Cars, Houses and all kinds of crap

So here is an update on what is going on with me lately, Two weeks ago my father in-law and I drove all they way to beautiful Springdale Arkansas to get me a car we found on the internet. It was a 1994 Pontiac Bonneville it was only $1600!! And it looked great. So we embarked on our journey which was the longest amount of time him and I have spent together alone and it was fun. Four hours later we arrive at our destination. We look at the car and it’s not in quite as good of shape as we thought, but it still looked decent for the price. We took it for a test drive and noticed a noise in the wheel area and thought a CV joint was going out, I figured I could fix that with no problem due to how cheap the car was. So it finally came down to whether or not I was going to buy it I wrestled back in forth between yes and no before finally deciding yes. We started our trip back home with my Father in-law driving my “new car” and when we stopped to eat lunch he told me it wasn’t shifting into overdrive. I was immediately angry and he calmed me down telling me he thought it was just a sensor that had gone out and it probably wouldn’t be REAL expensive to fix. So we got it home and scheduled a time for the mechanic to look at it. He called us two days later with some news, He said the CV joint wasn’t out it was just a loose piece of metal and he fixed that. SWEET!! And then came the bombshell..the transmission was bad and he said looking at the car putting in a new transmission wouldn’t be worth it.
So here I am with a car I just paid $1600 for and I am being told it’s worthless. My father in law told me that since he doesn’t drive much that he would take my car and let me use his car as a work car. Flash forward to 2 days ago, I get a call at work from Brooke asking me if her dad had called me, I said no why? She then proceeded to tell me that the car had died on him. It was completely out of oil which it shouldn’t have been seeings how he just changed the oil a couple days before. So now on top of that the engine is blown as well and we had to tow it home on Monday. I hate cars!
On another note Brooke and I are starting to look at buying a house in Ottawa. We really don’t want to live in the city but it’s the best option for us right now. Our plan is to buy a house live there fir 5 to 10 years and when the housing market is back up again, Sell it and build our own house on some land that was given to us. It has been exciting though looking at homes and trying to figure out what we can afford. I will be sure to keep you posted on what we find!!

I'm just trying to be like everyone else

So everyone else I know is posting music stuff on their blogs So me not being one that want’s to be left off the bandwagon I am going to do the same. I wrote this song about a year and a half ago when I was feeling pretty down and I was fighting battles I didn’t think I could win and I finally just gave it up and let God take it. The Song is called one left standing and it will be on my band’s new Cd when we are done mastering it.

something has happened to me/but everything’s the same
born into new life/everything has changed/
demons swirling around my head/
tearing my inside/can’t take anymore, my God, hear my cry/

save me/from this life I’m living/
save me/let me know I’m forgiven/

You take this fight from me/when I try I fail
Holy Spirit rescue me/pull me from this hell
I feel the Spirit in me/I’ve found a place to hide
my God/my Refuge/my God/

save me/from this life I’m living/save me/let me know I’m forgiven/save me/from this life I’m living/save me/let me know I’m forgiven

Copyright 2006 Dead Now Rise

I still get to this point almost everyday. And I still use this as my prayer.

Weddings and such

Have you ever been in a state of mind where all you can seem to do is think? I don’t mean like what are you going to have for dinner thinking, I’m talking about deep thinking and good ol’ soul searching. Well I was in one of those moods yesterday. It all started when Brooke and I along with the rest of her family went to a wedding for her cousin Ryan. We arrived at the venue , a real upscale golf clubhouse, we walked into the area where the wedding was to take place and immediately my mind flashed back my wedding. I started to really remember how awesome that day was, how beautiful Brooke looked and as I was thinking about that I looked over and saw my Brother in law Caleb and his fiancée Jenny. I got excited for them, their wedding is in July and I could see the excitement in their eyes as they looked upon the ceremony. It brought a few tears to my eyes. And as I sat there almost crying I heard those two words that put me over the edge …….OPEN BAR! Holy crap I was in heaven. I haven’t been to an open bar reception in alooooong time. Don’t worry I didn’t go over bored I only had two beers which is good for me. Trust me If you knew me back in the day 2 beers are nothing…I hooked you and then I reeled you in ..I am awesome!

