In A Funk.

I am in a creative funk and the timing couldn't be worse. We are in "crunch time" for summer camp and I am writing scripts for morning videos and I am struggling to think of anything. I don't know whats wrong with me.

On a better note, this afternoon I went riding with my neighbor Mike and we had a good time. We climbed up a technical rocky section, which is tough to climb, but awesome to fly back down. It was a fun quick ride.

Speaking of bikes, I am still riding one of the bikes that belongs to the camp and searching for a killer deal on a bike. I really want a good quality bike, but don't have a fortune to spend on it. Hopefully something good will pop up and I can find a steal. Cheers.

Chris

Bags.

I carry a bag.
I love my bag.
I hate having a bunch of crap in my pockets.
I can carry a book with me wherever I go.
I always have change in the bottom of my bag.
I don't mind that people make fun of me because I know they hate crap in their pockets too.
I can keep a tube of chap stick more than 3 days without losing it.

Cheers.

Chris

Wells Fargo.

Ray started actually working with money today at Wells Fargo. She has been doing 3 weeks of training and observing and finally gets to be behind the counter. I think she was a little nervous, but I know she will do a great job, she always does. I don't think I would ever be able to do that job.

Have a good day Ray Ray. Cheers.

Chris

Fargo.

When I was in high school my buddy Brian Hobbs made us watch Fargo one night and I thought it was so freaking boring. Ray and I watched it tonight and its actually a great movie.

If you have never seen it you should check it out.

Its a true story and is wonderfully done. The cast great and does a fantastic job. I wish I could have enjoyed it in high school and not until a decade later. Cheers.

Chris

Funny.

Bad Blogger.

Hey guys, sorry for being a poor blogger of later. I don't have a good excuse like I was make a special appearance on Mythbusters or climbing Everest, I've just been lazy.

So since its been a while I will give you a run down of last week. Sounds boring, but what the heck?

MONDAY

Ray took Damar to the vet because her eyes were all swollen and nasty. The vet didn't know what it was, but gave us some eye drops, antibiotics and said we'll see what happens. I have to take her back tomorrow morning for a checkup. The worse part was she has to wear a cone this week and she bumps it on everything. At first it was like, "Awww, thats so cute and sad", now its like "Damar, stop freakin'running into everything, gosh!" not so cute, I just hope she is fine and I can take the satellite dish off of her neck, the thing is huge.

TUESDAY

We, UCYC, hosted a conference for other camp ministries on Tuesday and Wednesday. So Tuesday was sessions and seminars. I went to a seminar by a guy about making videos. It was good. I am getting move involved with that aspect of our ministry so that was good for me.

WEDNESDAY

We had a last session in the morning and the nobody was available to play djembe so they asked me and it was great. I miss playing live music so much. I think I am going to try to get involved with our worship team at our church. We'll see how that goes.

I recieved a call from Chris-Jake.

Wednesday afternoon I was invited to go mountain biking with Greg, our director and a couple of people that came to the conference. We had a blast, the addiction is growing.

Then that night Ray and I went on a date with the Coynes, David and Lori, it was a lot of fun.

THURSDAY

Thursday was pretty low key, I worked on learning some of our video software in the office.

Ray baby sits on Thursday night so I hung out with her a bit at the Herrington's house. We splurged and had Grilled Stuffed Burritos from Taco Bell, Mmmmmm fancy.

FRIDAY

The day started with a bike ride before work with OB-K (Obese Kris [BMI isn't good for him either]) and Tye. It was 27 degrees when we left the house and I was freezing for the first 15 minutes or so, my legs were bright red. It was so cold that my water froze in my Camelback hose, a first for me. We had a great time. The addiction is growing faster.

SATURDAY

Ray and I hung out a bit. We ran to the bank to add me to our new Wells Fargo account, since she works there now we get good rates on stuff. Then we hit the mall for a little shoe shopping, Rays all corporate now and needs nice clothes and shoes.

After we got home I went on a bike ride with our neighbor Mike. It was a good ride, its mostly downhill so not too bad on my already worn out legs. The addiction is fully there now.

After I got back from the ride we went to the Herrington's for supper. Chris grilled pork ribs and they were so freaking good.

SUNDAY

Today we went to our Easter service at church. The church we go to has several services so they rent out the arena here in town (where the hockey games are) for Easter. I always thought thats strange, but today I liked it. I mean its the only time all year that everyone from the church are at a service together, pretty cool.

After church we went to Greg's house for a big Easter lunch and egg hunt for the kids, it was super cute. It was a good week. Cheers.

Chris

Snow and Hero.

SNOW

The weather has been great the past couple of weeks, mid 60's, dry, perfect. This morning we woke up and its snowing, high in the mid 30's, crappy. Oh well, it will be in the 60s in a couple of days.

HERO

Last night we were at our friends house and I played Guitar Hero for the first time. I can't believe I haven't played this before. Mike and I rocked so hard, but the then the songs got hard and we had to sit down. Here is a pic of me concentrating really hard on Metallica's "One". (Side note: I look so lame when I am concentrating.)

Tony.

Ray and I started season 6 of Sopranos today. A couple of things about this show that I like.

1. Tony Sopranos character is one of the greatest characters ever.

2. I love the opening credits, they are great.

I am excited about getting into this season. Cheers.

Chris

Heart Attack.

One of the many reasons that makes Prescott, AZ such a great place to live is that there is great mountain biking all around us. Just a couple of miles up from our home is a great trail network at Thumb Butte and within a short drive there are other awesome places to ride. So I am stoked to get out riding now that the snow is gone.

In saying this, please understand I have not riden a mountain bike since moving to South Africa in 2005, so its been a long timea. This also means I am not in the best cyclin shape.

We went for a short ride yesterday afternoon and I thought I was going to die. It started out climbing, just climbing, which sucks when you are out of shape. I would climb for a bit then all of a sudden if felt like my heart was about to beat out of my chest and my lungs where going implode, not a good feeling. Then cames the coughing (refered around here as "bloddy lung"), I think I coughed so much and so hard that I caused real trauma to my repritory system, imagine a rug draped over a clothes line and someone beating the dust out of it, that was my lungs. Awesome.

I had a few things working against me.

1. My BMI-I am techncally obese, which sucks.

2. I had a huge lunch of fish tacos with a little spicy sauce of some sort (never, ever, ever, ever, eat this then go mountain biking, you will die).

3. I am still not used to being super active at this elevation yet.

4. My BMI-screw you MR. BMI. Sorry, I'm bitter.

5. I was on a bike that wasn't set up for me and the front fork was too soft (I honestly think this made little difference in my performace, but it makes me feel a little better to mention it).

6. Yestday morning I did a huge workout consisting of a couple hundred squats and my legs were shot before we reached the trailhead.

7. Lastly and probably the biggest thing working against me, I see now that I am so out of shape I shouldn't be considered a human being.

SO I have some work to do, but I will keep working on it. Besides my heart almost exploding and not being able to breath, I had a great time and can't wait get back out there on a regular basis. Good ride. Cheers.

Chris

Did you see Kanye West's performance with Daft Punk at the Grammy's? If you didn't check it out, it was awesome.



