Greg's Blog

New Websites

2011-11-12T10:51:00.001-08:00

I have launched two new websites. A website for my teaching business www.gregorysguitarstudio.com and www.gregpavydavis.info to promote my music which is technically a relaunch.
Check 'em out and let me know what you think.

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall

2011-09-26T09:25:00.001-07:00

New Beginnings

2011-05-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

This is a piece I composed a few months back. My friend and great sound engineer Steve Paul recorded it. Hope you enjoy.

Here is a link to the file in case you cannot use the embedded player
http://www.box.net/shared/8abln1vj1k

Karen Eating Crawfish for the 1st Time

2011-03-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

Tommy is watching :)

2011-03-07T09:22:00.001-08:00

My New Blog

2010-02-08T13:22:00.001-08:00

I just started a new blog for fingerstyle guitar. Check it out and let me know what you think. Just click on the link below.
http://guitar-arrangements.blogspot.com/

Tommy at the Dog Playgroup

2010-02-04T07:42:00.000-08:00

Bungee Pictures

2009-09-26T12:08:00.001-07:00

The End Is Near!

2009-08-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

Financing is finally done and we will be closing in a week!!!!

Record Breaking Weather

2009-07-22T09:17:00.001-07:00

Guess I moved to Seattle st the right time:).
Standout%20summer%20to%20bring%20more%20heat

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Our New House (once we close)

2009-07-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

Here is the front.

This is the kitchen it is to the right as you walk in the front door. To the left is the stairs to the upstairs/bedrooms.
Here is the living room. The floor is Pergo. We are pretty excited about the fireplace.
The back of the house with the deck.

Here is our tiny back yard. We can put up a small fence so we can let Tommy out.
No pictures of upstairs yet.

Tommy in Paradise

2009-07-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

It turns out much to Karen's and my surprise Tommy really likes to Sun Bath. A really nice surprise for us, he never stopped moving the first few months after we adopted him! This is one of his favorite spots for it at the Lichtenberg house. The only things missing is a lemonade and some sunglasses.

Who knew milking a cow could be so much fun!

2009-06-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

So before we left the Palouse we had the opportunity to spend an evening at a ranch just outside of town. Some friends of ours are managing it and gave us a taste of what it is like.

Karen, our friend Molly Waters, and Lovey the Cow

Karen milking her first cow!

An action shot of me milking.

Molly taking her turn.

finally a new post!

2009-05-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a few videos of our stellar dog Tommy playing at the dog park.

Wresting one of his favorite things to do at the dog park.

Chase another favorite.

Weekend in Mccall. ID

2009-02-12T23:02:00.001-08:00

Karen and I on a frozen Payette Lake

Many of the buisenes's during the ice festival have snow/ice scupltures made. This is one of Sherie the "lake monster' of Payette Lake

Us with our friends Betsy and TravisIn natural hotsprings outside of Mcall...

right by a very cold river!

Nosing around

2009-01-13T22:13:00.000-08:00

Tommy doing something?

Tommy Trouble

2009-01-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

Some pictures of our beagle Tommy being a mischievous little puppy.

He found a bag of flour in the cupbourd while our backs were turned. You can see the results.

After that fiasco we put him on his leash and tied it to a door. He then chewed through it. :)

Christmas '08

2008-12-27T16:52:00.001-08:00

Our first Christmas together and my first white Christmas.

We did some sledding after presents

Karen's little sister Kristen bought us a dog for Christmas! This is us with him at the pound. He is a 7 month old beagle mix that we will probably call Tommy. We are going to pick him up on Monday.

Balance - another recent recording

2008-12-22T14:18:00.001-08:00

Guitar Intime

2008-12-16T21:44:00.000-08:00

I am doing some recording again so I will be posting some more mp3's. This is a short peice that I had fun experimenting with effects on.

More adventures in Louisiana!

2008-11-28T15:29:00.000-08:00

We drove down to Avery Island and visited the Tabasco Factory, went the the Jungle gardens and found a friendly aligator!

