Day 053 (Or: Restlessness)

I grow RESTLESS. Days come and days go.

It's hitting me that these are the last days that I will live in my family's home. I'm going to miss them a lot. Late nights chatting with Jordan and Amy. Walking into the kitchen to lean on the sink and chat with dad in his office about whatever I need advice about. Sitting in the toy room and giving mom a hard time about having a Facebook, haha. I love my family. I'm so excited about the new family Kelli and I are starting. SO EXCITED. It's just finally hitting me that this is it, man. I'm leaving soon. And it's different than if I was just moving out or something, you know? I'm actually going from one family setting to a new one. So. Anyways.

Found out I'm hosting my old show, the Evening Blend on WNAZ Tuesday through Friday night of next week :) I'm filling in for Kevin while he's out of town. AWESOME.

Jordan got in 5th place in the bike race tonight. He's doing so well. I couldn't be more proud of him, man. He's incredible on that bike.

Anyways, that's it. We're at the Feener's watching Pirates of the Carribean and I'm fixing to leave because Kelli's tired from woooork. Okay alright okay alright okay.

Kelli and I have driven past that town house like a hundred million times, haha.

Day 052 (Or: An Evening at the Willis Household)

Miss Amber Willis has been SO HELPFUL so far with the wedding. Seriously. She's taken such a load off of Kelli especially. I'm so thankful for her friendship. Kelli and I went over to their house and Miss Amber and Mr. Allen made us and Eric dinner. DELICIOUS! Then we talked wedding stuff for like 3 hours or something, hahaha. Got lots figured out. It was very good. Looks like we're in full wedding mode for real, now. And it was fun to be planning the wedding in a house I grew up in. Ethan and Eric Willis have been such good friends throughout the short duration of my life so far.

Then Kelli and I came back to my family's house and spent what little time we had left of the evening just goofing off. Freakin n u t s we had fun haha. I'm pumped that I get to marry my best friend.

Oh boy, so tomorrow the lady will be officially out of the town house we're moving into. That means I should be in there in the next 3-4 weeks, I'm guessing. Oh man. Changes.

TWO MONTHS.

Day 051 (Or: Enough with these metaphorical roller coasters. I want to ride a real one!)

I want to ride a roller coaster so bad right now.

Wedding stuff keeps going baaack and forth, back and forth. I think it's all settling now though. So that's good.

OH YEAH and the next time you are going to watch a movie because it has "that dude from twilight" and "that girl from Lost"....do not watch that movie! We ended up watching "The Box" instead. So weird and potentially awesome but potentially just what?

Found out I'm moving in to the townhouse soon soon soon. Oh boy............ I'm excited. :)

I'm going to bed.

Oh yeah and I got my PIN code for the ChaCha visa debit card and used it at Publix tonight and it worked. It was awesome.

ok for real.

Day 050 (Or: We've got momentum, BABY)

Today was emotionally taxing, but it was a good day.

We're meeting with Miss Amber to talk about our "vision" for the wedding on Tuesday night. Just the three of us so we're not getting the opinions of outside influences, so that Miss Amber can know exactly what we want. :)

We hit a bump in the road with bridesmaid dresses. We might be going with something else. We'll see. We'll figure it out tomorrow, so we can have it all decided and whatnot for when we talk to Miss Amber Tuesday night. She's making us dinner :D

Bethany and Shadrick's wedding shower was today. Kyle Hyde and I were the only significant other/husbands that actually came but y'know what NUTS TO YOU wedding showers are fun, especially when they're for old and great friends :) I'm looking forward to ours that I hear is currently in the works...!

Wheeeeew time to start another week. Only nine weeks to go, man. Nine weeks from right now, I'll be married. That's so surreal. Gah. Still not the slightest bit nervous. ??? Just excited.

Weekly weigh in: 154 lbs! YEAH I'm back on track and lost a pound this week. Very good. I'd like to be able to hit somewhere in the mid 140s before the wedding. I hope I can pull that off. I'm being a lot more liberal in my food intake than I was during The Great 3 Month 30 Pound Weight Loss Journey of 2008. But back then I was at home a LOT more than I am now. It's a lot easier to get into a routine of eating weight-loss-type meals when all your meals are at home, haha.

Oh YEAH I beat the Boost Guardian today FINALLY. And then once Kelli got here, we got through this puzzle that was kinda like....we just stumbled on the key to it even though neither of us really had any idea what we were doing for the 25 minutes we were trying to do it, haha. And then I got this..other weapon thing that I need to open some locked doors. Sweet. But that was all we could take today.

Ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ACV and then to bed.

Day 049 (Or: A productive one)

I decimated my face shaving this morning. DECIMATED. Like shaved a whole layer off a section of my upper chin/lower lip area. I don't even know how it happened. It just hurt.

I watched the rest of The Rise and Fall of Five Iron Frenzy that I didn't finish last night. It was LONG but it was good. Made me reminiscent, man. All the bands they talked about touring with were all the bands I used to listen to, haha. Ace Troubleshooter, Bleach, Squad 5-0, etc. I miss 90's Christian rock haha. Back when it was fun and awesome. Anyways, a good documentary.

Kelli and I got a little further in Metroid Prime 2 today, after a few days of hiatus from the game. We're stuck on the Boost Guardian. That fella is TOUGH.

