Blizzard like conditions

Well I escaped Colorado right before the snow hit last week. I'm sure you heard all about the crazyness of the snow storm. Well I'm back now. And it looks like the Colorado weather is going to have another go at hitting me! Word on the street is we have another foot or so headed our way.

I'm also not feeling very well and Christmas conference is coming rapidly. Please pray that I will get well and be able to finish everything before conference.

Turkey Day Fun

This Thanksgiving was great. Had some of the family in to visit. My brother, two cousins and one friend. We cooked the requisite feast (the fridge is still full of left overs). I realized my family is a bunch of brainiacs when any free time people had they tried to solve my various sized Rubiks cubes. We also hiked some and visited other extended family in the area.

Then on Sunday we went snowboarding. It was my first time back on the mountain in 2 years. And my brothers first time ever. I had an absolute blast! While I dont consider myself to be very good at snowboarding I thoroughly enjoy it. Not sure Nick has the same opinion of it that i do. His day was much more miserable than mine - but then everyones first day boarding is a painful one.

I'll post some pictures when one of our Holiday photographers sends me pictures.

quiet on the home front

Ok so its been a few weeks since I posted on here. But there hasn't been a whole lot to post about.

Tomorrow is the last night of my Silver Smithing class. Hopefully there will be enough time to finish everything.

Thursday Nick comes to visit. Its been at least 10 months since I've seen my brother because he was in New Zealand. So needless to say I'm excited about his visit.

Maybe there will be some crazy brother antics to write about soon. One can only hope.

rocky mountain leadership conference

This week I have been up in Estes Park staying at the Stanley Hotel (featured in both dumb and dumber AND the shining). Its the Rocky Mountain Leadership Conference which Ive helped out with registration and various other things for.

Today we had Reggie McNeil speak. The guy was hilarious! i do believe he has a gift for using sarcasm to make his points hit home. He talked about Greatness in Leadership and the disciplines which lead to it.

'if you have to choose between being a good leader and a bad leader choose to be a good one cuz then you'll make a positive difference. but there is always a third option - to be a great leader. great leaders change the world.'

one of the points that hit home for me was 'grow in your strengths'. ive heard it a lot before that even though common sense says to work on your weaknesses you'll be able to make the biggest difference if you work on your strengths. well Reggie used an illistration that just seemed to make that idea totally fresh again. heres his illistration in my own paraphrase:

there was a baseball great in the 1940's Ted someone. he had a 400 batting average which as i understand it is a feat that is still unprecedented. one day his coach tells him to give some hitting pointers to a new rookie. so ted walks over and stands there watching as the rookie swings at 95mph fastballs.

finally ted offers this advice "watch the stiches". the rookie looks confused and asks him what stiches. ted replies 'on the baseball. if you watch how they spin you'll be able to tell where the ball is going to go after you hit it.'

the rookie was dumbfounded because as the baseball adage goes 'in the first 10 feet from the pitching mount the ball looks like a blur and for the other 50 feet its invisible'.

Ted had 20/10 vision and was able to watch the stitches spinning on a ball going 95 miles per hour. (he also once said that on a good day he could see the commisioner meaning the baseball commissioners signature on the ball.)

after telling us this story Reggie asked "Where can you see the stitches?" thats such a profound question. where in your life are you gifted with a talent that no one else has as easily or naturally as you do? if you know what that talent is (most people dont know theirs) then you need to go out and spend your time using and developing that gift. why spend all your time struggling to develop a skill that your not gifted in when God has given you ones that you ARE gifted in?

its like from chariots of fire where the guy says "when i run i feel Gods pleasure". what gift do you have that when you use it you feel God smile?

im not 100% sure where my giftings and talents lie. but after today i eagerly want to discover them. i used to think i knew what they were but then i never did anything to develop them so now i have to go an rediscover them.

if any of you have any insite into my life and where my talents might be let me know. :)

ps theres supposedly a blizzard on the way and im up in the mountains. i am sooooooooooooooooooooooo incredibly hopeful that we'll get to have a blizzard here. its also supposed to clear out tomorrow night so by friday the roads should be clear down the mountain. perfect! a blizzard in the mountains but we can still leave when the conference is done. (blizzards are on my list of natural disasters to check off having lived through). :)

FINALLY!!!