Towards the end you can see Daft Punk using 4 Lemurs to control the digital effects and beats. Its so cool that they are doing all the manipulation of the loop and beat live with the Lemurs.

So if anyone would be interested in giving me a Lemur for my birthday in May, I would accept it graciously. Cheers.

Chris

Saw this today on Marko's blog, pretty cool.

Trip to the Valley.

Ray and I went to Phoenix today to take Alycia to the airport. Alycia is our friend from SA that stayed in our home and watched the dogs when we were on tour and we had a great time hanging out. She is moving to Amsterdam on May 1st so we won't get to see her for a long time.

On the way back up to Prescott, seriously UP, from PHX to Prescott is all up hill several thousand feet. Any who, Ray and I listened to some old CDs that I hadn't listened to in years and they it dawned on me that they were CDs I had a decade ago when I was a freshman at Florida Christian College. We were rockin' out to Blink 182's "Dude Ranch" and Five Iron Frenzy's "Our Newest Album Ever". It was a wonderful stroll down memory lane. I miss ska.

While I was listening to these CD's I started thinking a bit about where I am in my life and how much I have had the opportunity to do since graduating high school. If someone had told me what the next decade held I wouldn't have believed them. It's been a blast and I can't wait to see what happens over the next decade. Cheers.

Chris

Web Test Update.

Man, I tried to make a joke yesterday about our test website, but at the time all the icons were my floating head and it looked funny, now its other test icons like a trash can or whatever. Oh well, not as funny.

Test Site.

We are working on a new UCYC website. Go check out the test site and tell me what you think. Cheers.

UPDATE:
When I posted the above message earlier there were no other "test" icons, it was just a bunch of my heads floating around. We are not using the icons on the test site, they are just here to see how it looks. It was much funnier when there were a bunch of floating heads, oh well. Cheers.

Chris

Great Trip.

We got back last evening from our quick trip to Colorado and had a great time. I will post something more in depth later. I loved the church that we visited and the people we met were great. More later. Cheers.

Chris

Off to Boulder.

I am off to Boulder tonight for a work trip. Our flight leaves Pheonix late tonight and we get back on Monday. Cheers.

Chris

Day Worth Blogging.

Hey guys,

Some things happened today that were blog worthy, here we go.

1. This morning I was cleaning up some stuff in the living room and when I went to scoop up the pair of shoes, the fingers on my right hand scraped against the ground and I got a splinter between my finger and finger nail on my ring finger. It hurt so freaking bad!!!! We'll lets say it still hurts, because its still in there. Sucks.

2. I got to create music for a promo video today for our winter camp next year. It was so much fun making music again.

3. The weather has been great here. The high today was 68 and the top is off the Jeep, life is good.

4. Our friend Alycia is here to visit for about a week and a half. We worked with her in SA and she was the women who lived in our house when we were on tour and watched the dogs. Guinness loves her the way she loves us and went freaking nuts when Alycia walked through the door. It was awesome. I am stoked she's here.
Good day. Cheers.

Chris

The Bread and Wine.

I got invited yesterday to be part of a project called The Bread and Wine. I am just now getting information about what all will be involved, but I will be writing (along with about 30 others) entries/articles for an online discussion of life and spirituality. For more info check out . http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif Cheers.

Chris

Rocks the Garden.

I freaking love Dave Grohl!!!

I was watching Fuse's Foo Fighters Rocks the Garden, a live Foo Fighters concert and it rocks so hard! It makes you say "rock and roll" in a high pitched shaky voice, go ahead do it, don't be embarrassed, I know you want to try, I just did it. Ok fine, we'll do it together, 1-2-3, "Rock and Roll!"

I wish I could go back to 2nd grade and when Mrs. Hagar asked me, "Chris, what would you like to be when you grow up?" I would change my answer from something lame like a rocket ship or Sir Winston Churchill to Dave Grohl, the future of face-melting-rock.

Dave and his fighters of foo are the definition of rock and roll. Cheers.

Chris

Life Update.

We still haven't sold our house yet in South Africa and that is a bit of a stress for us at this time. We were also a bit stressed because the job market in Prescott isn't that great so Ray was getting the run around from different companies that she has been applying to. However, today Ray got a JOB!!!! Woo Hoo. She is the newest/smartest/sexiest employee at Wells Fargo in Prescott Valley, AZ.

(Whisper: I'm not totally sure what she will be doing there, but she will get a paycheck to pay for the house in SA until it sells. So who cares?)

We are super stoked!

We noticed that now a days when you apply for a job you don't do much at the actually place you will potentially work. Applications are online. Your first interview is on the phone. Its kind of strange.

Congrats Ray!!!!!

Chris

Great Book.

I am rereading a book by Bill Bryson called A Walk in the Woods. Its a travel book about his experience on the Appalachian Trail and its great. If you get a chance to read it you should.

Tags and Alaska.

Tags

Ray and I have been in this long process to get a tag on the Jeep and today we went to the DMV and finally get everything finished. The whole process was strange because we got it and then moved here so the insurance was for AZ not GA and and and. But, its all finished now.

Alaska.

I have been following the training of a woman named Jill and a guy named Geoff as they train to do a winter race on the Iditarod trail in Alaska. They started the other day and you can follow the leader board here and see where everybody is.

They are both competing in the 350 mile trail race. Jill is doing it on bike and Geoff is running. Its a self supported race so they have everything the need with them the whole time. If you have a chance check out there blogs leading up to the start of the race, its pretty cool. Plus, Jill has some beautiful shots of Alaska from her training, its beautiful. Cheers.

Chris

Academy Awards.

Ray and I are watching the Oscar's and here are a few of my thoughts as the show plays.

-I love John Stewart. He's so funny.

-I love my DVR. Because then I can rewind all the techy speeches over and over and over and over.

-I loved Casey Affleck in The Assasination of Jesse James... and think he should have won Best Supporting Actor. He did an awesome job.

-I hate that we didn't get to see all the movies mentioned over and over again. We have some serious DVD renting to do to catch up.

-I have never watched a French cartoon, but I always love their art. I want to go rent Persepolis, the simplicity on the black and white looks awesome and it seems really creative.

-It was cool that the people of the military got to read out one category. That young women from the Virgin Islands had no idea that she would be on the Oscar's when she signed up for the military. I bet that was cool for her, I hope they all make it back home unharmed and soon.

-I secretly think it would be so cool to be a conductor. I also would love to create scores for movies. Music really makes a movie and would love to be part of that.

-I don't like 99% of musicals. I respect them as an art form, but I hate listening to typical "musical" music, I think its so corny. I have no desire to see "Enchanted".

-I am glad Diablo Cody won Original Screenplay for Juno. I also thought Lars and the Real Girl was super creative and could have won also.

-Daniel Day Lewis has great hair.

-I think John Steward was great, I love his since of humor.

Fun night, so long, but fun. Cheers.

Chris

I Heart Kyser.

So the other day I posted about my (Allen's) capo that broke and how sad I was because I have been using this capo for a long time and hate the idea of buying a new one (because I am really cheap). I decided last night to check out the Kyser website to see about a new capo. Then I had the brilliant idea to contact them and see if there was anything they could do to replace my capo. Here's the simple email I sent them;

Dear Kyser,

The spring on my capo broke and I was wanting to know if there is any warranty on your products. I have really enjoyed using your product and hated seeing it break. Please let me know.