THEN we went and picked up her developed black and white film from Wolf. I'm pretty sure it was the first roll we got developed with that 35mm that I got her back like...a while ago. Maybe a year, but probably a little less. Anyways, so there were some oooollldd pictures on there, haha. But the camera took GREAT shots. There's a great one of me down at WNAZ DJing. Kelli's so good with a camera, man. (I'm hoping that getting a really great roll of film back will inspire her to take pictures more often.....shhhhhhhh)

THEN we went bridesmaid dress hunting. It was an all day process. And when it came down to it, after trying on countless dresses, she kept coming back to the first one she really liked that she found online. So we just went with that one. It's lovely. Simple and lovely. The girls will look great in it. So it's really good to have that taken care of. Now, on to the groomsmen........

Anyways, then we went to Madison and picked up Kelli's re-sized engagement ring, which fit very nicely and she was happy to have it back. :)

Then we went back to the Feener's and still couldn't freaking beat the Boost Guardian. Gah.

Then I came home and my ChaCha debit card came YEAH. I'm still waiting on a PIN number though but STILL SWEET

Time is passing so fast I don't hate it

Day 048 (Or: You know how Fridays go)

They are usually just preludes to Saturday :) THAT'S when the weekend really starts.

I haven't done much tonight. I exercised moreso than usual. That felt good. My family got me a jump rope for my bday, so I used that. It was fun.

Kelli's working. So. I'm just chilling. A nice quiet evening with the family. I'm going to miss living with them. A lot. But I mean. The trade off is more than worth it :). I'm ready for that townhouse with my wife.

Speaking of, I'm still waiting to hear about what's going on with it, for those that have wondered/asked exactly when I'm moving in. I have no idea yet. At this point, it's just antsy impatience. The longer I don't move in, the easier it is on my wallet, haha. So it's really a blessing. Kelli and I are just getting tired of just turning off Lebanon Road just to drive past it- we're ready for me to move in! :)

OH YEAH and this could potentially by the best thing ever but it could also hover somewhere near the worst hahahah. So uh we'll see.

That Five Iron Frenzy Documentary is like nearly three and a half hours long dude. I'm about an hour into it. It's really interesting so far.

Aaaaand the Wii is at the Feener's. So there's that.

I feel like all I do is stare at television and computers screens all day. I want to live in a small cottage out in the middle of nowhere.

OH YEAH I printed out a list of every single episode of Adventures in Odyssey so I could mark off all the ones I have...I'm just over half way to having them ALL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's for the children.... and me.

TOMORROW'S SATURDAY

Day 047 (Or: I am still so young)

My last birthday as a single man.

You feel like at some point you'd start feeling like a grown up or something. But it's more like just learning to daily take what comes at you maturely and trusting God to guide your steps along the way. I'm learning. I still have a lot of growing up to do. I am still so young.

Today was my very favorite birthday, of all the birthdays God has blessed me with.

I don't really dwell on these kinds of warm fuzzies on this here blog, but- There's this neat thing that happens when you're in love. Sometimes you're in the middle of some kind of minor task or trivial conversation with your significant other, and an almost out of body experience suddenly envelopes you and thrusts you outside of your current situation; and you are suddenly made aware of how happy you are, exactly where you are. You can't help but start to smile, and your only defense upon questioning is a simple "Nothing, I just love you." There's nothing quite like that.

I got stuff from Target for my birthday that Kelli and I had registered for. :) It was a lot of fun. I had a great night with my family. Jessica Doss, AN-NA, Liz, and Ravi were here too! It was a very good evening.

They made me a cake at work, and a card with Gospel Bill on it! YEAH. And I got to run camera. :D

All and all, the best birthday. Now, Friday can hurry up and be over with already.

Day 046 (Or: Who cares I'm going to bed)

Work, race, Jordan ate it:

Thrifting with Kelli, her house for wedding chatting/planning with Miss Phyllis..... chatting with Kelli, drive home, sit in truck and chat with Kelli on phone, go to bed.

Day 045 (Or: THE OTHER MEETING!)

The new A Great Big Pile of Leaves CD is my new favorite thing. Love it. You can (legally) download it for free right here! Love it.

Okay so I had pervasive ringworm that started on my back and literally wrapped around both of my sides and was close to completing the circle around my stomach. But two weeks of applying apple cider vinegar to the affected areas (i.e. basically my entire back, sides, and stomach)...and it's pretty much completely gone. Boom.

Got an RSVP card from Carlson Swafford today that said "To What Can I Liken the Kingdom?" and then had an arrow to the section of the card that said "Josh & Kelli" hahaha.

ANYWAYS the big thing today was that Kelli, Miss Phyllis, and I went downtown to meet with the photographer who is doing the wedding and reception. He was a great guy- we all enjoyed chatting with him. He takes great photos, has lots of experience with weddings, and is fantastic with lights. So everyone was happy. Check out his stuff here.

I'm tired. And I feel like between work, and getting things done, I don't have enough time in the day to try and get in shape. At least I'm eating better. I'm still treadmilling in the morning, just not for as long as I'd like. Okay whatever I'M GOING TO BED

Day 044 (Or: THE MEETING!)

Wheeeeeeeew today was definitely a Monday.

Okay freaking I need to find my belt. I am experiencing the only side effect of losing weight. Oh awesome the right arrow button on the keyboard doesn't work either.

ANYWAYS so I got to Floor Direct and episode of Bridges at work today! YEAH. I hadn't done that in years. It was slightly intimidating, but I mean..come on. I'm a baller. So I nailed it. Hopefully I'll get to do it again soon.

We met with Miss Amber, Miss Connee, and Miss Deb tonight about wedding arrangements, decorations, etc. It was a looong and very enlightening and informative meeting. I had a great time. Still lots to do, but a lot of it should fall into place decently easily. We're in the home stretch!

All of the disposable cameras came today! SWEET. I'm excited about this portion of the wedding.