Its snowing here in Boulder. Im watching it out my office window. YAY! Its not enough to stick at the moment but Lord willing that will change. :)

I made this.

so i took like 6 pictures and only this one turned out even decent. its hard to tell but the stone is a really nice blue color.

if you'd like to buy this or commission something like it let me know.

elk picts

Elk bugleing

This pass weekend I went to rocky mountain national park with some friends and listened to the Elk bugle. It was quite the experience, very much different from my expectations.

I figured there would be these deep booming mating calls that would echo across the valley as the male elk tried to attract mates. Instead they made these rather high pitched squeaky sounds. If you've ever watched a movie that had whale calls they sound JUST like the elk.

The most exciting point came when we had layed out our picnic dinner and the closest herd of elk which were only about 75 yards away all turned and started coming right toward us. There were a tense few moments before they turned and ran off down the hill.

Pictures should appear soon once my friend with the camera emails them to me. :)

Snow!

There was snow this weekend in the tops of the mountains visible from Boulder. :) yay! its definately fall here. getting crisp out!

as usually for me... no pictures at the moment. but you can imagine them!!!

Fun times in CO

So last week was spend on a retreat at a cabin up in the Rockies. On the drive down the mountain we got to see the first snow of the season. Yay! Trees were turning bright colors... well bright yellow atleast. All in all a fun time was had by all. Heres the team picture taken at the retreat.

GOOD NEWS!!!

YEP i found my camera cable.... look at all the pretty pictures...


Here is when i first arrived in the GPI Office. The handing off of the laptop baton.


The week before last i was in Denver for a planning meeting for the Denver Christmas Conference. This was the view out the window.


And here is a quick peek at my apartment (taken during our labor day party). Look at all the fun people... and thats only Half the room!!!

Ok so now the pestering about pictures can stop! :)

Good News Bad News

The good news is I got batteries for my camera and took some pictures recently.

The bad news is that I cant seem to find the cable to connect it to my computer ANYwhere. So still no pictures. :(

This past weekend was pretty good. Sunday afternoon i went for a hike up the backside of the flatirons. and yesterday for labor day we had a small crowd over to our apartment for a cookout. It was fun having church, small group, and work friends all together in one place.

The rest of the week i'll be at an ops team retreat up in the mountains. This should be a great time of bonding as a team and preparing for the fall.

Ok pray that i find my camera cord! Have a great week!!

My commute: New Glory

My camera still is lacking battery power otherwise this post would be accompanied by some great views. (ill try to be descriptive since I didnt take pictures)

Today I decided to drive to work the "back way". Its actually more direct but it doesnt involve the freeway. Let me tell you it was one glorious ride. I felt like i was experiencing boulder again for the first time.

As I left my apartment i turned right instead of left. As I drove down the road I noticed that there is a chipotle AND a starbucks right up the street from me. within walking distance.

Then i started driving up a hill and noticed that the sky was absolutly BLUE today and I could see the whole front range arrayed to my left. It was so clear they just stood out like huge gaurdian towers. When i reached the top of the hill i turned toward the mountains and started down the hill into boulder valley. The whole valley spreads out below. and since they created a 'green zone' with no buildings it just looks like a great peaceful valley with meadows and trees.

There wasnt much traffic at all so it really was quiet and peaceful. Once into the valley i turned again and started down another road. this road had a whole bunch of nice quaint little old houses. perfectly fitting for the drive so far. At the end of that road it drops me back off in 'civilization' with busy streets and the like. BUT i was only about a block and a half from the office. so all was well.

With a commute like this i think im really going to like living here!!