Chris Holohan

I felt it was simple and to the point, not demanding, but easy to see what I would like, a new capo.

Then this morning I received this response from Kyser, also very simple and to the point;

Yes, just send it back to us and we will send you a new one.
Nick Palmer

It worked! I am getting a new cope.....for free. I couldn't be happier. I have no idea who this "Nick Palmer" is, but you know what, I love him (I guess it could be a girl, but I assume its a man).

The snapped up capo will go in the mail tomorrow and I will hopefully receive a new one soon.

Thanks Kyser.

Chris

Thunder, Lightning and Snow?

Ray and I were at our friends Matt and Beth's house tonight playing Wii, which is really fun. I love Wii Tennis, Matt and I are the Venus and Serena Williams of Wii Tennis.

Anyways, this afternoon its started raining and while we were playing the game it began lightning and thundering and when we finally left, to go home, we noticed it snowed during the storm. I didn't realize that it can snow during a thunderstorm. Did you know that? I thought was pretty dang cool.

Last thought. We have had kids camps the past 2 weekends and we have our last one this coming weekend. I would love it if it snowed for the next few days and all the Phoenix kids could have a lot of snow to play it, they would freaking love it. Cheers.

Chris

Its a Harkin.

I had the day off today, because I worked this past weekend, and Ray and I were planning on going up to spend the day in Sedona, but I wasn't feeling great so we just hung around town and went to see a movie.

We went and saw Juno and we both loved it. I think the characters were great, the script was great and I really loved the way they portrayed her as a confused kid that understood that she didn't even really grasp who she really was as a person. I thought it was brilliant. Plus, the music was wonderful and for me thats a huge bonus. For me music can make or break a movie.

A movie that has great music is Good Will Hunting. Its all Elliot Smith and it fits the film perfectly. If you have never watched the movie, check it out and pay attention to the music, its awesome.

Another movie that I think is brilliant musically, is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Its amazing, check it out. Cheers.

Chris

Tonight we took the dogs out to pee and the coyotes were going crazy. They make this strange mixture of chattering/howling/screaming/barking, its a freaky noise.

Chris

Good Bye Old Friend.

I lost an old friend tonight. The spring on my trusty Kyser capo that I have owned as long as I have been playing guitar snapped while working on a song for a friends wedding.

Me and this capo have lived a lot of life together. This whole relationship started back in the summer of 1995 when I started playing guitar (thanks Jay). Later that year I received a guitar for Christmas (same one I still play [she needs some work done]) from my aunt Pat and then "borrowed" this particular capo from my youth minister Allen Gonzalez.

I suppose I technically "stole" the capo, but is it considered stealing if you never intended to keep it forever? At what point does it become "stolen"? My guess, in this instance, would be when I began referring to my capo as the one I "accidentally stole from my youth minister". But, see its still all gray because it was an accident. I don't know.

Perhaps I should mail it back to Allen with a thank you card. Lets see, how that may sound.

Dear Rev. Gonzalez,

Thank you for the use of your Kyser capo (pat. 4,583,440). It came in superly dooperly handy since I didn't own one of my own and it was really really kind of you to allow me to use one of yours for the past dozen or so years.

I am returning it because I am no longer in need of your Kyser capo because it has some how become broken and I, obviously, have no need for a broken capo. It would only be right of me to return the now broken capo to its rightful owner. I will, however, argue that perhaps I should retain custody of the capo since it has been in my possession for such a long time.

Imagine, if you will, a wolf that was raised from a pup by a nice suburban family with an SUV and season tickets to the ballet and then 12 years later the wolf was returned to its rightful pack. Would that be fair? I don't think so. Imagine the relationship that has been forged between this glorious animal and its new "pack". A dozen or so years of shared experiences that can't be bought with the purest gold.

So after some time thinking about this sensitive issue I am writing to inform you that I will not be returning the capo to you since I have become the capo's true owner. Sure I technically stole the capo (accidentally), but lets not argue over the details.

the bottom line is that the capo is broken, period, and will never be used again by me or you or anyone else on this magnificent planet. Unless I chose to recycle it, then perhaps one day it will be used in the construction of something breathtaking, like a skyscraper or a Toyota Prius.

Thank you again for letting me borrow/steal your capo so many years ago.

With all my breath,

The Reverend Christopher B. Holohan

Cheers readers, do your best to not snap a spring on your good friend tonight. I have no idea what that means, but it sound awful.

Chris

Ray Ray Birthday.

Today is Rachel's birthday, the big two-eight. We had a party tonight and I will post some pics tomorrow when I get them put on my laptop.

All I know is as the years go by that Ray Ray just gets hotter and hotter, woo, hott!

Chris

I Love Making Fun of White People.

My friend, Chris-Jake, put a link on his blog for an amazing website called "Stuff White People Like". Its freaking awesome because it's so true. Take the time and go through the whole list and hit "older posts" at the bottom, it's worth it. Thanks Chris-Jake.

Comment on what your favorite one is.

Cheers.

Chris

No motivation.

Sorry to my handful of faithful blog readers that hourly check to see what amazingly awestastic bit of prose I composed for that day that I have been in such a blog slump. I have just had no motivation to write about anything. I will try to write something later today, perhaps something sappy about this beautiful Vanentines day. Lets see if that happens. Cheers.

Chris

Ray Ray.

Did you guys hear Amy Winehouse give Ray Ray a shout out during her speech last night? I was proud of my little wife.

Fun Jeep Day.

Ray and I had about an hour this morning before lunch and decided to take the dogs on a ride in the Jeep. We went up to an overlook that has a great view of the valley and the snow higher up the mountain hasn't melted yet, well some has melted and made for a fun muddy ride. On the way up we saw a coyote running along the road, it was cool, the dogs freaked. Here's a few pics.

Nice Arizona Snow

The Jeep Enjoying a morning in the snow.

Ray and the danes enjoy our morning together.

Finally at the overlook. It's kind of funny, this was the highest point
we drove to and there was no snow up here. Go figure.

We've All Done It.

(Disclaimer: You may find the following gross/inappropriate/"why did he go there" in nature, if you are easily offended find another place to get your daily blog fix, but its not that bad.)

There are things that we all have in common as human beings.

1. We were all babies.
2. We all have to eat and sleep to survive.
3. We all agree I am the coolest person ever.
4. We have all farted in a public place and kept on walking like nothing ever happened.

I know its not something we like to talk about it, but we have all let it slide out and never acknowledged the fact that it happened. When this happens to me I often think what its like to be the person that was following me and what are they thinking.

You know the scene, you're in the Gap checking out the clearance rack and as you turn to go check out the sale they are having on jeans you silently release a little "puffer" and there is a woman shopping for her teenage son and you know she is getting the brunt of the force. I hate that, but it happens.

Well yesterday as we were leaving our local Fry's (like Kroger for my east cost readers and Super Spar for my SA readers) and one of the people walking in front of us farted and my lovely wife and I walked through it and sucked the nasty into our precious lungs. I knew it had to be this couple because there wasn't anyone else near us and there were no piles of poop on the ground around us.



Have a good day.

We've All Done It.