A Great Big Pile of Leaves Have you Seen My Prefrontal Cortex? came today too! SWEET love this band. This CD sounds great.

Man I guess that's it. I'm going to bed. Meeting with a photographer guy tomorrow night.

Oh yeah and I got to the Feener's today, and it turns out that Kelli had transformed from a faithful watcher of my Metroid adventures, to an active participant. She figured out what the heck we were supposed to do next in Metroid Prime 2. I barely even played it today. I let her do it. It was really, really impressive. I hope I dream about it.

Goodnight.

Days 043 (Or: Arts Festival And SUCH)

Father's Day! My family went to Centennial Park to that Arts Festival thing they do every year. I'm not sure what the actual name of it is. ANYWAYS it was a lot of fun. And I lucked out since it's almost my birthday and I haven't really asked for much, haha. Check out what I got...

I haven't had any puppets in a long time. Haven't named them yet, I'm still figuring out their personalities before I do that. So that was exciting, hahah. HANDMADE. I love Nashville. I got a hat too.

That record player speaker I got at Goodwill for 5 bucks is s w e e t. Love it.

Weekly Weigh In: 155 lbs. Lost a pound this week! YEAH. Here's a chart to track my progress:

Eh, so, slowly but surely. I'm back on the treadmill. A couple of years ago when I lost like 30 pounds in 3 months, I was a treadmilling fiend. So maybe that'll keep helping.

Okay, I'm off to the Feener's for some Metroid :)

TEN WEEKS TO GO. Oh my gosh. And somewhere in there I'm moving into our new home.

Day 042 (Or: Drive In!)

TOY STORY.

I remember going to see the first one when I was seven. SEVEN. So it was somewhat surreal sitting in a car at the drive in with the girl I'm marrying in 71 days watching the third one. Toy Story movies are so good. Obviously this one didn't have that sentimental "I've watched this movie so much since I was seven years old" thing going for it, haha, but it was really good. :) Kelli took me to the drive in since it's my birthday on Thursday YEAH. I had such a good time with her today.

Weeee think we have wedding photography figured out. Well, I thought we had it figured out weeks ago, but now I guess it's actually figured out. So..that's good! One less thing to worry about.

And we're meeting with Miss Connee, Miss Deb, and Miss Amber on Monday night to discuss wedding coordination and decorations and stuff. Everything is coming together. I still need to figure out what I'm going to wear.... HMMMM

It's way late. I'm going to bed.

I'm missing Kelli, man. I'm really looking forward to "goodnight" instead of "goodbye." I've said way too many "goodbye"s. :P

Day 041 (Or: Retrospect)

Kelli's working tonight. So I've been parked at the house goofing off and playing video games and such. Kinda bored. Kinda tired. Kinda got a headache.

BUT it's the weekend! YEAH.

I received some of the best news I've gotten in a long time today. I... I never really figured out if the whole thing was public knowledge or whatever. So I won't break any potential trust. I'll just suffice it to say that I almost broke down at work today, ha ha ha. Keep it together, Josh... No seriously. I was elated. But I shan't elaborate anymore since I'm not even saying on here what it actually was. A N Y W A Y S.

I'd originally intended his blog to be a retrospective look at my school life, since I am distancing myself further and further from it as the days go by, as well as a look ahead towards married life. Well, it's sort of turned out to just be the latter, it feels like.

But I don't really know what to do about that. The only time I think about school is when I'm thinking about how it's kind of weird that I don't think much about school, haha. You'd think that 4 years of something would warrant SOME sort of retrospective, nostalgic...something something, right? Instead, I just...wake up. I go to work. I get off work. I go to the Feener's and get stuff ready for the wedding, or Kelli and I come to my family's house and we do the same thing. I don't think about school... heck, I don't even think much about the radio station. And it's only been just over a month since my nightly radio show ended. Isn't that sort of strange?

I think about the radio station, but mostly just to wonder how my old friends there are doing. I don't make my way to that end of town much anymore. Radio was such a dream of mine growing up. It was like the first real thing I ever remember wanting to do with my life. I'd sit in my room every night and play the intros and outros of CD's and pretend I was an announcer on the radio, letting everyone at home know that that was "Just Between You and Me" from DC Talk. I went to Trevecca because I had such an affinity for the nightly rock radio show they aired when I was like 14 or 15 (The DJ's name was ironically "Josh" too). But I ended up not even getting into the radio stuff until my junior year. I couldn't even tell you exactly why.

So I worked hard, and got myself my own radio show by last fall. I loved it man. But once I got the CTN full time day job, it became pretty much impossible to put the energy into a nightly radio show that I wanted to.

And now...I don't even miss it. I mean, I loved it. LOVED IT. But I can't tell if it's the kind of thing I'll end up revisiting in my life, or if it was God's way of letting me do something I always wanted to do and just get it out of my system, hahah. Who knows. I'm open to whatever. I'm happy I could leave my mark on WNAZ. I'm glad I got to use my senior project to learn about its history. I guess when I think back on college, it's gonna be that radio station. Even though it was only technically the last three semesters that I spent there. Hmm...yeah, writing about it is making my miss it. But just in that nostalgic "Yeah, that was a lot of fun." kind of way. I mean, if I had the time, and I was able to stay on without being a student..oh, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But as it is, I look back fondly on that time. The whole thing. I loved the whole thing.

I know I dumped on Trevecca a lot during the four years I was there. But honestly, the professors there care. I count a few of them as friends more so than professors. I wouldn't have wanted to live there in that college environment (I will never, ever miss that college student "I know how to fix the world" mentality blehg...) but I did enjoy the classes I took and the professors I had.

