Digital Wilderness

Here’s Kristy’s take on the proposal.

---

On Saturday, August 28th, 2010, Chris and I had plans to spend the day together in Lexington, Kentucky. I received a text message from him at 10:41am, letting me know he was on his way (“omw”). Considering the normal commute time of which I was very familiar, I expected him to be at my house by around 12:00 noon. However, at 12:10, I received a text message from him, saying, “Running a little late. Be there soon.” This is something that he had done in the past when running behind, so I didn’t think anything about it. A while later, my phone rang and it was Chris, asking me to unlock my front door and go upstairs. Once again, this was something he had done several times before, when wanting to bring something into my house to surprise me, so I didn’t see it as anything especially unusual.

After coming into my house and apparently hiding some items inside, he gave the go-ahead for me to come down from the upstairs. We soon left for lunch at Stella’s Kentucky Deli. Following lunch and a quick stop back at my house, we headed to visit my friend, Autumn, and her family at their home. We visited with them for about 40-50 minutes and then headed to Sonic for lime-aids during their happy hour special. Chris tasted his first lime-aid.

Upon leaving Sonic, he handed me a paper with information printed on it about a Geocache for us to find. The title was K&C series-first date-dinner. This was the moment when I started to suspect that something was up (before later changing my mind). When I saw that he had created a geocache at the sight of our first date, I wondered if he had hidden a geocache at each of the places that we went on our first date and that he would propose through the last geocache. However, just when I thought that I had this man figured out….. I was wrong. I found the first cache at O’Charley’s (the location of our first date dinner) and expected that the putt-putt course would be the next stop. After finding the cache and leaving O’Charley’s, I asked Chris where we were heading next…….he said that it was the only one and he guessed that we would head back to my house, unless there was somewhere else I wanted to go. At this point, I decided that my theory must be wrong and that this would not be the day that we would get engaged. I was a little disappointed, but was still excited to spend the day with Chris, engagement that day or not.

When we got back to my house, we decided to work on our scrapbook for a while. About a year prior to this, Chris had presented me with a scrapbook and momentos that he had been collecting from our dates. Since then, we had worked on some additional pages, when we weren’t busy making new memories to scrapbook about. This particular day, we worked on a page with pictures of us at Cincinnati Reds Baseball games. Chris left me to finish work on the scrapbook while he started to prepare dinner. He said that he hadn’t cooked dinner for me in a while and wanted to do something nice for me.

Chris stepped into the bathroom, for what I though would be a routine bathroom visit…..and came out five or ten minutes later wearing a complete suit and tie. He looked so handsome! At this point, I was a little puzzled as to what was going on. Chris explained that each time he cooked for me, he would have to “step it up a notch” and that was why he was all dressed up. Gullible as I am, I fell for it. He asked me to change into my favorite dress, and I did.

After I changed, I came out to see a candlelight dinner, fresh flowers on the table and candles across my living room. I should have realized what was going on, but without time to really process things, I didn’t.

We enjoyed a great meal of honey barbecue chicken fingers, green beans, and rolls. Chris informed me that there would be a “show” following dinner. I was excited to see what it would be!

For this “show,” we moved into the living room and Chris put on a suit of shining armor that just happened to be made from aluminum foil. He presented me with a tiara and placed it on my head. He also gave me a wand to hold while he read me a poem that he had written for me, entitled “The Tale of Princess Pepper.” In the poem, he was my knight in shining armor and slayed a dragon for me. This is the point where tears began to flow from my eyes. I don’t think that I realized that he was getting ready to propose to me, however, I was brought to tears at the fact that he had written a poem and had gone to so much effort to dress up and entertain me.

He said that our plans weren’t yet finished, and he had me to take a seat on my couch. He said that he had been working on some scrapbook pages to show me.

The first one that he showed me contained a printed booklet listing all of the dates of the activities that we had ever done together…..even including Emily and Brian Harmons wedding, our first meeting.