Yay God for creating such beauty and letting me see it!!!!!!!

all moved in and ready to party.

ok not really ready to party. but once my roommate moves in THEN we'll have to have a house warming party.

but it does feel great to be in my own place again. I mean I really appreciate Fraze for letting stay with him for the past month but there's just something about having a place to really call my own.

Im glad i got all settled in this particular weekend too. It being my birthday and all. Nice gift. :)

pictures of the new place to follow whenever i dig out my camera.

UPDATE: I tried to take pictures but my camera batteries are dead. the wait continues...

Apartment Search is OVER

Thank you to all of you who prayed for my apartment search. Yesterday we signed on a place thats just a little outside of boulder. Its a pretty cool apartment and it seems to be located near TONS of stuff. I definately feel blessed to find somewhere this nice.

It also feels GREAT to be done looking. Now I just have to be patient til around the 10th when we can move in. (i might have to wait til the 14th if they require my roommate to sign the last stuff at move in at the same time i do.)

all in all a happy way to start the weekend.

another license...

So today I went down to the Colorado DMV and waited (only an hour) and got a new drivers license.

Now when i say i got a new license i mean i got a peice of paper that says i can drive for 30 days and maybe they'll send me a plastic one before the paper one expires.

I have to say that just like last time this feels so... final! they didnt keep my license like last time but it STILL felt like ok i LIVE in Colorado now. (though it didnt have that same sense of dread like when i got the florida license.)

the funniest part of getting the license was that i put an address on there that will (hopefully) not be my address in a week or two. AND i registered to vote at that address. hehe

Flooded Desert???

So Last week was spent in Tucson Arizona for my Grandma's inurnment. (like a funeral only with an Urn and ashes instead of a body in the ground.) The ceremony was nice.

The rest of my time there was relaxing and just good to be with my family.

Then came Saturday when I was supposed to leave. It pored all night long (and all morning for that matter). So much so that part of my parents newly landscaped yard was washed away. Their neighbors yards were washed away as well. AND one wall in the house had to be torn out because water was running down inside it. Really sad cuz the house is brand new.

Then when it was time for me to go to the airport we didnt think i was going to make it because half of the roads in Tucson were closed due to flooding. Does anyone else find it odd that the desert flooded?? i mean seriously here folks what the heck? "i got stuck in the desert cuz there was too much water" sounds a little odd.

haha well the end of the story is my parents friends stopped by with a big SUV that could get through some of the less flooded areas so they got me to the airport.

:)

Mountains

Here is a picture taken through the front window of the apartment Im staying in at the moment.


ps. please pray that I would find a great (affordable) place to live for the year.

In the mean time I moved to Boulder.

So I see the last post was on the 4th. Its now the 18th (happy birthday mom). In the mean time I packed all my stuff in my car and moved to Boulder Colorado.

Ive started getting more and more comments from friends and family to blog about the move. So I will fight off sleep a little longer to bring you the story of my move. (if you only want the synopsis: it went well)

so on the 10th my friend Josh (see picture) and I hopped in my car for the long haul to CO.


Heres josh prior to the trip hiding under a little army guy.

So the first day we went to Atlanta where we stayed with the family of a friend of mine. There Josh fought William with airsoft guns. I fought William with a starwars robot and darth maul. and everyone had a good time.

the next day we drove to kentucky. on the way Nashville TN let us down on the whole BBQ thing. That night we stayed with Josh's cousin. There we swung small children around by their arms and tossed them high in the air to land on the couch. the kids were nuts... your not supposed to ask for more wedgies or nuggies. silly kids.

anyway we stayed there an extra day and went to mammoth caves. self proclaimed "longest cave in the world" theyve only explored 368 miles of it so far. im willing to let them keep the "longest cave" title.