There are things that we all have in common as human beings.

1. We were all babies.
2. We all have to eat and sleep to survive.
3. We all agree I am the coolest person ever.
4. We have all farted in a public place and kept on walking like nothing ever happened.

I know its not something we like to talk about it, but we have all let it slide out and never acknowledged the fact that it happened. When this happens to me I often think what its like to be the person that was following me and what are they thinking.

You know the scene, you're in the Gap checking out the clearance rack and as you turn to go check out the sale they are having on jeans you silently release a little "puffer" and there is a woman shopping for her teenage son and you know she is getting the brunt of the force. I hate that, but it happens.

Well yesterday as we were leaving our local Fry's (like Kroger for my east cost readers and Super Spar for my SA readers) and one of the people walking in front of us farted and my lovely wife and I walked through it and sucked the nasty into our precious lungs. I knew it had to be this couple because there wasn't anyone else near us and there were no piles of poop on the ground around us.

(Disclaimer: You may find the following gross/inappropriate/"why did he go there" in nature, if you are easily offended find another place to get your daily blog fix, but its not that bad.)

Have a good day.

Its Too True.

I looked at some Banksy art today with a friend I work with and saw an image that really caught my attention.



I think the thing that got me was how much truth came pouring through this image. So many times we want credit/fame/acknowledgment for the things we do to help somebody else. Very interesting. The more I look at it the more it makes me think that I never want to live my life this way. Cheers.

Chris

Face up.

For readers of holohan.blogspot.com that are a million years old and don't own a computer (and since I cleverly hide my blog on the internet and that lives inside a computer, I think my Nanny would be the only one that would fit this category) There is an online community called Facebook.

Yesterday I got hooked up with a ton of old friends on this community. While we were in SA I set up an account, but I got frustrated with the slow internet so I never really did anything on it. However, now I am officially on.

It was cool because I heard from a ton of people I haven't spoken with in years. Thanks Facebook.

Chris

unChristian.

I really don't know how to start this post. I am having a hard time expressing this emotion that I am feeling right now. I'll try.

I have, for a long time, wondered what people who don't believe in God think of people that do believe in God. I have always wanted to do some interviews of people to see how "Christians" are perceived. I assumed that it would not be too great, but not necessarily bad. Kind of like more of a general indifference more than a truly negative view. However, I think I was wrong.

I have started thinking about all of this again because of a book that some of the people here at the camp have been reading called unChristian and its all about what people think about the church. I have not started reading yet, but from what I have heard others say, its not too nice.

I will keep you updated as I get into the book.

I think the thing that gets me so emotional about this is that as a person who wants to follow Jesus I am wanting to be a person of love, but the sad thing is what most people see about Christians is anything but love. I was just reading a Fox News story about a church that is protesting Heath Ledgers funeral because of a movie he acted in. On further research I found that this church has a website titled www.godhatesfags.com.

I look at this and get so upset/frustrated/angry/confused/sad/uneasy because this is what millions of people will see about people who claim to follow Jesus rather than the people that are loving their neighbor and trying to live and love like Jesus. I mean, I am the first to admit that none of us are perfect, but I mean godhatesfags.com seems so far removed from love and Jesus and anything that Jesus stood for that to me it makes me feel almost embarrassed to be a christian because then I am lumped into the same group as the creators of this website.

I'm serious, I really am having a hard time trying to figure out how wrap my head around all of this.

I am also curious now of what people outside of the church think of me, how they perceive me and my life. I pray they see a picture of love more than a picture of hate. Cheers.

Chris

Snow

Hey Guys, we got a little snow today, it was pretty cool. Nothing like Minnesota snow or Alaska snow, but more than South Africa snow. Fun.

Chris

We Have Phones and Hockey.

Ray and I went to the mall and got celly(s) today, thats "cell phones" for you in the midwest. Ray got a smooth little sexy phone and I got a wide bulky business phone. Its nice being able to speak one the phone again, I guess, http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifI called 2 friends and didn't reach either, oh well.

On a much more cooler note that purchasing our celly(s), we got invited to semi-pro hockey game (or match [or whatever]). We saw the Arizona Sundogs take on the New Mexico Scorpions. We had awesome seats right on the glass, its was great. I haven't watched hockey in about a decade, but man I can get stoked about any kind of competition. There were a couple of fights, which is always nice, and we (the Arizona Sundogs) won 9-4.

We are hoping to paint the inside our our house tomorrow, that will be nice and make the place feel more homey. Cheers.

Chris

Winter Camp and Gym.

Winter Camp

We are in the midst of our winter camp for this year and things are going really well. We have normal camp things going down, like main sessions and eating food and group time and a girl burning her pillow on the wood-burning stove in the cabins etc, but today we also did a community clean up project. We are wanting to teach the teenagers about being good neighbors and loving those around them so today we took over 200 students into the neighborhood by our facility to work in peoples yard. The students raked yards and hauled trash and cleaned gutters etc. I think it was cool and the reaction from the neighborhood seems good as well. I think some of the teenagers learned a lot about serving during this experience.

Gym

This morning I hit the gym and when I was heading back into the locker room I noticed the basketball courts. So I popped in just to shoot a few baskets because I am in desperate need of American sports after the long time with nothing but rugby and cricket (both of which I like now and think are great sports, Flaps don't write a nasty comment) and a crazy thing happened. I was AWESOME!!!! I mean, I suck at basketball, I have never been considered a "baller" and/or a "shot caller", but today I freaking rocked. I was hitting free throws like I had been practicing everyday for a decade and knocking down jumpers from all over the court. It may have been the best I have ever been on the court.

So I was thinking creatively about how to blog about my near perfect experience on the basketball court and I had the idea to morph a picture of my face on a pic of Jordan's body, because that would be cool, but things didn't work like I had hoped. So here are the 2 pics I tried to morph.

Jordan triumphantly "bringing the noise" in front of thousands of awestruck fans.

Here is a pic of me screaming at a chicken that a family in Cape Town
had as a pet and let run around their house.

The problem was, when I did this in Photoshop my result didn't look like me at all on Jordan's body. I am not sure what it looks like, but its a bit creepy in my opinion.I can't point out exactly whats wrong with it, but somethings just not right.


Cheers.

Chris

Gym and Dylan.

I went to the gym tonight for first time in about a month of doing nothing (nothing includes eating wonderful sweet and greasy food) and I can feel I am going to be sore tomorrow, then really sore the following day, because, for some silly reason, thats the way it works.

On the way home I was listening to an interview from 1981 with Bob Dylan (because I am a geek and I love public radio) and he said something that got me thinking. Here's a little piece from the interview:

Dylan: Not to say though, that art is valueless. I think art can lead you to God.

Herman: It's that it's purpose?

Dylan: I think so. I think that's everything's purpose. I mean if it's not doing that it's leading you the other way. It's certainly not leading you nowhere. It's bringing you somewhere. It's bringing you that way or this way.

I think Dylan has a good perspective on life that I miss many times. The idea that everything that we do leads us either closer to God or further from God. To love or away from love. I love the line "It's certainly not leading you nowhere.".

