As me, I suppose
On my part it’s wishful thinking. =)

Good Stuff

A few good things to share…

About 3 weeks ago we visited Athens, TN for their annual Moo-Fest – a day long downtown festival sponsored by Mayfield Dairy Farms.  Food, games, animals, lots of cheese and milk, and a tour of the Mayfield plant are all part of the festivities.  It was pretty fun.  We had a hard time pulling Eli away from the hoola hoop area:

And, best of all, I snapped a picture of a redneck guy with plumber pants getting a $10.00 chair massage from a street vendor!

Two Sundays ago, I was honored to be able to speak for about 15 minutes during the two Sunday services at Crossings, as part of a mini-series called MMIQ – My Most Important Question.  We did this last summer as well, with 6 different people sharing over two weeks.  Same this year.  It was very tough, very emotional, but I’m so thankful to have been able to share openly with our community.  It was really the first time ever since my legal problems started 9 years ago that I’ve given any sort of public testimony of any kind.  I didn’t go into a lot of detail about the things I did, but really talked more about how the Crossings community has truly changed my life and made it possible for me & my family to experience true community, when I had thought that might not ever be possible again.

I want to say thank you to so many people who hugged me, cried with me, and encouraged me after each service (many of you are readers, so thank you, thank you, thank you).  I was a little scared to share some of my experiences, and was not sure what to expect in response.  I couldn’t have been more blessed, encouraged, and loved.  It simply reinforced what this community is all about.  Amazing.

Finally, this past weekend, I had the opportunity to see my college roomate for the first time in over 8 years!  Andy (I’ve called him Buddha since our freshman year – long story – but that’s what all our friends called him all through college), his wife Jen, and their oldest daughter Oliviah were in Florida on vacation this past week, and were driving back through Knoxville on their way back home.  They stopped by Saturday afternoon, spent the night with us, came to Crossings, and headed back out Sunday afternoon for a drive home to Indiana.  It was so incredible to see my friend again after so long.  We were roomates for 3 1/2 of our 4 years of school and recounted so many great times, stories, and pictures.  He’s now the father of 4 great kids, and is a riot squad leader at a maximum security prison in Indiana.  I’m thrilled they are doing well, and can’t wait til we get together again….hopefully sooner than 8 years from now.

family photos

Took an official family photo last night for the first time in about 18 months.  A heartfelt thanks to my good friend Sabrina, of Photography By Sabrina, for doing these for us.  Sabrina photographs all the products that we put on our retail websites at Threds, and stays very busy with weddings, anniversary shoots, family shots, baby shots, etc.  She was so great with Eli, who normally wants to make only goofy or mean faces when taking pictures.

creeper trail

Two weekends ago, for our anniversary, Erin & I spent a 2 day weekend in Abingdon & Damascus, Virginia for a visit to the Creeper Trail.  The Creeper is a 34 mile hiking / biking trails that runs through some amazing nature scenery and is VERY easy to ride.  The most popular section (which we did) is a 17 mile ride that runs down a mountain side.  You literally coast about 3/4 of the the time, and only have to pedal for about 3-4 miles or so.  And the majority of the trail runs alongside an awesome, rushing, mountain creek with great places to stop, small waterfall drops, and several bridges that take you over the creek.  Really spectacular to see.

We drove up on a Saturday morning, rented bikes and a shuttle ride from a local service, did the trail, stayed at a local Inn, chilled, ate dinner out, and drove back to Knoxville on Sunday.  Can’t say I’d necessarily recommend staying the night there to anyone, since there’s little to do or see other than the trail.  It’s probably much easier to make a day trip out of it.

Is he really 5?

This Thursday, Eli will turn 5 years old.  As awesome as birthdays are for kids, this one is actually a tough one for me.

My boy isn’t really a toddler anymore.  Soon he’ll be headed to kindergarten.  Just this weekend he told Erin, “Mommy, I really want to kiss a girl on the lips.”

I guess part of what scares me is that he’s now old enough that I’m actually having trouble remembering him as a baby.  Those moments that you have as a parent when your child is very young, those moments that, while they are happening, are priceless … those moments are now fuzzy memories for me.  Crawling, waddling, falling asleep on dad’s chest on the couch, humming in the baby swing.

Now he’s a “big kid”.  He rearranges his room, can take showers pretty much on his own, doesn’t want help getting things in the kitchen, asks to stay up later and later, and is excited about becoming a “school ager” in his preschool.

Regretfully, Erin and I did not have a digital camera until Spring 2006, so the first couple of years were captured on low quality, printed pictures.  But, from what I have available….here’s a little slice of my son growing up.  (Clockwise, starting at top left – June 2006, April 2007, May 2008, and March 2009)

what a difference 11 years makes

My siblings and I – Christmas 1997:

 

My siblings and I – Christmas 2008:

More Pictures & A Resolution Thought

The two awesomest people in my life:

We recently visited Cumberland Falls, off I-75 exit 25 just north of the border in Kentucky.  Notice the beautiful falls in the background….and, if you can see it, the large collection of trash beside the bolder in the middle of the photo. 