Next we drove to Kansas City. by way of St. Louis. Like nashville we were totally let down on the whole 'bbq' thing in St. Louis. I mean seriously folks if people are going to sell "St. Louis Style Ribs" you'd thing there would be SOMEWHERE in St. Louis that sold them too. Done right. But no you'd be wrong. Or at least it wasnt in any of our tourist books. and we didnt see any BBQ places anywhere in that city. we DID see this...


Atleast they had the arch that they are also famous for.

Continuing on that long day we ran across something that has since redefined Josh's life. I think he nearly had a stroke when he first saw this. he started snapping pictures of it like he thought he'd wake up and it wouldnt be there. heres one of them...

Yessir that vending machine sells Live Bait.

After forcibly pulling Josh from the Live Bait Machine we trucked it to Kansas City. Surprisingly pretty city. We stayed with friends parents there. They took us to good BBQ. and i mean GOOD. finally. more than made up for the nashville and st. louis failures.

The next day we completed our final push to boulder. we drove across Kansas. Not nearly as flat or treeless as I had been lead to believe. There were trees. and it was more gently rolling plains. if you want flat go out to the middle of Arizona.

Finally we arrived in Boulder. City-o-heavenly-mountains. Praise God!

All in all my take on America is that it is a beautiful place. Soooooo much amazing variety in landscape and people. Get out and see the country if you haven't recently.

So now i live in Colorado. hard to believe. but for the time being Im staying in an apartment with a direct view of mountains only a few scant miles away. glorious.

I even like my job so far.

Once i get a more permanent place to stay i expect you all to come visit.

ps. i apologize for all the grammer and spelling mistakes. Im way tired and just wanted to get this blogged for all my wonderful fans. lol.

Feeling 100% patriotic

Today is independance day. The 4th of July. And I went to see my first space shuttle launch (it actually happened today).

Is there anything more patriotic than watching a shuttle launch on the 4th???

It was super cool. We were only a couple of miles from the launch site and we saw it rise majestically into the heavens on a pillar of fire. The sky was clear so we could watch it for a long ways.

Then as it is a shrinking dot of brightness way up in the sky we finally heard the rumble of the rocket. It's so fast going up that its way up there before the sound even has a chance to travel a few miles. But its sooooooo loud that the sound actually carries that far! Very impressive.

They say a night launch is more spectacular because its like a mini sun rising for a few minutes. But Im just happy to have seen this one. Sunburn and all.

No Launch. :(

So I was going to go see the shuttle launch today because its the last one before i leave town. At the last minute i decided just to watch it from Lake hart. GOOD DECISION! They cancelled the launch 5 minutes before it was set to go.

In other news... since i havent updated recently I thought id post that I leave Orlando about a week from monday. So its coming fast!! aaaaaaaahhhh.

*tear*

Well thats it. Im done. Time to clean out the desk, say my goodbyes, and walk off into the sunset. (i always did like the dramatic exit)

Just wanted to point out...

... that my last day at the office is this coming Thursday.

Im not leaving Florida just yet though. I still have some support raising to do. But soon as that is done its on to Colorado!

Make your plans now to see me before i leave. And your plans to come visit me in Boulder. You know you want to.

2006 Hurricane season begins

I dont think there are any storms out there yet but today marks the official beginning of Hurricane Season. And they have high expectations for this years season. 17 named storms (9 of which will become hurricanes). Thats alot more than last years expected numbers but less that what actually happend.

The biggest question is what new words will be added to my vocabulary by enthusiastic weather men?? In the past we got words like 'hunker down' and 'tornadic activity'.

Java One last week

Im back from the JavaOne Convention in San Francisco. It was a great week. I didnt think I had picked up very much detail at all though. But today I was in a meeting with a coworker who was explaining some Java Architecture to a group of other programmers and I knew everything he was talking about! I understood how it all worked together and what I didnt already know easily slide into place for me.

I guess Im finally getting this Java stuff. Time to buckle down and head to Colorado. haha thats just the way my life is.

