June Debrief
It’s funny how fast a Michigan Summer can go. Well, not so much funny as sad. But it’s definitely been a good one so far. Our first vacation of the year was mostly a staycation. We took an entire week off (sandwiched between two full weekends) and hung around the house, but we did take three of those days to visit Milwaukee and Miller Park and had such a great time! Here are some recommended links from our stay.
While we were in Milwaukee we celebrated our 10 year anniversary. That’ll make you feel old real quick.
We also hosted our first 5K in June. Tonia did an incredible job putting it all together, and Tanner blew my mind, again, by running it in 29:48. I’m really having a ton of fun running those with him, and he has a ton of fun collecting all the medals.
And sadly this month we lost a legend. I always knew Michael Jackson was a prominent part of my past, but it wasn’t until he died that I really knew the extent of it. Going back and watching all of his video’s again really rekindled my love of MJ. I climbed up in the attic and broke out my vinyl records for old times sake. I dusted off my CD’s and started listening to all the hits again, giving Tanner a glimpse at the greatness (he’s hooked now too). I even bought two separate best-of DVD’s containing over 20 of his ground breaking videos on Friday. He’s been gone mentally for years, but the finality of Thursday really brought it home how influential he was to me.
For an epic post on all things MJ, visit this post by Human3rror.
Books Read in June:
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Movies Watched in June:
Defiance – 4/5
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – 5/5
Revolutionary Road – 5/5
Big Fish – 4/5
The Alamo – 4/5
Night at the Museum 2 – 4/5
Die Hard 2 – 3/5
Die Hard with a Vengeance – 4/5
Singles – 3/5
Solaris – 4/5
Primer – 4/5
Waitress – 4/5
Troy – 4/5
Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail – 4/5
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – 4/5
Phoebe In Wonderland – 4/5
Bend It Like Beckham – 4/5
The International – 3/5
Previous Months:
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
WEEKLY LINKS: Grab Bag Edition
Too many this week to comment on each…
» Attorney defends the defenseless. (Full Dash-Cam)
» TED TALK: The Power of Design
» ‘Free’ is How the Church Leads Online
» How Has the PG-13 Rating Changed Over the Years?
» I’m Not Sure We Really Believe (pt 1)
» Why Non-Profits Are So Good at Social Media
» 20 Surefire Ways to Exasperate Your Children
» Hiring, Managing, and Keeping Staff from the Facebook Generation
The Nerve
The Nerve – Mute Math
Can you believe this world’s got the nerve to insist it won’t trade for a better one?
Can you believe this world’s yelling out in the dark it wants to be left alone?
Can you believe this world never would’a had a chance without us giving it blood?
Can you believe this world lacks the common courtesy to thank us all for the love?
SET IT ON FIRE!
Can you believe this world’s like a glassy eyed swimmer caught sippin’ another one?
Can you believe this world’s like a tyrant taking over anything that it wants?
Can you believe this world’s like a wounded martyr warrior when his commitment is gone?
Can you believe this world’s like a vagrant in the gutter talking nothing is wrong?
SET IT ON FIRE!
Can you believe this world’s just a double dealing joker gonna stick to his guns?
Can you believe this world’s just a television blaring a million devils at once?
Can you believe this world’s just a charmer in disguise with a lavender soul?
Can you believe this world’s just exactly as we built it burning out of control?
SET IT ON FIRE!
Ten Years (+6 +2)
Photo courtesy Tanner Hawkins
Ten years is one of those milestones like turning 30.
I feel older just by saying the number.
Then when I start to add in the other numbers, like us being an “official” couple for 6 years prior to getting married, and dating 2 years prior to that (that’s 18 total for those too lazy to do the math), my head starts to get dizzy.
But I can still remember the exact moment that I fell for her.
We had just moved to town, my dad having accepted a preaching position at the Tecumseh Church of Christ.
On our first Sunday night after church I took a walk around town with the rest of the youth group.
I was 14 years old and getting ready to enter my sophomore year in high school.
She was 12 and getting ready to begin the 7th grade.
We were on North Oneida St., just in front of what used to be the middle school.
She turned to me and said something about that building being a “prison.”
Her blue eyes mesmerized me.
They were so bright, and blue, and full of life.
And I’ve never ever gotten over them (or that smile).
18 years later I’ve enjoyed getting to know what’s behind those eyes just as much as I enjoy looking into them.
1992
WEEKLY LINKS: Milwaukee Vacation Edition
During one of our best vacations to date, we made a quick trip up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to visit Miller Park. Here are a couple of the things I recommend as a result:
Holiday Inn Express — Not your typical hotel in that it also houses a water park inside. This was #2 on Tanner’s favorite things done during our trip. Great place to stay with kids!
Miller Park — I’ve been to 7 major league ballparks (including Wrigley Field) a couple minor league parks, and to Spring Training in Florida and Arizona. Outside of the nostalgia of Wrigley, Miller Park was the best experience I’ve ever had at a ballpark. It was like a baseball game mixed with a Michigan football tailgate party.
Cousin’s Subs — The only place we stopped to eat that we’d never been to before was Cousin’s Subs. They definitely make a great sub.
Jelly Belly — We got to tour the Milwaukee Jelly Belly facility, which included free samples. They also had a gift shop in which we spent a few dollars.
Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary — #1 on Tanner’s favorite things in Milwaukee list was this self-guided tour. The three of us jumped on a golf cart and drove through the vast wilderness of the park and saw Elk, Bison, Porcupines, Deer, and much more. If you’re ever in the area you should really check this out!
