Friday, November 28, 2008

A jourey of five.

This past weekend 4 friends and I set out on a journey that would take 2.25 days and stretch 24 miles. We left Lynchburg on Friday night at about 6:00 PM and ended up near Roanoke. We started out hiking to Dragon's Tooth and setting up camp at about 10:30PM. It was 15 degrees and super windy. My sleeping bag kept me warm... I didn't want to get out the next morning as it was roughly 24.35 degrees or thereabouts. So, we ended up breaking down camp and moving out at about 11:00 AM... we should have probably moved out a little earlier.

Just about to take off North on the AT to go to McAfee's Knob. Day two took us about 12 miles or so. By the end of the day I was feeling good yet excited to rest and sit around a camp fire. We made our way to the shelter and setup camp. Stoves came out, food packets were ripped open, and we ate a much needed meal. It was really nice to rest my feet and legs. I was in bed by 8:30 PM and asleep by 8:40.

This photo was at the summit of McAfees's Knob was taken early on last day of the journey. It was pretty cold up there. In fact, there was some pools of frozen water. Some really great views. We could see from the top where we headed (Tinker Cliffs). We finished the hike at about 5:30 on Sunday evening and frankly by the end I was happy to have finished. We climbed 3500 feet on Sunday over about 8 miles and then desceneded about the same amount over about 2 miles. Most people are happy to go down... I was not. The descent was obscenely steep and not good on my knees. Had I not had my friend Tim to talk to on the way down I would have been a very angry camper... literally. Chatting with Tim helped to keep my mind off how my body was feeling. Thanks Tim! Once we finished the hike we went to Burger King. I at a loaded burger, junior Whopper, large fries, and two hershey pieces. I did not feel good after I ate.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Sundance, Here I Come!

I love movies. Those of you who know me, know this already. My favorite past time is to see a movie. Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Romance, Action, Foreign, Dark Comedy... (any genre except Horror actually). I don't even mind going by myself to the theater (actually for some movies I prefer it). I love Netflix. Great variety of movies, delivered directly to my door! I love to eat popcorn while I watch movies, especially homemade popcorn accompanied by cheese cubes (or with Mike & Ike's as Heika introduced to me awhile ago). Why am I telling you this? To give you an idea how exciting this next exclamation is:
I am going to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival!
Jesse is going to Utah at the end of January for an outdoor retail tradeshow and to ski for a week. He discovered that the Sundance Film Festival was going to be the same week as the tradeshow in approximately the same area. He asked if I'd be interested in going... of course I was! Getting tickets was quite a task though! It took a lot of determination, sweat, and tears (well, actually just determination). First, I had to wait for a certain date until I could register. After I registered, I had to wait a few weeks to see if I would be one of the random picks to be assigned a time-slot. I was one of the lucky chosen and got my time-slot, but I still wasn't guaranteed tickets! Wednesday night at 6pm EST, I logged on, said a prayer, and then proceeded to purchase. What a stressful time as I waited for the page to load to see if my purchase went through.... Here is me after I got my confirmation:
I got a weekend pass which allows me to see any films I want Friday - Sunday, and I also get to go to an award presentation on Saturday night! They haven't announced yet the films that will be at the festival.
I'm so excited about this! I will be sure to post pictures of my adventure and I'll let you know how many famous people I meet. :)

Friday, November 14, 2008

Do you know this Carrie?

Do you recognize Carrie on the left? That was probably around 2003 or so. That is the Carrie I fell madly in love with. That is the Carrie I would do laundry for, wash dishes with, and clean the house without complaining. It dawned on me yesterday while talking to my very good friend Paul that I have lost the desire to serve my wife. I forgot that simply posting a sound on our blog or telling her she looks good is not a enough. It is not enough for me to say I am going to do things to help out. I forget or just didn't care that Carrie works all day and then comes home and does the laundry, cooks dinner, and picks up around the house. I have become a husband that comes home and does nothing. I realized that the way to make my wife madly in love with ME again is by serving her. By cleaning the house, doing the laundry, and washing the dishes. Then when that is done I can post a sound on our blog and tell her she looks nice. Once I have done all these things I may get lucky... but if I don't, I still have a wife who loves me more than anyone else and is passionately desires to be with me. I feel so stupid that I was letting things slip away. So ashamed that I allowed my wife to carry the load. That I was selfish in always doing what I wanted. Never taking her out on a date. Rarely giving her the opportunity to gets dressed up and feel sexy. For the last couple of years I have failed as a husband. I think it is important for everyone to know that I have become that guy. I took Carrie on a date last night to Outback and as we were sitting in the booth I was taken back to when we were dating and all my thoughts centered around Carrie. How she had my complete attention. I waited for the phone to ring and when it was her I acted cool like I just happened to answer on the first ring. My deep love of Carrie is still there I have just allowed myself to get "busy".

Carrie, I am sorry for not treating you like the light of my life. That I have made playful fun of you around other people. I will from this point treat as you should be treated. I love you.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Numbers from World War I.

Today marks the 90th anniversary of World War I. I have not really read a whole lot about this war until today. Wikipedia has a really interesting article about the war. It is incredible how many soldiers gave their life for their respective sides. We should never forget what freedom costs.

Casualties and losses
US & ALLIES
Military dead:

5,525,000
Military wounded: 12,831,500
Military missing: 4,121,000
THEM
Military dead:

4,386,000
Military wounded: 8,388,000
Military missing: 3,629,000

Friday, November 7, 2008

Stange pride.

Carrie and I are constantly looking for ways to consume less and get more out of what we already have. So, I ask Carrie to put my sandwiches for lunch in a reusable container. Whenever possible she does. If we don't have anything other than sandwich bags she put them in one and I bring it home to reuse it. After all, there is nothing wrong with it. Today I open my lunch bag and laugh. My sandwiches are in the bag the salami came it. I was proud of Carries resourcefulness. It shows me that as we begin to alter our way of thinking we can come up with creative ways to reuse things. Good work Carrie.

FYI... this concept does not work with toilet paper.

Question authority.

You’re the only person who decides how you’re going to spend your life, so invest the time to discover your passion. Don’t accept the path laid out before you by others—just figure out what you enjoy doing and do it.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life”
Steve Jobs

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

And now, The President of the United States

Whether you like him or not, Barack Obama will be our new president. He needs our prayers, not our judgement or criticism. He's got quite a country to lead.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Exclamation points.

I am typically a pretty reserved person. You won't see me too excited or too down. I rarely scream out phrases like, "Thanks!!", "you bethcha!!!", or "freakin' a right essay!!"... however when I type emails I am always using exclamation points. I don't speak with such emotion. In fact, sometimes I feel like this guy:


Swingline stapler

Monday, November 3, 2008

Standard.

This is standard equipment for Cliff.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Cliff Butternut... he said he is the adventure extraordinaire.

So I was hanging out tonight at home with some friends. We were having a good time doing a lot of beat boxing. Out of nowhere this guy shows up on my porch and I'm like, "who are you? can I help you? get off my porch fella." So, he says, "my name is Cliff Butternut and I'm the Adventure Extraordinaire." Then he invited me on an adventure. It was kind of weird but I told him I would think about it. With that, he scaled a tree, jumped to a telephone pole and was gone. I wonder what he meant about an adventure. I kind of feel like I'm in The Matrix and I have to choose the pill. How deep does the rabbit hole go??

Cliff Butternut, Adventure Extraordinaire