So What's the Big Deal?

Wow, great Christmas time. I think I finally got over the craziness that comes with the season and enjoyed the time with my family, my friends, my God. It was great, though uneventful......

I'm noticing a trend with my friends this time of year....apparently none of them have been single during the holidays....now they crave a relationship more than ever. Not a bad thing, relationships are awesome (from what little I know about them), but I don't think I've experienced a time like this in my life. All of my friends fall into 2 categories, Married or Engaged, and Horribly Single. Now I say horribly single not meaning single is horrible, but single to a point where you wonder when/who they will date. I've been like this for quite some time now, so I'm used to it. You're looking at a pro of the single holiday. And I get it from my ENTIRE hometown when I come in. I think Booneville will have a revival when Joe Brunk brings a girlfriend home....

I am not holier than thou. I am nothing special. I would LOVE to be in a relationship. But I'm not worried about finding a date for New Years. The thought didn't cross my mind till a friend of mine mentioned it Sunday. For years I've spent the Christmas season secretly wallowing in my loneliness, but this year I finally spent that time to realize all the things I do have...

-Awesome, supportive family...that is for some reason proud of me....
-Friends who have my back in all seasons...
-A great job that doesn't feel like a job with awesome people (I'm lookin' at you, CFR)....
-A full time job that offers more than I need or deserve (Here's lookin' at you , Fruit)....
-A fantastic church that challenges me and helps me grow.
-And I'm most thankful for a relationship that started Christmas night 17 years ago, that's had its ups and downs (all on my part) and now is stronger than ever (all on His part)...

So to all my single ladies (and men), you WILL make it through. It may suck, it may be boring, but you live to fight another day.

And I can't wait to introduce my family to that awesome, godly chick who will be my wife, it will be fantastic...

So did I miss something???

Tonight was the College Football awards...basically all the major individuals (save the Heisman) were given out tonight. Expected to see some balance in the evening, because nobody (save Ndamukong Suh on defense) truly dominated in their position. This appeared to be an open and shut case for Mark Ingram to win the Heisman, simply because he had the best game the last weekend of the year in their win over Florida. You'd think he might pull in some awards tonight....

....then again....maybe not. Best Running Back went to Toby Gerhart. He was shut out of the Maxwell (Outstanding player) and the Walter Camp (Player of the Year). But you know who wasn't shut out.....

....Texas's Colt McCoy. dang, that dude raked it in. Not only did he take the Camp and the Maxwell, but he won both quarterback awards, the Davey O'Brien and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm. Has one dude won so much in one night and NOT gone on to win the Heisman? Now, I like Colt McCoy, I think he shoulda won last year, but I'm ready to give it to Ingram, or even Suh (tonight, he was the defensive side of the awards show to McCoy's offense) but now, shoot, it's all up in the air...and I'm ok with it....

So I would be upset....

Alright, I have to rant about sports, but hold on tight, I have advice for all (non sports related) at the end...

Imagine, if you will (and you will), that you're a football team who never gets a shot to be truly great, or at least, never to be recognized as great, because you're not in an elite conference. You schedule outside your mind, getting any BCS school to play you, but they won't because they are afraid to lose. You go undefeated, and because there are others who are undefeated, you accept the fact that you won't play for the national championship, but at least you'll get to prove yourself against a traditional powerhouse right? Wrong, you're put up against the only other non BCS school in the BCS bowls, and the same team you beat last year in the Poinsettia Bowl....

Welcome to the life of TCU. Now many might say, "What about Utah last year?" True, given their performance last year in the Sugar Bowl, maybe they did get shafted out of the Championship. But at least they got to prove themselves against Alabama. Don't get me wrong, I think TCU/Boise State could be a great game, but at the end of the day, the winner proves nothing...the BCS wins again. Can't Obama at least come through on one promise and get us a playoff?

Knowing that's not a possibility, here's my suggestion....
Put #1 and #2 in BCS in the Championship (check)
Go ahead and let Pac 10 and Big 10 Champ have the Rose Bowl (they're not giving it up anyway)
Throw the rest in a pool, get rid of any league ties to bowl games, and have ourselves a draft!! You could even make a TV special out of it (I'd watch it). That way, we at least have a shot for these "little schools that can" prove their worth.

That all being said, I think all the BCS bowls have some worth and wathchability, even Iowa vs. Georgia Tech. I just wish we weren't stuck in tradition so much....

Alright, out of my system...it's Christmas season, we're playing all Christmas music here at CFR, so you should listen....christianfamilyradio.com....secondly, some Christmas music you should check out....

- Coffey - "Joy Joy Joy, Joy to the World"
- Israel Houghton - "With us"
- Barlow Girl put out a Christmas album, called "Home for Christmas" lots of good stuff on it.
- Downhere - "Gift Carol"
- Brandon Heath - "Night Before Christmas"

And in a non-Christmas note, you SHOULD check out Needtobreathe's "The Outsiders" album. No joke. A top 5 CD of all time for me.

There, the gift of music, you've been served...

So I got a job!!

In case you haven't heard, I now have a job....and not one that's going away anytime soon.....

In the time between my first and second interview, I was really conflicted with whether or not I even wanted the job. But the more I thought about it, I began to realize this is a great opportunity. Luckily the second interview went well, and I officially got the job yesterday!!!

I will be working in the corporate office of Fruit of the Loom. Unfortunately, I won't be a model, or one of the guys in the fruit outfit for the commercials....and that's unfortunate for them, cuz I'd be awesome at both. Anywho, I will be in the IT department, giving support for all who need it, and working along my boy Ben Carr, who is the king up there.

