Another Party

Well the partying continues today with a Labor Day pool party. It should be lots of fun....I believe somebody is bringing out a slip and slide. If so, I will be doing it and there will be pictures.... Have a great Labor Day!!!!

CANNON BALL!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Keleigh!!!

Today we had a party at our church for our friend Keleigh.  She is an amazing mother of six kids. So, we just wanted to say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELEIGH!!!  YOU ARE AWESOME!!!

We would like to dedicate this video to you:

Another cool song

The another songI heard today was 'When I come Around' by Greenday. This was one of their first songs and I love it because the same chord progression is played through out the entire song...yet you don't really notice the redundancy. SO, here is their video also:

Cool Song

I heard a song on the radio today that I absolutely loved, and its from a band that I really really like. The song is 'Amazing' by Aerosmith. I love this song. Steven Tyler is awesome.... he is the only singer that can scream constantly and sound good through out the song. I also really like the guitar in this song. Anyway, here is the video:

Aplysia Morio

So here is my promised post about my sea creature I caught. It was an Aplysia Morio or more commonly known as a Black Sea Hare. It is a type of sea slug that is found on the coast of Florida and I believe California. I'm not sure if it is found anywhere else my guess would say it probably is. My buddy Mike (check out is blog Wunderkraut.com) saw in the water first....so I picked it up. Let me tell you, it is extremely slimy and when threatened folds its wings up and squirts ink at you. The ink is toxic and can blind its predators if it gets their eyes. From what I have read though, the ink can not hurt humans. So, we put in a bucket for a while and watched unfold its wings and try to swim....and then like the good animal lover I am... did the right thing and let it go.


Here are the pictures below....one is mine and one is an Internet photo.

Internet Photo

My photo with slug in protect mode

We are back

We are back from the beach!!! We had a great time, but we were not able to get in the water mainly because of Fay and really strong rip currents. So that was a little bit if a bummer. All in all though it was fantastic.
The only hard part about coming back from a vacation is going back to work. Today though was easy. I realized when I got to work that it was my Saturday to work at the bank. And seeing as the bank absolutely does not pay overtime, I left at 12 today to avoid overtime. On top of that, next Monday is labor so I am off and then I am off again the next Tuesday. So September is a great month to be a banker. You have to love bankers hours.
Anyway, we are glad to be back. I should be posting pictures from the beach soon including a sea creature I caught while I was there....more to come later.

Fay at the Beach

We get to the beach and guess who shows up for the party....none other than our new best friend Fay. Yep, I woke up this morning to the howling of winds and major lighting and thunder. It looks like it is just the last little bit of her so it should clear out this morning. The storm was awesome and we got some good pictures. Neither Joanna nor myself have been in a tropical depression on the beach so it was really cool to see. We felt like Jim Cantore from the weather channel. Anyway, here are some pictures we got during the storm.Before Fay hit

During Fay

Heading to the beach

We are headed to the beach...WOOOHOOOO!!!!!! I am so excited we leave tomorrow. I will post pictures while we are there...pray for good weather.

Ghost Town

Well due to my extreme laziness and carelessness, I have created a blogger's ghost town. I apologize, there is no excuse....all I ask is that you drive by and check me out every once in a while...like you would any other ghost town.

The truth is I really do hope to post more (I know you are thinking you have heard this song and dance before), but I really do enjoy posting when I actually sit down and do it. So my goal is to re-populate my ghost town blog one reader at a time.

I'm Alive

Just wanted to write and say I am alive just busy. Hope to get back writing in the next couple of days.

Lucky's Funeral

Check out this video on you tube.  It is how I imagine Joanna and I would be if we had a kid. We are definately fish killers when it comes to having them as a pet. So we know this would be happening alot.