The second page he gave me had a copy of an email that Angie Maddox had written him in 2006, after meeting me at our friend Emily’s birthday party. I think that this is the moment when it registered in my mind what was happening. Angie referred to me as Chris’ future wife and told him that she thought that I was his other half. After reading this, I was sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, he presented me the last page, which had information about my engagement ring and the words “will you marry me” written on the page.

Chris got down on one knee and presented me with a BEAUTIFUL ring that was placed inside an origami heart and asked me to be his wife. He also told me that he loved me. That moment will be special to me for as long as I live.

Being the thoughtful and romantic man that he is, Chris had arranged for family and friends to join us at my house for a reception, following the proposal. It was a great way to celebrate with others and enjoy the evening.

---

Read my version of the proposal and see pictures in the gallery.

Considering our recent engagement, I thought I’d share the story of how we met. Though our first date wasn’t until June 2009, our paths first crossed in 2001…

We didn’t actually meet at the time, but in July 2001, we were both at the wedding of Brian and Emily Harmon, the friends who would eventually set us up. Kristy’s parents not only found a photo, but also a video tape of the wedding, in which we walk right be each other on a couple occasions.

This is one of my favorite parts of our story, a part that truly shows how God was working in our lives to bring us together. In 2006, Emily Harmon invited friends over to her house for a birthday party. I already had plans to attend the WinterJam concert on the same day and was unable to make it. A few days later, I got the following email from my friend Angie:

Wow!

After receiving that email, I made sure I was at every get together the Harmons had, hoping for the chance to meet this “future wife” of mine. Many months went by and that chance never materialized, and the email eventually faded into the recesses of my memory, though it never completely left me.

Then, in 2008, Brian Harmon invited friends, via Facebook, to celebrate his birthday at Buca di Bepo. I RSPV’d and a few days later, noticed a Kristy on the attending guest list. Though I tried not to have any expectations, I couldn’t deny that I was anxious and excited for the chance to meet her. On the drive to the restaurant, I cranked up the volume on my favorite “motivational” song at the time, Say Your Prayers by The Wedding, and pumped myself up to meet Kristy…and potentially ask her out. Upon arriving at the restaurant, I joined my friends and looked around for someone that looked like her Facebook profile picture. I didn’t see her, but a few minutes later, she walked up to the group…with a guy. I instantly deflated, but tried to hold out hope that maybe he was just a friend. As it turned out, I ended up sitting next to this guy during dinner, and after observing their interaction, and hand holding, realized they were more than just friends.

I pushed her out of my mind, and a few months later, began dating someone. That relationship ended in February of 2009 and was a very difficult time for me. Unbeknownst to me, Kristy was going through a similar situation. I decided I wouldn’t date for 6 months, instead putting my focus on other things, such as schooling, fixing up the house, running, Bible study, etc.

However, God would have other plans for me. At the end of May 2009, I had people over for a game night and during that party, Brian approached me and asked how I felt about being set up. My initial thought was no, I didn’t want to be set up, but nevertheless, I said I might be open to it. He went on to describe a girl he had in mind. I just stared at him, and before he finished, I asked him if her name was Kristy. He said it was, and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Emily contacted Kristy, told her I was interested, and Kristy asked Emily to pass along her phone number. Two days later, June 3rd, 2009, I called and we had our first conversation – 2 hours long – and the rest, as they say, is history!

On God could pull off a story like this… Praise the Lord for His timing and sovereignty over all things!

August has been quite the busy month. Lots of travel, lots of adventures, lots of firsts…

The fourth weekend of the month didn’t involve much travel, but was no less busy than the previous three. I’ll get right to it…

We’re engaged!

Yes, my friends, I popped the question to Kristy Saturday night and was blessed to receive a “Yes” in response (amongst the sobbing and giggles). Now the adventure really begins!

