Digital Wilderness

Wow, how quickly the month has gone by! It’s already time for a 2006 Goals Month in Review!

So far, I’m doing quite well with the goals. What’s different this time around is that I’m doing more planning for them. For instance, I’ve already picked out the verses, the card tricks, origami patterns, etc. Of course, it’s easier to do that with these goals than last years, but it’s still nice to be motivated and ready to accomplish each.

I’ve put up a page to help me keep track of the goals. This page lists the Bible verses I plan to memorize, the origami patterns I want to learn, etc. It’ll be updated as I accomplish these goals.

2006 Goal Tracking

• Learn to whistle loudly using my fingers
  This is going to take some time practice, but I’ve found a website with some tips on how to do it.
• Learn three card tricks
  Two down, one to go, thanks to grandma and grandpa. I might expand this to 5 tricks if I can found some that are neat.
• Learn five origami models
  I have the five designs picked out and three already learned, two of those memorized. I actually feel like I’m cheating on this since one of them I used to know really well, and the others weren’t far behind. I may go for 7-8 designs if I can find some I like and look great while being fairly easy.
• Redecorate/organize my family room and den
  Thanks to me sister-in-law and mom, I’m making progress. I’ve rearranged slightly, added some nice looking lamps and hung some drapes. Yet to come: A new entertainment center, a storage/display case and painting two walls.
• Get involved in a puppet team
  Nothing to report yet.
• Take a small business development class
  I’m scheduled to take a community education class on 23 Feb – “Secrets to Starting Your Own Business”
• Get A+, i-Net+ and/or SAS certified
  My company will probably pay for SAS certification, but it won’t be until about this time next year. A+ will be my focus for late summer/early fall.
• Take a week-long vacation and visit another state and national park on my list
  Already planning a weekend trip to Nashville to see my brother and sister-in-law (probably stop to see my grandparents, too) and I’m checking out the possibility of heading to Maine and New England in October.
• Find a church home
  Nothing to report yet
• Have a consistent daily quiet time
  Memorizing the Bible verses is somewhat helping with this goal.
• Memorize 200 Bible verses
  Approx. 65 down, 135 to go.
• Swing dance once a month on average
  I actually reworded this one, adding “on average,” since that’s the spirit of this goal. Yeah, yeah, I didn’t make it at all last month, but that just means I’ll go twice in Feb
• Be more punctual
  Started out the year doing better…

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday, dear Melanie D
Happy Birthday to you

I’m a pack rat. I don’t throw much away, though I do make sure everything is organized and in its place, not just thrown into some closet and forgotten about. This pack rat aspect of my personality extends to the world of computers and electronic files, too. Word documents, computer programs, pictures, videos, music and who knows what else from who knows when are frequently backed up and archived.

This also applies to emails and instant messenger transcripts/logs. It’s funny that I even store simple emails, ones that don’t have any meat to them – bodies of only “OK” or “See you then.” I’m not sure how I got into that habit, but it makes me wonder what other people’s habits are for saving emails and other electronic files. Leave me a comment and let me know if you’re the type of person who saves everything, deletes everything or falls somewhere in between.

Last night, I joined my friends Lori T, James P, Sara W, Tammy M, Mindy B and over 9000 over people for Winter Jam 2006. It was a pretty good concert, made even better by the price – thanks for the free tickets Nick! Regardless of the free tickets, the concert was still only $10, which is remarkable considering it was four hours of great music from the likes Krystal Meyers, Hawk Nelson, ZoeGirl, Newsong, tobyMac and The Newsboys. When Newsong first came up with the idea for this tour, they had a goal of making it affordable for anyone, especially high school and college students. You’d think the musical lineup would feature lesser-known artists, but that’s definitely not the case! It’s not often you see tobyMac or Hawk Nelson with groups like Newsong and ZoeGirl

We arrived late, missing all of Krystal Meyers’ set and most of Hawk Nelson’s, which was unfortunate since Hawk Nelson is one of my favorite up-and-coming groups. The event was open seating, first-come-first-pick, so our seats were the “leftovers” – they were almost behind the stage and we couldn’t see the screen. The speaker tried to make our sections feel better by convincing us it was like a backstage pass and then had the rest of the crowd wave to us. We came for the music, though, and that didn’t depend on the seats.

I don’t listen to ZoeGirl or Newsong much, but I was impressed by what I heard from Newsong, especially their wide vocal range and stage presence. Those of you who don’t know Newsong may have heard their hit song “Christmas Shoes,” which gets a ton of play during the Christmas season and was the inspiration for a made-for-TV of the same name.