Forehead for President

An Average Forehead for an Average America

To my many readers, I am choosing this website to officially enter my forehead in for the presidential election. After seeing Wunderkraut and Crotalus, enter their foreheads I felt it was my social responsibility to give all of you a choice in the type of forehead you want running this country. As you can tell by the size of my opponents foreheads, they don't care much for normal foreheads. Yes, they may tell you they do, but all they care about is padding the pockets of their own kind. I on the other hand, am for the average person. The ones who are like most of us....just barely getting by with our normal sized heads. They may tell you that they are smarter with a bigger forehead, or that they have a bigger brain. I feel it is my responsibility to let you know that those statements are all false. Studies have shown bigger foreheads do not produce bigger brains, but bigger bone mass. Or in laymen terms, thicker skulls. Now my question is, is that who you want running your country? I mean if my opponents can't even keep hair on their own head, how do you expect them to keep this country safe. Wouldn't you rather have an average sized forehead run this country? A forehead that most of America can relate to. A forehead that understands you and knows what you go through. A forehead that cares. That is why I am entering my forehead, and that is why it will be the next president of this United States!

Snake

On Saturday, we helped clear land at our church. While we were there our Pastor found a snake. It was a about a 3 foot rat snake. Believe it or not, this was really exciting for me. I know you may be wondering why this would be so exciting to me. The short answer is fear. I will be writing another post soon on the subject of fear and how it completely crippled my life for years, but for now I will just give you the highlights. I missed out on a lot in my childhood because of fear. So now that I do not struggle with fear anymore, I have made a mental list of things I want to do in my life time. Most of the things are things that I would have been afraid of in my past. One was to catch a snake out in the wild. So I seized the moment, got a broken hoe and held the head down and picked up the snake. Believe me I know it sounds silly with me being 29...I even feel silly writing it, but it was a really big deal for me yesterday. Joanna was awesome. She was just as excited for me. I have an awesome wife and she 100% supports me in my dreams and wants me to fulfill all of them no matter how minor some of them are. Mike was great yesterday also. He has been catching snakes since he was ten, but instead of picking on me, he knows what I have come out of fear wise and was so excited for me as well. Anyway, her are the pictures of the snake handling.

For Crotalus...

Back From Florida

As stated in my last post, Joanna and I went to Lakeland, Florida.  We had an amazing time.  The meetings down there are not like anything we have ever been in.  We feel it is so important to be part of what God is doing. And He is moving powerfully in Lakeland. So we are going to try to go back on the Fourth of July.  I encourage all of you who read this to go there it is truly an awesome atmosphere.

On Saturday, We decided to go find a beach. We ended up finding a place called Longboat Key. We were not sure what it was going to be like, but when we got there we quickly realized we had just found our new beach vacation spot.  This place was awesome.  The water was a gorgeous color and was unbelievably clear.  I swam in it and realized there were some good sized fish in there ( around 12 to 13 inches).  Then all of a sudden, a five foot fish swam by my leg. It startled me at first because I thought it was a shark. When I saw it again I realized it was just a really big fish. I tried to look it up, but I couldn't figure out what it was. It could have been a barracuda, but I just don't know. The pictures below don't do this place justice.  It was the prettiest beach I have ever seen.  Anyway, that was our weekend...we had a blast.     

So I have been on the Internet long enough for most of my traffic to come from Google images. This means that absolutely nobody I know reads this site anymore, but I am still serving a purpose by providing pictures to people all over the world. So what is the number one image on my site that people look out..... This one it is a picture of a plasma screen television. Evidently, quite a number of people look for pictures of plasma screen TVs. Anyway, I thought it was cool that I am providing some form of service by having this site.

For those that may actually read this blog. Joanna and myself are heading back to Lakeland, FL tomorrow for one night. We will have more pictures and stories when we get back.

Month of May

Yes, we know we skipped a whole month of posting.  It was a pretty busy month of May. For those that don't know, Joanna and myself were able to go on a much needed vacation to Saint Augustine, FL to celebrate our 6th anniversary.  So, the first weekend in May, off we went, but not before I played in the Urban Mission Golf Tournament. It was another great tournament and Dad and I actually won something this year. So, the next day we got up early and headed to Florida.   We were able to stay at a bed and breakfast called the Centennial House.  Our room was called the Gentleman's Quarters.   It was at a great location in old town, within walking distance of everything. 