Here’s how it went down:

---

As the phrase goes, “the best laid schemes of mice and men go oft awry” Thankfully, though things didn’t quite go as I had planned, nothing dramatic went awry.

I had hoped to get a reservation for one of her favorite lunch spots, Flag Fork Garden Café, but unfortunately they were booked up, so we instead had lunch at Stella’s Kentucky Deli, a small but good restaurant that uses local meats and produce in its offerings. Neither of us had eaten at the deli before, so it was a first, and we both enjoyed the food. After finishing lunch, we went to visit one of her friends, then stopped off at Sonic for refreshing lime-ades (yay, happy hour!).

At this point, my proposal plans began in earnest. I had made special geocache pages that would share part of the story of our first date at each location. Earlier that day, I had placed an unofficial geocache at O’Charley’s, the site of our first date. I also wanted to put a cache at “God Golf” (nickname for the putt-putt course at Lexington Ice Center) as well as Cold Stone Creamery, both of which were first date destinations, but unfortunately ran out of time.

Once our thirst was quenched from the lime-ades, I gave her the printed out cache page, handed her the GPS and she navigated me to the restaurant. After a minute of looking, she found it. When she originally saw the cache page and realized where it was hidden, she started suspecting something was up. However, as she told me later, after she found the cache, saw the container was empty except for a blank log and realized this was the only cache I had placed, she dismissed her thoughts that a proposal was coming. Though I had wanted to place the other caches, it was good that it didn’t work out – I would be able to surprise her after all!

With the geocache found, we headed back to her house and worked on our scrapbook for a while. It was about a year ago that I first prepared her a candlelight dinner and presented her with a scrapbook, materials and mementos I had been collecting. Over the course of the last year, we’ve saved items from our various activities and adventures to include in the scrapbook and occasionally created pages along the way (we’re a little behind on that, though). We worked on a page for a while, then as dinner time approached, I started fixing her favorite meal (as close as I could, at least) and setting up for another romantic candlelight dinner. I wanted to step it up this time, so I disappeared into the bathroom and emerged dressed in a suit, then asked her to change into her favorite dress while I put out some flowers, balloons and the meal.

What else goes along with dinner? A show of course. I had written a poem, titled The Tale of Princess Pepper, about a princess abducted by a dragon and saved by a knight. I brought props, such as a tiara, a sword and a stuffed dragon, and “acted” it out as I read. I know, cheesy, but she’s a princess and I wanted to give her a fairy tale experience! At this point, she started crying but still didn’t think a proposal was coming.

After the show, I presented her with three scrapbook pages I had put together. One was a listing of all the things we have done together since our first meeting; the second page was an email a friend sent me in 2006, three years before we met, in which my friend said she met my future wife (more on this later); and the third page consisted of images of the ring and a proposal message in word magnets (which I had used before to write different messages on her fridge). As I handed the last page to her with very shaky hands, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. Somewhere in between the sobs and the giggles, she said Yes!

Knowing how important her family and friends are to her, over the preceding week I had contacted some that live in the area and asked them to meet us at her house for a reception, with cake and ice cream, after the proposal so she could share the moment with those close to her. Though it was last minute, several were able to make it out and share in Kristy’s special day!

---

Here are pictures of the ring (which is fully paid for!):

It still feels so surreal! The adventures are just beginning, and I look forward to all that God has in store for us in the future!

So ends this chapter of our story. The next chapter is to be written, but first, time to write a prequel. The story of our meeting is a great one. I love to tell it and will…in another blog post.

August has been quite the busy month. Lots of travel, lots of adventures, lots of firsts…

Our travels continued the third weekend of August. Kristy and I, along with the rest of my family, headed to my grandparents’ farm in western KY, about 40 minutes southwest of Owensboro. This is one of those events to which I look forward each year. It’s a great way to end summer, relaxing on the farm where the pace of life is slower and getting to spend time with family that I don’t get to see often enough. The whole paternal side of the family converges on the farm this time of year – my parents, brother and his wife, aunt and uncle, and cousin and his girlfriend.