Also (with no picture needed), I’m not making resolutions this year.  I know the things I need to do to be a better person, to feel better, to be healthier, and to live out the calling of God in my life.  Writing them down specifically and then somehow not fulfilling them is a bummer, and one “goal” of mine this year is to simply be a more optimistic, positive person.  Let me just say this…I’m praying about (not for) redirection in my life.  I’m experiencing a great struggle regarding the unfulfilled calling of God in my life, and I’m just not sure what to do with it.  I’d love to just turn my face to the wind, leave everything to His providence, and spend my days serving and ministering to people in need.  But I’m also quite logical and rational (whether these are Godly traits, I have yet to discover).  I realize that I have a sort-of secure job, a paycheck, debts, a family to care for, and (still) some legal limitations on what I’m able to do.  That leaves me where I’ve been many times before….just wishing God would miraculously make everything happen the way I think it needs to for debts to be paid, histories to be wiped clean, and doors to be opened.  I have a great desire to serve the community, but do little to seek out opportunities to do so, almost scared of what God may do to my heart, and what He may ask of me.

So maybe my real resolution for this year is to learn how to open myself up completely to God’s will for my life, and trust where it leads.  Maybe it keeps me right where I’m sitting.  Maybe it turns my world upside down.  Maybe it does both…or neither.  Either way, if 2009 can include more of Him and less of me, it will ultimately be a great year.

Year in Review

Simply put, here are some things that either happened or didn’t happen in 2008:

Eli turned 4, has a girlfriend in daycare, and played about 1/4th of an Upward Bound soccer season.  I’m getting the early feeling that team sports will not be his forte.  Tennis maybe?

I think I watched Conan O’Brien about 3 times in 2008.  That is truly heartbreaking.  This is due to the fact that I actually stayed up late enough to watch Conan O’Brien about 3 times in 2008.

Received the Crossings BVD award in May and proceeded on a month-long BVD Tour.  It was fun.  You can check it out by clicking here.

My youngest sister was lucky to come out alive after a terrible car wreck in the spring.  I spent probably my most wretching 4 hours of the year that day waiting to get updates back from my other sister.

I took 3 vacation days from work this year.  That’s it.  Three. 

Played enough darts and tennis in 2008 to nearly have to start icing my elbow.  In 2009, I’m contemplating showing up to darts/tennis with an Allen Iverson elbow sleeve.  I’ll be ready to kick-some-ass then.  Although I will not be inclined to practice.

Made 4 trips to visit my family in Kentucky this year, including a farewell trip to the family farm.  It’s been a blessing to be able to do this, and to see our newphew Grayson grow up. 

I’m pretty sure I made it through the year without attempting to eat a can of Chef Boyardee anything.  This was a goal of mine.  For some insane reason, about once each year, I get the idea that I actually like Chef Boyardee.  Then I buy a can of ravioli, cheesy mac, or spaghetti and meatballs.  Then I eat it.  Then I nearly puke, and vow (once again) to never eat Chef Boyardee again.

Turned 32 in April.  According to average life expectancy, I’m just on the cuff of middle-age.  So, naturally, I’ve started spiking my hair, drinking more mixed drinks, and driving my Hyundai a little faster, with popular music blasting from the speakers.  And taking more Ibuprofen.

I did not vote this year.  I have never voted, so this is not a shock.  The only time I ever really wanted to vote was in 1996.  I headed to the courthouse in Grayson, Kentucky, home of Kentucky Christian University, stood in line, waiting to vote for Bill Clinton, only to find out that I had to be registered not only in the state, but in the county I was voting in.  As a result, I’ve never voted.

Very good year with Crossings.  Small group has been great, serving each week on the productions team is a blast, and we’re now 11 days away from our first service in Market Square.  Very exciting. 

I spent roughly 8 weeks as a vegetarian back in March/April.  Carbs were my friend.  Who knew a person could actually order french fries and apple pies at McDonald’s 8 times in a row?

In a nutshell, here were some of my favorite things from this year (regardless of whether they actually happened or originated from this year):  The Dark Knight, Blue Like Jazz, Obama-mania, online recipe sites, jeans and a t-shirt, Dexter, sweet tea, SNL digital shorts, Weeds, fuel economy, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, Splash Country, the fall foliage, the Wimbledon final, Tiger Woods, Hillsong United, Cracker Barrell, Mellow Yellow, the blog nation, ESPN radio, Erin, Eli, and Jesus.

catholic roots

We’re in Kentucky for a 4 day holiday visit with my family.  In case you didn’t know, I grew up in a small farming town called Springfield.  Springfield is mostly a Catholic town, religiously speaking.  My dad and his entire family (parents and 7 siblings) are all Catholic.  The farm they grew up at is at the end of a 1 mile long driveway.  Across the road from the driveway is St. Rose Catholic Church, which not too long ago celebrated it’s 200 year anniversary.  Seriously.  The original section of the church, still there, in the same spot, was constructed over 200 years ago.  The rest of the building is over 100 years old, and is as ornate and beautiful as any Catholic or Orthodox church you’ve ever seen, either in person or in the movies.

Huge arching columns, amazing and intricate statues, 14 hand carved stations of the cross wall mountings, extremely high ceiling.  As a kid, up until I was about 11 or 12, I used to attend St. Rose fairly regularly with my dad.  I never went to “religion” classes, as I remember my Catholic friends calling them, I was never confirmed, did not participate in a “first communion” … side note, from what I remember, taking first communion for a catholic kid was much like a barmitsfah for a Jewish child – a big event, all the family invited, a party afterward with gifts, food, money.  It made me wish I had a first communion.  Am I too old for one now?  I could sure use a few hundred dollars.