 

We toured Flagler College,  went to Ripley's Believe It or Not, and of course ate some great seafood. 

 

                           Before                                                                          

                            After

One of the biggest highlights was our visit to the World Golf Hall of Fame.  

Check out some more pictures of our trip.

Next in May, I  was off to the men's retreat.  I had a great time, and got to play golf again.  The meetings were great and the worship was incredible.  Looking forward to next year.   

Our Next stop was Lakeland, Fl.

If you haven't heard,  there is an amazing revival going on in Lakeland.  Todd Bentley went to speak at a five day conference and it has now lasted over two months.  I encourage you to check it out.  You can watch it every night at 7 PM on www.god.tv. It's pretty amazing.  God is doing so many miracles, people are coming from all over the world. They are now filling a tent seating 10,000.  We can't wait for our next trip down.  You can check out a video of our time down there here.

We got back from Lakeland and before unpacking we became "mom and dad" to five of the Collins kids.  Hannah Cate is in the hospital with very low white cell counts.  She is in a lot of pain. Please be praying for her and that she and Keleigh will be coming home soon.  

So, as you can see it was a very busy month for us. We still have the little Collins kid with us,

but things are starting to settle down for us.  

I Love Banking

The best part of banking is that you have no idea what you are going to face on a day to day basis. Yesterday I had a guy cuss at me because of a bank policy he did not like, and then burn rubber out of our parking lot just to make sure I knew he was really mad. Or like today, I had this conversation with a customer:

Customer(Somewhat upset already): "Are you a bank officer?"

Me: "No sir, she is in that office there, but is with a customer. She also has someone else waiting to see her over there. She will be glad to see you after him."

Me: "Do you have a question about a loan." (Because the officer only does loans)

Customer (still somewhat upset): "No, I have a problem with my account."

Me: "Oh, I can probably help you with that."

Customer(really upset now, and a bit sarcastic): "Are you an officer?!!"

Me: "No sir."

Customer: "Then I want to talk to an officer!!"

Me: "Then she will be with as soon as she can."

Customer(a few minutes later pointing to another lady at another desk): "Is she an officer?"

Me: "No sir, she does the same thing I do, but she has been with the company twenty something years I am sure she can help you."

Customer(Angry again) "No, I want an officer!!".

Me: "OK she will be with as soon as she can.

What did the guy want with the officer? He wanted his account checked. Which is what anybody is capable of doing....even tellers.

I love people. They intrigue me. If I could get another degree, it would probably be in human behaviour. I love trying to figure out what makes people tick.

What would make this guy act that way?

Why did he insist on an officer checking his account?

Why do you peel out of a parking lot when you have made it clear inside the bank that you are not happy?

Don't get me wrong...I absolutely love all of this. Neither person upset me. I love this part of my job. It just makes me more curious on why people act the way they do.

New Job

Yeah, I suck at blogging.....I have plenty of things I could write on, but I just don't. I have no excuses.....just plain ole laziness. I hope to get better at this though.

I have started a new job with a bank in town. I am really enjoying it. There is a really good chance of promotion there so I am hoping it will be soon. The position that will be opening up soon is for the Assistant Branch manager position. The guy that has that job is looking to move to Atlanta. My boss has already told me she wants me to fill the position when he goes. The only hang up is that I have only been there 6 weeks and the bank likes you to be in one position for at least six months before promotion. the branch manager is hoping that they will make an exception. She does hold alot of clout with the company so I personally don't think it will be an issue.

Anyway, everything else is going good and hopefully you will hear from me tomorrow.

Barack is Scary

You will rarely see me talk about anything political on this site. Personally, politics are not my cup of tea. But I have been keeping up with the election status this year, and I have to say that Barack Obama is one scary man. I just read that his pastor stepped out of the campaign because of some videos that have surfaced of his preaching. The two most incriminating statements in the video was of him implying that we brought 9/11 on ourselves, and making the quote "no no no not God Bless America...God D__N America". Of course Obama comes out saying that the Reverend is off the campaign trail, and that he had no idea that He had said those things.