This was Kristy’s second trip, and as with the first one, she left with quite the memories. Last year, after we had been dating for a just a couple months, she bravely agreed to accompany me to the farm. We arrived not long after the men had succeeded in putting a brink through the front windshield of my uncle’s SUV while trying to pull a branch off a tree. This year, we think that same tree wanted revenge for stripping it of a limb. Saturday morning we woke up to a toilet and tub that was backing up, leaving an unpleasant smell and sight. We think a tree root had grown into a pipe, thus causing the problem. Not the most convenient thing with 12 of us crammed into the house. Thankfully, they had a shower in another part of the house that was on a different sewer line, so at least we could get clean. That still left a toilet as an issue, though. With a barn and no neighbors close by, and nice weather, a trench was dug and the great outdoors used, as was done in days long gone by. Chalk up another first for certain members of the group. Everyone adapted great to this unforeseen obstacle and thankfully the weekend wasn’t ruined.

Besides, and in spite of, this issue, it was an enjoyable time. We grilled out, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows around the fire, the “kids” played a couple games of Settlers of Catan and just enjoyed relaxing and spending time with each other. Oh, and can’t forget to mention the great country cooking! Nothing like some good Moonlight BBQ mutton and creamed corn!

One weekend left in August…wonder what it will bring!

August has been quite the busy month. Lots of travel, lots of adventures, lots of firsts…

The second weekend of August found Kristy and I heading to Ft. Worth, Texas for my friend Jennifer’s wedding.

It took some discussion, but Kristy and I decided to fly to Texas for the event. We would have preferred to take our time and drive, but I didn’t have any extra time I could take off work to make the 16 hour one way drive, so we ended up with a quick two day trip involving flying instead. Another factor in the fly vs. drive decision tipping the scales to staying on the ground was that Kristy had never flown and I had only flown 3 times in my life, the last being in 2003 and the second time didn’t really count since I jumped out of the plane. We didn’t have much of a choice, though. The airport beckoned.

After checking out several travel and airline sites, I resorted to my favored site to get deals and booked through Priceline. We ended up with a package deal on the flight, hotel (two rooms) and rental car for about $350 per person. The flight was from Louisville to Dallas/Ft. Worth. Probably could have done a little better if I had more time and could have explored flights to and from other airports, but still seemed like a decent deal.

We packed only carry on bags, hoping to speed up the process and not chance losing luggage. Any time we gained by not checking bags was lost as we passed through security. We both made sure to read up on the rules and were prepared at the checkpoint, but we both kept beeping when passing through the metal detector, though pockets were emptied and belt was off. The TSA agent pulled us both aside and patted us down, asking us to sit down as they examined our bare feet. I think the belt clip on my insulin pump was what set off the detector for me; we’re not sure what set it off for Kristy. After being pulled aside for the pat down, they “randomly” searched our carry on bags. Finally, after they were convinced we weren’t up to no good, they let us go. We arrived at the gate in just enough time to grab a quick bite to eat before they started boarding the plane.

The Louisville to Dallas route is one with frequent flights, so we were on a smaller plan, a Embraer RJ145 Amazon. Having booked through Priceline, we didn’t have the best seats. We were toward the back, by the engines. We didn’t have any problems, just the few normal, minor bumps due to turbulence, and landed safely in Dallas an hour and a half later.

Initial impressions of Texas – flat and hot! It was easily over 100 degrees both days we were there, without factoring in the humidity. (Yes, there was humidity, not just the “dry heat” as people frequently say. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as the humidity in the northern Kentucky area.)

We were able to choose our own rental car from those available in the Economy/mid-size class. Looking for something different than the standard Corolla or Taurus, we choose a Dodge Caliber. It did the job, getting us around town, but I didn’t find anything remarkable about it.

