Pictures...no Pictures

So it's a bummer, my muscle man post for some reason is not showing the pictures that I posted. They were there before and now they are not.
Not sure why that is. Sorry for those of you who were wanting to see pictures. Maybe they will show up again. hmmm.....weird.

D Diddy is comin'!

This weekend our friend Dara is coming into Austin!!! She is coming for a business trip but she decided to come a few days early to hang out with us!! I'm so excited!
We welcome any visitors!!

Big Burly Men Who Love Jesus

My friend, Melody, invited Rebecca and I to go to a "Team Impact" show last night. Her friend, Preston, was a road manager for this group and told Melody that they would be coming in the area.
Team Impact is a group of big burly men who do amazing acts of strength such as karate chop piles of concrete bricks in half, rip huge phone books in half, bend iron rods with their head...and a bunch of other cool stuff. They also share their personal testimonies and they also present the gospel message.
So we piled up in Rebecca's car, Melody with her bald head and muscle shirt, and I with my camera and headed westward.
The further out you get from Austin, the stronger the accent gets!
When we arrived there were plenty of wife-beaters and mullets to hold me over until my next venture out of Austin!
It was cool because Preston had reserved seats for us in the second row and he also gave us free t-shirts AND we also got to meet the team!
As soon as we walked into their room backstage I felt the testosterone in the room and I felt small. These three guys are HUGE! Melody fits right in with the bald-ness!
Quote from Big Berry: ("Were you able to get my bicep in the picture!?")
We were surrounded by kids in the audience. Everyone was going crazy! The music was loud, the kids were loud, the guys were loud. It was GREAT! I found myself yelling at the top of my lungs, "GO BIG BERRY!"
Here are some pictures:

Mark Minter

Judo-chop!

Alton "The Ton" Maiden

This sort of looks like it hurts...or something...

Big Berry "Mr. Mississippi Bodybuilding Champion" Haynes

This is a hot water bag that is supposedly un-breakable...
Not for Big B! He popped it!

They also set things on fire: (and yes we were in a church sanctuary)

Ripping a phone book in half with his bare hands and his big muscles:

Berry put this bat behind his back and broke it in half:
One of the other teammates broke two ribs trying to do this move
Here's a video of some block chopping:

Berry tried for a personal record of breaking 8 concrete blocks with his head:
He didn't make it, he cracked 5 of the blocks though...you can tell in the video that the hit was pretty hard since the impact came back at him instead of following through with the blocks...wow.

Melody was inspired to try some of her own moves:
She's cool!

It was a fun night. I had never experienced anything quite like it! Including the belch from the girl behind us during the message! seriously.
It seemed like a lot of people really took in the message and took on the calling to follow Jesus.
It was cool.
God uses even big burly men to bring people to Him!

Baby Travis

Hilary went back to Iowa for spring break and she was showing me her pictures from the trip and I came across the most scariest thing I have ever seen in my life...This was a baby that she had when she was little and she named him Travis.
I thought it was really scary looking and thought that it needed a spot on my blog.

Post-It Notes are Cool.

I just saw this on my "MySpace" bulletin. This has got to be one of the coolest videos I've seen.

Mute Math in Austin

Random, kinda funny video from Mute Math on SXSW in Austin. These guys are out of control. I love it. I like the dude's move over the keyboard.

Today

God made today and I will rejoice in it even if I don't feel good.

To My Iowa Peeps...

It's official...I'm coming back to IA to visit...
May2-May8!!!!

David Bowie=Weirdo

Tonight I rented the movie Labyrinth. It's an old 80's movie that I used to watch all the time when I was little.
I came into it ready to be disappointed. I hadn't seen it in a long time and usually the movies you see as a kid, you have in your mind as REALLY cool and they are actually really NOT cool.
Well, this one definitely falls into that category! I think I was more shocked that I actually saw it as a little child. It's FREAKY!!!!!
I don't know what freaked me out the most...a stormy night and an owl...goblins...the garbage lady...the Bog of Eternal Stench...or David Bowie.
Seriously, David Bowie is a weirdo...yet intriguing. I'm sure he was hot back in the day!
Here is the movie trailer...check it out.

psalm 119:73-77

With your very own hands you formed me;
now breathe your wisdom over me so I can understand you.
When they see me waiting, expecting your Word,
those who fear you will take heart and be glad.
I can see now, God, that your decisions are right;
your testing has taught me what's true and right.
Oh, love me—and right now!—hold me tight!
just the way you promised.
Now comfort me so I can live, really live;
your revelation is the tune I dance to.
Let the fast-talking tricksters be exposed as frauds;
they tried to sell me a bill of goods,
but I kept my mind fixed on your counsel.
Let those who fear you turn to me
for evidence of your wise guidance.
And let me live whole and holy, soul and body,
so I can always walk with my head held high.

Hello Pride.

