Wedding Photos

Photos from our wedding on September 27th

H2 Photo

I haven’t updated my site here in a while, but I have been busy creating other sites. Steph and I love to take photos and thought it would be fun to start our own photo blog together. We called it H2 Photo because, well because we’re not that creative. If it doesn’t make sense then I’m sorry. I have been working on it a lot this weekend and it’s finally up and running. As of now there are only my photos up there, but Steph has some on the way. Make sure you check back often.

Check it out here: H2 Photo

Professional Development Guide

I’m studying for promotion so it’s nothing buy study material for the next few months.

The Phenomenon of The Cool

The word cool is an interesting word to me. To be honest, I’m not even sure what it means. Dictionary.com has 28 different definitions for the word, but none of them say what cool is; they don’t explain what qualifies as cool. Perhaps it’s odd that I’m thinking of such things, but I am. I think there is a phenomenon surrounding the word, something really interesting to me. For lack of creativity, and/or intelligence, I’ve named it The Phenomenon of The Cool.

Basically, The Phenomenon of the Cool is that every man and woman wants to be just that, cool. I know what you’re thinking, but just hear me out on this. I believe that everybody desires to be part of something, they want to feel wanted, accepted. They want to belong, they want to feel safe, loved, cool. Donald Miller described the phenomenon as a boat in the water that represents cool, he said something along the lines (I don’t have the book in front of me) that everybody wants to be in the boat, so much so that they’ll even throw others out just to get in. I think that’s a good assessment. Imagine a moment in time when a person you just met tells you how good they are at something, or when a person you know puts down somebody else just to be accepted by their present company. Or even better, imagine a moment in time when you have done either of those yourself. It happens, and, personally, I think it happens because everybody wants to be cool.

Now I know what some of you are saying. You are saying you could care less about the cool boat. You are saying that if there is a boat - which perhaps you don’t believe there is - you don’t really care about making sure you’re in it. I think that’s a good thing. But I imagine it is because you already feel as if you are in the boat. You feel accepted, loved, wanted. You feel as if you belong. But imagine if I said you were not in the boat. Imagine if I told you your present company did not accept you as you, you aren’t wanted. Do you still not care?

Of course, the boat isn’t real. I don’t believe in the boat, I just believe that we, as humans, have created a boat in our minds and have begun to believe it matters. What I do believe is that when God created us he did so by instilling those desires in our hearts. At the time, when God was fully present on Earth, when Adam and Eve had direct contact with God, all those desires were met…by Him. They were accepted and wanted. They belonged and felt the greatest of loves. But perhaps after the fall of man, when that direct link was taken away, we, as humans, became as fish out of water…or better yet, as humans out of the cool boat. We began to flop around looking for acceptance, hoping to get back in the comfort of the boat.

The problem is we’re looking in all the wrong places. We’ve looked for those desires to be met by other human beings when the only one who can fully realize all those desires is God. Perhaps that is why when a man or a woman fully accepts and realizes the scope of the Lord’s love, when they fully realize what Gods love is and means and can provide man, their heart settles. No longer do they try as hard as they can to get in the boat, they realize the water aint that deep anyways. The challenge then is to continually remember that what the cool boat has to offer isn’t all that great. Acceptance by other human beings isn’t what life is about, being cool isn’t cool. As a human being I know I can forget that concept. I can feel as if I’m drowning in the sea of uncool and start panicking. Not until later do I realize the cool boat is not so cool after all. I can stand on my own.

But let’s say, perhaps, that you really want to be in the boat. Maybe you often find yourself in the sea of uncool and the boat looks pretty nice. If so, I don’t blame you. We all do. Being cool may not be cool, but being uncool is worse. Or let’s say, perhaps, that you’re already in the cool boat and are beginning to see the leaks. Maybe it isn’t as nice as you once thought. Either way, we shouldn’t forget the other boat. As we all flop around in the sea of uncool, as we try our darndest to get in the cool boat - which I imagine as a little life boat directly in front of us - there is another boat lurking in the waters. It might be harder to see, it might seem like an illusion, but it is very real. This boat, of course, is God’s boat. It’s a yacht with all of life’s necessities: love, hope, comfort, belonging. And the best part is, there is always room. In fact there is a rope waiting for you grab ahold of so you don’t drown in the sea…uncool or not.