We did end up seeing Krystal Meyers, as she came out for one song during the “donation” portion of the show. I was thoroughly unimpressed by her performance.

TobyMac’s show was full of energy, complete with a hip-hop dancer, water slinging and many of his hit songs, both old and new. The set even included Jesus Freak. Yes! That got the place jumpin’.

Before the Newboys hit the stage, we were entertained by the Ives’ family and their Sphere of Fear. This family, which included a 13-year old boy, rode motorcycles around a metal sphere, like you would see in a circus. Not that thrilling for me, though I realize it does take talent. It was a distraction during the set change at least.

The Newsboys have long been in my list of favorite groups and they didn’t let me down. I’ve seen them in concert a couple times and enjoyed it each time. This time was no different. They were energetic with a good stage presence and played several of my favorite songs – Breakfast, He Reigns and Shine. It was also good to see Paul Colman, a Grammy and Dove award-winning solo artist who recently joined the band as guitarist.

All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday night with friends and good music!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday, dear Tammy F
Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday, dear Leslie
Happy Birthday to you

Haha, now this would be good for me, since I catch myself saying things like “ten ’til half after 3 o’clock.”

About Time Watch

It’s been a while, so it’s time for another quiz!

What Chess Piece Are You?

(Via Oddessey2000 Weblog)

My results:

An Outer Black Pawn
You scored 2 Power-Finesse, 2 Leader-Follower, 1 Unique-Ordinary, and 1 Offense-Defense!

You are a good soldier, the man the Man counts on. Unfortunately, he may or may not care for your well being, and so he will put you out just protect his interests. This you do without question because you are a team player. Bad news for you, because your team, the black team, tends to have to be more defensive in nature, and sometimes has to make hard choices or sacrifices. Guess who just volunteered?

It’s meme time! I got this one via email and also saw it on Let That Be Enough

FOUR JOBS YOU’VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:

• Car-Part.com and PPDI – Progammer
• ACE Computer Camp – Academic Director/Teacher
• Barnes and Noble Café – Barista
• J and L Landscaping/Landscape Concepts – Landscaper

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• The Matrix
• The Hunt for Red October
• The Usual Suspects

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH:

• Lost
• Mythbusters
• Battlestar Gallactica
• Seinfeld

FOUR CITIES YOU’VE LIVED IN:

• Union, KY
• Georgetown, KY
• Crescent Springs, KY
• Burlington, KY

FOUR PLACES YOU’VE BEEN ON VACATION:

• Seattle, WA
• Vancouver, BC
• Colorado Springs, CO
• Sacramento, CA

FOUR PLACES I’D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:

• Gatlinburg
• Log cabin in the mountains
• Warm beach
• Road trip to anywhere

FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS:

• Breakfast foods
• Steak
• Chicken and Pasta
• Pizza

FOUR OF YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE RESTAURANTS:

• O’Charley’s
• Steak ‘n’ Shake
• Fazoli’s
• Montgomery Inn

FOUR SCHOOLS YOU’VE ATTENDED:

• Northern Kentucky University
• Georgetown College
• Ryle High School
• Ockerman Middle School

FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY:

• kyblogger.com (shameless self promotion , but also includes stats for my website)
• bloglines.com
• my.yahoo.com
• gmail.com

FOUR TAGGED:

• Jeff B
• Jeremy H
• Bryan R (I don’t know which one of his 50 million blogs/websites to link to)
• Paul C

In light of all the recent engagements, and a reminder to myself should that day ever come for me, here are my top romantic wedding songs, for the first dance and such (links go to lyrics):

• Steven Curtis Chapman – I Will Be Here
• Jekyll and Hyde – Someone Like You
• Lifehouse – You and Me

Honorable Mentions:

• Bebo Norman – A Page is Turned
• Louis Armstrong – What a Wonderful World
• George Strait – I Cross My Heart
• Bryan Adams – Everything I Do
• John Michael Montgomery – I Swear
• Sara Groves – Loving a Person
• Edwin McCain – I’ll Be
• Rod Stewart – Have I Told You Lately
• Steven Curtis Chapman – We Will Dance
• Steven Curtis Chapman – When Love Takes You In
• Steven Curtis Chapman – I’ll Take Care of You
• Third Day – Love Song

You can listen to these songs via DW Radio

What would you add to the list? If you’re married, what was your wedding song?