Anyways, I probably won't talk much more about school, because I really don't think about it much. But that was the original intent on this blog, so. There ya go.

TOY STORY 3 TOMORROW I MEAN REALLY REALLY REALLY GUYS I'M EXCITED

Day 040 (Or: Almost the weekend)

Kelli and I made some MAD progress on Metroid Prime 2 tonight. It was really good. We were seriously stuck the other night.

And we figured out reception food type stuff :) That was a lot of fun too. A bunch of stuff is coming together.

And and and...I'm going to bed. One more day til the weekend! Kelli's taking me to see Toy Story at the drive in Saturday night for my birthday :D

And dude, I'm listening to 1984 in the car. It's so nuts that he wrote that in 1940-something, haha. It's scary.

K BED SEE YA

Day 039 (Or: My Brother, the winner. And goodwill!)

Jordan murdered it at the race tonight, dude. He stayed with the pack the entire time, and finished in a cool, cool 4th place! He's one of the youngest guys out there, a newbie on the scene, and of like 20ish guys racing, he got in fourth. We were super pumped for him. Of course the first thing he says when we saw him afterwards was "I feel like I can win it." haha. That's my brother :P No but seriously, I was so proud of him, as he kept gaining ground during the race, moving further and further up. It was a lot of fun. :D Can't wait to see the rest of the races this summer.

Afterwards, Kelli and I went to Goodwill just to see what was to be seen. We found all kinds of plates and stuff that were cool and cheap, haha. We even found the same set of china (albeit, not the ENTIRE set) that we registered for at Bed Bath and Beyond, haha. So we got that, and I found a big record player speaker for 5 bucks. So hopefully it works? haha. We'll see when I get home. We had a lot of fun looking at stuff for the new place. Kelli especially. :P Her face was lit up the entire time. Cute, it was. Anyways, so we found out that Goodwill takes on a whole new life when you're trying to set up a fiscally responsible home, haha.

So that was about it for today. Super pumped for my little brother. :D

Day 038 (Or: Putting on Love)

Nothing really to report, other than that Kelli and I celebrated 22 months together today, so we went on a date tonight. :) I can't believe it's almost been two years. That's incredible. I have multiple friends that have met, dated, and gotten married in essentially the same amount of time that Kelli and I have just...dated, haha. But I wouldn't change anything, man. No, three years of friendship and struggle and friendship again, and then two years of really, really, really getting to know each other through dating/courtship/engagement (take your pick? haha) have been...ah, I know it works differently for different people, obviously, but for us, there was no other way it could have worked out. I wouldn't change a second of it. Hard as some of it has been, the five and a half years that Kelli and I have cultivated our friendship have had the finger of God on every part of it. I love it. I see the hand of God in my relationship with Kelli. He has been so good to us.

A friend from Maryland whom I haven't actually ever met (Long story!) sent us back an RSVP card the other day, saying that her and her new husband would not be able to come. But she also attached a note congratulating us and such. It was sweet. They even gave us some money! We were floored by their kindness. I haven't even met these people. She also attached Collosians 3:12-15, which I'm going to forward along to you.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

I love that love is the bond of perfection. Just think about that, man. It's humbling, haha.

Well anyways, Kelli and I are stuck on Metroid Prime 2. It's annoying.

Aaaaand I can't think of anything to tell my family that I want for my b-day. And Mom and I are alike in that we are both gift-givers so I have to tell her SOMETHING what should i do?

Recommended listening/reading for the day is Arrogance: Rescuing America from the Media Elite by Bernard Goldberg. I just finished the audio book today. Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, if anywhere at all, it is a very interesting and enlightening book, and I guarantee you won't ever listen to a news report or read a news article the same way ever again.

Day 037 (Or: Wedding Planning Mode)

I have the prettiest sister :) I found these online when I got home tonight. They are courtesy Salt and Honey Images, who were kind enough to do Kelli's and my engagement pictures.

She did a great job of capturing us, I think. Anyways, she comes highly recommended.

So apparently not only is the Feener's Gamecube glitchy/broken, it's also in Murfreesboro. NICE. I was pumped to play Metroid all day, haha. Oh well. Work today was great. I'm excited to not have a 30ish minute drive to work. The drive will be cut in half when I'm at the town house :D. I have a countdown til the wedding on the marker board in my office, but I don't ever get to update the number. Someone else gets to it before I can, haha. I like the people at work.

Kelli was in wedding planning mode today. She and her mom went to Cedars of Lebanon to figure stuff out today. So by the time they got home, and I got off work, she had "the list" we made the other night in front of her, and we talked wedding specifics most of the rest of the night. We took short reprieves to eat popsicles, MURDER OURSELVES, and goof off in general. But mostly wedding stuff tonight :P. Still lots to do.

Today's recommended listening is twothirtyeight Regulate the Chemicals. I'm jamming to it right now.

OH YEAH I ran my fastest mile in years this morning: 9 minutes and 52 seconds! YEAH. It feels good to get in shape...

Day 036 (Or: Metroid and Training Day 2)

Much like the United States, Kelli's been having some oil troubles, so I got that at least diagnosed today while I was getting her oil changed, yaye. $$$ While that was being taken care of, I just walked around the Hickory Hollow area. It was kinda fun. I found Mario Paint for the SNES and Pipe Dreams for the NES at this arcade/used video game place in the mall. That place is neat.

Other than that, Kelli and I made a list of everything left to figure out for the wedding. It's a decently long list, but not a terribly long one. It all fit on one page, but barely. We both work better with lists in front of us. We even got one of the things checked off the list today already BOOYAH.