Anyways … it’s probably been 15-18 years since I last attended a Catholic Mass, and roughly 10 years since I was inside the church.  On our recent visits to Kentucky, I’ve wanted to go, but it just hasn’t worked out.  Last evening, I finally had the chance to go back to Mass.  Erin actually got to go with me, which was her first time ever attending a Catholic church Mass.  It was just as I remember it.  Short, ritualistic, repetitive, sort of monotone.  But I also enjoyed it in a way that I never did as a child.  I still don’t know the routine (lots of standing, sitting, responsive prayers, kneeling, and stuff that would take a while to learn), but as I’ve grown in my faith and my religious worldview, I can finally appreciate the beauty of Mass.

It was neat to see people there 15 minutes early, kneeling in their pews, praying silently.  It was warming to watch an old priest, who’s been there for years and is highly beloved by his flock, recite the decades old prayers and service liturgy.  For some of the responsive parts, I was able to follow along in a book and participate more freely.  And…even though I’ve probably attended at least 25 – 30 Masses in my lifetime, last night, for the first time ever, I actually participated in the Catholic eucharist.

My dad was there with us.  He normally goes each Sunday morning at 8:00 am, but he attended with Erin and I on Saturday night, which was cool.  I didn’t discuss with him before hand that I was going to partake in the eucharist, and I”m not sure what he thought about it.  I have a feeling it caught him off guard a little when I rose to enter the center aisle, to walk down toward the priest, and have him hand me “the body of Christ” (and let me add it was quite possbily the most cardboard tasting communion wafer/cracker I’ve ever eaten).  15 years ago, I simply would not have considered doing so, since I wasn’t Catholic.  But now I understand that the partaking of communion is not a religious right, only to be enjoyed by those who’ve followed the proper rules and taken the appropriate membership classes.  Rather, it’s the privelage of all believers, to be humbly partaken by any and all who follow Christ Jesus, regardless or race, location, denomination, or method of baptism.

It’s taken me a long time to view Catholicism not as a wrong religion, but simply as a different one.  There are and probably always will be things I don’t really agree with (confession to a priest, transubstantiation, offering prayers to the virgin Mary as one who speaks to Jesus on our behalf, the dominion of the Pope).  But I also understand that Catholics believe in God the Creator of the world and Father of all mankind.  They believe in Christ Jesus, born of Mary, who died for our sins and rose again from the grave.  And they believe in righteous living and the hope of eternal life through faith in Christ.

These are the things that make us brothers and sisters.  These are the beliefs that ultimately unite all Christ followers.  And this is why I’m finally at peace with my Catholic roots.

Christmas Thoughts & Memories

(in no particular order, fashion, or importance)…

I’m generally not a fan of Christmas cards.  When I was in college, most students were big into doing Christmas cards for all the other students they were friends with.  One day, after getting about 30 cards in my mail box, all with a generic “Merry Christmas, From (Name)” inside, I made a decision.  No longer would I send out Christmas cards – or any other cards for that matter – if I couldn’t take time to make them important, meaningful, and/or at least write a personalized note to the person receiving it.  I’ve pretty much stuck to that.  Last year I created a little “Edelen Family 2007″ booklet with pictures and year in review updates of our family, and sent those out at Christmas.  This year, we’ve sent out no cards at all.  Just know this…if you send us a card, and all it says inside is “Love the Jones Family” or “From the Martin’s” or “Merry Christmas…The Smith’s”, that card is appreciated, but it gets thrown away immediately.  Bah, humbug.

I remember one Christmas getting several Nintendo games from Santa.  Being the oldest of four, Santa came to our house for a LONG time.  In fact, since I’m 15 years older than my youngest sibling, Santa still came to our home when I was in college!  Anyways, this one Christmas I got up at approximately 4:30am to go see what was in the living room.  One of the Nintendo games was called “1946″.  It was based on an old World War II bomber plane, and you flew the plane and shot things and completed missions.  By the time my parents got up around 7:30am, I had already beaten the game. 

One Christmas I got a Honda CR-50R dirt bike.  Dirt bikes were the craze in my area, all my friends were getting them.  Problem is, when you break your arm 3 different times in a 2 year span (from 4th – 6th grade), it tends to make you scared of ever being injured again.  I loved that dirt bike….all 6 months and maybe 8 times that I rode it.  I just didn’t have the backbone for it.  And I always felt bad because I remember how much time my dad spent with me looking for the perfect dirt bike.  Sorry dad.  I hope the hammer I’m getting you this year makes up for it.

I LOVE the Christmas spirit.  I’m just not crazy about the way it’s fleshed out.  Credit cards, malls, re-gifting,  overloaded dumpsters filled with wrapping paper, SALES, SALES, SALES, eating tons of food and more dessert than you should have in a year, and feeling guilty when I don’t particpate in the $5.00 gift exchanges at work.  The regular gift exchange, the redneck gift exchange, the white elephant gift exchange.  Before you know it, you’ve spent a car payment or two just so you don’t feel weird being the person who doesn’t buy into buying gifts.  Bah.

I’ve lived in Tennessee for 10 1/2 years.  In that time, there have been approximately 6 occasions where it has snowed enough to either sled on, make snow angels, or honestly keep you from going to work.  Therefore, the odds of a White Christmas in Knoxville compute to 1750:1.  But I’m still dreaming.