Hello From Uruguay

I’m still hanging around in Uruguay; I’ll be here for a couple more days. It’s been fairly busy, but I suppose that’s a good thing. Today I spent the morning aboard a C-17 with Uruguayan troops doing static-line jumps. It was pretty fun to be there and experience that, to see the faces on the Uruguayans; you could tell they were enjoying it. It was early day, so the morning sucked, but thankfully I was able to get my work done early and head to the town center for some shopping, which is good because I was able to pick up some goodies for a few people.

I’m looking forward to getting home. I’ve been out of it since I’ve been here. Not sick, but not healthy, just woozy and tired. Still having fun though. I thought I’d post a video because I haven’t done that in a while.

Enjoy, but don’t laugh.

Still Traveling Man

This morning I arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay and will be spending this week here, leaving on Friday morning. I have to say, Uruguay looks pretty cool so far. I am staying at a hotel that overlooks the beach, although the beach, after being to Hawaii, is nothing to write home about. It’s actually fairly dirty, even the water is brown. I’m about to head out and try the food, which I’ve been told is great.

As far as Chile goes, I’m glad to be out of there. Not because of the city…the city of Santiago was amazing. It was actually much richer than I thought it would be. The buildings were all tall, and banks were everywhere. It actually reminded a bit of Istanbul. Some say it’s like New York, just to give you an idea of how “bustling” the city is. 6,000,000 people live in Santiago, so it ought to be.

Unfortunately, when I come to cities like this, I come for work. And the week spent in Chile was just a headache. I don’t want to go off about certain people or issues here for the world to see, but I will say certain people sucked the fun out it. So, I’m glad to be away from (that or those) people and here in Montevideo.

I did manage to get my hand on some Chilean wine, which I’m anxious to take home and share with my beautiful wife who, by the way, won $100 on Halloween for having the sexiest costume. And I wasn’t there…figures.

Traveling Man

I’m back on the road, doing what I believe is the best part of my job: covering the news in foreign countries. I arrived in Chile this morning and will be here for a week covering Operation Southern Partner.

The goal of OSP, of which this is the first, is for USAF Airmen to “work alongside military members from the Air Forces of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay, while accomplishing more than ten outreach and community relations projects.” I’ll be in Chile and Uruguay covering the events there. Unfortunately, I won’t make it to Argentina. I guess I’ll just have to vacation there someday.

Getting here was a little crazy. Our aircraft was delayed a day and a half (did I say delayed? I meant broke…) so we spent quite a bit of time waiting in a terminal. Once the plane found its wings we left and spent 22 hours total flying. Not a lot of fun, but worth it once you get here and experience a new place. I really can’t complain. Actually, I can. I miss Steph. I forgot my camera. And I have to share a room…BUT…at least it’s a 4star hotel.

I’ll see what I can do about posting some updates, at the very least some links of what I’m doing, while I’m here.

What is the What by Dave Eggers

In a heartrending and astonishing novel, Eggers illuminates the history of the civil war in Sudan through the eyes of Valentino Achak Deng, a refugee now living in the United States.

Paperback Frenzy

So, I’ve gone and done it. I’ve created a new website dedicated entirely to book reviews. I am going to be working on it with a few friends and we’ll be combining our thoughts on books. It should be a good way to get a variety of ideas on what you want to read next, or to just see what I (we) think about a book you’ve already read.

You can check out the site here: Paperback Frenzy

Hope you enjoy it!

1776 by David McCullough

In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence — when the whole American cause was riding on their success…