(ill try to post a few pictures from the convention sometime)

Group Hobby

So last week I took some time to go climbing with some friends. Rock Climbing seems to be our latest 'Group Hobby'. Before this it was tennis. Well Im finally posting because I was just sent a picture that was taken of me while I was 'bouldering' which for you uninitiated means 'climbing without a rope' (you dont go very high without a rope).

I just wonder if this is a foreshadowing of things to come... moving to Boulder and all.

workaholic

When you get to work on Monday morning and you feel disappointed that you didnt work the past two days something is SERIOUSLY wrong.

Im super excited that my family is coming to visit in 2 days. The weird thing is that I find myself discouraged that I wont be able to work late when they are here. Im turning into a monster.

I never thought i'd become addicted to work. Ive always been immune before. Haha oh well there are worse things to spend hours on.

anticipation

Today I feel rather excited. I mean im not jumping up and down excited Im just eagerly anticipating certain rapidly approaching events.

For example tomorrow is 'Cinco de Mayo' which to me equals eating yummy mexican food which I just happen to love.

Then next week my parents and sister are coming to visit. Its the first time my parents have visited me here in Orlando so Im stoked about that. Let the good times roll.

Immediately following that I am going to San Francisco for a Java conference. I love that city and so Im looking forward to visiting, and several Orlando friends are coming too so I get to show them around the city. yay!

After that I enter the 'just waiting to move to Colorado time' since I still dont have a final release date set yet.

All in all its good stuff.

Walker Wedding

Since it appears I havent posted since Easter (has it really been that long?) I guess I can talk about anything thats happened since then. And the only thing other than working long hours that has taken place is my trip to California for the Walker Wedding. It was a really nice wedding and I had a blast. It was also fun to catch up with alot of Livermore people. Yay!

Congratulations Derek and Amy. Enjoy your portable pyrex.

Happy Easter

Well i hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. I sure did! It was great celebrating Jesus. I kinda wish we celebrated the way God commanded old testament celebrations to happen. A week where no one works and everyone just gets together and celebrates and remembers what God has done.

To bad our culture is so busy that would never work.

Home Sick

Who knew being sick could be so boring? Yesterday was Sunday and after church I pretty much just slept all day. Today Im still not feeling well but I cant sleep. I might go in to work just because Im bored out of my mind staying home.

workworkwork

Well i need to post so i dont break the habit but this week ive been pretty focused on work. Not a whole lot to report. Just being productive.

Blognouncement: Im Moving!

This is the semi-official announcment that I am moving to Boulder, Colorado. Its only semi-official because the official full length announcement is in my prayer letter that just got sent out. (ask me for a copy if you dont normally get it).

So yeah Im going to move to Boulder and work in the Regional Office (atleast for a year). Im super stoked about this, and scared, and lots of other feelings at different times. Mostly Im just trusting God and walking forward.

Comments? Questions?

1 Cor 1:7

Im not sure how I missed this for so long. Maybe because I dont often read the bible through the "Community" lense. Today I started reading 1 Corinthians and I got to verse 7.

It just jumped off the page at me. it says "...you do not lack any spiritual gift..."

Now in the past I've always read that line as "you the individual" like "you, Jon, do not lack any spiritual gift." Its always been a nice thought but im not sure what to do with it. I certainly dont feel like I have every spiritual gift. Does that mean I dont have enough faith in the bible? If i just believe then I have the gifts?

And if it really is 'you the individual' then I dont really need anyone else. Thats comforting to the American mindset. I can make it as a Christian on my own because I already have everything I need.

The realization I made this morning was - the 'you' is the corinthian church. As a WHOLE. That community of believers. Not necessarily any individual in the church but when all the believers are in community they lack no spiritual gift.

With this view on that passage all of a sudden I desprately need other believers. I cant make it on my own. And in the community of believers there is beauty as everyone is needed and the body really is a body as everyone offers their gift(s).

Thoughs?

Car Title

I dont know if anyone else cares but Im really excited because today I went down to the DMV and got the title of my Car transfered to my name. Previously it was Jointly in my Dad and My names (and the bank's till i paid off the loan).