When Kelli got here today, I was playing Metroid Prime 2, which I've determined to beat after all these years before the wedding. So I have two and a half months. I think I can do it. Anyways, turns out Kelli was enjoying watching me play it, and help me figure out what areas to explore and where to go next, etc. By the end of the day, she'd asked me if I'd play it again. What? Am I in Heaven? So I did. that game is hard, dude. But I've beat Metroid and Metroid 2 and Super Metroid and Metroid Prime...so four of the Metroid games. There's like 4 or so that I haven't beaten. So I'm starting with Metroid Prime 2 IT'S TOUGH but I made some good progress today, with Kelli's help :P

OH YEAH the bad news of the day was:
Weekly Weigh in: 156 lbs. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT I gained a pound?!?!?!@?$GO:NW$GON

So yeah I wasn't happy. It prompted Training Day 2 with my brother. We ran around the block (In under ten minutes! My fastest mile in years) and then did this workout. If you want to HURT, do that workout. It's super good for your abs. I got Kelli to do it with me later on. It was awesome. She hung with it pretty well. She's gonna hurt so bad tomorrow it's gonna be hilarious.

So yeah, I'm gonna work on gaining a little muscle? Rather than just trying my best to watch what I eat, and run in the morning, etc. But I'm gonna do those things too.

Okay blah blah blah. Eleven weeks from toooodaaaayyyyyy

Day 035 (Or: Chill Day, that is all)

Today we just huuuuuuung out. It was really nice. Yaye weekend.

We talked some car stuff. That was about the most constructive thing we did today. I went to Target this morning and got Kelli a ring for her to wear while her engagement ring is being resized to fit her finger better. SHE LIKED IT YUSSS.

Eh, anyways. Modern Marvels, good conversation, etc. Nothing too exciting, but this was a long week...so this weekend is very welcomed.

SO YEAH.

Day 034 (Or: THIS WAS A LONG YET NICE DAY)

When I got home from the radio station last night, I found the front yard in a shambles. Guys were chainsawing wood everywhere. Wood logs everywhere. A big NES vehicle was here and a guy was on the pole working on the power lines in front of our house. So Jordan and I just parked on the roof and watched everything happen. It was nice. I was ready for the weekend.

AH but it was only Thursday. So one more work day tonight! And today was nuts. Ok ok so without going into all the boring details, essentially we're having an issue with switches to satellites, and the simplest way to fix that right now is to just simple run our satellite switches from our OLD system. So I set up so many logs today, haha. On the new system and the other one, so that it'd run on its own for the weekend. So yeah. From 9 to 5 today, I didn't really stop at all. In fact, I was even there just a little bit late getting everything done. END OF STORY RIGHT? Wrong. About an hour later I remembered that I'd forgotten to sync the two system clocks. IMPORTANT. So thankfully Kelli and I had just left her house for Madison and were able to quickly turn around and get to the station so I could get that figured out. END OF STORY RIGHT? Wrong again.

I didn't get to see the station do a satellite switch til 10:30 that night at the Feeners, and it was like...a minute off. BAD. But by that point, I had to wait til we went to our NEXT satellite switch before I could drive over and fix it. So I hung out at the Feeners til midnight, when we go to our next switch, and then went back over to work oooonnneee last time, and got it taken care of. END OF STORY RIGHT? Yes. (At least I hope so)

TMI: Too much information. But seriously that was my day. Somewhere in the middle, we did actually get to Madison, and go out to dinner with Barry, Emily, and Jared. It was a good time :D. I hadn't seen Barry or Jared in a long time. Those backstabbers leaving town....don't they know they're essentially my only close guys friends in this town anymore... So anyways, that was fun.

Ahhh and somewhere in the middle of it all (I think around the time I was waiting for midnight to roll around so I could go back to the station :P), Kelli and I got to just bum around and chat. It'd been a few days since we got to do that. I can't get enough of it. Legitimately my favorite thing in the entire world.

Oh...and apparently Ryan Adams has pressed "Blackhole" and "Cardinals III/IV" on vinyl.... oh my Lord................. dreams come true. If he starts making music for real again..... dreams.

Day 033 (Or: I don't know if we have internet.)

I'm at the radio station, downloading the new episodes they've posted of Adventures in Odyssey. I don't know if there is internet at the house, so I'm just going to update from here today.

Nothing really to report on this day. Worked, went by CFA to see Kelli, came to the radio station, going home to eat dinner...etc etc.

Kelli's working tonight instead of tomorrow = I get her aaaaaall weekend YUSSSS. We're gonna get organized as per the rest of wedding planning. Should be fun.

Alright, well. These downloads are done. I'm hungry. Goin' home!

Day 032 (Or: Tornado!)

I got a text from my mother yesterday that basically said "We got hit by a tornado. Tree on the house." haha. ?!?! So I called, and it wasn't a joke. I guess we think it could have just been reaaaaally high wind, but I mean. So I got off work a little early, and headed home to survey the damage. Pictures didn't really explain the story well, but Amy took this video before I got home. There was more damage in the back (A tree snapped and took a whole section of fence out)

The roof is punctured, and I think it'll have to be replaced. Anyways, we didn't have internet at the house, so I have to post this at work a day late, haha. I don't know when we'll have internet again. So yeah, pretty nuts. The neighborhood looks like a war zone. Tree debris everywhere.

But praise God for keeping everyone safe! That was yesterday.