Just trying to tick off the locals

Here is something you might not know about me. I’m sad to say but I am a vindictive person. Let me explain, I am a country person, I grew up in a small town, I have never lived in the “big city” so my outlook on things might be a bit skewed. As most of you know I live in a little town called Princeton, Well on my road there are a grand total of 5 houses all about a ¼ mile apart from each other. I get along with every person on my street except for two. The old people just down the road. It may sound a little politically incorrect for me to call them old people but I have lived here for 6 years and I don’t even know their names PLUS we live in America I can say what ever I want and If me calling them old people has offended you in some way? Then you need to hit yourself in the head with a tack hammer. Sorry I got off track. So these two people have decided they just do not like me. So I took it upon myself to find out why. Is it because I am a young person and young people are the spawns of Satan? Or is it because of the following…

A little after a year of living Princeton my wife bought me a wonderful birthday present. She took me out to a farm and let me pick out a puppy. I had a dog when I was a kid and I loved that thing so much but then it got carried away by an owl (that is a completely different story) Well seeing how we lived in the country I believed my wonderful new puppy dog would be just fine off of a leash. Well one day while I was sitting at home I got a phone call from then neighbors down the road I didn’t get to the phone in time so I let the machine get it and I heard this little old lady screaming into the phone that my dog was at her house and I needed to come get it right now and she sounded angry. So I hop in the car drive down there and pick up Hershey. She met me at the front door and was all smiles and happy go lucky and told me how beautiful my dog was and how it wasn’t a problem for her to be down there. That ticked me right off, but I smiled and took my dog back to my house. Well this whole scenario played itself out 3 or 4 more times that fall.

Christmas 2003, Brooke and I are heading back from my parents house, we are heading down the road and what do I see?? The neighbor’s dog in my yard. My mind started thinking of the joy I was going to get calling them and telling them to come get their dog, but when we pulled in the drive he ran back, and I noticed we had a much bigger problem. The neighbors dog had some how broke into our barn and got my dog ALL KINDS OF KNOCKED UP…I was very, very angry. I wanted to march down there and punch that dog right in the mommy and daddy button, but I refrained I decided that I would be more tactful with my payback, so every 4th of July , New years Eve, Or anytime I feel like it really I ….well I shoot things at their house. Now let me clarify. I don’t shoot bullets or anything I shoot blank loads nothing but black powder. I make booms loud enough to shake their walls and rattle their windows. I shoot everything from my colt .45 revolver to my dad’s ½ scale field artillery canon. Does this make me a bad person? I personally think I am venting my anger in a completely normal and unpsychotic way although I think most Dr’s would say otherwise. Well Sorry for the rambling and really the stupidity of this whole thing..

Come home running

Life is truly amazing. I am starting to finally figure out that most people are inherently good. The same people who make you angry are the very same people who make you smile and laugh. I have been an a roller coaster lately with people in general. It seems like every once in a while I lose who I am. I sometimes get confused with life causing me to lose my “identity” . A lot of the time I’m good, I’m happy, smiling and just being myself, And then there are days where I don’t know anything. This is that part that amazes me. On those days when I feel like I am lost and no one understands me I have always found comfort in the arms of Jesus. I look at all of my friends who are constantly saying they are searching for something but they just don’t know what it is and I just want to yell” LOOK AT JESUS, HE’S RIGHT THERE”, but ultimately I don’t. I don’t know whether it’s a fear of being laughed at or what but I seem to always back down. Here are some lyrics to one of my favorite Chris Tomlin songs. I want to play this for everyone of my friends who are still searching..

Oh heart of mine, why must you stray?
From one so fair you run away
And one more time you have to pay
The heaviness of needless shame

Oh heart of mine, come back home
You've been too long out on your own
And He's been there all along
Watching for you down the road

So come home running
His arms are open wide
His name is JesusHe understands
He is the answerYou are looking for
So come home running
Just as you are

Oh child of God so dearly loved
And ransomed by the Savior's blood
And called by name, "daughter" and "son"
Wrapped in the robe of righteousness

The words of this song ring so true in our everyday lives, we can always come home running and that is what makes this life amazing!!!