After picking up our rental car and leaving the airport, we found our hotel then had some time to kill before the wedding the evening. One goal I have when traveling out of town is to eat a local, non-chain restaurant. After consulting the hotel clerk, who listed Joe’s Crab Shack and Chili’s as local eateries, we settled on Salt Grass. I got the shrimp and steak combo. Food was okay, but not fantastic.

The wedding was at the historic YWCA in Ft. Worth. Jennifer is a friend of mine from years ago. We met during the Governor’s Scholars Program summer of 1995 and have kept in touch since, though she’s moved across the country. I was extremely grateful that I was able to attend her wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception.

After a night’s sleep, we decided to get up and attend services at the Flower Mound campus of The Village Church, the church of one of my favorite preachers – Matt Chandler. We arrived at the church (which was in a shopping center; think of a converted Old Navy/Home Goods/Target) for the 11am service fifteen minutes early only to find a full parking lot and volunteers blocking entrances and turning people away. Nevertheless, we persisted and wormed our way into a tight space at a nearby Chic-Fil-A (they are closed on Sunday and the church uses their lot for parking) and made our way into the church…to be greeted by a line of people waiting to get in. Apparently, over the last several weeks, the church had been packed resulting in many people being turned away. Tough problem to have, but I guess a good one. Or is it? They should encourage regular attenders to attend a different service since the 11am is most popular, especially for visitors. Anyway, the volunteers were doing their best to cram people into every free seat possible, thus the line to get in. They eventually announced only single seats were left, so after a quick discussion, Kristy and I decided we’d stay in line. The line slowly moved forward, and when we got within 6 or so people of getting in, they announced there were only a few seats left, no more than 6. Kristy and I decided to step out of line rather than chance one of us getting in while the other didn’t. I was a little bummed, but I’ve seen Chandler speak a couple times and listen to his sermon podcast, so it wasn’t a huge loss.

With our new found free time before the flight home, we made a trip to Sonic for cold drinks then went on the hunt for geocaches. We looked for and found three, one of them being a virtual cache at the city’s namesake – Flower Mound. Along the way, we also passed the Dental Depot, a train themed dentist office. Kristy loved it!

The flight home was uneventful, with a bigger plane (McDonnell Douglas MD80) and a humorous pilot. Though flying saves time, we both still prefer driving. There’s nothing like a good road trip!

All in all, a nice trip. It was great to see a friend married, good to see Texas and mark it off the states-to-visit list and to share the experience of flying with Kristy.

See more pictures from the trip in the gallery.

August has been quite the busy month. Lots of travel, lots of adventures, lots of firsts…

The first week of August, fourteen friends from church and I piled into three vehicles and hit the road for West Virginia to raft down the New River.

We headed east to WV on Thursday afternoon, arriving at our destination – River Expeditions – at dinner time and set up camp. Our plan was to camp Thursday night, raft the river Friday morning, camp Friday night and head back to northern KY on Saturday.

Thankfully, there weren’t many people around when we arrived, so we were able to find a quiet, open spot toward the back of the campground with plenty of room to set up our “tent city.” We were very fortunate it wasn’t crowded – we needed a lot of room for our 8 tents.

After getting the tents set up, we focused on a building a fire, which took a while to get going since the wood was wet from a storm earlier in the day, but we prevailed, roasted hot dogs and s’mores and relaxed for the evening.

Around nine o’clock Friday morning, we hit the river. The weather was great – sunny and a little on the warm side, which would feel great once we were on the water. This was my third time rafting the New River, fourth time rafting overall (the other time was on the Arkansas River in Colorado). Though I had been on this river before, I’ve never had the same experience twice. The water level was on the low side, but that didn’t affect our experience at all.

The trip was about four and a half hours long, with a break for lunch along the river bank about half way through. A majority of the group had never been rafting before, but they all did great and enjoyed the experience. Only one person fell out of the raft I was in, and that was only after our guide “surfed” for the fourth time. We could tell he was trying to knock someone out.