Has there ever been a better holiday tv special than Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer?  It first aired in 1964, and has been telecast every year since.  I’ve watched it every year for as long as I can remember, and always look forward to it again and again.  I have noticed though, as I’ve gotten older, that the Abominable Snowman seemed a LOT scarier when I was younger than he does now.  (Wikipedia just taught me that Rudolph, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and The Grinch were ALL first aired in the 1960’s.  Amazing.)

Drank egg-nog about 2 weeks ago.  I’m not sure if I’d ever had it before.  It was delicious.

We’re heading to Kentucky on Friday and will stay until Tuesday.  This will be our longest trip to Kentucky to see my family since Eli was born.

I have mixed opinions about using X-Mas as an abbreviation for Christmas.  I do it sometimes, I just sometimes feel weird about it, even though I’m fully aware that X is an abbreviation for the Greek word for Christ.  If anyone ever says it’s wrong to use X-Mas because “You’re taking Christ out of Christmas”, just tell them that God despises lying and being judgemental.  Oh yeah, and Merry Christmas.

Watch Us Grow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edelen Family – Fall 2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Edelen Family – Fall 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edelen Family – Fall 2008 – The sun/shade got us pretty good on this one, so we’ll probably take another one sometime this month.

Farm Pics

Okay, I figured it out. WordPress does not support Shockwave embed files. Some kind of security thing. Which means I can’t post video from NBC.com and I can’t post slideshows from Picture Trail, Flickr, Picasa, etc. I guess it’s a burden I’ll have to live with. And I’ll just have to keep asking you to actually click on a link to see these types of things.

So, for a brief look at some Edelen Family Farm pics from this past weekend….

 

CLICK HERE FOR EDELEN FAMILY FARM PICS

The Edelen Family Farm

Tomorrow after work, Erin/Eli and I will be heading to Kentucky.  It’s a pretty special, exciting, and sad weekend.  On Saturday, the Edelen family will be having a get together at my grandparents farm for the very last time.  It’s been about 15 years since we gathered there together, which makes it even more special. 

My grandparents – my dad’s parents - bought a 270 acre farm in Springfield, Ky sometime back in 1955, when my dad was just a baby.  My dad is the 4th of 8 kids – 3 girls, 4 boys – who all pretty much spent their entire lives growing up on, and working on this farm.  I’ve taken a Google satellite image – it’s as close as I could zoom in before the image was lost – and cirlced the plot of land that makes up this farm.  See the letter “A” designating a road?  That’s Edelen Lane….the 1 mile long driveway that leads to and dead ends at the farm.  Across the road from Edelen Lane is a very very old Catholic chuch that my dad has attended his whole life.  He went to school there as a child.  So when my dad talks about getting up at 5am, milking the cows, and then walking a mile to school up and down hills in the cold, the snow, and the rain….well, he actually means it. 

Most of my greatest childhood memories are from this farm.  I have two cousins, Todd & Matt, who are pretty much the same age as me.  Every year at family get togethers for Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, we would make this 270 acre yard into our personal playhouse.  4 barns, 4 ponds, an awesome creek that dissects and borders the outside of the farm, open fields, forested area, hay bail forts, jumping into corn bins, playing basketball in the upper level of one barn, shooting bb guns, swinging from ropes, skipping rocks, finding old animal bones and using them as swords, chasing after pigs, you name it.  If there is any fun to be had on a farm, we had it. 

Back around 1992 or 1993, after all the 8 children had finally grown up, left home, and started lives of their own, my grandparents decided to build a home closer to town, to semi-retire in.  The farmhouse was getting old, they had NEVER had air conditioning and relied only on wood burning stove heat, had no washer/dryer, and utilized a pretty old plumbing system.  (yes, there is an outhouse, and i’ve used it many times)  They didn’t sell the farm, because my papaw is a lifetime farmer and needed to continue to do the work, but it ended the era of family get togethers at the farm.  I actually have felt sorry for my younger siblings since then, knowing they did not really have the same opportunity as I did to enjoy our get togethers out there, to know the farm, to explore it, to love it.

My papaw – now 83 if I remember correctly - had continued to run the farm up until this year.  Mowing, hay, raising cattle, all of it.  I know my dad and his brothers have helped him out with stuff here and there as needed, but for the last 20 years it’s pretty much been papaw’s farm to work.  In the last 8 years, I’ve only visited the farm on 2 occassions, both pretty short visits, just to see how things looked. 

Then, just a couple of months ago, our entire family received an email from my dad.  The first line of the email simply read, “The farm has been sold.”  I think I speak for most of the family when I say it was like a punch in the gut.  For as long I can remember, the farm has been bordered on one side by a local rock quarry.  Apparently, they’ve been interested in buying the land for years, and finally made an offer that was too good to pass up.  Combined with the my grandparents age, and the future difficulty of selling the land had they passed away and left it to 8 children, it was definitely the right thing to do. 

So, in two days, the entire Edelen family – roughly 45-50 of us including the grandparents, 8 children, all the grandchildren, the grandchildren’s wives or husbands, and the great grandchildren – will gather together at the farm one last time.  The weather is forecasted to be sunny and in the lower 60’s, which is perfect.  I am INCREDIBLY excited at the opportunity to take Eli there for his first and only time, to explore the farm with him, go in the barns, ride the tractor, walk through the fields, and stroll along the creek.  I’m sure I’ll enjoy it more than he will, but that’s okay. 

