“We’re so busy watching out for what’s just ahead of us that we don’t take the time to enjoy where we are. Days go by and we hardly notice them. Life becomes a blur.”

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Hello readers. It’s been quite a while since I’ve written a meaningful blog post. Most of my entries lately have been links to videos, music, articles on other sites and the like. Last week, I even took a break from that and didn’t post anything. Honestly, the break felt good. As with many things in my life, I put too much pressure on myself to live up to certain self-expectations and as a result, the thing in question loses its fun and becomes a burden. Making the conscious decision to not blog last week lifted that burden off my shoulders, for at least that week, and restored at least some of the appeal to me again.

Though I did spend some quality time with the couch and ice cream (topped with Magic Shell and rainbow sprinkles FTW!) over the last couple weeks, down time which I’ve needed, it wasn’t all laziness. So here goes an “in review” post covering the last week or so, from what I’ve been doing to things that have been on my mind.

Camping
Two weekends ago, I headed down to Red River Gorge with 3 other guys from my Tuesday night small group for a night of camping and a day of hiking. A few days before we left, the weather forecast called for sunny skies and great temps. However, the day of the trip saw nothing but rain, rain and more rain, with some thunder and lightning thrown in for good measure. There were even thunderstorm and flood watches and warnings issued for the counties surrounding the gorge. Thankfully, it let up just enough that we were able to get a tarp and the tent up without too much difficulty, though the tarp did take some work. The next day, after a breakfast of bacon and pancakes, the skies finally cleared and it ended up being a great day for hiking. We did a 5 mile loop trail – Auxier Ridge to Courthouse Rock to Double Arch Trail, one of my faves in the gorge. While there, I logged three more geocaches, these of the Earth Cache variety (Haystack Rock, Courthouse Rock and Double Arch), bringing my total up to 108 found caches. Pictures from the trip are in the gallery.

NEXT Small Groups Conference
This past Saturday, a group of us from First Church of Christ went to the NEXT 2009 Saddleback Small Groups Conference. The conference consisted of three session centering around Saddleback’s (Rick Warren’s church) small group model. Specifically, the sessions were about Authenticity and Character, both led by Steven Gladden, and Core, a session led by small group master Lyman Coleman. Core was by far my favorite session. Lyman led us through parts of his 32-page “cook book” of exercises, drills and skill-building concerned with taking a small group to the next level. I was a little disappointed with the conference as a whole, but still came away with several good ideas and things to implement.

Church
Sunday night was a great cookout with people from church. Can’t go wrong with grilled meat, cornhole and good friends!

Health
As for my health…You may remember my twitter/Facebook status from a few weeks again. I had mentioned consistently waking up in the middle of the night, being very thirsty (drinking about twice as much water as normal), among other things. There was a discussion on Facebook about this and several people mentioned it could be diabetes. With that concern in mind, and getting fed up with not sleeping well, I finally called and booked a doctor’s appointment. The appointment is scheduled for June 11th, when I’ll get my first physical in years, as well as have blood work done for the first time. Thankfully, over the past few days, I’ve slept a little better and haven’t been quite as dehydrated as in previous weeks, so things are looking up.

Mat Kearney
The much anticipated new album from one of my top 3 favorite musical artists was released this past Tuesday – City of Black and White by Mat Kearney. It’s been three years since his last album and I’ve absolutely worn it out. Well, as much as you can wear out mp3s at least. The new album is really good. Maybe not as good as his first one and a half albums, but still really good. Expect to see some of his new songs on future Music Monday posts. Next anticipated album release: Needtobreathe, another top 3 fave, due out in August.

Books
I have a TON of books in the queue, some I’m very anxious to read. Two of those books are Faith and Doubt by John Ortberg and How Long O Lord by D.A. Carson. I’m currently reading Boundaries (something I very much need to put into practice to avoid a repeat of the past few months). Unfortunately, my exhaustion and other factors have really slowed up my reading output. I’ve only been able to get to a few pages before falling asleep. Normally I could get chapters under my belt before drifting off. Those aforementioned books are incredibly relevant to where I am right now, so I want to devote special time to not just reading them, but taking notes and truly learning and growing from the knowledge that lies within.