I read this tonight from a Beth Moore book:

My name is Pride. I am a cheater.
I cheat you of your God-given destiny...because you demand your own way.
I cheat you of contentment...because you "deserve better than this."
I cheat you of knowledge...because you already know it all.
I cheat you of healing...because you're too full of me to forgive.
I cheat you of holiness...because you refuse to admit when you're wrong.
I cheat you of vision...because you'd rather look in the mirror than out a window.
I cheat you of genuine friendship...because nobody's going to know the real you.
I cheat you of love...because real romance demands sacrifice.
I cheat you of greatness in heaven...because you refuse to wash another's feet on earth.
I cheat you of God's glory...because I convince you to seek your own.
My name is Pride. I am a cheater.
You like me because you think I'm always looking out for you. Untrue.
I'm looking to make a fool of you.
God has so much for you, i admit, but don't worry...
If you stick with me
You'll never know.

romans 7:15-25

I was reading this tonight and thought it was really good. From the Message Bible:
romans 7:15-25 "I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different."

How to Hack a Coke Machine

One of Google's "How To..." of the day is "How to Hack a Coke Machine".
nice.
I think my favorite parts were the warnings:

• This may be illegal in some jurisdictions, and it will generally be frowned upon by store staff or machine service people, so exercise caution when trying it out, and be sure to follow any applicable laws in your jurisdiction.
• Don't do this if there's a line behind you.
• You might waste your time doing this, as Coca-Cola has distributed new firmware to their vendors that would render these instructions unusable

G. Love, Jack Johnson and Donavon Frankenreiter

This is also cool.

A Taste of G.Love

I wasn't able to go to the G.Love show last week, but I found this video from Conan O'Brien. It's cool.

Hiking

Sunday some friends went for a hike it was beautiful and it also rained on us, but we still had fun, even in the rain! Here are some photos...

We saw a few wildlife creatures including a lizard...

And some sort of beetle...

I liked the purple and green together...beautiful! (it reminded me of the room that Meg and I had at the N.L. house!!)This was a fun little "pond" we sat around here for awhile and talked.
Until it started raining...

I'm learning how to do fun stuff with my camera, here are some cool color accent pictures...

Sunset with Jess and Jesus

This weekend was filled with many fun things. Friday I met with a friend that I just met a weekend ago. Her name is Jessica, and she is precious. We went for dinner and then went to a Threads concert. Two of the guys in the band are twins and Jessica is dating one of the guys. There was another band there too, and it was a night of worship. It was really good. Worshiping Jesus is amazing!
Then on Saturday night Jess and I went up to the 360 bridge cliffs and climbed to the top and watched the sunset. I brought my guitar and we prayed and worshiped as the sun went down. It was really cool. Here are some pictures that we took.

BFF

I had a dream last night that Billy Blanks was my best friend. It was random. Maybe it means that I need to be working out more.

Why Does Chocolate Have to Be So Good?

I don't know if any of y'all noticed when you signed on to Blogger today the "Blogger Buzz" was about SXSW in Austin starting this weekend! That was fun.
Anyway, I thought I should post about my realization that I'm addicted to chocolate, since I posted on my addiction to Diet Coke previously. I have kicked the habit people. I'm only drinking water at work. No DC. Every once in awhile I will have a DC, but mainly it's been water for me. Even at home, I will drink milk or water and I have now gotten some Diet Cherry 7up wich is excellent and caffeine free. So that kind of kicks the craving a little bit.
Anway, so along with the full free fridge of pop, there is also a bowl full of free good chocolate sitting across the room from me, usually yelling out my name, wanting me to eat them, it's like they just stare at me until I make eye contact with them and until I come over and eat them. Not the fake stuff, like the candy that is still sitting in the kitchen from the pinata we had on Valentines day-that doesn't tempt me at all, but I'm talking the good stuff. Right now it's Hershey's carmel kisses, Hershey's nuggets with toffee and almonds, Hershey's minatures assorted, (the kind that mom and Jill always have at art shows, or that we take on trips), Peppermint Patties-the York ones. Seriously guys...I don't know if I can kick this one. I may need an incentive. Why does chocolate have to be so good?!

Give me some G. LOVE

G. Love & Special Sauce...Stubbs BBQ...Austin TX...Thursday March 8th, 8:00pm.

I LOVE Austin!

Beautiful Mom

Today, March 5th, is my mom's birthday.
She is more beautiful today than ever. Her beauty grows as she delights more and more in Jesus and as she grows in wisdom and knowledge of Him.
It is so hard to be away and to miss out on her hugs and just laying my head on her chest the way I did as a little girl.
She lives her life with exclamation mark living. Being goofy because she is alive! Her love and her creativity is for her creator, and it's about HIM.

She is a woman who trusts in the Lord and has taught me so much about strength and perseverance. Her love knows no limits. My love for her continues to grow and I am honored to have her as my mother. I love you mom! Happy Birthday!

My Heart is Full

A cool quote that Joanna had on her blog from Jamie...

"A woman's heart should be so hidden in God, a man must seek Him to find her."

wow.