I feel sad and happy at the same time.  I know on Saturday I’ll do a lot of smiling, and probably even shed a few tears.  It feels sort of like I’m losing a friend.  But the memories will live on…memories of popsicles, outhouses, good cooking, a warm stove, lots of family, endless adventures, and knowing that a family worked hard just to have food to eat and a place to sleep.  And these memories will always be good.

A Few Updates

I’ve played more tennis in the last 2 months than I had in the last 10 years.  It’s been great.  Although playing until after midnight on Tuesday nights with my pals, getting to bed around 1:00am, and then getting up for work the next day has been a little rough on this old body.

I’ve picked more berries in the last two weeks than I have in my entire life previously.  Picked some fresh blackberries at Daniel & Mandy’s about a week ago, and just ate them right off the bush.  Then, Eli & I went to The Fruit & Berry Patch in Halls a few nights ago and picked some blackberries and peaches and took them home.  Then a couple of nights later, Erin, Eli, & I went back out to the Patch and picked blueberries, grapes, blackberries, and apples.  And we bought a thing of honey made in Nebraska that is probably the most delicious honey I’ve ever tasted.  Then we went home and I took the blackberries and blueberries and made a homemade cobbler all by myself.  Never did this before.  It was really really good….and VERY sweet….went just a little overboard on the sugar.  Although I did take the cobbler to work the next day and it disappeared quickly. 

Work is hectic.  One guy in my department was let go about 4 weeks ago, and another girl resigned and went off to greener pastures.  So I’m taking on some full time web accounts again, on top of trying to do the things I’ve been doing the last several months….technical training and development, product development, various projects, etc.  Stressful.

I LOVE the show So You Think You Can Dance.  Love it.  I’ve watched previous seasons as well, although I’ve never committed to watching it every single week like I do with Lost, The Office, or Prison Break.  But the dancing is so incredible.  This isn’t celebrities “trying” to dance.  It’s 18-28 year olds who are actual dancers trying to make it and get their big break.  I love it.  The choreography each week is so stinking creative and amazing.  And I don’t think I can dance.  I know I can.

Erin has recently gotten pretty good at throwing Frisbee.  I’m not sure how or why, because every time she’d tried in the past, it went pretty poorly and she’d get frustrated and quit.  But something clicked.  And although there’s still room for improvement, we’ve actually gotten out and thrown several times over the last few weeks.  Awesome.

Because of season passes that were given to us as a gift, we’ve been able to go to Dollywood & Splash Country 4 times each so far this year.  Yee Haw!

This time next year, we’ll be getting Eli ready for Kindergarten.  Buying a backpack, shopping for school clothes, getting pencils and paper, finding a cool lunchbox.  How is this possible?  5 years ago this little person did not exist.  Now he talks back, climbs on the counter to secretly find snacks, dances all around the living room breakdance style, wears his water mask/goggles in bed while watching cartoons, prefers to get dressed all by himself, picks bugs up off the ground, sings on tune, loves to eat mushrooms, has a sort-of preschool girlfriend who is so clingy to him that he says “why does she be my friend ALL the time??”, and laughs just as wonderfully as ever.

The Bachelorette – Season 4

Yep, I did just stay up until 11:00pm last night watching the 3 HOUR finale of The Bachelorette – Season 4, in which Deanna and Jesse ended up together.  Wow, what a marathon.  Truth is, I’d seen maybe 1 episode this season.  But this weekend, we were in Kentucky visiting my family, and my sister Kari Jo had the last 2 or 3 weeks of it recorded on their DVR, and on a lazy Saturday afternoon we all watched it together.  Turns out Deanna Pappas (the Bachelorette) is originally from Campbellsville, Ky, where my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew live. 

And I’ve seen a few of The Bachelor series in the past.  And none of the relationships work out.  In fact, Ryan and Trista from 2003 are the only “successful” couple out of 16 different Bachelor and Bachelorette series to date.  Not the greatest success rate.  A 6% success rate, in fact.  I think the rate of relationships in which the woman turns lesbian, leaves the guy, and hooks up with another women is even higher than 6%.  I mean, that’s dismal.  Which leaves me wondering how the show continues to be successful?  That’s like having a reality TV show about drug addiction recovery, in which addicts successfully kick-the-habit on tv, and then 15 out of every 16 contestants ends up back on drugs within 3 months of the show.  Not good.

For future reference, here’s how you know who’s going to get picked on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette.  Whoever the show makes you THINK is going to get picked…is not going to get picked.  They do it all the time.  It’s on purpose.  The couples spend hours and hours together on dates, and you get to see 15 minutes of it.  The producers plan this all out, editing things so that you think one guy is toast (In this case – Jesse), and another guys is a shoe-in (Jason), and then it goes down completely the opposite way.  In fact, they make this slant so obvious, that it’s now almost predictable.  The family loved Jason.  He was hot, stable, family oriented, committed, open, honest, and the “chemistry” always seemed to be there.  Then there was Jesse…not as committed, nervous, not really ready to settle down as quickly, family seemed more unsure of him….and, of course, she picks Jesse.  It’s like watching WWE wrestling, except with lots of kissing and walks on the beach, personal helicopter rides, and other over-romanticized happenings. 

And, guys, be serious.  Who really wants to be lumped together with 25 other dudes to “compete” for a girl you don’t even know….even if she is attractive?  Especially when you know she’s making out with at least half the other guys on the show?  No way this happens naturally.  There has to be some coaching and planning behind the scenes to make this play out well on tv. 

