happy octoberween...





can we just take a moment right now to pray for all those elementary teachers out there (my mom include) who are having to deal with the sugar highs and lows and any other candy hangover their students might be going through.

ok, thanks.

so i really wanted to carve a pumpkin this year because its michelle and i's first halloween as a married couple. well, that and i really wanted to relive the glory days when i got a ribbon for most creative in third grade for the pumpkin i carved. so i thought long and hard about what to carve and after some insight from my wife i carved this in under twenty minutes and in the dark on our porch. hope you like it.

the first 100 miles...




in an effort to save money, stay fit, and help the environment a little michelle and i sold a car and purchased bikes. although flower mound is not as conducive for bike riding yet as we would like it to be we have managed to still get around town a bit for the occasional dinner date at parker square or trips to the bank. i've been using my bike mostly to commute back and forth to work. i've put over a hundred miles on the bike so far and i'm proud to say that i haven't wrecked yet or delayed traffic in any sort of way. i have however mistakenly been apart of a triathlon (which i didn't win) and i've gotten plenty of weird stares from people in their cars as they pass by.

i've enjoyed riding to work. one of the first things i noticed about flower mound were the smells. some good, some bad. some of pine trees and wild flowers, others of cows and construction. but not cows in construction. because that's just gross.

if i were a city planner i would have more green belts with bike trails. especially bike trails that connect.

keepin it in the family...

there are a few traditions i like to hold onto. mostly having to do with food. for valentines day michelle and i started a tradition by making a pizza from scratch from a recipe my grandpa uses. recently i made a banana tea bread. a recipe we got from one of michelle's grandparents. maybe one of these days i'll get the secret meatball recipe from my father-in-law.

compartmentalized faith: part one...

it's funny how we view ministry sometimes.
or define it.
"will he be able to return to his ministry?" they ask.
or when will he return?
as if he has ever stopped ministering.
as far as i can tell he has never stopped.
and in the grand scheme of things i think its crazy enough to say that maybe,
just maybe,
he has ministered to more people now than he ever has.
weird.

don't get distracted by formulas, titles, positions...
or by the way things have always been done.
God is a little more creative than that.


now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think; according to the power that works within us.

is it november yet...

is it just me or have the last several weeks seemed like some of the longest.



i think the sunburn i got from the state fair is finally starting to heal.
and upon further review it seems that michelle was not as innocent as she let on to be
as revealed by some photos taken by secret agent marpar.
it turns out we all cheated our way down the big slide.

thanks derek and sandra
thanks for the great show.
thanks for your honesty
thanks for sharing your stories
thanks for the encouragement
you guys made last night a memorable one.

holland state of mind...

its cool, cloudy.
and i got caught in a little bit of rain riding to work today.
not a bad way to start the day.
i think i am more productive work wise when its raining.

i'm off to a slow start and everything else around me doesn't seem to notice.

mish and i just got back from a short trip to austin.
we dropped in sunday afternoon and went straight to acl fest.
we didn't think we were going to go this year but made a decision to do so while standing in front of the ticket booth.
we hooked up with jay and megs.
listened to some good music.
and then remembered why we weren't going to do this again.
i think i am getting old.
or maybe i'm just a venue snob when it comes to listening to music.
ok, give me a year and i'll probably do this again.
that night we got to hang out with my little sis and brother in law.
huge props for letting us crash their place.
love you guys.

on monday mish and i had lunch with our good friend jennifer who is rocking teenagers worlds in south austin.
yeah, she rocks.
after lunch we took our time heading back to dallas.
we decided to stop and check out the Inner Space Caverns in georgetown.
mish was really excited because a friend of hers told her how one year she went with a group of people to the cave and when they turned the lights off so you can experience total darkness she kissed a boy.
mish was looking forward to total darkness.
and you know, so was i.
but when we got to the bottom of the cave and the tour guide turned the lights off so we could experience total darkness i was so distracted by the fact that i couldn't see my hand in front of my face that i forgot to kiss.
mish had leaned over and everything but to my defense i couldn't see that.
but for the recorded we did kiss in a dimly lit cave 69 feet below I-35.

it was only one night.
it was all loosely planned.
and it got pretty expensive.
but i had a really great time with my wife in austin.

just please don't hit me...

i just bought an odometer for my bike.
now i can keep track of the miles i'm putting on it.
did you know that much like a car there are scheduled tune ups when you hit certain mile mark?
i'm not yet sure what those are but i'm sure i'll find out soon.

so there are some tricky bike related issues i'm beginning to notice about flower mound.
one being that there are not a lot of bike racks to chain up to.
really not much of anything unless you are at a school or park.
i've had a hard time finding just a simple pole like a handicap sign if front of a store front.
so i've had to be creative there.