But now its paid off and I am the sole owner. Now my prayer is that it would last me atleast another 100,000 miles.

Happy Day!!!!!

Happy St. Patricks day

so its a day early but i wont be in the office tomorrow. wether your irish or not have a very green day. (though i guess if you scottish you wear orange or something)

seasons

well it seems like summer is starting in Florida. Spring is about over (there is no winter) so here comes the heat and humidity. I actually had the discussion with my roommate yesterday about whether the non-summer season in Florida should be called Fring or Sprall. Fall and Spring combine to make the non-summer season because when the lowest the temperature will ever get during the day in Florida is 50 something you just cant call it winter.

Colorado

I went to Colorado for a few days last week and visited with my mentor from college who recently moved out there. Here's a few pictures from the trip. I might put up some more later.

Manatees!

Well I can check Manatee's off my list of things to see in my life. Here's a picture I took this weekend when we went manatee watching.









The other exciting event of the weekend was that I went to see Donald Miller speak at a local church. I enjoyed it alot. If you dont know who he is - he's the author of "Blue Like Jazz" and "Searching for God Knows What".

brief blurb

Im in the process of writing a newsletter so im not very inclined to blog much at the moment.

However, I want to say that things turned out amazingly well after my last blog entry.

In other news ive been relearning how to swing dance. Im not all that good but its fun learning it again. maybe this time itll stick.

thats all for now. ill hopefully be sending out a newsletter soon. If your not on my newsletter list and want to be let me know.

Sin is just UGLY

Last night we had a superbowl party. It was really awesome. It wasnt a huge party but there were lots a friends and food so it was good. Fabulous time really.

But today do I remember the party with fond memories? Not so much. No instead what is on my mind and heart the most is how I and my roommates wounded a Sister in Christ that night.

:(

Now I must walk the hard road to reconciliation. I dont really like this road because its not easy but in the end it is the right thing to do.

I dont often post about my ugly side, but here I am being real. Please pray for me and my roommates as we seek to do what we think is right.

(and please dont ask what happened Im not going to share that)

Your Welcome!

Yesterday when I got to work I found a huge banner and a bunch of balloons and goodies at my desk. The payroll team's way of thanking me for working on the E-Timesheet project for them. It sure feels good to be appreciated!!

here's one of the ballons they gave me...

The Wall part 2

Apparently the wall separating my cubicle from the rest of the team was more than just an inconvenience to me. When I arrived this morning the wall had been taken down and one of my coworkers had swapped desks with the new guy just so we could have the wall removed again.

YAAAAAY!!!!!

The walls go up.

A year ago we took down the cubicle wall separating my desk from the rest of my team so I could have easier communication with them. It was wonderful and made my cubicle feel so much larger.

Well we just had a new guy join our team. I came in this morning to discover he had replaced the wall. Its a sad day. All that great communication and openness destroyed for the sake of pinning up a piece of paper.

Whew what a weekend!

Weddings and birthday parties, Seeing Old friends and Making New ones, Playing Frisbee and watching movies. I feel like I did almost everything there is to do in Florida. I even tried Fondue for the first time MMMMMmmmmm good!

I think work might be a nice break from my busy weekend!!

A first.

I just saw my first NASA rocket launch. To bad it wasnt a shuttle launch.

One of the benefits of where Campus Crusades HQ is located is that we can see rockets launched from Cape Canaveral from here.

The world is flat?

I dont really have much to say today. So Im just going to do a shameless plug for a book Ive been reading called 'the world is flat' by Thomas Friedman. While not a Christian book it offers a very insiteful look at what is going on in the world today. The focus is global economic/business/technology/politics. And while that sounds super boring I found that it really isnt. Friedman is a journalist so his book reads like a series of newspaper articles. Tons and tons of interviews from all sorts of global leaders. Read it.

Pictures from EJ 05