Anyway, I’m rambling.  It’s probably because of my lack of sleep.  Which is mostly due to the 3 HOUR Bachelorette marathon finale.  Which, for some unexplainable reason, I watched.  Thanks Kari Jo.  I’m blaming it all on you.

Kaly is (mostly) okay. Considering the car rolled over and was totaled, she came out relatively unscathed. Some scratches and bruises, a nice bump on the head, and general neck and back soreness…but it looks like nothing broken or damaged. Wow, thank you God.

In typical teen fashion, I hear she was pretty worried about how this might affect her attending prom. =) Wasn’t it awesome being young? Way long ago? Remember?

I just found out that my youngest sister was in a car accident this morning. My family (in Kentucky) are all on the way to the hospital now. I’m told the car was totaled and my sister was alert and responsive, but no one yet knows the extent of her injuries. I’m nervously awaiting an update. If you’re a regular reader, would you mind saying a short prayer for her and my family?

national sibling day

I just discovered that today is officially “National Sibling Day.” Who knew? Being the oldest, wisest, and least attractive of 4 children, I should know these things.

In honor of National Sibling Day, allow me to honor my siblings.

Kari Jo (2nd from the left) is 27 years old, is married to Rodney, and has a wonderful 6 month old son, Grayson. She has a master’s degree in education and is a middle school teacher in Kentucky. She’s a wonderful singer, is very thoughtful and caring, has an infectious cackling laugh if you get her REALLY cracked up, enjoys swimming in their backyard pool, went through a mean-attitude-hellacious-demon stage of life when she was around 8-11 years old that is hard for me to even imagine now, and is really good at picking on our brother, Brandon.

Speaking of Brandon, far left. He’s 19 years old and is currently a freshman at the University of Kentucky. He’s witty, a little moody, can be quite thoughtful when he wants, and spent much of his childhood playing Ninentdo and Play Station. He’s pretty good at all sports, but is currently the most adept at tennis. I don’t think he has a major right now, but has expressed interest in the FBI, CIA, CSI sort of field. I have incredible memories of his childhood up until he was age 6, which is when I headed off to college. We shared a room for those 6 years, wrestled a lot, played sports in the yard, and had a lot of fun times.

Kaly, 2nd from right, is our youngest sibling. She’s 16 years old. She’s very smart, has an amazing voice, is also quite witty, and has a pretty typical teenage female temperment….mean, nice, sort of nice, mean again, not talking, talking all the time, laughing, growling…you get my point. =) She’s really funny though, and has her heart set on a career in dermatology. She’s destined to invent the next generation of Pro-Active, which will actually make people 2 levels better looking just by applying. Are you a 6? With Kaly’s future creame, you’ll be an 8.

Unfortunatey, because Brandon was 6 and Kaly only 3 when I left for college, I’ve missed much of their growing up. That has really bothered me more as time has passed. Now that they are older, I just now feel like I’m getting to know them and be friends with them again, which is cool. Kari and I definitely had some rough years as siblings when we were younger, but for the last 10 years or so we’ve been much closer, spent weeks at church camp together, developed a better friendship as adults, things like that.

Being the oldest of 4 has definitely meant more to me as an adult than as a child. I think more about my siblings, wonder how they’re doing, hope they’re succeeding in whatever they are doing, worry about them, and look forward to many years of shared time and fun together. Kari, Brandon, and Kaly….I love you all very much, and am proud to be your big brother.

the many faces of eli

Our son turned 4 years old this week.

He’s a great kid. Funny, smart, moody, caring, curious, engaging.

And a total goof ball.

some brief updates on life, music, and vegetarianism

My son turns 4 in about 3 weeks. Amazing. That means it’s been nearly 5 years since I lived a single day without thinking about our child. Some thoughts are wonderful. Some are maddening. Some are frightening. But for roughly 1700 days now, I’ve lived life as a father, rather than just as some guy.

I changed the strings on my guitar last night for the first time in roughly 5 years. Actually, back before we were even married, Erin had bought me a package of Elixir guitar strings for my birthday. Right around the time I had stopped playing. I’ve kept the strings ever since, and finally had occasion to use them last night. It was tough….I never ever have liked changing out guitar strings….but it still felt good.

Because of the example, testimony, and recommendation of our friends Emily & Chase, we bought a rice cooker this weekend. Black and Decker. 14 cups (cooked) capacity with a steamer basket so you can steam veggies while the rice cooks. Non stick removable cooking bowl. Already used it, and I’m very excited. Finally, a kitchen gadget I really feel like I’m going to get real value out of. Unlike the waffle maker, toaster oven, sandwich press, and hard-to-use electric can opener that have graced our kitchen at some point.

12 days with no meat. But plenty of rice, broccoli, zucchini, squash, ramen noodles, pasta, baked potatoes (dan quayle spelling), veggie pizza, a veggie burrito from Salsarita’s, the veggie plate at Shono’s in the City, homemade whatever-I-can-think-to-put-on-it salads, tofu (marinated in heinz 57 sauce this weekend), peppers, and Mello Yellow….a staple vegetarian drink.

MY guitar hero

We went to Kentucky this weekend to visit my family. We’re trying to visit every 2-3 months so we can see our nephew/cousin, Grayson, grow up. Here’s a picture of Eli and Grayson:

But, there was another highlight to this trip. We do not own a video game system at our home. The last one I owned was an original Playstation that I ended up selling about 6 years ago. I hope to hold off as long as humanly possible before Eli gets a game system for himself.

