Wow, so it's been a year...

That's pretty pathetic. Let's see what I can catch you up on that may have happened in the last year.

In December 2008, I went back to Orlando for the CCCA National Convention. Not near as exciting since I had just been to Disney a few months before. But the conference was great and I really learned a lot.


At the same time, along with a classmate, Brant, I competed in a by-invitation-only, globally competitive business strategy simulation. It was really intense, but it was an awesome opportunity to practically apply many of the concepts we had been learning in the MBA program. And the awesome thing is that our team won! I could tell more, but I'll save the intense nerdiness for a future post.

In March, Erin and I joined a big group from her side of the family for a cruise. It was my first, and I'm sold! We set sail out of Galveston, and stopped in Costa Maya, Roatan, and Cozumel.



In April, I graduated from LeTourneau University with an MBA specializing in Finance. Going back to school was a big decision, but with it completed I'm so glad that I did, and I'm so thankful to my bride for her patience and support during those two years!

The summer was super busy as usual. We had a fantastic summer at camp, mostly due to an awesome group of summer staffer. My sister Jennifer came and spent the whole summer with Erin and I. We had a lot of fun. One of the highlights was a trip to see a Texas Rangers baseball game. Erin and I also moved back to camp for the summer for RV livin', part 2. Always an adventure.

A couple of months ago, I discovered Twitter. Just what I needed, another source of information to check on a regular basis.



I've also been reading quite a few books these past couple of months. I give the interns at camp books to read as part of the development/discipleship element of the program, and I decided to reread those books and have managed to fit in quite a few others. I think I'll post some reviews on those books in the coming days.

Make a difference

A friend of me and Erin has been supporting an organization called Opportunity International for some time now. He will be attending one of their conferences soon and has issued a challenge. If you will watch the 3 minute video on his blog about Opportunity International and comment on his blog, he will donate $10 above and beyond what he normally gives.

I have agreed to match his challenge, so do the world a favor and check out this video and leave a comment. The link is below.

http://buildpipelines.blogspot.com/2008/10/make-me-give-til-it-hurts.html

things you don't say to your wife

Diet Idea

so you could say that i've gained a little weight over the last couple of years.
I found this diet idea on Tim Ferris' blog (author of The 4-Hour Workweek).

What do you think?

or maybe I should try my wife's... ;p

Children see. Children do.

A friend of mine forwarded this to me. It reminds me of just how much we are watched, not only by children, but also by those we are witnessing to.

Camping Adventures! part two

A couple of weeks ago, Erin and I spent the weekend at Beaver's Bend State Park in Oklahoma with 3 other couples from our Sunday School class. Lots of time around the fire, great conversations and big laughs. Tent camping was a little chilly at night, but the raccoons kept the evenings interesting. Hopefully it was the start of something Erin and I will really love to do together.

Camping Adventures!

Wow, so I'm a loser for not posting for so long. Thanks so much for checking in on me. Back in March, I took the interns from Rockin' C Ranch to Gatlinburg, TN to do some whitewater rafting, hiking, and relaxing. It was a super long drive, but so much fun! We nearly watched all of the first 3 seasons of The Office and a few other movies.

I arranged for one of the interns who wasn't able to make the trip with us, to secretly fly in to Birmingham and we picked him up on the way. Such a great surprise! There was a snag in his travel arrangements so we had some time to spend.
We were in Vicksburg, MS when we found out about the travel problems, so we found this really cool Civil War Battlefield Memorial. It was very impressive. This is a statue of General Grant.

The water was so freaking cold when we were rafting! We had an amazing guide named Rick and we did some really cool stuff on the river!

The next day we went hiking in the smoky mountains to a place called Rainbow Falls. It was about a 6 mile round trip hike. We took our time and found some really beautiful and peaceful places.

I also got to spend some time with my dad who lives in Gatlinburg. I never really got to see him much growing up, so it's been nice the last couple of years to keep in touch. We went to breakfast one morning and played a round of golf with the guys later that afternoon.

Friends, family and fun. Sure made for one great experience.