Processing and Resolving
I have two weeks before my summer class starts and I really need to make this time productive and meaningful. Much is on my mind, many things which I have avoided thinking about but need to be processed and resolved before I can finish healing and moving forward. Though it’s something I hate, I need to sit in silence, process and work through these before I end up getting busy and overwhelmed again.

Well, that’s about all I have at this point. Hope each of you are enjoying the days of spring/summer weather!

This week’s Music Monday selection is:
Great Day to Be Alive by Travis Trit.

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I got rice cooking in the microwave
Got a three day beard I don’t plan to shave
And it’s a goofy thing but I just gotta say
Hey I’m doing alright

Yeah I think I’ll make me some homemade soup
Feelin pretty good and that’s the truth
It’s neither drink nor drug induced
No I’m just doin alright

And it’s a great day to be alive
I know the sun’s still shinin when I close my eyes
There’s some hard times in the neighborhood
But why can’t every day be just this good?

It’s been fifteen years since I left home
Said good luck to every seed I’d sown
Give it my best and then I left it alone
Oh…I hope their doin alright

Now I look in the mirror and what do I see?
A lone wolf there starin back at me
Long in the tooth but harmless as can be
Lord I guess he’s doin alright

And it’s a great day to be alive
I know the sun’s still shinin when I close my eyes
There’s some hard times in the neigborhood
But why can’t every day be just this good?

Sometimes it’s lonely
Sometimes it’s only me
And the shadows that fill this room
Sometimes I’m fallin
Desperately callin
Howlin at the moon…
Ahwoo!
Ahwoo!

Well I might go get me a new tattoo
Or take my old Harley for a three day cruise
Might even grow me a Fu Man Chu…
Oh Aww!

And it’s a great day to be alive
I know the sun’s still shinin when I close my eyes
There’s some hard times in the neighborhood
But why can’t every day be just this good?

And it’s a great day to be alive
I know the sun’s still shinin when I close my eyes
There’s some hard times in the neighborhood
But why can’t every day be just this good?

Did you miss Town Hall For Hope or maybe want to see it again? It’s now available to watch online for free via vimeo.com:

Dave Ramsey – Town Hall for Hope 2009 from Central FPU on Vimeo.

Via LifeHacker.com: TrueCar Shows You What Cars are Really Selling For

Any car shopper will tell you it’s nearly impossible to get a bead on fair prices from lip service alone. TrueCar aggregates sales data for a clear picture of what cars are really selling for.

If you’d like to get a feel for whether or not you’re getting a good deal on a car you’ve been looking at, TrueCar has the dirt. TrueCar collects and analyzes data from 25% of the automotive sales in the US—a sizable portion, and more than enough to paint an accurate picture.

You plug in your ZIP code and search for the make and model you’re thinking about purchasing. TrueCar returns information about the car, including dealer cost, factory invoice, average price paid in your area, and the sticker price. Based on those numbers and archival sales, the site charts out a bell curve, showing you where the sweet spot for wheeling and dealing is.

TrueCar also provides sales history for the previous six months which is handy to check and see if the sale price is falling. TrueCar is a free service. If you know of another service for checking the sales price of cars, share it in the comment belows.

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been a homeowner for more than five and a half years now. In the fall of 2003, I took the plunge, leaving behind apartment life and entering the world of mortgages, yard work and general home upkeep and maintenance.

I bought the house knowing it would be a “starter” home, that it would not be the house in which I would settle and spend the rest of my life. I figured I’d spend at most 5-7 yrs in it then move to something larger and better suited for having a family. Though marriage and family have yet to come to fruition, I’ve been giving some thought to moving since the turn of the year. One of the main reasons is that I’m honestly not a big fan of the house, or two-stories in general. I much prefer ranch style and log homes. The house I currently have was not my first choice and yes, there’s a bit of a story behind how I ended up with it.