This is something I need to be reminded of because its easy for me to wrapped up in my little life that I miss the bigger picture of life. But, while I don't always feel the decisions I make are moving me one way or the other I suppose it does. I can always choose to be more loving or kind or helpful or giving or forgiving or thankful etc... or I can choose to be more stingy with my money or rude or short tempered or hateful or selfish etc... And if I look at these choices that we can make, I see its easy to pick out which of these can move me closer to be Godly and which push me further away. The thing that gets me is that I so many times have associated with the second list out of some belief that this makes me a stronger man or a stronger leader. While the whole time its probably just some insecurity inside of me thats showing its head while I should just be loving people like Jesus did. That would move me to where I want to be in life and to the person that I want to be.

Anyways this is just something I found interesting and wanted to pass it on. You can find a transcript of that Dylan interview here, its pretty interesting. Dylan goes on to speak about God and beauty and thats pretty cool too. Cheers.

Chris

American....again.

I am officially an American again and it feels might good. Me and my buddy Kris Mengarelli (who happens to be one of the toughest people on earth [and taught me to make fried ravioli]) ran a few errands tonight and now I am a card carrying member to my local video rental establishment and I am also a member at my local YMCA I have to get back in shape. I have one concern though. The pool at the YMCA has a waterside and high dive. Its going to take a lot of self control to swim laps and not ride the slide for an hour in my spandex shorts and dark tinted goggles. Weeeeeeee.......Weeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Then, to top of my America transformation, after supper Ray (who happens to be one of the top 74 toughest women I know) made a batch of awesome chocolate chip cookies (How American is that to go sign up at a health club, then drive home and eat cookies).

So I am an American again, but it all stops tomorrow, because I will be back in the gym. I can't wait. I mean I have become very emotionally attached to this new fat I have picked up since being back in the States, but some relationships are not healthy and its time to call it quits. Good bye new fat, please leave because I miss hanging out with the old fat that you are covering. Cheers.

Chris

Fireplace.

I have always wanted a fireplace in my home and now we have one and yes, its as awesome as I thought it would be.

Got up early this morning while it was still dark, made a fire, drank some coffee. Amazing.

I love fire.

Chris

Trip To Pheonix.

Ray and I drove to Phoenix today for a little Ikea shopping trip. For you who don't know, Rachel (my wife) and I just moved from South Africa to Prescott, AZ to work with a camp called UCYC. We arrived on Monday evening with our 2 great danes and a 5x8 U-haul trailer containing pretty much everything we own. So we have been saving and budgeting to get furniture when we got to Arizona. So today we went and stocked up. We were given a couch and a recliner for the living room (both are awesome) so we could get a few extra things that we were wanting, but didn't know if we could afford.

We got a new coffee table, bedside tables, rug, sofa table, dressers, silverware, down comforter, coat and shoe rack. It was awesome. We have not had nice furniture our entire married life and it was great getting to go pick out some stuff that we wanted and be able to decorate our home the way we want to. Fun.

We got one more thing that I am super stoked about. I got a new chair for the bedroom. WOOHOO!!!!! For you who don't know, I (we) had a chair in South Africa in our bedroom that was my favorite place on earth. It was a big leather chair and I would blog and read and pretty much live in that chair when we weren't on tour. So now I have a new chair. I got a Poang chair from Ikea. Its not a cushy chair, but its mad comfy and has better back support than the African chair. I plan on chilling out here before bed every night....of my life.

Here's my new best friend.

So thats about all. We are loving being here in AZ, its only been 2 days, but we feel so at home and everyone here at the camp has been so nice and helpful, I look forward to being a part of this team. Cheers.

Chris

Idiot, Road, Snow,Home!!!

Idiot

Ok. I have to apologize to everyone for being so upset last night about the KOA in Canute, OK. Here's what happened.

Guinness and I were walking around looking for a bathroom and the only one we found was locked and thats what sparked my to be so upset that I spend money on a room at a place with no facilities. I knew there was another building with laundry facilities, but I knew it was locked for the evening. However, the other bathroom was in that building, but there was access from outside.

So basically what all this boils down to is 1. there was a bathroom, 2. I am an idiot.

I must also apologize to Ray for not finding the bathroom and because of my fault she was forced to pee behind a tree in 20 degree weather, sorry baby.

Road

Todays driving didn't feel that bad until the last 30 minutes or so. You get off of Interstate 17 onto a smaller highway (169) and from that point it feels like the road will never end. I swear the last half an hour felt as long as the first 20 hours.

Snow

The girls saw/walked in snow for the first time today. Guinness is so timid that she didn't know what to do, but Damar is tough as nails and trudged on through. I was a proud parent watching my girls experience something new.

Side note: Flagstaff, AZ is gorgeous. There was snow everywhere and the mountains were all covered in snow, it was great.

Home

We are home. Right now I am laying in my old bed we had before South Africa and loving it. The house is small and "cute" (thats a Rachel word, I would never ever use a world like that to describe a home). I have already made a run to our local Wal-Mart, I am an American again. Cheers.

Chris

Idiot, Road, Snow,Home!!!

Idiot

Ok. I have to apologize to everyone for being so upset last night about the KOA in Canute, OK. Here's what happened.

Guinness and I were walking around looking for a bathroom and the only one we found was locked and thats what sparked my to be so upset that I spend money on a room at a place with no facilities. I knew there was another building with laundry facilities, but I knew it was locked for the evening. However, the other bathroom was in that building, but there was access from outside.

So basically what all this boils down to is 1. there was a bathroom, 2. I am an idiot.

I must also apologize to Ray for not finding the bathroom and because of my fault she was forced to pee behind a tree in 20 degree weather, sorry baby.

Road

Todays driving didn't feel that bad until the last 30 minutes or so. You get off of Interstate 17 onto a smaller highway (169) and from that point it feels like the road will never end. I swear the last half an hour felt as long as the first 20 hours.

Snow

The girls saw/walked in snow for the first time today. Guinness is so timid that she didn't know what to do, but Damar is tough as nails and trudged on through. I was a proud parent watching my girls experience something new.

Side note: Flagstaff, AZ is gorgeous. There was snow everywhere and the mountains were all covered in snow, it was great.

Home

We are home. Right now I am laying in my old bed we had before South Africa and loving it. The house is small and "cute" (thats a Rachel word, I would never ever use a world like that to describe a home). I have already made a run to our local Wal-Mart, I am an American again. Cheers.

Chris

On the Road Again and Again.

We had a long day of driving today. We left the ATL at 5:20 this morning and got to Canute, OK to stay at a KOA camp ground in a "Kabin" which is little more than a wooden shed with a double bed and a bunk bed. It was the cheapest option for us because of the dogs. However, the guy "forgot" to tell me that the bathroom is closed. Thats not nice. I hope to get a refund on staying here, I wasn't very excited about paying money for a place with no bathroom besides the fact that I am going to my new home/job tomorrow and I will not have a chance to take a shower before arriving. I am getting more upset the more I type so I will change the subject.

BP coffee sucks.

The dogs were great in the Jeep today. I was a bit nervous that they would get kind of crazy in the back, but they pretty much just slept. Guinness rode most of the day with her head up between Ray and me. She actually was awake for most of the ride, she loves riding in a vehicle and watching where we are going. Damar slept the whole time, but thats what she always does anyways.