Mars Cheese Castle — On the way out of town we figured we owed it to our reputations to at least stop at one cheese store. Our only regret was that we didn’t have more time and money. You could easily spend all day and an entire paycheck in this place.
WEEKLY LINKS: Movement Starter Edition
Not a bad blog reading week. I actually discovered a couple new blogs (at least one of which I was horribly behind the eight-ball with) that really excited me.
Bring on the links…
1. Los, the ultimate reality blogger, took yet another step in faith this week and quit his job at NorthPoint to pursue a more broad ministry. One of his first posts sans-job was an excellent insight into how to start a movement. Stay with the video, and then read the keys.
2. Breaking Bad ended it’s second season on Sunday and /Film has an excellent recap / commentary on the final episode (for the 2 of you that might actually watch the show).
3. God is not a white man. Loved this video and song posted by Brad Ruggles.
4. One of the goals Tonia and I have before we die is to host a block party. I ran across this article today on how to organize and host a frugal block party.
5. Having thrown my man-card out the window years ago, I’m looking forward to the new Twilight movie coming out soon. The trailer can be seen here.
6. If God Text Messaged the 10 Commandments.
7. Got this one via an email from my mom. It’s a pretty inspirational video about getting back up.
8. I’m a musicoholic, so when I ran across this article about its influence it made me pause and reflect.
9. I’ve seen and heard about many people deleting their blogs or Facebook pages in what I view as an overreaction stemming from something else, so it was refreshing to see a post today about a guy who understands at least one reason not to do something so rash.
10. Describe God in 10 words or less.
Kenya Dig It?
Feel like running?
WHAT – Kenya Dig It? 5K
WHEN – Saturday, June 27, @ 9:00am
WHERE – Family Frosty in Tecumseh (3171 W. Russell Rd.)
WHY – To help support the Living Water Mission
Register now at KenyaDigIt.org
May Debrief
Well May was certainly busy.
I’m not sure how people with multiple children deal with it, but Tanner had Little League twice a week and that just felt a little crazy to me. We were constantly on the run. Regardless, we were still able to fit in some fun things this month.
1. We became the proud owners of Rock Band 2 this month. We haven’t come up with our band name yet, but we’ve been practicing like crazy for our tour. Our first single will be a cover of Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. Seriously, this is a great game, and we’ve loved learning it.
2. For my third year in a row, and first for Tonia, we attended the Change Without Compromise conference at NorthRidge Church. Every year I go it’s like a steroid shot of creativity, innovation, and mission. Kudos to Brad Powell, staff and volunteers for another great experience!
3. That same weekend our church continued to break the mold of what the local church looks like by closing our doors on Sunday. Instead went out and served our community in tangible ways. Our primary goal was to serve our community, but our secondary goal was to hammer home the fact that the church is not a building. For that we designed a shirt intended to compliment that idea, and as you would expect we got some feedback from it (more on that to come). It was a great day, capped off with some worship in the park! We hope to do many more just like it.
4. After 6 years at our house, I finally have a garage that I can store stuff in. Prior to that it’s been, well, a mess. It’s housed other people’s cars and canoes, raccoons and cats, dirt and garbage. After a nice long weekend it has been totally cleaned out and I’m now getting quotes to possibly take it to the next level—a poured cement pad, a new garage door, siding, and roof. Of course it will probably take another 6 years to complete that.
5. I celebrated a milestone on the blog in May, and for the occasion I wrote a ridiculously long post. At the end I attempted to give a bunch of stuff away and learned that I’m not very good at giving things away.
6. I read only 2 books this month, but they were both really good. The first was Twilight, and I was surprised to learn how close the movie was to the book (quite the opposite feeling I got after reading then watching Angel’s and Demon’s). The other book was Stumbling on Happiness, which turned out to be a lot different than expected, but that wasn’t a bad thing! I recommend both to anyone looking for a good read.
7. And finally, May was a huge movie month for me. I watched 26 overall (the most ever), but most surprisingly I watched 5 in the theater this month (the most ever). That’s more than I watched in a theater all of last year. UP was definitely the best of the bunch, but I had a great time at all of them, especially the company around me!
Books Read:
Twilight
Stumbling On Happiness
Movies Watched:
The Pacifier – 2/5
X-Men Origins: Wolverine – 3/5
Frost/Nixon – 5/5
Drillbit Taylor – 3/5
Duma – 4/5
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- 3/5
John Q – 4/5
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind – 2/5
What Doesn’t Kill You – 4/5
Star Trek – 4/5
Flawless – 3/5
Angels & Demons – 3/5
Yes Man – 3/5
Bangkok Dangerous – 3/5
Stand By Me – 5/5
Ace Ventura Pet Detective Jr. – 3/5
Terminator Salvation – 3/5
Sleepy Hollow – 3/5
Paul Blart: Mall Cop – 2/5
Pineapple Express – 2/5
Love Actually – 3/5
Domino – 2/5
Fanboys – 4/5
UP – 5/5
Apocalypse Now – 5/5
Sneakers – 4/5
Previous Months:
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
Father and Son
Conversation on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 @ 7:23am during our morning commute.
Father: Do you know who you’re playing tonight?
Son: Yeah. Why?
Father: I didn’t know. I was wondering if you knew who it was.
Son: We’re playing the Orioles.
Son: We play the Orioles on Tuesdays. It’s a pattern dad. Orioles, then Tigers, then Marlins. Thursday we’re playing the Tigers.
Father: **Flabbergasted**
Son: **What is wrong with that guy?**
