Monday Update

The week(end) that was:

Well, I guess it's not technically a part of the weekend, but this past Thursday night Mandy and I went to the Sierra Butte Baptist Association Christmas Dinner held for ministers and their families. It was nice catching up with old friends who really aren't that far away, just terribly busy. Congrats to Brad and Jessica Hays on their good news! This weekend was fairly calm for as busy as it was. Our little buddy Dozer had a good time at the new Dog Park in Chico. Saturday morning I started out early and groggy. I got to the dog park before they even opened and had to park outside the gates. It seems that Chico has really bad fog in the morning and Saturday was no exception. I watched him play for about an hour with some other (messy) dogs that managed to soil me as well. I spent the rest of the morning in preparation for Sunday either by doing music practice or getting ready for Sunday school. I went to get Mandy from work and then, yup once again, we went to the dog park. This time there were a ton of people (and their dogs) running around like crazy. It seems like a cool place to go. The funniest part was when Dozer watched the big dogs lift their legs and he tried to do it too. It was, according to Mandy, really cute. Weird girl.

That evening we had the Mall Invasion. That was a good time although by the end my feet were dead from walking around the mall a billion times regulatin'. I guess that's why you don't walk a lot when wearing Converse. There were quite a few people from both Churches that showed up and we all seemed to have a rockin' time.

esterday was a good church service. Things seemed a little "slow" in the first service. As in, "I-think-we-all-need-to-get-up-and-take-a-field-trip-to-Starbucks-for-some-caffeine-because-honestly-it's-bringing-me-down" slow. Maybe it's just me projecting the fact that I had a pretty rough time getting started yesterday morning. It was fun doing Christmas songs though. I tried doing more of them because what usually ends up happening each year is that I wait till it's almost Christmas and then I wish I had more time to sing more Christmas songs. Meh.

That night Mandy and I had a good time watching an old movie that we both like.

Ok, more like she sits politely while I quote most of the lines.

"The man on the motorcycle, I hit him with a burrito!

Where I am at the moment:

I'm in the office. I woke up this morning feeling pretty sick. I think I have a sequel to the first cold. Like most sequels, I didn't ask for it, and it probably will be worse than the first one. Although Battlefield: Earth never needed a sequel to be bad.

On my to-do list this week:

This week is the business meeting that I get my youth budget in. I hope it goes well – God provides exactly what we need. Also, I have to get with Brad about State Youth Conference. There isn't anything big planned until Sunday. Saturday I have to do some practicing with the bus in preparation for my test on Tuesday the 16^th. I eventually need to have an important talk with somebody about something cool. (it's not a baby.)

Procrastinating about:

I think I'm getting caught up. I have been putting updating the website. Honestly, that thing drives me nuts. I am too impatient for it.

Book I'm in the midst of:

I pretty much abandoned Vintage Jesus for the time being. I just got another book in that I've read before but lost called The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out that I actually would like to read again. I think the first time I read it, I missed a lot of stuff. It should be a good and fast read though.

Music that seemed to catch my attention this past week.

I started to listen to some Relient K a lot this week. Also, it's funny but lately I've been listening to some older Papa Roach from back in the day when I had spiky black hair, wore all Dickies, and was angry a lot. (no, I was not angry a lot this week – Heh)

Oh how the world has changed. I guess it's been a retro week. Check out Last.fm if you haven't already. It's pretty sweet.

How I'm feeling about this week:

I'm hoping my cold (or possible Bronchitis which the only advantage to is the fact that the cough syrup they give you makes you not care about being sick, or even getting stabbed I think) doesn't get the better of me and turn me into a whiny jerk all week. I'm pretty sure it won't but if you see me and I am being a whiny jerk, feel free to correct me then give me some DayQuil or some Halls Mentholyptus or some Riiiiiiicola! I seriously turn into a cough drop drug dealer when I am sick.

Thank you Jesus – Zing! (Andy will get that one)

So, what would be a horrible movie sequel? Also, what do you do when you are sick?