I am off to bed. We drove a little over 15 hours today and tomorrow will hopefully be around 12. We are planning on getting up really early so we can try to make it to Prescott while it is still light out. However, without a shower maybe we should arrive after dark so my new coworkers/neighbors wont see how greasy I am. Cheers.

Chris

Heading Out.

We leave at 5:30am tomorrow. We are booked at a room in OK about 15 hours from here and then expect a little over 12 hours on Monday to make it "home". Going to bed now.

Chris

Fun.

We had such slow internet in SA that I never got to check out funny videos that float around the internet.

This is so freaking funny, watch the whole thing, then watch it 73 times in a row and it just gets better.

Update.

We are in Tallahassee now. We got the dogs from DC the other day and they were alive and well. We then drove to Savannah and spent a day with Rachel's dad and then made our way to Tallahassee. We will be here until Tuesday morning and then back to the A-T-L to make final arrangements before heading west. Is been a crazy first week in the US and I am looking forward to a little break in all the driving this week before the start out to AZ. I got to sleep until 7 today so that was nice, to time for jet lag. Cheers.

Chris

On the Road Again.

Hey Guys,

Ray and I are heading up to DC this morning to get the dogs. We stayed in Raleigh with my aunt Colette and will travel all day and end up at her dads tonight in Savannah. We don't have a cell phone so you can't reach us, I will try to get a blog up tomorrow so you know we made it.

The Jeep is driving wonderfully on the interstates, I wasn't sure how well it would handle the road tripping. I love my Jeep. Cheers.

Chris

WooHoo!

I have wanted a Jeep for over a decade and now we have one.

Ray and I picked up our Jeep yesterday from Jasper Jeep. I have been working with them a while over the internet and they had the Jeep with the stuff we needed at a price we could afford. If you need a Jeep and you are in Georgia they are a wonderful dealership to work with.

We drove up yesterday morning, it was 21 degrees (-6 Celsius) and there was snow on the ground. Everything was already filled out when we got there and I just had to set up my insurance, sign some papers and off we went.

Here are some pics.


Here I am signing the paper work. I look calm on the outside, but I am freaking out on the inside, I was finally getting a new Jeep.


Here she is.


Don't I look sexy?



This is a picture of a happy boy. Last time I was this happy was when I got Tetris for my Nintendo.

We Made It.

Hey everybody. We are here. I will write a more detailed report later, it was a really smooth trip. Cheers.

Chris

Our Schedule.

Hey Guys, Here is our schedule when we get to America.

Jan 1----Arrive in ATL, Christmas party with Ray's fam.
Jan 2----Purchase Jeep, drive to my aunts in NC.
Jan 3----Probably drive to DC sleep at campsite or in Jeep or something.
Jan 4----Pick up dogs in the morning at the Airport, drive to Savannah.
Jan 5----Rest, take dogs to the beach, hang out with Ray's dad.
Jan 6----Drive to Tallahassee, FL.
Jan 7----Rest and visit my family and hopefully some old friends.
Jan 8----Drive to ATL.
Jan 9-12-Visit Atlanta people, rent trailer, pack our stuff we left in Georgia.
Jan 13---Leave for AZ.

We are thinking we will take 3 days to get to AZ, I think we can shoot for 2 and save money on a night in a hotel. But, I am also the guy trying to talk my wife into sleeping in the Jeep in DC to save money on a hotel, we'll see.

We would love to see as many people as possible. Email me if you are in our route and hopefully we can see each other. Cheers.

Chris

Weight Just a Minute.

I have a bit of a weight issue.

Firstly, I complete a triathlon earlier this month and was very proud of myself. It was the longest bit of endurance sport I have ever done. However, since then I have done nothing. So while I was pretty fit, now I am not. I was hoping to arrive back in America nice and lean, now I am not. Oh well. This isn't why I am writing this post.

There is a weight restriction on luggage that you can take on an airplane. I think this is so people can't hide in luggage. But, whatever the reason we are allowed 2 bags at 23kgs each. When we moved here we were allowed 32kgs per person. So that is making packing more difficult.

So today I took our largest piece of luggage to the gym to weigh my bag on the nice electronic scale in the locker room. Our bag that I was hoping was 23kgs weighed in at 31kgs. In travel terms, we are screwed. So I unpacked the back to where it weighed 23kgs and now we have a lot of extra stuff that we don't know what to do with. Plus, the airline charges R650 ($100) for every KG you are over, THATS INSANE!!!!!

Thats our problem at the moment. If you have any handy hints, I would love to hear them. If you would like to sponsor me a new wardrobe, I will leave all my clothes here and we will make the weight. We will take any suggestions. Cheers.

Chris

Here is our to do list that I copied and pasted from Word. The check marks are complete the bullet points still need to be done (some things we can't do until we get to the US). This is what we have been doing in preparation of returning home. Cheers. It started as a short list of things and then we began adding as needed. On Word it is color coded, but that didn't transfer in the pasting. And as much as I love the readers of my little blog, I am not going to spend the next hour color coding this list for you. Love you. Cheers