My sister and brother-in-law, however, own a Nintendo Wii. And while we were there this weekend, Rodney went out and bought Guitar Hero III. We all had fun playing and laughing and making fun of each other’s lack of skillzz. But when it was Eli’s turn to take it on, holy cow. He watched others play and did a great job of being patient and waiting his turn. When the time came, his aunt Kari Jo took care of the “strumming”, while Eli’s job was to hit the colored buttons.

After going through a “slow” practice session, we let him go through a practice song at the full speed. I believe the song was “Slow Ride.” And my little homeboy hit 25% of the notes! And Kari will probably admit that some of the misses were from her strumming, not his misses, so he may very well have gotten over 30% of the notes at full speed.

But not only that, he was TOTALLY into it. He was screaming out the colors when he changed them, jumping up and down, frantically getting to the next color button in time, grunting. It was freaking hilarious. And he never let down either, even though the songs on that game last forever. It was a blast. I certainly hope he’s got some actual music skills as he gets older.

what makes mornings worth it

Every weekday morning, around 7:20am, I drop Eli off at his daycare center. Sometimes he grumpily walks in, won’t hug me, and just slumps back to his friends, complaining about something that has made him angry.

Other days, we go in, take off his jacket, and he takes off, sprinting to his friends and leaving me standing there. No hug. No goodbye.

Still other days, we’ll check his cubby, go see what they have for breakfast, exchange hugs and kisses, and then when I start to leave he’ll holler at me and run to give me another hug before I go.

Some days – not nearly as much anymore – he’ll cry when I leave and plead for me not to go. Then a teacher will have to hold him while I exit.

This morning, we went inside…took off his coat…switched his shoes back over to the correct feet after he had put them on by himself at home…went over to the breakfast table to pick which cereal he would like to eat…he took off one of his shoes (that we had just fixed) in order to show Ms. Rachel his Incredibles socks…then we hugged.

Then I said, “You have a good day, okay?”
And he replied, “Okay, dad, you have a good work.”

And that makes mornings worth it.

family pictures

About 2 weeks ago, we took our first “professional” family pics in over 2 years. Because I’ve developed a man-crush on this new picture show site I recently stumbled across, I thought I’d share some. And is it obvious that I now weigh about 190 lbs? Pretty sad.

we’ve had a great year…

The Colonel

This is me…

 

 

This is Eli…

 

This is me & Eli with Colonel Sanders…at the very first Kentucky Fried Chicken ever opened, in Corbin, Kentucky. I love that Colonel Sanders. He actually makes me look tan. And he cooks up a darn good drumstick. Eli loves the Colonel’s mac-n-cheese. They just don’t make mac-n-cheese anymore like the Colonel does. Hmm, hmm. Finger lickin’ good.

bounce house mania

Eli & I have a new found joy. The Bounce House. There are no less than 3 of them here in Knoxville. The one we go to has “open play” on Wednesday nights from 6:00 – 8:30pm and costs only $7.00 per child. It’s such a blast!! They have 3 of the standard “bounce houses” where you just go inside and just jump up and down. There’s an obstacle course just for kids. There’s an “adventure course” that he and I both go on, a 24-foot tall slide, basketball hoops, and they offer very inexpensive and healthy snacks.

After about 90 minutes at the Bounce House, we are totally exhausted. My joints hurt, my knees are burned, Eli is sweating like crazy and making multiple trips to the water fountain. It sort of causes me to realize how spoiled our son is when the things that he gets to do on almost a monthly basis (dollywood, bounce house, chuck e cheese, the zoo) are things that I may have gotten to do once every 1-2 years when I was growing up! Heck, the only time I ever remember seeing Bounce House type stuff was at yearly state fairs or carnivals. And then they were so crowded with kids you were lucky to make it out without an injury!

So we’ll continue bouncing each month. And I’ll continue mentally griping about how I didn’t get to do all these things as a kid. Then I’ll just make up for it all by doing it now. And then one day my son will make fun of me for griping about all the things I was deprived of as a child. Just like how my dad had to walk a mile to school and back every day, regardless of the weather (this is actually true), and that was after getting up at 5am to milk the cows, and how he never went ANYWHERE – vacation, ocean, amusement park, etc – until he was in his 20’s. And then 30 years from now Eli will gripe about how he never got to travel cross-country in 2 hours on a hovercraft when he was a kid, and how he actually had to brush his teeth and scrub his body with soap before the 24-hour-entire-body-clean chewable vitamin came out in 2019.

And I will laugh.

hooray for cousins

By my count I think I have 21 first cousins. Yeah, a lot. Big families on both my mom and dad’s sides. I know them all by name, but most of them I hardly know, simply because they are much younger than me. My cousins Todd & Matt (brothers) are very close to my age, and we used to have amazing adventures on our grandparents farm when we were growing up. Hay forts, tobacco stick sword fights, long wades through a long and windy creek, treating the barns as if they were abandoned castles. I have some great memories of those times.

My favorite cousin though – not to offend all the others – is Dianna. She’s 1 year older than me, and we’ve been great friends since we were about 3-4 years old. Coincidentally, the same age as our children – Elijah and Eliza – shown in the picture above. This past weekend, we went to Kingsport to visit them. It was the first time in 2 years that Eli and Eliza saw each other. They played with puzzles, a train set, at the park, and had a blast at Chuck E Cheese.