Here is my problem with that. Obama has personally known the man for about 17 years. The pastor performed the wedding ceremony for the Obamas. Obama said the reverend was like an Uncle (family)to him. But He has pretty much said He had no idea the reverend felt this way. I don't believe it. You can't be that close..."family" close and not know how the man stood on all of this. Yet, he let the pastor on the campaign trail. This is a big deal. Personally, I think it is the beginning of the down fall for Barack Obama. I think that more and more of these things are going to start coming out about him. I think he has made friends in the past that are going to start hurting his reputation. Lastly, I think that the Clinton campaign has all the ammunition already and his just waiting for the right time to use it. Just wait and see, the Clinton's are extremely calculating, and will do anything to win.

Disclaimer: This will be my last political post. Like I said, It is not something I am extremely interested in, but I did feel the need to at least share my stance.

Happy Birthday

You know when you don't post in a while...and then it becomes easier to not post...and then you are to embarrassed to post because you haven't posted in a about a month. That is what happened to me. But I am back, writing to dead Internet space seeing as nobody comes to my website anymore (Although they don't come for good reason...there has been nothing to come see) Anyway, I decided to break the fast on my birthday today, and my birthday resolution is to try to have something to say at least once a day on here. Here's to hoping I can actually do it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!!

Reagan Baby

Stacy at A Key Turning had a great quiz you could take to see which U.S. President you would most likely be like. Who am I most likely to be.... Reagan Baby.....Yep, some would consider him to be one of the greatest Presidents of all time. There is absolutely no stopping me now....my leadership potential had just gone through the roof. I mean its an Internet quiz it has to be accurate...right?.....

Anyway, here are the results and the link if you want to take the quiz yourself

http://quizfarm.com/quiz_repository/new/7147/


Which Great US President Are You Most Like?
You scored as a Ronald Reagan
40th President, in office from 1981-1989 Born: 1911 Died: 2004

Ronald Reagan 83%
Franklin Roosevelt 71%
John Kennedy 67%
Theodore Roosevelt 67%
Abraham Lincoln 59%
Harry Truman 55%
Woodrow Wilson 48%
Dwight Eisenhower 45%
Lyndon Johnson 38%
George Washington 33%
Thomas Jefferson 29%

Our Day

Well its been a heck of a day. It started off with having to give Mike and Jen's youngest child (Madi) Milk of Magnesia because she has not gone number 2 in at least 7 days. Not sounding so bad, except for the fact that she absolutely refused to take the medicine. So we had to call her doctor to see what we needed to do get her some much needed relief. The nurse said to give her a Suppository. Yes I (Jon) had to stick Fleet's Brand Glycerin Suppositories up a rear end while Joanna held her down....Not fun.... Anyway, it did the trick and boy did she go about an hour later. You don't know gross till you witness 7 days of backed up feces coming out at one time. I feel like I could live through anything now.

It wasn't but a little while later that we saw on national news that there was a horrible bus crash in south china killing 25 people. This was the mode of transportation Mike and Jen were taking to get to their next city. So needless to say we were a bit frantic trying to find out the details of the crash. Where it was...if it was on the same route they were taking etc..... Well, the crash ended up happening way farther west than where they were. That was a huge relief for us. But still we had no contact with them for over twelve hours, and after a nerve wracking thing like that happening all any of us wanted to do was hear there voice, and know that they made it safe. We heard from them around 1:00 P.M. our time, and they had made it safely to their new hotel and were doing fine. It was so good to hear their voice.

So between glycerin suppositories, diarrhea and Mike and Jen's bus ride, we have had a really exhausting day. But we are doing great and excited to see Mike and Jen on Saturday. All the kids can talk about is seeing their parents and their new sister Mei. I know Mike and Jen are really missing their kids here, and it will be a fun time at the airport when they all get to be with each other once again.

These literally are miracle pills for your butt...
I've never seen something work so fast.