One experience I had this time that I hadn’t in the past was the Halls of Karma. It was basically a whirlpool that when you jumped into it, would keep you down for a few seconds then pop you up down river.

After the rafting trip, we took a trip to the New River Gorge Bridge overlook. The bridge is the third largest arch bridge in the world, the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

Camping on Friday night was a completely different experience from Thursday night. It was packed! Tents were pitched in any space big enough to fit one. Lots of people stayed up late talking and making all kinds of racket, which didn’t bode well for our 6am wake-up call the next morning.

Kudos go out to Kristy, who not only survived and enjoyed her first rafting experience, but also her first camping experience! She’s a trooper!

All in all, another fun rafting adventure. Next year, it’s time to step it up a notch – Gauley River or bust!

See more pictures from the trip in the gallery.

Two more months have passed since the last checkup on my 2010 goals, so time for another accounting. Made some good progress approaching mid-year. Two are completed, most others are in good shape!

Goal: Increase emergency fund to 3 months of expenses
Category: Financial
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: Still well ahead of schedule
Grade: A+

---

Goal: Get to work on time
Category: Personal
Time Frame: Daily
Status: Much better over the last two months!
Grade: B

---

Goal: Perform a Random Act of Kindness at least once a month
Category: Charity/Community
Time Frame: Monthly
Status: Still doing small things, but know I can step it up a notch.
Grade: B

---

Goal: Participate in a 5K/10K
Category: Exercise/Health
Time Frame: End of October
Status: On hold due to healthreasons.
Grade: F

---

Goal: Read a chapter of Proverbs every day Memorize 30 Proverbs
Category: Spiritual
Time Frame: Daily for 6 months End of September
Status: Changing this one to something more practical. 10 memorized so far.
Grade: C

---

Goal: Visit Cuyahoga National Park
Category: Travel
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: The Staifers, Kristy and I went over Memorial Day weekend. See pictures here
Grade: A+ (Completed)

---

Goal: Read 20 Books, at least 12 of them non-fiction
Category: Hobbies/Leisure
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: 9 read, on a good pace
Grade: A

Non-fiction:

• Just Do Something – Kevin DeYoung (In Progress)
• Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
• Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
• Church History in Plain Language – Bruce Shelley
• Love and Respect – Emerson Eggerichs
• The Prodigal God – Tim Keller
• For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women – Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn (Finished)
• How the Mighty Fall – Jim Collins (Finished)
• Choosing to Cheat – Andy Stanley (Finished)
• What the Dog Saw And Other Adventures – Malcolm Gladwell (Finished)
• Men Are Like Waffles-Women Are Like Spaghetti – Bill and Pam Farrel (Finished)
• Traveler’s Gift – Andy Andrews (Finished)
• Predictably Irrational – Dan Ariely (Finished)

Fiction:

• Black/Red/White (The Circle Trilogy 1-3) – Ted Dekker (In Progress)
• The Road – Cormac McCarthy
• Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
• Last Mango in Texas – Ray Blackstone (Finished)
• Andromeda Strain – Michael Crichton (Finished)

---

Goal: Finish painting house
Category: Home Improvement
Time Frame: End of May
Status: A week late, but DONE!!! Many thanks to my dad for the help on this one!
Grade: A+ (Completed)

---

Goal: Reach 175 200 300 found geocaches
Category: Hobbies/Leisure
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: 248 found, still on a good pace, though slacked off some in the HOT weather
Grade: A+

I’m such a blog slacker. I’ve had things I’ve wanted to blog, but either haven’t set aside the time or found the motivation to write up a post. Made some time today to update the ol’ blog.