MOVING TO DO LIST

✔ Call Chris’ Family
✔ Email newsletter
✔ Email Frank a moving budget
✔ Email Coyne about moving allowance
✔ Decide on Petwings by 17th September
✔ Decide on plane tickets
✔ Ask Suzy to research moving truck costs
✔ Email WOM about “relocation fund”
✔ Speak to mari’s dad
✔ Figure out how to sell our house
✔ Get car cleaned and detailed
✔ Find out if we should sell car to person or dealership
✔ Speak to Liandi about house
✔ Find dog sitter for last tour cycle (Christiaan)
✔ Find out if health insurance carry-over is necessary
✔ Pack & Ship boxes
✔ Sell furniture & clothes
✔ Email Clark’s 20th September for inventory of furniture
✔ Call vet about rabies vaccination and health certificates
✔ Electric Bill!!!!
✔ Compare prices of post to air freight
✔ Get boxes & packing supplies
✔ Figure out where to ship things (az, atl, where in atl?)
✔ Get vacuum from Annette
✔ Taxes
✔ Clean office
✔ Call appraiser
✔ Get a condor for Nov and Dec
✔ Get reimbursement for plane tickets from UCYC
✔ Find a place for the dogs to stay 1st week in Jan
✔ Make a schedule for our arrival in America
✔ Write and email newsletter
✔ Set date for garage sale and invite people
✔ Talk to Pieter’s guy about fixing dents on car
✔ Find out extent of Tertius’ interest on house
✔ Call Johann & ask how soon couple would move in/buy
✔ Email prices to Liandi
✔ Ask Alycia about coffee table
✔ Price blinds and sms to Elsabe along with our banking details
✔ Get Euydia’s email and write her about chair
✔ Make estimated budget for next year including house
✔ Speak to Gideon about south africans taking some of our stuff
✔ Get Gio’s email and write her about keeping our stuff at office
✔ Fix table and chairs
✔ Decide on furniture and email Clark’s
✔ Call vet about health certificates
✔ Call petwings about final details
✔ Call Tertius about couches
✔ Put washing machine and couches in junk mail
✔ Call Elaine about selling house – whatever it takes!
✔ Call JOJO about cell phone
✔ Find an additional signer for our bank account here (Pauli?)
✔ Sms Schalk about getting together to discuss house
✔ Finalize date for dog’s flight and inform petwings
✔ Pay petwings
✔ Pack pictures
✔ Call Hennie about condor
✔ Email Warren about down comforter and pillows
✔ Call Jacques and Vilene
✔ Find out all info about cell phone contract
✔ Figure out what bills will overlap in Jan and maybe Feb
✔ Email Yanee about washing machine and extra stuff (plates, etc)
✔ Find out when mum is in US. Have her check storage 4 us?
✔ Talk to Hennie about car stuff so we can get the money
✔ Call Petwings about arrival time of dogs in DC
• Buy a car
✔ Email Chad and ask what kind of sweets Rachel likes (chocolates)
✔ Send newsletter TODAY
✔ Get new contacts
✔ Register for Triathlon
✔ Email David about furniture and health insurance
✔ Pick up Condor
✔ Email Euydia about Floorie not responding
✔ Find someone to take over cell phone contract (Marisa/Yanee?)
✔ Cancel Heath insurance
✔ Cancel Car insurance
✔ Fill out pet wings forms
✔ Fax copy of Chris’ passport to mccarthy
✔ Call Postnet
✔ Fix Futon Bed Frame Base.
✔ Put TV in Junk Mail
✔ Call SAA about exit row seats on the 26th
✔ Get missionary letter for plane tickets from 13th Floor
✔ Deposit R220 into Alycia’s account
✔ Call Gouws Attorneys and set appt
✔ Call Elaine about time for lawyer appt
✔ Call Sckalk about time for lawyer appt
✔ Cancel Electricity
✔ Talk to people we know about selling house for special price
✔ Speak to the bank about everything
✔ Call Toyota to check on payment clearing
✔ Call Leon about washing machine
✔ Set up online banking for Pauli (levy)
✔ Fax letter of notice to Home loans
✔ Email Laura about buying the bed
✔ Email Suzy about $500 deposit and Brandon’s money.
✔ Get details on how to wire money from US to SA
✔ Have Suzy get swift code from Bank of A
✔ Cancel Multiply
✔ Cancel McCarthy Club
✔ Figure out amount to wire to US
✔ Email Josh Tillman about house money and taxes
✔ Find Martin and Jani
✔ Give notice to WOM?
✔ Call Erna about how to properly socialize Guinness
✔ Call Liandi about furniture payment and house
✔ Call Elsabe about furniture payment and house?
• Email pictures (Chris)
• New Car Insurance
✔ Transfer name of cell phone contract
✔ Make final decision on how to sell house once gone
✔ Sort who gets what keys
✔ File and organize all paper work
• Return Therapy Files and keys
✔ Arrange with Annette a day to return vacuum and dishes
✔ Find someone to take condor from airport
• Wash condor
• Contact Warren about pick up and payment
✔ Set up date for dogs’ health certificates
• Wash dogs
• Call Petwings about herbal supplement and bringing dog food/bed
• Arrange for Schalk and Elaine to meet
✔ Call Iska and arrange date and time to bring Jani’s stuff
✔ Call Piet de wet about monitors
• Make cd of house pictures to give to Elaine
✔ Fill holes in walls and repaint
• Make CDs for trips
• Defrost and clean fridge (Sat morning)
• Final cleaning of house
• Elaine-cd, meet w/ Schalk, who has keys,
• Johan-give set of keys, lawyers/Schalk, email address,
• Schalk-keys (business cards), other agents, his agent
• Weigh luggage at gym
• Clear phone (contacts, pictures, messages, etc.)

I am sure more will be added before Monday.

Vet Visit.

We took the girls to the vet today for their final medical health form thing that they need to immigrate to America. When we first arrived there were a few people in from of us in line so we waited in the little waiting area. Our vet works out of his home so the waiting area is no more than a couple of benches, a small counter and a rack with rubber bones and dog food. There was a mastiff waiting outside in the car port and a few other families waiting outside the wall by the street with their animals.

As we waited we could hear the couple that had taken their fox terrier in the examination room. As we learned later, the woman, with the fox terrier, goes on and on with her friends about how unsafe it is to feed dogs bones because it can damage their insides. Well, yesterday, for the first time ever, she gave her dog a bone and the bone got lodged in the dog's throat and cut its esophagus and the dog was in a real bad shape. So they brought the dog in, hoping there was something that could be done, but there wasn't. The surgery would have been thousands of Rands and probably wouldn't have worked anyway, so they had to put the dog down.

We knew none of this at the time, but we could hear the woman crying and crying and figured they were putting their dog to sleep. It was one of the saddest things I have ever experienced. I felt so sorry for this lady. They took some time with the vet then left the vets carrying the dead fox terrier in a black bag to bury at their home.

Pets become such a part of the family. I am glad I have never had to experience a pet dying before, I know it will be a hard day when our dogs die. I am not the most emotional man, but even thinking of makes my heart ache. I know my mom had a rough time when her cat, that she had since I was a kid, died a few years ago.

On a happier note, the girls passed their final evaluation. Guinness weighed in at a lean 39kgs (86 lbs) and Damar tip the scales at a heftier 44.5kgs (99 lbs). We will take them to the kennel on Monday before we fly out. They will stay there a few days and leave on the Thursday. They are so confused right now with all the packing and what not and I hate that I can't let them know what is happening. This is going to be a really stressful week for the wee pups.

Hope you are all well. Cheers.

Chris

PS
Its so hot at night and there is no breeze coming in our bedroom window that even Rachel is looking for some relief in the form of a nice American winter. For you who don't know Ray very well, she HATES winter and HATES being cold. Just wanted to share.

Christmas.

Merry Christmas all of you readers of Great Danes and Coffee Stains I am pleased/sad/excited/stressed to say this will probably by my last Christmas greeting from South Africa (unless its during a wonderful holiday in future).

All that said there are a few things I would like to write about. I have always wanted this to be a place where I feel I can share my thoughts safely, however I feel I have kept my heart guarded a bit. I don't know why. I hope in the future that won't be the case. So, I would like to share something.

With Christmas approaching I believe that every Christian (and maybe everyone that celebrates Christmas is some form) reflects on the true meaning of the this season, whether its contemplating the basic existence of God or just really desiring the know how deep "Emmanuel", God with us, truly is. I have been doing this and realized something that I am not necessarily proud of. I am so western-capitalist in my heart when it comes to Christmas. Living in the summer for Christmas has really gotten me down. This is the third year in a row that I feel mildly depressed at this time because of climate. Thats sad. I should be rejoicing with all my heart that God came to Earth so that I could have a restored relationship with him. But, I would rather complain that its hot and I am sweating at night because we don't have AC.

I really want a cold, hot chocolate, fire placed, ice skating, winter wonderland Christmas. But is that wrong? Does that make me less of a Christian. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, I don't know.

Here is another example. We are stoked because Prescott (from what we have read on the internet) goes all out decorating for Christmas. Here the decorations are small and crappy, if there are any at all. Just the idea of shopping at the Mall of Georgia with all the sounds, lights and smells of Christmas makes me so homesick right now its pathetic. I don't think I will get an answer to this tonight, just thinking.