Patty Griffin in Austin

I just found out that Patty Griffin is going to be in Austin on Wednesday at Waterloo Records. AND it's free!
Man...I love Austin.
I saw that she is going to be coming to Iowa City at the Englert, so you IA peeps, go and check it out.

Another Shout Out about the Marriage Series.

I want to give a shout out AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN...y'all need to listen to the marriage series that Austin Stone is doing. I'm serious.
If you want your marriage to be something that at the end you say, "I would do it all over again", you need to check this out. If you are married or single.
You can download them from iTunes or go to the Austin Stone website and link to the messages there.
I can't tell you how passionate I am about this. Maybe you can already tell!
I am learning so much and it is amazing when I think back and remember what God has saved me from and being SO thankful of His grace in my life and that He has allowed me to grow and learn what a marriage should look like and what kind of man God desires me to be with, it's been through messes, but there is more grace than mess! I'm thankful that He is teaching me all of this!
SO CHECK IT OUT. I wish that I could make y'all do it, but I will just pray!
I'm so thankful for my church and the pastors and elders. What a blessing.

A Woman's Role-Equal yet distinct

Tonight at my Identify Class, Michelle spoke on "A Woman's Role-Equal yet Distinct."
I wanted to share with you some things that I found insightful.
Definition of manhood: At the heart of mature masculinity is a sense of benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women in ways appropriate to a man's differing relationships.
Definition of womanhood: At the heart of mature femininity is a freeing disposition to affirm, receive and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men in way appropriate to a woman's differing relationships.
The word submission has been, over the years, turned from something beautiful to something negative.
I am learning more and more how beautiful it is and how to works to glorify Jesus.
'At the heart of submission is TRUST, but not trust in humans, rather trust in God."
Our purpose for submission: A testimony of unity to the lost world. Making Christ known to the world. We're supposed to look different.
Our motive for submission: To glorify God, be eternally minded, enabling the leaders to do the job God has given them to do. Love others more than yourself.
Our example of submission: The trinity.
Trinity=Tri-une, three in oneness. Within the Trinity the 3 persons of the Godhead are equal in purpose and value, yet distinct in role. As a result, there is joyful submission.
They are all equally God, but they have different roles. Jesus cannot call out who His children are like the Father does. The Holy Spirit could not die on the cross like Jesus did, God cannot indwell in us like the Holy Spirit does. Each one has a special job, but they are equal in being God.
Here are the exhortations that she gave us as women:

All of us: In all your relationships with men (not only marriage) that you ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in how you related to men. The way you relate to men should bring honor to God as you live out the role and purpose of womanhood. Be willing to love others enough that you empower them to divinely appointed role and purpose. Always remember that they way you relate to men is literally a testimony to the very nature of God. When you adamantly disagree with the one you are called to submit to (whether it's your husband or someone else in leadership), pray that you would long for peaceful unity more than getting your way.

Single Women: If you are single, you seek to understand this gift of the undivided heart and you use it strategically to make God's name famous to this city and the world. Make much of Him in your singleness. You are literally a prophetic message of our single union with God in future glory, that is, Heaven. Honor the men in your life that the Lord has put in your life to be your spiritual protectors: elders, pastors, fathers, etc. You would honor the single men in your life by inspiring them to be protectors and providers through your undivided devotion to the Lord. BE WISE, BE WISE, BE WISE, BE WISE with who you chose to date and eventually marry...for you will be voluntarily be putting yourself under his headship once you marry.

Married Women: If you are married, you would PRAY, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY for your husband. Whether he is the man you want him to be or not, you would treat him as if he is, and then pray for him some more. That you would learn to submit not out of duty, but out of delight in the Lord, despite your husband's ability to lead as a servant. Believe your submission is a living testimony to the Triune of God. As a result, consider ways to spur your husband on to holiness and good deeds. Seek ways to love him despite his failures. (Love is...at great expense to yourself, allowing others to make much of Christ.)

Austin is Fun.

My friends...
The rodeo is coming. I may have to get my boots, saddle up and head on down to the rodeo! I think the actual rodeo is only one day, but there will be tons of stuff going on between March 9-24, including horse shows, BBQ dinners, concerts, carnivals, cowboys, "Miss Rodeo" contests, goat shows, sheep shows, longhorn shows, cowboys. It sounds like a lot of fun!
I'm finding out about a lot of random events that Austin has. This weekend they have a kite festival. Today they had a chocolate festival. When the circus comes to town they load all of the animals of the train and they have a parade through the streets of downtown all the way to the building where the circus will be. FUN!
Also, during spring break week is SXSW. It's a week long deal where tons of bands come and play in all of these different bars along 6th street. The only band that I knew out of all the bands listed was Mutemath. They are playing two different nights. I may have to check that out. They are also coming to Austin May 3rd, so if I don't see them during SXSW, I'm going to try and catch them at La Zona Rosa.
Austin is fun.