Category Archives: family

…saturday mind dump

January 19, 2008

a lot on my mind tonight. driving home from work, i was contemplating any one of three things (or more) to blog about when i got home. i couldn’t really decide on just one, and since i’m not the kind of guy to write a whole bunch of drafts in advance… i figured i’d go with a mind-dump. let’s get it on…

  • services tonight at cedarcreek.tv were off the hook. i’m not even talking about the programming elements this time. my boss and senior pastor lee powell absolutely rocked a message about the mission of the church. he spoke about needing to get on the train or get out of the way (my paraphrase). it was one of the most inspirational messages i’ve heard in a long time. i’ll link to it in a couple days once it goes live on our site.
  • might as well stay on the lee subject for a moment, over on his blog there is a debate currently being had over how much a senior pastor of a large church should make. these discussions always crack me up.
  • it’s been an interesting month in regards to cedarcreek and blogging. i’ve finally got a good number of people wholly invested in the world and idea of blogging. unfortunately we’re doing it within the confines of dotnetnuke, which has some severe limitations as far as customization, but nevertheless… it’s hilarious to have discussions with people about this whole culture, people who really cannot believe just how connected everyone is through it.
  • started cedarcreekproduction.com last week. got the idea from los and the buckhead production blog. thought it’d be a good idea to not only keep our current, amazing production volunteers informed, but also to reach out to new and prospective volunteers and perhaps share some fun along the way.
  • absolutely tickled that people still believe fox faux news is “fair and balanced.” please tell me you see the problem with this picture…
  • hillary won nevada after being down ten-plus points in the polls. as a bona-fide obama supporter, i’m starting to get a tad worried. super-tuesday can’t get here fast enough.
  • leah is coming over for dinner tomorrow night with ryanne and i. we are having tacos and will undoubtedly be rocking faces off with some guitar hero action. pictures will be taken of the carnage… i assure you.
  • really want to see cloverfield. tried to make it happen tonight, but was a late night at work. heard it’s amazing.
  • house is clean for the first time since we’ve been in it. and by clean, i mean all the paint and tile and tools and plastic and painting supplies are stashed in the spare bedroom with the door closed. out of sight, out of mind, right?
  • my parents are swell. came home from work tonight to find our spare bathroom had border-wallpaper put up in it. it’s been awesome moving in here and getting to spend time with my dad especially, but the both of them have been incredible. even my sister has been over. weird times to be sure, but welcome.
  • stoked about my mens 4.15 group. had a great study and discussion again this morning at the new panera in spring meadows (a wonderful place, by the way). looking forward to doing a service project with them the first saturday of february.
  • starting to look for a second job. anyone know of anybody willing to hire a guy (me) for ten-twenty hours a week, who can’t work saturday-monday?
  • “friday night lights” is the best show on television. you should be watching it.
  • realized i’m quite fickle. my video producers called me out over some sushi on thursday… informing me (after speaking about prison break) of the numerous television shows i have referred to as the “best ever” or “best on television.” oh well, i’d rather be easily excited than numb.
  • feeling inspired by some of my volunteers. a lot of them don’t even realize it, but they’re the real heroes of cedarcreek.tv, if you ask me. i get paid to do what i do on the weekend… these guys (and gals) come in after putting in a full weeks worth of work to serve with me for twelve-fifteen hours. i’m truly in awe.
  • ryanne and i need a vacuum. anyone have any ideas where to find a cheap one?
  • i want my dog to be happy, really… i do. but i am bothered greatly by the sound of him chewing on a bone. it irritates me to the core.
  • have i mentioned “dexter” is the best show on television?
  • wishing more people i knew were on some sort of instant messaging platform. i recently installed adium, so i almost am always on aim (joshw1022)/google talk (joshuarwhite@gmail.com)/yahoo  messenger (shua1405)/myspace (dreamgoat1)/msn (dreamgoat11) at all times… yet i still can’t find someone to talk to.
  • 10:41pm. need to be to church/work (i never know what to type) in ten hours, should probably go to sleep.
Also posted in bloggers, church, entertainment, food, friends, gaming, just me, life, movies, pets, politics, thoughts – 1 Comment

