Ramblings

Strike Zone is playing the Fish tonight. I am really excited about it. There's a lot of hype surrounding the show because of All In's CD release and the new "cool" band Year One. We are playing first so if you're coming get there early. We've cut our set-list down considerably, and I'm not sure how that's going to go. In all, we probably only have about 20 minutes worth of music. We should either get on the ball with these new songs or keep playing some of the old favorites.

I am very tired. Not enough sleep the last couple of days.

This weekend I am going to be domestic. I was debating on working at my house or going to the leadership retreat. I feel like working in my yard/garage and then having a beer sounds like the right plan :) This is what I hope to accomplish: till up my garden, replant my garden, plant a tree, sweep the driveway, clean the garage, build workbench. I've been meaning to build that stupid bench for months. That is truly the project that may never be completed.

I've enjoyed my youth duties this week for the most part. We are making great progress on the lock-ins and we've come up with some really amazing/out-of-the-box ideas. The team is phenomenal, I could have never imagined some of this stuff.

I've been reading some of the classifieds on CraigsList. If you've ever been to CL you know what I'm talking about. I wonder if I should put something on there, and if I did what would it say. Probably something like: insanely hot 24 year youth minister/software engineer looking for cool chick with no drama who wants to be friends first. Of course then I'd have to put my picture on there.

I'm worried about my brother, again. He lost his girlfriend, again. He's been very quiet and reserved, not wanting to talk to anyone about anything...again. Last time it was bad, but I was living with him so I felt like I could kinda keep an eye on him.

Grace and Peace, Zane

Wyoming Update

This will be my Wyoming update post, even though I got back from the trip over a week ago.

In a nutshell, my trip was everything I hoped it would be. It was a much needed retreat from life, and a chance to organize my thoughts and priorities. I feel like I made some decisions that will keep me focused on the present, and not worried so much about the future. Also, I got a chance to develop my leadership skills through good information and real-life leadership labs. It was really good. I highly recommend NOLS to anyone that is interested in developing leadership and has the guts to live in the back-country.

Of the decisions I made, the biggest one was to stop pursing my own business. Over the last 2 years or so I have made a few attempts to get a website business off of the ground. I have started to slowly shed that work simply because it takes too much time, money, and stress to keep afloat. After that I had a few solid entrepreneurial ideas, however I've decided that again I do not have the time or the capital to truly invest myself into another venture. Most importantly, I have plenty of work to do at the church and I feel the greatest reward will come from serving there. In short, my attention has been divided by too many activities for too long. By letting go of some of these "pipe dreams" I'll be able to focus more on ICY and less on money and business.

Now we can move on the pictures. I uploaded most of my pictures to flickr, but if you don't have the time to surf there here are some highlights.

Picture of me on the trail

This is the most common "scenery" I saw.

Europe Canyon, it looked like a foreign planet.

View from the top of Mt. Victor, this was my highlight of the trip.

My biggest fish, 19"

The Cahaba

I was lucky enough to go fishing down at the Cahaba with Mike yesterday afternoon. It was amazing. I'm sorely upset that I did not bring my camera. The scenery was stunning. I have been down to the Cahaba a few times in the Helena/Hoover area. Once it gets south of the Birmingham donut it really opens up and looks amazing.

Of course we didn't catch any fish. That is pretty much the standard when I am around. I simply scare fish. I think it is a sic-sense I have. Somewhere in my DNA my body is trained to be fearful of fish, so my skin emits a toxin into the water that serves as a sort of "tornado siren" to the fish.

That makes sense to me.

Really though I did not mind not catching fish. Being in God's creation and learning new skills with a good friend was enough.

Sleep

So I have a goal: Get in the bed by 11:00 every night. Get out of the bed by 6:30 every morning. That should afford me at least seven hours of sleep per night. That doesn't sound too complicated does it?

For some reason, this is an un-accomplish-able task for me. It seems no matter how hard I try, this goal will never be reached. Whether there is programming work, a book to read, my work-out regiment, socializing with friends, etc., something always keeps me from going to bed. ALWAYS. And it is really hard for me to prioritize sleep over those things.

If I am programming late at night, such as this last week, then it is usually because it is urgent, as it was this last week. I don't want to let my customers down, they depend on me.

I am finding reading is more and more important. I have to expand my horizons, if I'm not growing forward I'm growing backward. This includes reading the Bible. I've got to make time for that, even if it is later at night.

It is no secret I work-out most nights. But how do tell your body no so you can tell your body yes? If I skip the gym to get an extra hour of sleep I'll regret it. My body needs to be in training mode, a single day of skipping the gym can set me back. This has been proven.

There are occasions where I stay up late socializing. Either on the phone or in person...usually the later. This is incredibly important. I spend so much time doing other stuff there are a lot of relationships out there that have suffered. I need to stay caught up with my friends, I depend on that.

Last week, I reached my sleep goal 4 nights in a row. For four days I was in bed at night early and out of the bed in the morning early. I had time to get ready for work, fix my lunch, read my Bible. It was magical. I felt refreshed. I felt spiritual. It was good. Then this week, I don't know what happened. I've been stuck out late. I get home, try to go to the gym, get some work done, whatever...I don't think I have been in bed before 1:00 all week. And holy crap it is starting to catch up with me today. I feel like I am high on drugs. My head feels small. Everything around me is moving is fast forward. People were talking to me this morning and it was like they were talking so fast I was annoyed by their words. Its almost noon and I'm still tired.

WTF?

Dinner With Two Ladies

Did you know that widows don't like to be called that?

I had dinner tonight with two amazing ladies. They are so awesome that Mr. Ray at church even called them "HOT!".

I had dinner with Cathy and Vicki tonight, and it was truly a blessing. In so many ways they shared their heart with me, and the comfort and reassurance they gave me truly was priceless. I wasn't sure how it would be tonight, if it would seem awkward or not, but we had a blast just sitting around talking and sharing stories.

I've been reading Kendall and LeAlan's blogs, and I must say they have touched my spirit. That is truly what I've desired from sharing this stuff with you guys...the chance to sharpen each other's spirits. Thanks guys for being raw and honest.

Grace and Peace, Zane

Quick Updates

Awesome vacation at lake. Re-learned how to mountain bike. Attempted to water-ski. Ate a lot of food. Trying to lose weight. Web server crashed. Stressed over crashed websites. Became leader of youth. Looking forward to WY. Mending relationships at work. Blessed.

You People are Nerds

So I posted a poll because it looked fun. The number 1 thing you would do if you could do anything: Learn to speak another language. I voted to become a beet farmer.