I first stumbled on the neighborhood, which I really liked, then found the lot, which I loved. Only then did I start looking at the floor plans offered by the builder who owned the lot. It didn’t take me long to find a ranch house that was exactly what I was looking for. Everything was set and I met with the salesperson (whom I had been working with for a couple weeks) to sign the paperwork when he dropped a bombshell – a ranch house could not fit on the lot I had selected. I looked at him in shocked disbelief, as there was clearly enough land on which to build it. Turns out the power lines that ran behind the lot said otherwise. The salesperson explained that the power lines had to have an easement (the amount of space on either side of the them in which nothing permanent can be built) and the ranch I had selected encroached on this easement by six feet. My first reaction was along the lines of “so move the house forward by six feet!” Apparently there’s an easement from the road as well, and the house couldn’t be moved forward from where it was already plotted. So I faced a decision – pick a different floor plan or change lots. I agonized about this for over a week or so, looking at other lots in that neighborhood that would accommodate a ranch and searching for a similarly great lot in other neighborhoods. Alas, there were no lots as nice as the one I had already set my sights on. I basically boiled down to which was more important – the house or the lot. I went with the lot. As the real estate creed says – “Location, location, location.” I looked through the non-ranch floor plans and finally settled on the two-story house I have now. In hindsight, I made the best decision, but I’ve never been completely satisfied with the house itself.

Fast forward to today and I’m facing another decision. I could stay where I am, pay off my mortgage as fast as I can and wait to be married before looking for the dream home. Or I could stop waiting for the marriage dream to be fulfilled and take advantage of the current conditions and get more house for less money and maybe find that dream home now with so many more houses being on the market. I would also welcome the change and the chance to have a fresh start.

Given it’s a buyer’s market, it could be hard to find a buyer for my house but it wouldn’t hurt to at least “put out the fleece,” to put my house on the market and see if there are any nibbles. Given that I wouldn’t be a highly motivated seller, I wouldn’t find myself in the situation where I’d have to lower the price below a certain price just to get it sold; I can turn down any offers that would result in me losing money and just wait for the market to get better.

As timing would have it, my neighbors across the street, who have the same model house as I do, have put theirs on the market. So, for now, I’m going to sit on any decision and wait to see how long their house is on the market and what the final selling price winds up being. Currently, the list price is far enough above what I paid for mine that even if it doesn’t sell for that amount, I shouldn’t do any worse than breaking even.

In the meantime, though, it certainly doesn’t hurt to see what’s currently on the market and do some research.

This week’s Music Monday selection is:
The Motions by Matthew West.

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This might hurt, it’s not safe
But I know that I’ve gotta make a change
I don’t care if I break,
At least I’ll be feeling something
‘Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
“What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?”

No regrets, not this time
I’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I’m finally feeling something
‘Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

‘Cause I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
“What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?”

take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way (’cause I don’t wanna go through the motions)
take me all the way (I know I’m finally feeling something real)
take me all the way

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
“What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?”

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
“What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?”

take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way (I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go)
take me all the way (through the motions)
take me all the way

I don’t wanna go through the motions

C.S. Lewis, in The Great Divorce, writes:

Human beings can’t make one another really happy for long…You cannot love a fellow creature fully till you love God. Sometimes this conversion can be done while the instinctive love is still gratified. But there was, it seems, no chance of that in your case. The instinct was uncontrolled and fierce and monomaniac. The only remedy was to take away its object. It was a case for surgery. When that first kind of love was thwarted, then there was just a chance that in the loneliness, in the silence, something else might begin to grow.

No natural feelings are high or low, holy or unholy, in themselves. They are all holy when God’s hand is on the rein. They all go bad when they set up on their own and make themselves into false gods.

This week’s Finance Friday comes via CBS News:
How Supermarkets Lure You To Buy More

“Nothing happens by accident in a supermarket. Everything is designed to sell.”

And that, says Consumer Reports retail expert Tod Marks, is the key thing to keep in mind as you go up and down the aisles of your local store. Knowing how to shop is vital.

Supermarkets “are in the real estate business,” Marks pointed out to Early Show consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen Monday in the first of her three-part series, “Supermarket Secrets.”

Supermarkets, she explained, “are set up very carefully, with the hope that you will spend lots of money, maybe even more than you planned to.”

Read the article for tips on saving money when you shop at the supermarket.