Enjoying a Thanksgiving tractor ride!

More Thanksgiving Break!

2008-11-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

Karen drives her first lawn tractor in the Davis fields!

We have fun visiting Jenni and Leland in Ruston, which is in North Louisiana!

Thanksgiving break in Louisiana!

2008-11-24T17:52:00.000-08:00

Karen enjoys her first Shrimp Po-boy! YUM!

Greg and Karen enjoying the warm weather on the front porch of the Davis house.

We took a trip down to University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and looked for alligators in the swamp with Greg's parents! We ended up finding one, but the picture wasn't too clear, so just imagine us looking at one! Ha Ha.

Karens Adventures In Haircut Paradise:)

2008-11-07T22:07:00.001-08:00

A Beautiful Moscow Sunset

2008-10-28T08:48:00.001-07:00

Looking out from our apatment parking lot.

back on the weigtloss trail

2008-10-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

Alright, so since my wedding two and a half months ago I've kinda let the whole weight loss thing slide. So I have a few pounds back on. But now I am rip rar'n (not sure how thats spelled) to go, drop the weight, and get healthy. So here is my weight graph updated to my new weight that will be dropping shortly.

Get your own graph at skinnyr

Adventures in Facial Hair

2008-10-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

New Website

2008-09-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

I am launching a new website to use as a resource for my guitar students, serve as my online press and/or promo kit, as well as share worship resources, and a few other things. You can check it out at http://gregpavydavis.info/ . I got a pretty killer deal on the domain name. Its under construction so Ill be adding lots of new information in the coming weeks.

Retreat Promo

2008-09-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

So this year the University of Idaho Chi Alpha will have our retreat with Washington State University Chi Alpha on Oct 10th-12th. In honor of that the staffs put there collective creative energies together and produced this high quality video highlight.
OK maybe not "high quality"... but it is a video highlight.
OK... well it is a video, there is no denying that :)!

Wedding Pictures

2008-09-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

We got our wedding pictures in the mail yesterday and they look great. Thanks Harvey and Liz!. You can see many of the pictures at these addresses.
http://picasaweb.google.com/gregpavy/MoreWedding#
http://picasaweb.google.com/gregpavy/TheWedding#

A Biking Trip

2008-09-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Monday Karen and I biked from Moscow to Pullman and back. Here are a couple pictures I took before my camera ran out of juice.

A view from the trail
Taking a breather

Eastside Marketplace Gig

2008-09-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

Last Friday evening I got to play at Eastside Marketplace (a mall here in Moscow). It was a beautiful day and I got play outside for a couple hours. Here are a couple of pictures from the evening.

I am an Idahoan and a Vandal

2008-08-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

So it has been a while since I have written an post and I am feeling a little self conscious about my writing but there is no time like the present so here it goes. As many of you know and as my last post of honeymoon pictures definitely does more than hint at, I got married about 3 weeks ago! The wedding went really well and Karen and I had a wonderful time on our honeymoon. So obviously that has been a big transition in my and Karen's life. We have also had a few other pretty substantial transitions at the same time, so I thought I would share a few of them
So I am now live in Idaho. Wow who could have seen that coming, maybe some of you are not surprised in the slightest but even up to a year ago that was not on my radar. But here I am in the spud state and I must say thus far its been a good move. Of course its just 7 miles away from where I have been living the last 6 years so the scenery hasn't changed too much but the Moscow community is quite a bit different that the Pullman one. Maybe I'll blog more on that later but for now just take my word on it.
One other big transition that we are in process in is that my new wife and I are now the interim pastors of the University of Idaho Chi Alpha group. You probably know that I have been on staff with the WSU Chi Alpha group for the last 6 years but taking on this new leadership role definitely gives it a new dynamic. Karen has been on staff at UI for the past three years so she is familiar with the campus and the XA group so that is making the transition a little smoother, But still it has been a lot to take in right after a wedding.
The school year has gotten off to a good start though I think and we are excited to see what God has in store for us this year