I Would Just Like To Say

That Trip Lee seems to have better and more frequent theology in his music than many modern Christian worship leaders. Just saying…

An excerpt from "Real Vision" Album: 20/20

These days in the church, most cats got it twisted/Don't let them fool you on how we supposed to live this/For instance, some say to "come to Christ for riches/Or maybe your blessing," but my question is "what is this?" Cause that ain't the gospel, that "if you put your faith in Him/To come to the Savior, and then you'll rake that paper in?" Face it friends, they made Jesus their holy ATM/Paul would be appalled, this gospel would be disgrace to Him/This false gospel strips Him of His flyness/He's more like your servant and less like His Highness/So please don't buy it, that idea is absurd/Jesus said the Christian life can be strife and it's filled with hurt/ Look homie I would hate for, cats to get that fake stuff/And never know it's wrong cause they won't open a page up/I pray we erase the wrong views and embrace the Holy Word that testifies to us about the Savior

I Think We Sould Realize...

...things aren't so bad.

Monday Update

Hello all. I thought I'd steal this idea from Mark Oestreicher (Marko) who does this most Monday mornings. I thought it would be a good way to help organize myself and let others know how I am doing. Hope your week goes well.

-Chris

The weekend that was:

Thanksgiving was an awesome time. Instead of just a typical weekend, I'll include Thursday and Friday in this one.

Thanksgiving Mandy and I started the day (after coughing our heads off - we've both been sick since before my birthday) with a football game. The game was between my youth group and a youth group from another church. We had a good time even though we lost miserably (which had nothing to do with having half as many players). No one was hurt (seriously) though I am pretty sore all over but that may be from all the coughing. After that we had an awesome time with family for Thanksgiving dinner. In all, there were 18 people plus 2 dogs at Mandy's parents. Her family came up from Saugus (SoCal) and her grandparents came over as well as my parents.

On Friday we went on a hike in Bidwell Park (pics on FB soon), did some shopping, and then went back to Mandy's parents to celebrate her grandpa's 80^th birthday. What an awesome time. I didn't get much of a chance to get to know my grandfather, so this was really cool. He's a funny guy and a strong believer.

Saturday I helped a youth raise funds for SYC (and I'm still sore from all the pine needles and leaves we picked up), went home for a nap, and then caught the tail end of a concert in Paradise.

Sunday was Church. In the morning was a great communion service where I got to play one of my favorite Crowder songs. We had lunch at my house with my parents and then went back to church at night. My arm and voice were sore while I was doing music but it was ok.

Where I am at the moment:

I just registered my youth for SYC finally. I wish I could have done it earlier but it's been hard getting commitments from everyone. 9 total so far. I have some time this afternoon to try and get some reading and studying done. I'm going to do my best to get back into the swing of things since last week was fairly calm and relaxing. (I said that like it was a bad thing)

On my to-do list this week:

This week is a bit of a normal one. We're starting a new quarter in Sunday school. This time we're going through Thessalonians which I am excited about. Other than normal studies during the week, my church is having a silent auction to raise money for our Christmas Missions Offering. Sounds boring, but it's actually really fun. I'd like to go to Sam's church this week but the auction is the same night. This Saturday we're having our 2^nd annual Mall Invasion. Basically what happens is adults from our churches dress in disguise and the youth have to find them. The first team back wins a prize. Hopefully we won't get kicked out of JC Penny's again. Last year the employees weren't too happy with another church's youth – not mine, whew. I think we're just going to avoid that store altogether. I need to find some time to get my lenses fixed in my glasses. Dozer the Wonderdog who is in the midst of getting his big dawg teefs made them his new chew toy last night. He even took them out of his food bowl (AKA off of the nightstand) and brought them into his room (AKA under my bed).

Procrastinating about:

Getting pictures of people in the Mall Invasion sent off to the people doing the booklets.

Putting up pictures of this weekend on Facebook so everyone can see 'em.

Catching up on my blog reading.

I have my Commercial Class B driver's test coming up on the 16^th. I really have some re-learning and practicing to do. I think I should have a chance tomorrow to get it done.

Also, there are a few people I promised to make business cards for. Maybe tonight after I read.

Book I'm in the midst of:

I keep trying to finish Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll. It's a good read but my mind does not want to be that academic right now. I just got a book from Purple for my birthday called the The Way of the Heart which looks interesting. I think my brain will go along with that one a bit easier.

Music that seemed to catch my attention this past week:

Guilty… The Killers. I know, I know. Also, some music from Reach Records. I know, who listens to rap right?

How I'm feeling about this week:

Things are good. I just need to stay on top of my list. Hopefully tomorrow I can get most of my "have-to-do's" done. If I try to play catch-up on Thursday I will be stressed. I am hoping that Mandy and I will also finally be done with our colds. I'm stoked though. I get a new book in the mail as well as a new MicroSD card for my phone. Hello 8GB of music!