Day 031 (Or: OMG SUBURBA)

Today can be summed up in ONE LINK HECK TO THE YE-AAAHHHH

Am I going to see them tomorrow night? Do I ever go to shows ever anymore? I don't even like going to shows. but I still love House of Heroes...hhhhhh... I don't know. Maybe. Probably not. Whenever I saw how adults didn't like going to shows as much as kids, I thought "I'm never going to be like that. I will always love shows." But then it's just like...one day. You don't have to go to every show anymore. Haha. And then you don't go to any. Oh, but I told Amy I'd go see Arcade Fire with her if she'd buy me a ticket. And she did. So see? I'm not that lame. I'm excited about seeing Arcade Fire :D.

Last night of premarital counseling. That was a good little journey. We benefited from it immensely. And it's cool to say "We passed premarital counseling" hahaha. Awesome. We had fun and learned a lot about life and ourselves. Anyone who is getting married and looking for someone to do premarital counseling for them, I recommend Grace Ministries in Hermitage. Good people.

I know Kelli and I look like this perfectly happy couple (we are, that's why), but we've put each other through a lot of stuff that's been really hard. And we've grown up a lot in the process. I think we've benefited a lot from the fact that we'd decided we wanted to marry each other long before we actually were in a position to get "engaged," let alone actually married. So everything for the last year and a half or so has gone through this "Well, if we're planning on getting married, we need to work through this" mentality. That's forced us to take a hard look at a lot of stuff. It's been incredibly humbling and incredibly rewarding. I can't tell you how blessed I am to have Kelli by my side.

So I've got some kind of ringworm on my back, and it's progressively gotten worse as I haven't dealt with it since it started who knows how long ago. So, I'm gonna put some apple cider vinegar on it and hopefully nip it in the bud. I'm going to bed. Nighters.

Day 030 (Or: Ring'a'ling'a'ling)

We got wedding bands tonight! YEAH. I've never been a jewelry kind of guy...so uh, this wedding band is the first piece of jewelry I've ever owned, and I'm guessing probably the last too, haha. STILL, I have to be honest and say I love wearing that wedding band. I was walking around the house and they were like "You're not married yet." HEY I'm just trying it on. And loving it.

Had a nice chat with the Feener parents tonight about wedding stuff too. It's really hard to get Kelli, Mr. Stan, Mrs. Phylis, and myself int he same room at the same time. We're just always all over the place. So tonight's chat with them was very, very nice.

And I got to run camera at work today! Yeah! They were short a production person, so they called me in to shoot a few shows in the studio. I hadn't been back there in production in a couple of years, back when I was a lowly intern for CTN. Good times :) It mixed the day up a little, and made 5 come very quickly. So yeah! No complaints here. Hopefully I'll get to do it again soon.

Guess that's about it for today. I'm going to bed. NIGHTY.

Day 029 (Or: I am an American Gladiator Grand Champion)

This is a picture of me on my fourth birthday. My favorite gift was this copy of "American Gladiators" for the NES. And finally....finally, today. Today I finally beat "American Gladiators," nearly eighteen years to the day since I received it.


It was literally one of the greatest moments of my life. We have tried so hard for so long.

Speaking of BIRTHDAY BOYS, Alex Taylor celebrated his 23rd today. So we went to Panera and had a good ole chat about life and love and LOST.

The rest of the day I've spend with my Keener. And it's been grand. She puts me in a good mood.

Weekly Weigh In: 155 lbs. Only last one pound this week. Gotta step my game up. Still, seven pounds in one month isn't bad at all.

Day 028 (Or: EMAC and the plot of Anne of Green Gables 3)

We hung out with Emily MacDonald today. It was a lot of fun. She's home alone while Barry's in Normandy. I don't like that he's gone a lot of the time. He's got an army wife at home that misses him a lot. Anyways, so, bowling, pb&j, Anne of Green Gables... it was a good one.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand twelve weeks from tomorrow, I'm not driving anywhere ever after 10 o clock. You heard me.

Ehhh so. I guess that's it. Today was good. I'm tired of driving home. I'm going to bed.

OH YEAH and Emac gave us all kinds of dinnerware stuff- extras they got from their wedding and stuff. Seriously. Like a ton of plates and cups and other stuff. THANK YOU EMAC.