another thing i've noticed is i have to really plan out my route between point a and point b.
things to consider:
-time of day (is school about to let out, will i get caught in the dark)
-sidewalks vs streets (not every road comes with a sidewalk. or even a continuous one and some streets should just be avoided altogether)
-amount of time it takes to get places. starbucks on 407: ten minutes. to work: 13 minutes. to parker square: 15 minutes

i guess one good thing about all the current construction is the possibility of more sidewalks or bike paths.

is it weird that the new mcdonald's in town is nicer looking than a lot of the homes nearby?

what's that smell...

so it doesn't rain for twelve years and when it finally does guess who forgot to close the moon roof on the car the other night.

yours truly.

so mish and i had our first attempt back on our bikes today since we've been back from holland.
um, yeah, it didn't go so well.
i felt too big for my bike.
and it moved so slow.

you see, in holland we had these commuter type bikes that made it so easy to get around town.
mish and i both have mountain bikes.
not made for the road.
really, they're not.
i think after our short ride today we are ready to ditch the mountain bikes and hit the asphalt with some cruizers.

i've made a huge mistake...

so my attempt to kick the coffee habit i guess will have to start tomorrow.
it's tough when you have a commercial espresso machine just outside your office.
and you can make just about any flavored latte your little heart desires.
but i can do this.

i started reading blue like jazz again.
or at least just the first two chapters.
and now i remember why i liked it so much.
but i'll have to wait on that one for now.
i've got a long list of books ahead of that one i need to read.
why is it that now that i no longer have to read i now love to.

arrested development has to be one of the funniest tv shows out there.
too bad it's been canceled.

i think i need to stop drinking coffee.
really.
i just got back from a meeting at fourbucks with brent and i have a huge headache.
i think i have too much caffeine in my system.
i need to purge it all out.
maybe i should start drinking more tea.
or water.

anywho, i read this really good book while i was in holland.
it's called "the perks of being a wallflower".
for those of you who like the catcher in the rye type books you'll like this one.
i thought it was better.
but there was a quote from the book that i thought was pretty right on.
the main character charlie makes the statement,
"people only except the kind of love they think they deserve."
and i kind of agree.
it seems that this sort of thinking emerges often when it comes to having a relationship with Christ.
how could someone love me that much?
especially when i can be such a punk.
but i guess the beauty is found in the reality that even though i don't deserve it Christ loves me.
most times it doesn't make a whole lot of sense but it's true.
and i'm ok with that.

dodged the bullet...

i returned from my recent trip to holland only to be welcomed by a letter from denton county.
it was my turn for jury duty.
i went down to the court house this morning and sat in a room with 300 other people.
we watch a video that got us all excited about serving on a jury.
took an oath to tell the truth.
and then listened for our names to be called out to serve.
they called the names for the first court.
then the second.
then the third.
after all the names had been called out 130 of us got to wipe the sweat of our foreheads and go home.
i was one of those 130.
so it's with a tear in one eye that i say i am sorry that i will not be serving on a jury this week.
thank you for your time and the six dollars.

we're back!!!

back to:
family and friends.
to a/c and ceiling fans
to fahrenheit and miles
to good burgers and ice in drinks
back to harley
back to a real bed
back to my job
to swimming pools
to real peanut butter
but back to
carrying a cell phone
to driving a car
to traffic
to constant construstion
to heat
to starbucks
to the bible belt
to my comfortable way of life.

it's funny.
i have mixed feelings about being back.
i created a life in holland over the last 17 days and i've sort of forgotten what i'm supposed to be doing now that i'm back in flower mound.

if you haven't already you can read about our trip by going to
www.cbcteamholland06.blogspot.com

we posted some pictures on the site as well.
thank you again for your comments on the blog and prayers.
that meant so much more to us than you will ever know.

hey guys...

in two days and a wake up i'll be heading to Holland.
our team will have it's own holland blog so you guys can keep up with everything.
and so from here on out i'll be posting from that site.
you can find us @ www.cbcteamholland06.blogspot.com

i hope you'll check it out.

please be praying for us because i really don't know what to expect.

today is DAVEFEST...

that's all i'm gonna say...

green thumb attempt #1...

i really enjoy spending time with my wife. she's so much fun to be around. she's so passionate. so encouraging. she's my better half. all those little things i only think about doing she does. yesterday morning we got up a little earlier, got some donuts and drove to lake grapevine. it was a great start to a great day. we walked around in the water, skipped some rocks. it was fun. then here's where the "she's my better half" part comes in. i'm walking barefoot in the water and before a take my next step i notice something half buried in the sand. i reach down in the water and pull out a broken piece of glass. sick nasty! upset that i almost cut open my foot, my passionate tree huggin' hippie wife is now picking up every bit of trash she can find on the shore. she's so cool. and i'm standing there thinking, "you know, that's a good idea. why not. i should help." so i try to keep up and together we pick up a few things here and there as we make our way back to the car. even though we didn't get everything it still felt good to be doing something.