Now I can be financially secure, claim complete independence from my parents, and maybe try to start this whole growing up thing.....forget New Years, I'm making resolutions now!!

I'm gonna get back to working out. I'm used to waking up at 5:40 anyway, so I'll just use the time to work out and stuff, instead of working at 6:30.

I'm cutting back on my food intake. Less fast food, more real food. Fruits and veggies.

And I've got a ton of little things I gotta take care of, but was waiting on a steady paycheck to do so....

- Fix my seat in the Jeep
- Get a new mattress set
- Take my Jeep in for a check up
- Order some new checks, since I'm gonna be here a while, and my old ones (which are almost out) still have my college address on them....from freshman year.....
- Do some Christmas shopping!!!

Needless to say, I'm excited about this new chapter coming up....

So am I being an idiot???

First of all...props to the Jerk for letting me know when I should blog again....I knew I could count on that jerk for something....


It has been a roller coaster ride since pledge drive....We made our goal, which was really exciting, I think with more gifts coming in after the drive, we got over $40,000. So I was feeling good...

I've been working through a temp agency here in Bowling Green, Kelly Services since about the time pledge drive happened...it's been good to work, and thanks to a long term assignment to ShopNBC, I have more in my account now than I've had in a long time...Again, feeling good....

Working at ShopNBC SUCKS!!! It's soul crushing. I just spend all day putting items in boxes and shipping them out. Great use of that college degree, and all the people that believed in me and stuff. I work 10 hour days (6:30-5, 30 minutes for lunch), then shower, eat, and head to the station from 7-10. Bed at 11. Rinse. Repeat. It wears a brother down. I've wanted to just leave...but with nowhere to go, I just stay put....feeling really crappy.

I even talked to my mom about it over the phone. I don't think I've ever done that before, but I felt alright after telling her all the stuff going through my head. How I think the only reason I'm in Bowling Green is because I'm too scared to go anywhere else.

Next day, I work at Shop, get off at 5, check my phone for voicemail. Usually I get nothing, but it's just a routine....2 messages. First is from Shop, they want to bring me on as a regular employee, but they don't say for what position....The second is from Fruit of the Loom. I had put in a resume for an IT position a couple months back, but after my roommate got an interview for the same position and never got a call back, I figured that was the end of that....turns out it wasn't. I HAD AN INTERVIEW!!

It went pretty well...so well that I got a second interview. This despite the fact that I have little to no IT experience. OK, no IT experience. But a second interview....means I could actually get this job....Ben (who works in the same department) thinks I've got a really good shot...

I was supposed to have that 2nd interview today, but Fruit had to reschedule. Which sucks, cuz now I get more time to think about whether or not I really want this job....

Yeah, you read that right, I'm conficted on whether or not I want the job. Don't get me wrong, it's a great opportunity. A great start with a great company. But what does this change about my life? Here's what I'm struggling with before Fruit...
Crappy job
Lack of financial security
Very few "real" relationships
Lack of time to build relationships
Frustration over the fact that I can't get into a field that I am passionate about (Broadcasting)

The only thing this job will change are the first two. I'm still going to do my radio job, because I love it, and I'm not ready to give it up. I already had to give up my Portland sports job, and I HATE that. So yeah, I'll have a lot more money than I have now, not to mention benefits like health insurance (which I do not currently have). But am I closer to being where God wants me to be? Don't really know...

So here's a question...am I being a complete idiot for having doubts about this job??? Comments are welcome...

So what a great week!!!

We had pledge drive at CFR, and it is one of the most awkward, and sometimes most rewarding parts of working for a christian radio station. See, we gotta go on the air and basically beg people for money when honestly, they could easily change the channel and listen to music for free. I always feel kinda weird about it, but I try to look at it as a time to look at the station, and see just how big of an impact this little place has in the community....

Our spring pledge drive is the big one, it's a week long, and we try to raise a whole ton of money...Or fall one is more of a supplemental drive, to get the rest of the money we need for the year, and we only go for three days...

The goal was 35,000. We haven't met our goal during pledge drive in about 20 years...or so I've been told....

AND WE GOT $38,025!!! We made our goal before I got off the air at 3!! Which means I got to spray silly string all over my program director, which was cool.

It's one of those moments when you know God has a plan for all things. But this was kinda weird...I've always had this thought that if we surpassed the goal by enough, they might be able to bring me on full time. I started my last shift at Noon on Friday, and we were at 30,500. We didn't even reach 31,000 in the first hour on the air. Then, in a moment when I was by myself in the control room, I simply looked up and said, "God, I know you have a plan, and maybe me being at CFR long term isn't a part of it, but don't punish them for it." And then the phones starting ringing...and that shift probably ended up being the biggest as far as money raised...

So what does that mean? Does that mean I should not be at CFR? Or maybe it has nothing to do with me...I'm sticking with that last one, but I sure wish I was better at discerning God's will...

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME, AND ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD.

So the more I think about it....

The more I hate what is happening to Plaxico Burress....

I admit it...he made a mistake...he was an idiot....no reason to bring a gun to a night club...or to shoot yourself in the leg....

But he's going away for 2 years for that?? Separate him from his wife and son for that???

I agree with the law...no one should carry an unregistered firearm in public...but the punishment is a little much I think, especially since they don't seem to lock up anybody else for it. The fact that they singled out a guy because he's well known and lock him up for 2 years to make a point is kinda lame...Alright...point made...now keep doing your job...because here's the fact, people are gonna keep bringing guns to clubs in New York.. and other people are going to get caught... and they better go to jail for it...

On another note....Pledge Drive this week for CFR...pray for the station, we need all of God's provision we can get...