Honeymoon pictures

2008-08-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

You can see the full album here http://gregpavydavis.com/gallery/v/Honeymoon/

Painting and eating :)

2008-06-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

So at the end of last week Karen and I painted her and soon to be our condo. I think it turned out really well With the help of friends we got it done in two and a half days. I will put up some pictures of it soon. Of course since I was painting I did'nt have time to exercise and really did not need to because of all the hard work. I also ingested a few more calories to supply all the extra energy i needed(I write this with a slight sarcastic smirk on my face)... OK really I ate bad and just didn't exercise. But with a few bike trips to Moscow and eating well I am back on track and have the 240 barrier in my sites.
Oh and by the way on a completely different note there are only 37 days to the wedding. Ok so maybe they are slightly connected :).

weight update

2008-06-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

Get your own graph at skinnyr

Two Memorable Mornings

2008-06-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

So during the past few days I have had two of the most memorable and unique "wake up calls" I've ever had. Saturday night I stayed over at Karen's sister and brother in laws house in the Seattle area. We were over on "west side" as we call it up here to go to a friends wedding (Congrats David and Shelly!) I had a great time hanging out with my future in laws and their dog Rocky. Rocky is a rather large Golden Lab and really enjoys having visitors over. I woke up on Sunday morning to the sound of my bedroom door opening and hearing the familiar jingle of a dog chain. "oops" thought I must not have shut my door all the way. I was sleeping on a very comfortable inflatable mattress so I was right at dog level. So I opened my eyes so I would be ready to block the cold nose treatment that I was certain was coming my way. I saw Rocky standing across from me on the opposite side of the bed I was on wagging his tail and looking happy. Thinking I was out of "danger" I said"good morning Rocky". And as if waiting for a cue Rocky vomited his breakfast on the pillow across from me. That's right up came the Kibbles and the Bits. Then as only a dog can he danced around a little bit (like he was proud of himself) and ran out of the room. I was stunned, after a lifetime of living with dogs I have never experienced anything quite like that. To say the least, I was fully awake:)
The second morning was shocking but in a different way. I awoke Tuesday with the usual argument with myself about working out or sleeping another 10 minutes. This morning working out won so I got up to get myself a bottle of water so I could head out and as I past the window in my living room I saw white flakes falling from the sky. I initially thought it must be from dandelions or something but when I looked again my wost fears wee confirmed, it was snowing. And I don't mean a small flurry that would be gone in 10 minutes less, I mean it was dumping pretty good. It continued to snow all morning! It was ridiculous. This Is JUNE! So I shelved the workout for the day and watched a video. Honestly I would prefer a dog barfing on my pillow.

A correction

2008-06-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

So I realized that I was not wearing the same thing for my first "weigh in" as my last two. So I deducted 5 lb.s off of my original weight. I thought it was to dramatic to be good.

losing weight

2008-05-31T15:28:00.000-07:00

So I am on a mission to lose a few (ok more than a few) extra pounds. and since I've been a bad blogger and not updating Im going to log my progress here. I found a pretty neat program to help me do it via graph. So here we go.

Get your own graph at skinnyr

We got a website

2008-04-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

Karen and I have a info website about our engagement and our upcoming nuptials. So check it out and check back because it is a work in progress.
Here is the site
http://www.momentville.com/gregandkarenswedding

I'm engaged!!

2008-03-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

So today I made the big leap and proposed to my girlfriend Karen Lichtenberg, and she said yes!! I took her to the coffee shop where we had our first date. Unbeknownst to her I had reserved the back room and wrote "will you marry me?" on one of the walls (it was a chalkboard) and placed some candles in the shape of a heart. I had her close her eyes, led her into the room and then, as they say, popped the question. Here are some pictures of us and the ring. I have some more pictures and stuff that I will post later.

Holy crap there is a bunch of snow!

2008-02-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

So right now we have close to 2 feet of snow on the ground here on the palouse which from what I am told is the most in over a decade. WSU and UI have been closed the last two days because it is just too hard to get around. Here are a few pics I took to give you an idea.