Vacation has come and gone… I ended up making the last minute decision to not travel to South Carolina. I had planned to head out to Huntington Beach State Park on Wed, camp on the beach for two nights, then head to Congaree National Park and camp there for a night before driving through the Smokey Mountains on the way home on Saturday.
    Several reasons led to the decision to turn the vacation into a “stay-cation.” First, I really wanted to take the canoe trip through Congaree NP, but all spots were filled within 10 minutes of when they started taking reservations. That’s crazy! I was still going to go (I still had a reservation for the Owl Prowl), but on Tuesday, I decided I didn’t feel like driving the 20 hours round trip to the SC coast and back for only a couple days of enjoyment, so that added a strong second reason to forgo the trip. Thirdly, Kristy had a few days off work, so I thought the time would be better spent with her.
    I will admit I was disappointed I wasn’t able to get away for a week long vacation. I really enjoy traveling and seeing new places and I had been planning this trip for months, so the anticipation had been high. Oh, well…I’ll definitely be ready next time! I shouldn’t be too disappointed, though; I spent 4 days at Cuyahoga NP over Memorial Day weekend and have a whitewater rafting trip to WV planned for August. Also, my dad and I finished painting! Feels great to have that off the list!

I’ve been giving a lot of thought, and some action, to what I’m eating lately. It started several months ago, just a random pressing on my mind that I should avoid eating so many processed foods. A month or so later, I caught a few episodes of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, then I watched the movie Food, Inc. Ugh…I can’t believe some of the things that are done to our food. I’m not about to become a hard core rebel with a cause about this, but I am going to try to be smarter and more conscious of what I ingest. How many thousand of years did people survive and thrive on what was grown locally, eating what was in season without adding a bunch of junk to it? Sure, you can argue that their life expectancy was shorter, but their quality of life was better. Now, we’re living to 80, but only because of all the drugs we’re taking to combat the illnesses that have resulted from being so unhealthy. Don’t want to get into a long rant, but I personally think I can do so much better with my diet, and will feel better as a result. I’ve also given some thought to starting my own garden, too. I’m getting some experience with that by helping my men’s small group plant a garden at church. We’re donating the proceeds to Lifeline. Still looking for a good local butcher, and need to make myself go to a farmer’s market (the grocery store is still sooo convenient…) I’ll write more on this later. In theory…

Other odds and ends:

New pictures are up in the gallery, including the Cuyahoga trip, the Butterfly show and a bunch with Kristy.

The trailer for Voyage of the Dawn Treader is out! The book is my favorite of the Chronicles of Narnia series and was one of my childhood favorites, period. Hmm, not too sure about the movie, though. Doesn’t look very true to the book based on the minute of the teaser.

Apparently there are no other problems to work on right now – Jeopardy playing (and winning) computer

80s geeks everywhere drool over this one: Super Mario Brothers Crossover. Play Super Mario Brothers as Mario, Megaman, Link (from Zelda), Samus (Metroid), Simon (Castlevania), or Bill (Contra). Nice!

That’s all for now, but more soon!

Over Memorial Day weekend, Kristy and I met up with Dan and Lori in Northeast Ohio for a much needed trip out of town for all. We rented a lodge and spent the extended weekend celebrating Dan’s birthday, exploring Cuyahoga Valley National Park, playing games and simply relaxing and enjoying the time away from everyday life.

We stayed at the Moose Lips Lodge (yes, you read that right) at Country Cottage and Gardens.

It was a nice place, complete with a pool, hot tub and pond, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. The lodge itself was great, with open floor plan, fire ring and a screened-in porch. The only issue, mainly for the girls, was the lack of door on the bathroom, but we rigged up a system to help with that – We hung up a quilt and used birthday hats to signal if the bathroom was in use, yellow=proceed with caution, red=stop, occupied!