Sausage and Throw Up

As I posted before, we are watching Mike and Jennifer's children (Nathan, Charlie, and Madi) while they are in China. We are holding up great...just a little tired. Which is why I have no been posting as much. Nathan (the oldest of the three) has been pretty sick the last couple of days. He barfed this morning and missed most of the bowl which meant clean up on my part. I did great...I only gagged twice. This is usually my way of dealing with gross things. Unlike most people who will gag during the clean up, I tend to gag at the site of the mess and then my stomach is fine for the clean up. The only difference this morning was that right before he threw up, I had eaten my weight in link sausage for breakfast. That made it a bit worse on my stomach. Which is what accounted for the two gags instead of one. All in all it wasn't that bad, and he is feeling much better this afternoon.

I will try to post as much as I can, but it might be a bit sparse around here until Mike and Jenn get back into town.

This kind of looks like what I ate this morning before the incident

Fun

While my sister (Jennifer) and her husband (Mike) are in China picking up their newly adopted baby Mei, Joanna and myself are watching their other three children for 15 days. Today, we went to the Warner Robins Aviation Museum. We really had a blast. I'm not just talking about the kids, I'm talking about me too. Those that know me best, know that I am a kid at heart. I personally never want to grow out of the excitement of learning or seeing new things. So today was really fun for me. They had a ton of planes and helicopters. The best part was being able to sit in a couple of real pilot cockpits. One of the cockpits was from a fighter jet. i can't describe to you the hundreds of buttons and knobs a pilot has to be in charge of. Just sitting there looking at them was overwhelming. I couldn't even imagine actually having to memorize what they are and remembering all of that at 200MPH...all while being aware of the enemy. Needless to say I have a new found respect for all pilots, it really is an amazing job. Anyway, here are some pictures of our day today.

I Know...Dorky

Our cute niece Madi

Look at all the buttons....man it was incredible

Another nerdy picture

Madi, Charlie and Nathan in front of their favorite plane...."the shark plane"

My Obsession Paid Off

So my obsession with Peyton Manning paid off. I actually got him to write on my website. Don't believe me? Just check out the comments on my last post. Yep, Peyton loves me. And as I suspected, Tom Brady hates me. Which suits me just fine, seeing as he is a goat loving pansy. (just check out google images.) Wasn't there a movie about two men who herd goats together. I think it was called Brokeback something....

Anyway, the colts are out of the playoffs which is extremely disappointing. I don't know who to go for now. I am deciding between Eli Manning (Peyton's brother) or Brett Favre in his last stand. I am leaning toward Favre, but am still undecided. I will probably decide sometime in the first quarter of the game. On a side note, I was able to be there for Peyton in his loss and had Joanna take a picture of me consoling him. Here it is below.

Another Question to Ponder

We have decided to put our phone, internet and cable all under one company. Because of that, internet has been down for a couple of days. But we have made the transition and everything should be working fine from here on out.

Just before I logged on, I had an interesting thing happen to me. My ear itched on the outside so I did what any human would do, I scratched it. What I didn't expect to happen, was to somehow cut the top of my ear and not realize it till the entire outside of my ear is covered in blood. I not exagerating, I didn't know the human ear could bleed that much. I mean its only cartlidge for gosh sakes. What this does though, is bring up an interesting question. Why do things like that happen sometimes? Mike and I talk about this alot. I mean I've relieved my ear from an itch thousands of times in my life, and then out of nowhere, I cut it. It's almost as if my own body attacks itself. Mike has brought up this very subject on his own blog. You chew food a million times in your life, so why do you bite your tounge? Or even worse, how in the heck do you bite the inside of your cheek? I challenge you right now, try to bite the inside of your cheek. It's not easy, you really have to do some mouth movement to get the inside of your cheek between your teeth. Yet somehow while chewing gum or eating, we bite a chunk of cheek out. I just don't get. Mike thinks its's our bodies self canablizing. And to tell you the truth, I am beginning to believe him more and more everyday.