Oh yeah and here's the entire plot of "Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story." So Anne gets back from some boating trip and visits all her old stomping grounds and it's hard to tell if she's 30 or 60 the way she stumbles around like she's decrepit when she walks. She finds out Green Gables is in ruins. BUT WHO CARES there's Gilbert YAYE! Oh yeah and then she falls before she can reach him. She does that a lot throughout the movie. Anyways, so Gilbert is like "I'm gonna be a doctor in NY" and Anne's like "wtf?! YOU PROMISED" and Gilbert's like "COME WITH ME!" which she's hesitant about, contributing to the long run time of this film, but eventually she decides to go. So in NY, Gilbert finds out that the hospital is all politics, and he's the only noble one there. Anne gets an editorial job at a newspaper or something and meets a super sleazy guy named Jack who doesn't do one non-creepy thing throughout the duration of the movie. Still, Anne is attracted to him. What? He threatens to kill himself if she doesn't write a story with him or something, which she finds endearing. It turns out that he's swindling her. Heartless! Eventually Gilbert and Anne have had enough of NY so they go back home to Canada. This whole section of the movie is essentially pointless, save for the fact that we meet Creepy Jack. Anyways, back in Canada, Gilbert starts getting guilted into joining the Canadian army to fight in WWI. Eventually, he succumbs to the pressure, but not before Anne accidentally almost burns down Green Gables. Once it's in shambles, Gilbert asks Anne to marry him before he goes to war. Smart! And then she does it! So they're married, and then he leaves. Well, Anne can't handle it. So she joins the war too and I'm not really clear exactly what it is she's doing or how the heck she got into the war anyway. But into the war she goes. She happens to get stationed right where Gilbert is, but lots of dying people keep getting in the way of Gilbert and Anne being reunited. This literally goes on for like 45 minutes. So then Anne runs into Creepy Jack, who happens to be on the same train as Anne, and they rekindle their pseudo-flame. He claims he won't rest until Gilbert is found. Oh, and somewhere in the middle of it all, a baby appears. I forget where he came from, but he's REALLY REALLY important to Anne. I think it's Creepy Jack's kid. Anyways, so then for like another 30 minutes, it's just Anne and the baby stumbling around trying to find Jack. Along the way, we meet these really annoying Yankee ladies. They serve no point to the resolution of the movie. But still we spend a good 20 minutes with them. Eventually Anne ends up in jail and we're told they're going to kill her at noon or dawn or something. But thankfully she's got some gun powder and she totally blows that place up and gets out of there. And she gets the baby back! Yeah she lost the baby for about 10 minutes. Okay so then eventually she finds Creepy Jack but by this point she's in a nun outfit and she looks like a zombie. By now, we haven't seen Anne smile for about an hour and a half. Anyways, oh yeah! She's looking for Gilbert. We forgot somewhere in the last hour. So she keeps looking and keeps looking and eventually they end up in the same like...field area together. So they embrace and it's good. You really feel Anne's pain, as you've watched it unfold in an equally painful 2 and a half hours up to this point. So the first thing they do is hop on a train, where Creepy Jack hangs out with them and Anne's okay with that even though she hasn't seen her husband in like a year at least? So then Creepy Jack walks away and Gilbert starts telling Anne about how the only way he made it through the POW camp was to remember a specific memory of her everyday, to which Anne essentially replies with a "You look tired. Get some rest!" Um...a year, Anne. This might be forgivable except that the next thing she does is go find @#$%*^ Creepy Jack and sit next to him and start talking about unfulfilled dreams and all this crap...they share a knowing, intimate glance, and then she walks away, conflicted. What? She keeps talking about all he has done for her in this movie, but he has literally done nothing. Oh except for the fact where he LIED TO HER in NY about a story they were publishing. Everything else he's done was just stuff he said he was going to do. And then he just hung out while stuff happened that would have happened even if he hadn't've been there except he wouldn't have been able to touch her if he wasn't there. And he touches her all the time. It's all he does. He's Creepy Jack. Oh yeah, so then CREEPY JACK GETS SHOT. Like out of nowhere. Anyways, this is supposed to conclude His and Anne's arc, and now she can finally be at peace with Gilbert. So they go back to Green Gables, and that baby shows up again. So they adopt it, because Creepy Jack's last wish was that Anne take care of the baby. Gilbert buys Green Gables but then gives it to some friends two seconds later. What? And then the movie ends. And this is literally a three hour movie.

Day 027 (Or: And then, 72 Hours later...)

Kinda straaange how much can change in three days MAN.

Tuesday started out with me ready in two and a half weeks to move into Laurel Valley. That had been set into motion at least a month ago. Not a care in the world.

By this morning, I was giving the lady over there a call to say I was sorry, but I wouldn't be able to move in after all.

I'm trying to adequately express how strange it is to have one idea of where you're going to live in your head for over a month, gearing up for it, getting excited for it, and then within 72 hours, the game completely changing. And you have more peace about it than you ever had about the first place.

As sure as we can be without papers signed, we've got a town home in Hermitage.

I went by Chick-Fil-A on my way home from work today. I asked Kelli how she was doing, and the first thing she said was, "I can't stop thinking about the town house." Yeah, me either.

I guess it's just strange because it feels so right. And I'm not one to get caught up in that kind of "it feels good" emotion. But this just feels right. Even though 72 hours ago, something else was going to cut it. It appears the Good Lord has other plans for Kelli and myself.

But, I still tread lightly. Laurel Valley said that if anything changed, to give them a call.

So we'll see. I am eager to see where this road leads. I'll keep you posted as events unfold.

HELLO, WEEKEND. Thanks for stoppin' by. Stay a while. :D

Day 026 (Or: Pressed Down, Shaken Together, and Running Over)

We're not jumping the gun just yet.

But.

The townhouse was wonderful. Kelli and I both fell in love with it. I guess once we actually have something signed, I'll talk specifics about it. For now, suffice it to say, it's wonderful. It feels like a home, because it technically is (With our own street address and everything!). Mr. Eric is giving us an incredible deal on it. Really. It's...ah. I hate to blame something on God when things could very well fall apart in two seconds. But. Kelli and I agree: This just feels right.

So more details to come, I promise. Pictures too, at some point.

The hesitation comes only from- you guessed it! Details I'm not free to discuss publicly. Just pray that a few issues with the town home can get resolved. Oh, and wisdom for me as I'm gonna have to make a really awkward phone call to Laurel Valley Apartments here shortly, probably- Two weeks from my move in date. Eesh. But we can't pass this up. We...really, really can't.

So anyways, we're really excited. Like jump up out of your seat excited. It's all we could talk about.

Well, except for the part where we got into really detailed detail about all the ins and outs of what's left to plan for this wedding. That part was stressful. Especially since we've been doing most everything by ourselves up to this point. Plus, I was tired. Kelli had great patience with me tonight THANKS KEENER.

Oh! And we got bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts! :D I'm a gift giver, man. I love that stuff. Minus the price tag, ha :/. It added up quick for 6 guys. But Kelli consoled me, and eventually I got over it. No really. That happened. Like it was actually a thing tonight and not a joke.