As many of you know, one of the items on my bucket list is to visit each National Park. Cuyahoga Valley NP is close to home and was still on my list, making it prime for a visit. A long weekend such as this provided a great time to make the trip. The weather was great – sunny, not too hot though a little humid. The park itself, the 5th most visited according to the National Park service, is not what one would normally expect. The park is the third newest, designated in 2000, and is located between Cleveland and Akron. Houses and neighborhoods dot the many roads throughout. The NP follows the banks of the Cuyahoga (“crooked river”), which was once one of the most polluted river in the US, so much so, it was devoid of fish and even caught fire! Parts of the park highlight the river and the other natural features of the area. The canal and lock system that was once vital to the region is also central to the park. Early rural living is also on display, showcasing the historic towns, farms and industries that sprung up along the river. Though not as scenic and nature-oriented as many of the National Parks, Cuyahoga Valley NP was still worth the visit and offered much to see and learn. We saw a demonstration on how the lock system worked and visited two caves, three waterfalls, remnants of three locks, a covered bridge and walked down a portion of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail along the Cuyahoga River.

A few selected pictures are below. View the rest in the gallery. Or better yet – take a visit to the park for yourself!

Two more months have passed since my last checkup on my 2010 goals, so time for another accounting. Still have mixed results; on some goals I’m doing great, others, not so much. This month, the grades come out to 3 A’s, 2 B’s, 1 D and 3 F’s. It’s pretty clear which goals I’m more passionate and motivated about and which I’m not, for the good or bad. Hopefully I can find some motivation and passion for the others soon.

Goal: Increase emergency fund to 3 months of expenses
Category: Financial
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: Almost there, well ahead of schedule
Grade: A+

---

Goal: Get to work on time
Category: Personal
Time Frame: Daily
Status: Ever so slightly better than last checkup.
Grade: D-

---

Goal: Perform a Random Act of Kindness at least once a month
Category: Charity/Community
Time Frame: Monthly
Status: Stuck in a rut with the RAOK of bringing food in to work. Need to branch out and find more opportunities.
Grade: B+

---

Goal: Participate in a 5K/10K
Category: Exercise/Health
Time Frame: End of October
Status: Due to medical concerns, I’m not able to do the Redlegs 5K. Hopefully things will work out that I can do the Komen Race for the Cure 5K in September.
Grade: F

---

Goal: Read a chapter of Proverbs every day
Category: Spiritual
Time Frame: Daily for 6 months
Status: Got distracted, unfocused, unmotivated…dropped the ball on this completely.
Grade: F

---

Goal: Visit Cuyahoga National Park
Category: Travel
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: Mostly planned, just waiting for the calendar pages to flip!
Grade: B+

---

Goal: Read 20 Books, at least 12 of them non-fiction
Category: Hobbies/Leisure
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: On pace – 7 read so far, working on 2 others
Grade: A

Non-fiction:

• Traveler’s Gift – Andy Andrews (In Progress)
• Uprising – Erwin McManus
• Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
• Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
• Predictably Irrational – Dan Ariely
• Church History in Plain Language – Bruce Shelley
• Love and Respect – Emerson Eggerichs
• The Prodigal God – Tim Keller
• For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women – Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn (Finished)
• How the Mighty Fall – Jim Collins (Finished)
• Choosing to Cheat – Andy Stanley (Finished)
• What the Dog Saw And Other Adventures – Malcolm Gladwell (Finished)
• Men Are Like Waffles-Women Are Like Spaghetti – Bill and Pam Farrel (Finished)

Fiction:

• Black/Red/White (The Circle Trilogy 1-3) – Ted Dekker (In Progress)
• The Road – Cormac McCarthy
• Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
• Last Mango in Texas – Ray Blackstone (Finished)
• Andromeda Strain – Michael Crichton (Finished)

---

Goal: Finish painting house
Category: Home Improvement
Time Frame: End of May
Status: Still no progress…one more month to go…
Grade: F

---

Goal: Reach 175 200 300 found geocaches
Category: Hobbies/Leisure
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: I’ve blown this one out of the water! As of today, my total is 217 found geocaches, reaching both my primary (175) and secondary (200) goals. Now setting the goal for 300, which shouldn’t be a problem with the pace I’m on.
Grade: A+