…the skinny on the home

December 13, 2007

i’m going to just do this here. i understand that there are a few of you who’ll undoubtedly want to give me your opinions in person, and that’s all well and good… but maybe i can shoot down some issues by taking a pro-active approach.

ryanne and i are in the process of buying a modular home. we signed the first of two contracts today, the second one is next week and at that signing we will receive the keys to our (new to us) home. there is little to no chance anything is going to change between now and then, as we’ve already been approved. it’s just a matter of paperwork now.

now… i know some people are ready to go off on me, telling me all the evils of buying and living in a pre-made home. i know all your arguments, i used to use the same arguments about others. here is my rebuttal to the biggest of them;

you’ll never get back what you pay for them
this is partially true. well, it’s all the way true in the case of purchasing a brand new modular home. fact of the matter is, ryanne and i are buying a used double-wide modular home, with nearly 1600 square feet, a carport, two huge frickin’ decks, and a corner lot on a fifteen year loan for nearly $125 cheaper in rent than we’re paying now for our apartment. this number includes lot rent (which is guaranteed to not go up for ten years) as well as property taxes. while i can’t argue the amazing depreciation of these things… tell me which is worse, staying in an apartment for five years and getting ZERO back, or staying in a modular home for five years and making very little back? ten years? fifteen?

here’s the thing. the last thing in the world i want from people is any holier-than-thou-we-can-afford-a-house-and-you-can’t type of opinions.

fact: ryanne and i cannot afford to buy a house.
fact: ryanne and i are tired of living in an apartment.
fact: ryanne and i do not want to have kids in an apartment.
fact: ryanne and i are ready (relative term) to start thinking about kids.
fact: ryanne and i will save money in the long run by living in a modular home vs. an apartment
fact: ryanne and i are happy with this purchase.
fact: it would be great if people would just be happy for us instead of judging the purchase.

so, that being said… here are some details.

we’re moving in to westbrook village, which is on angola near holland-sylvania. it’s widely regarded as one of the nicest modular home parks in toledo, and as a bonus (especially when baby(s) start coming) it’s within a few hundred yards of where my parents live. three bedrooms, two baths, and other than needing a serious paint-job, the home is in immaculate condition. a little old lady lived in it before she had to move to assisted living.

in addition to being by my parents (who by the way, ryanne and i would like to say a big “thanks” to for going with us to look at and discuss questions and financials with the real estate dude), we’re also just a couple hundred feet from one of my co-workers. can anyone say “carpool?”

to quench your thirst until i can get over there and get some pictures (probably saturday), here is a couple from the village’s website.

ok, that’s it for now.

please remember what you should have heard a million times growing up, that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it. i’ll welcome face to face conversations however.

Also posted in life, thoughts – 5 Comments

…merry christmas to me!

December 11, 2007

merrychristmas.jpg

today, ryanne got me a couple christmas presents that i wasn’t expecting. we’re in a particularly rough patch, but some things were made available (mainly through returns, ha!) that made it possible. either way, i’m the proud new owner of the bourne collection, as well as burning crusade… w00t!

also, you may notice a change in my hair. ryanne and i both had our appointments today with dawn at embellir, and i am officially rockin’ the faux-hawk. it’s been a long time coming baby.