I'm going to bed.
Can't stop thinking about the town house. Can't stop.

Day 025 (Or: [Laurel]birds or Town[home]ies?)

It's a God-shaped curve ball only Will from Extreme Days could fully appreciate.

So, I'm moving out the 19th, and into Laurel Valley Apartments. I've put down a deposit, I've done this, I've done that. I'm moving out of my family's home and into Laurel Valley Apartments in less than three weeks. Right? Right? Maybe.

Yesterday, I began a conversation with a good friend named Eric Wheeler. Mr. Eric owns a couple of town homes in Hermitage. Mr. Eric also wouldn't mind giving a new couple a break on rent, if he gets the assurance of renters he knows and trusts in return.

We drove past the place today, we thought it looked darling.

We then just so happened to run into Mr. Eric today after looking at the outside of his town home. We asked lots of questions (Amenities, utilities, neighbors, etc.), and tomorrow he's going to show us the inside.

I won't go into all the details since this is all really up in the air at this point, but suffice it to say- it's a lot more for pretty much the same price. And it's a home, rather than an apartment.

So, we'll see. It could end up being a real blessing.

PS: Trying to get phone numbers switched over and blah blah blah is a pain in the neck. AND I HAVE A LOWER OPINION OF IT THAN THAT.

Day 024 (Or: Are You a Man of Science, or a Man of Faith?)

Spoiler warnings, all around.

My relationship with LOST is kind of interesting. Am I one of those "obsessed fans"? Or am I just engrossed in a truly epic mythical tale? I guess it depends on how you look at it. In comparison to most of my friends, I probably spent the most time reading blogs, looking up clues, reading dissections, etc. But the fact that I DO do those things, makes me painfully aware of how much LESS obsessed I am with the story than most other people that are involved in the LOST online subculture. I don't attend events (Or even parties. LOST has been a date night for Kelli and I since season four), and I don't post on message boards. I just observe. I enjoy the conversation, the analysis, and the mystery.

But now it is all over. And as much as we are going to get about the myth that is LOST, we have received. The first night, after the finale had ended, I was confused. I was pretty sure that I wasn't pleased with how the show ended. I felt the sideways world was a cheap trick, and not entirely necessary, and definitely not worth spending half of almost every episode this final season exploring. It wasn't worth all the analysis, and it really didn't make much sense in the end. What was the point? I felt sort of cheated. But I had been engrossed in this story for so long that I wanted to have faith that there was some deeper meaning that I just hadn't come up with yet.

So I didn't say much about it for the next week. I just read, and read, and read. And some of what I read consoled me. Most affirmed what I had already been thinking, though. Somewhere deep down though, I just wasn't ready to give up on that story. There was no denying that the finale was thrilling. There was no denying it was brilliantly executed. There was just....something. It wasn't even that we didn't get answers to a lot of the big questions. I was fine with that. I don't want to know what made the island special. I don't want to know all the ins and outs. I just wanted the show to end well. I just....something. But What? What?

Then, on a jog the other day, I think I figured it out. Deep down, it didn't matter to me that we didn't get all the answers. It really didn't even matter to me that I didn't fully understand the significance of the sideways world. I guess I just wanted to know that there were answers. And that there was an important reason for the sideways world.

And that's when it hit me. And I have been completely content ever since.

I am Jack Shepherd. LOST was a story that forced us all to face the Jack Shepherd in all of us. Are you a man of science, or a man of faith? Can you be okay with the idea that you will probably never really know for sure all of the inner workings of that show? Can you be alright with the fact that you won't ever know everything? Can you submit to that? Even in Jack's death, he didn't know what the heck was going on. He just... plugged the hole, and then he died. But that was all he needed to know.

LOST's brilliance is found in the fact that we were unknowingly taken on the exact same journey as our hero. If you really think about it, if we had gotten all the answers, it would have been a contradiction as to the whole point of the myth of LOST. Heck, even if we had understood what they did decide to give us in the end, that would have been a contradiction. When LOST asked us way back at the end of season one whether Jack was a man of science, or a man of faith, what we didn't know at the time was that we were being asked the exact same question.

If you forget about taking the show literally, and look at it metaphorically, which I'm pretty sure is how the show is meant to be taken anyway, it makes a lot more sense. So what if the people that made it maybe didn't have answers to every question they raised along the way? So what? Forget about the storytellers, and look at the story they chose to tell. Within the context of the story, it makes perfect sense. If we were Jack, and Jack ended completely out of control and without answers, save for a contented knowledge of the guiding force that drove his life... why shouldn't our relationship with the story end the exact same way?

I've heard some anger about the stained glass window with all the different religious symbols all over it. And yeah, for a show that thrives in subtleties, I'll admit it was a little out there. But within the context of how I am challenging us to think about LOST, it makes perfect sense. This whole time, LOST hasn't asked us whether we subscribe to a particular doctrine (We'd be silly to expect it to.)... all it has done over and over is ask us, "What do you believe? Do you believe in something Bigger?" Because to understand the myth of LOST, you must believe in something Bigger. Something that guides us. Something that makes sense of all that we don't understand. Because we will never understand. We weren't made to understand.

As a Christian, the best I can make of the myth of LOST, sideways world and all, is to think of it as a metaphor for the Kingdom of Heaven vs. the Kingdom of Man. One world is full of truth and mysteries and doesn't seem real a lot of the time but actually contains ultimate Truth, and the other seems more real but in truth is manufactured. It's a theory that probably doesn't hold much weight when you really delve into it, but I am content with it until season six releases and I end my LOST hiatus, which started on May 23, 2010, so I can process the last six years.

So that's what I thought. What'd you think?