I was also thinking about this today because we drove by a kid begging at the traffic light today and while people begging at the light isn't rare there was something about this kid that really broke my heart. I would guess he was about 13, he was tall for his age and really really thin, about half Rachel's thickness. He was wearing a filth, old t-shirt that was huge and hanging, a pair of really short running type shorts and no shoes. He was bent over and limping like an old man. The thing that killed me was I had no idea what I could do to help this kid. Give him some change? Some food? Invite him to spend the night at our house? What could I really do that would honestly help this kid? Plus, in light of my self reflection about Christmas I felt like the biggest loser on the planet.

There is so much pain in this world and the older I get and the more I travel and learn the more pain I find. Its overwhelming and I don't know what I am doing to make this world a better place. I pray that I can impact people that will in turn go and impact people and hopefully through this chain reaction the world will be a better place.

So this Christmas has been nice, even with all the uncertainty of whether or not I am a decent person. I made homemade pancakes for breakfast (blueberry for Ray and plain for myself). Then we went to a movie with a friend that we work with and her sister.
After the movie we drove around to look for a restaurant to eat our Christmas dinner athttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif, but nothing was open so we went home and each at 2 baked potatoes and a pile of broccoli, awesome, not so much. Then we just hung out at home. It was an alright day, and as Don Chaffer says, "alrights not good, but alright's alright".

Oh yeah, next by nexy Tuesday night we will have already left SA, landed in ATL, became the proud owners of a dark green Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 4x4, eaten at one of our favorite American restaurants and enjoying a Christmas party with Ray's fam in Atlanta. Sounds nice. Cheers.

Chris

Friends and Furniture.

Friends

When we toured in America with Traveling Mercies we became good friends with a couple of South Africans named Jani and Martin. They were living in Missouri and Jani worked with CIY and Martin was leading worship at a church out there.

They had spent the last 3 years in the States without coming back to SA to visit because they had applied for their green cards. Well, because of a back up with immigration their visas ran out before they could get citizenship so they had to move back to SA. Its really sad for me because I know there are tons of people daily trying to become citizens, but Martin and Jani would have been a blessing to their community in America. I would be proud to have them as Americans, maybe one day.

So we got to hang out with them the other day for a few hours and had a wonderful time, I have really missed them. It will be the only chance to hang out before we leave, but was time well spent.

Furniture

More furniture has left our house today. A guy we work with came and collected our lounge suite that he purchased from us. We love our couches, they are great. But, more than our couches I will forever miss my chair.

here I am enjoying my last moments with my chair
before she was taken from me for eternity.

This Chair has been in our bedroom and has become my place of refuge when not on the road or taking a break from the long days on training at the beginning of the year. I have read books and emails, written blogs and songs, watched movies and photoshopped pictures in this chair. It has been replaced, for our last days, by a folding camping chair. At lease now I have cup holders. I guess all this means is that when we finally arrive in AZ it's time to find a new chair. Cheers.

Chris

It Begins.

We have been selling our stuff in our house, but people let us keep it to make the house look nicer for selling. However, today the first of our furniture left the house. A woman we work with came to fetch the items she purchased from us. She took the end tables, the wooden bathroom storage cart (which may have been our favorite thing in the house), the floor fan (no AC here, this will be missed) and our washing machine. So the house is starting to look a little empty and we will have to do laundry in the bathtub for the last 10 days in South Africa.

Its weird knowing we are leaving soon, but not feeling that way because our life is still pretty normal. But, now that the house is beginning to empty it makes the whole thing more real. Its a bit sad. Cheers.

Chris

Sick.

I was so sick yesterday for no reason at all. I woke up and didn't feel great and then that took a downward spiral and I spent the rest of the day in bed with a terrible headache and vomiting, trying to sleep.

So today I feel ok. I have a little headache, but everything else seems fine. Makes no sense. Cheers.

Chris

A Baby!!!!

No Rachel's not pregnant, well at least I don't think she is, she hasn't said anything about if she is and that seems like the kind of think she would tell me, you know. Whatever.

My best friend in high school was Bethany Miller and she just had a baby. I am so excited for her and her husband, Jake. Their son's name is Silas Jones Winfield and he was 7 lbs 14 oz and is 21 inches long. I don't know much about babies but that would be a big rainbow trout. Cheers.

Chris

Friends, Food and Farewells.

I love this picture. Wors looks like SUPER TOURIST and Sonja looks like shes singing a song like we are in a musical or something.


We have 2 friends coming over tonight that we toured with this year, Sonja and Wors (English speakers, pronounce the "w" like a "v", it's the Afrikaans word for sausage). Wors was our teams Coordinator this year, meaning that he was my right hand man and handled the logistics on tour, he did a fantastic job. He also played rhythm guitar in our band. And Sonja was a 1st year girl that grew into a wonderful woman during the year. Sonja also never new she could act, but became a wonderful actress on stage, from being silly and funny to serious and emotional she was brilliant.

So I guess this begins our time of farewells to our friends here. We have already said goodbye to many people that we will never see again, but there are others that we will enjoy the opportunity to spend a little more time with. Hopefully over food and wine we will end our chapter in South Africa that has brought so many different emotions and will forever remain in our memories. Its hard to believe its over.

FYI, tonight we will be having baked trout with sides of grilled asparagus and leeks, the Ray-Ray salad (spinach, strawberries, pomegranate seeds, avocado, onion and feta) and rolls. The Ray-Ray salad is fantastic, I recommend trying it out.

Have a great night, I plan on it. Cheers.

Chris

Bummed.

Night before last Ray and I were offered a free vacation to the beach with our friends Flaps and Amanda. However, yesterday and today we contacted everyone we could think of to watch the dogs and our house for a week and nobody could do it. So we can't go.

It really bums us out because we have been here for 2 years and have never had the money to go on a vacation and now that one is being handed to us and we can't go. Crap.

Chris

3 Weeks, House and Random.

We are leaving South Africa 3 weeks from today. I can't believe it, sometimes it doesn't feel real. We are getting stuff packed up, sold, boxed, shipped etc.

The house still hasn't sold. Our agent is checking with a lady that may rent for 6 months, then buy. I don't want to do that, but the market is bad now and I don't want to give the house away. If you have any advice, I would love to hear it, email me.

We saw Transformers the other night and I thought it was going to be childish and lame, but I loved it. I thought the graphics were fantastic and overall it was a really fun movie. I couldn't believe how many things I remembered about Transformers from when I was a kid. It was awesome.

My friend Andy Bales married a girl from South Africa and they were with our ministry in the US and they are here on holiday for Christmas. We went and hung out with them today and it was so much fun. I love that Andy Bales.

Have you watch My Name is Earl? Its so funny, we just watched the 1st season and I didn't expect to like it too much, but its great. I love the character Joy, so dang funny. Check it out.

Thats about all. Cheers.

Chris

T-Shirts.

I found a clothing company online today called Ten Bills and they have some cool t-shirt designs and their shirts are only $10. Thats awesome. I don't know anything about the quality of their product, but it may be worth checking out.

I need shirts in a bad way so I may try them out when we get back stateside. Cheers.
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Chris

What The...?

Is that my wife or Gollum? How can she sit like that?

If you ever chat with Rachel on Skype, now you know what it looks like from our side. Cheers.

Chris