Also posted in christmas – 4 Comments

…restoring christmas

December 8, 2007

i’ve been thinking a lot about christmas lately. obviously, i have my reasons; it’s my job, i have a lot of responsibility at christmas-time, figuring out how to afford christmas presents for everyone, ecstatic that i was at least able to get my wife something for christmas for the first time in our three-year (thus far) marriage, so on and so forth.

in the midst of all this, i’ve spent some (little) time wondering why i’m so worried about all these things, and not really at all thinking about what christmas is (really) all about. i am trying very hard not to type “the reason for the season,” but seeing as how i just did… oh well, it’s out there.

seriously though, all my time spent thinking about christmas is spent on all the worldly, consumer-driven aspects of it. even in regards to my job, i worry about making everything perfect for the services… not to honor god, but to try and make sure the twelve to fifteen thousand people who will attend services at cedarcreek.tv loves it.

advent.jpg

i recently heard about this thing rick mckinley (one of my favorite pastor’s in the whole wide world) started out at his church (imago dei) and it finally got my headed in the right direction. he started a group with some other pastors and his wife called “advent conspiracy.” the basic idea of the group is restoring christmas to what it really needs to be. taking the focus off the consumerism, and putting it more into worship and loving our neighbor. now that’s something i can get behind.

i read an article yesterday on beliefnet.com (believe me, this is not normal), and the opening of the article was enough for me to get sold out on the cause:

The Christmas contradiction gives Pastor Rick McKinley a headache.

Americans will spend about $475 billion this year on gifts, decorations and parties that many won’t even remember next year. They will run themselves ragged — shopping, wrapping and celebrating. And some won’t pay off their Christmas debt until March, if they’re lucky.

“We celebrate Jesus’ birthday by giving ourselves presents,” McKinley says. “We don’t give him anything.”

…and then this from the adventconspiracy.org website:

Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by worshipping Jesus through compassion, not consumption.Christ tends to get overlooked at Christmas. Let’s be honest. December comes and you think, “OK, this is the year.” This time you’ll swear you’ll slow down and take it all in. Make the most with family. Help the needy. Zero in on what it really means to be a Christ follower during this holy season.

the bus/train has already left the station this year. there isn’t much i can do to change what’s already been set in motion, but next year… next year i anticipate a few conversations with friends, family, and co-workers about starting a “new” tradition at christmas. i mean honestly, wouldn’t christmas be that much more of an amazing time if we took all that stress that comes directly from the consumerism aspect of it, and replaced it with the things that truly matters? a saving gift from our amazing god, spending time with our family, laughing with friends, and instead of giving our finances away in the forms of presents that:

a.) nobody really needs, and
b.) a lot of times end up in the re-gift pile in a closet

instead lets give those resources to those in the world who are victims of nothing else other than a curse of longitude and latitude. give it away to those who’ve fell on some hard times in your local community. what an amazing and completely (un)original idea. i don’t think that when god had the amazing coming of christ in mind, he wanted us to celebrate it in the way we currently do.

listen, i don’t want to get all “holier than thou.” really, if it’s your thing to overspend on friends/family/grandkids/pets (please no)/whatever… then that’s fine for you. don’t get me wrong, i would hope that you’ll come around eventually… but for me, i think it’s time for a change. i hope i can talk my own family and friends into as well… but if not, well… we’ll see ;-)

Also posted in awareness, christmas, friends, jesus, just me, thoughts, work – 3 Comments

…a tale of two thanksgivings

November 23, 2007

ryanne and i have the distinct advantage of being a part of two very fun, and different in their own ways, families. on the holidays, we make the trip to two different locations to celebrate with both sides of the family.

really, the “style” of family meal couldn’t be more different. i’m not talking about the food either.

i’m not here to compare the two, it’s really apples to oranges… and i love both. really. understand this, i have a blast at both family gatherings. the important part is, that at both of the gatherings there is a real sense of love and family; and that is what is truly most important.

anyway, here are a few pictures from what i shall refer to as the “norman rockwell, three turkeys, 20+ people large family, most-everyone-dresses-a-little-nice” thanksgiving on my side of the family:

life has just yet begun

almost dinner time

…and then there is ryanne’s side of the family. the “less than ten, speak your mind, let’s just have fun hanging out together” thanksgiving. where the star isn’t the turkey (although jan did an incredible job, that turkey was insanely good), it’s generally uncle brian.

...wow

…bet you can’t guess who uncle brian is…

ah, i love the holidays.

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