I have countless memories of the last 28 years of friendship with Dianna. Most of them make me laugh, but you probably wouldn’t find them that funny, since they’re sort of inside-joke kind of stuff. For instance, she was obsessed with Phil Collins back in the 80’s. When she sent me letters – we were pen pals for a LONG time – she used to return address them as “Dianna Collins”. This happened for years. We used to love to sing “Su-Su-Sudio…Oh, Oh”, a Phil Collins favorite. Then there’s the story about how much I love Manwich, and she and I laughing so hard in the car about it, I almost had to pull off to the side of the road. If she’s reading this right now, she’s laughing. The rest of you are saying, “I don’t get it.” I understand.

My first time ever going to a Piggly Wiggly was with Dianna. Her New Kids on the Block love affair could have rivaled any other girl’s in America. When it was time for me to go to college, I wanted to attend Milligan College in east Tennessee more than anything….mainly because Dianna was already there. Unfortunately, I simply could not afford it. We wrestled with our uncle Brian together. We served at weeks of church camp together. And I had the amazing pleasure of presiding over her wedding to Corey in 1998. It was the only wedding ceremony I ever conducted.

I hope Eli and Eliza have the same opportunity to grow up as friends. It would be very special to both of us. His other new cousin – Grayson – is only 2 weeks old. We’ll have the opportunity this weekend to see him for the first time. It’s highly unlikely Eli will ever have 21 cousins. I’m thinking it will be more like 6 or 7. But if he can enjoy even half the experiences that I did with my cousins, then 6 or 7 will be more than enough.

being a dad

There’s nothing like being a dad. For the longest time, I really thought I would never have children. I pretty much thought I’d live life as a bachelor, doing what I wanted, traveling, etc. And granted, Eli was not actually planned. But neither was I. And I’m glad I’m alive.

I never slept as little as I did his first 2 weeks of life. It was horrible. Erin was not able to do much after a c-section, and every night, every 2 hours, it was me and Eli on the rocking chair in the living room, me singing make believe songs in his ear, with lyrics like, “please go to sleep and daddy will spoil you forever”, and “God loves it when we sleep”.

It wasn’t too long before he started to be fun! Learning to talk, crawling and walking, realizing when he did things that were funny and then doing them again. Eating on his own, recognizing things like animals, cars, and balls. It was amazing. As a parent, you pretty much think you’re child is the only one in the world learning these things at such a young age. It’s so fulfilling.

It wasn’t too long before he started getting an attitude. Refusing to do things. Saying no all the time. Not eating something he didn’t like. Laying on the floor and pouting. Fake crying. Not wanting to go to bed. I’m not sure where “Terrible Two’s” came from, but it’s not entirely true. Our 3rd year has been the rough one. He’s too smart now. He knows how to manipulate. He understands emotions. He’s stubborn and sometimes refuses to give in, regardless of the punishment. He’s pretty much been poddy trained for about 6 months, but still gives in sometimes, even though he knows it’s yucky and will make mom and dad upset. We’ve had to start an “Eli Bank” just to start rewarding him again for successful pooping, because he was having a really rough stretch for about a month.

But I can’t wait to see him every morning. And each evening. Going to do things together is so much fun….Dollywood, hayrides at the corn maze, Happy meals, shopping at Walmart, the bounce house, playgrounds. He’s learning to ride a big wheel…his legs are finally long enough. He’s so much fun, he’s becoming more thoughtful and polite, he learns things every day that I often don’t even realize until he springs them on me days later. His vocabulary continues to grow. His bad days are pretty bad, but the good days are so so so so good.

Like I said, there’s nothing like being a dad. And I thank God everyday that I got to be one.

And, yes, I’m aware that his shirt is on backwards in the picture. But he likes to put it on “by himself.” Who am I to stop him?

uncle jason

Last night I became an uncle for the first time. My sister Kari Jo delivered a 7lb 12oz baby boy – Grayson Carter Booe – at about 8:58pm. For any of you Bible College people out there, both I, my sister, and her husband Rodney graduated from KCC…now KCU. KCU is located in Grayson, Ky, which is in Carter county. Hence, Grayson Carter. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures yet. I’m really excited to have the chance to be that “cool uncle” that we all remember from when we were kids. If you didn’t get to have a cool uncle growing up, I’m sorry, but you really missed out.

I’m 4 1/2 years older than my sister…I also have another younger sister and a younger brother. I have some pretty good memories of Kari Jo when she was about 2-3 years old. I can remember some pretty major fights we had when we were roughly 12 and 8 years old. I recall founding the first FCA at my high school when I was a senior, and thinking it was awesome that my sister and some of her 8th grade friends were members of it. I remember one night at church camp around 1995 or 1996 when she and I hugged and cried for a really long time. I remember the summer of 1998 when she made sort of a last minute decision to attend college at KCC, and thinking what a bummer it was that we wouldn’t be able to be students there at the same time, since I had just graduated. Her husband and I lived on the same floor of the same dorm for a while. I don’t think he thought much of me at that time. We’re better friends now. =)

I remember participating in her wedding, and not feeling weird about the fact that she was married before I was. I felt very proud not too many months ago when she completed her Master’s degree in education. She’s certainly proven to be an excellent daughter, wife, teacher, younger sister, older sister, and an awesome aunt to our son Eli. And she’ll certainly be an incredible mother.