These next couple are what the guys in the house did with their snow day yesterday.
I was impressed. I particularly liked the pirate flag. Nice touch :)

more open Mic.

2007-11-05T13:43:00.000-08:00

Learning to Fly - Tom Petty

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Unwound - Don Schaffer

Open Mic Pics

2007-11-01T17:04:00.002-07:00

Here are a couple pictures from open mic night last week

Open Mic.

2007-10-28T14:56:00.000-07:00

I have been hosting an open mic night every other Friday at a coffee shop right next to campus, One Way Books. So far it has been a success and a lot of fun. Here are a few songs I performed this past Friday warts and all:). Enjoy!

The Beatles

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Calling out Your Name

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Paul Simon

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Waltz in Em

2007-10-16T22:10:00.001-07:00

Here is a piece i have been playing for a while and finally recorded. Hope you enjoy it.

My Mocha

2007-09-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made a mocha from scratch for the first time in years. Thats right I frothed my own milk, ground my own beans, and mixed it all together by myself. Starbuck's eat your heart out. Here are some pictures from my barista revival:).

Wazzu students make the headlines

2007-09-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

My brother found this article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer about some WSU computer science students "thinking outside the box"
All I can say is good luck guys.

God Provides

2007-09-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

So this past week both I and the ministry have received large unexpected financial gifts and without going into detail I'll just say that they were both very well timed. God is good! To say that more than a few prayers were answered would be an understatement. As an added plus we have been able to make some upgrades to some equipment around the office, including computers. So as a result I am typing this post on a Dell laptop computer which is a huge upgrade from my Gateway Solo-5150. Plus I am now able to set up a little recording station at my house with my old desktop computer which is something I have been wanting to do for quite awhile. I'll say it again, God is good!

New Guitar Music

2007-09-08T19:18:00.000-07:00

Wow long time no post. I guess time just got away from me. So here is a "new" piece I've been working on. I put the quotations on since this piece of music is neither new in the sense that it was composed recently nor is it new to 98% of people on this planet. It is merely new to my fingertips. So here is a link to "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel.

http://gregpavydavis.com/gallery/v/guitarmusic/canonind.mp3.html

Tap Metronome

2007-07-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

Bounce is a free program that you can use to find the tempo of a song. Just play the song and tap out the beat on your space bar and it will give you the tempo. A good worship leading and general musicianship tool.

Pictures from the Hike

2007-07-03T16:11:00.001-07:00

The pictures form the Rialto Beach Hike are up in my gallery.

Last weekend and this weekend

2007-07-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

So hiking last weekend was a blast. I left my camera at a friends house over in Port Angeles so as soon as I get it I'll put up some pictures. Hiking along the beach was absolutely beautiful and despite the fact that we hiked 7 miles or so a day it was very restful. One slight correction to my last post, we hiked north up the beach instead of south. Also during our last stretch I hiked through a rain forest for the first time, and to complete the experience it rained on us :). It was actually refreshing after a long hike.
This weekend Karen's (my girlfriend's) sister and brother in law came into town. We ate out at quite a nice French restaurant in Moscow on Saturday night and on Sunday got to hear Karen speak at church, and I must say she did a great job. This afternoon we went to see the new die hard movie and it was great. You get everything you want from a die hard movie lots of action, big explosions, and some great one liners. On the productive front I finally put my bed frame together after a month of sleeping on my mattress. Ahh ... the joys of bachelorhood :).

Cape Alva - Rialto Beach!!

2007-06-19T14:24:00.001-07:00

This weekend I'm going hiking along Rialto Beach In Olympic National Park. On the map I will be starting up above Ozette at the top of the green strip and going down to about where Mora is, it's a total of 23 miles. I am pretty excited I have not done any "real" hiking in a few years. Thursday I'm going to be driving over with some friends to Port Angeles and start hiking Friday morning and finish up sometime Sunday. Besides the opportunity to hike along the longest undisturbed/or wild beach left in the U.S. I will get to hang out with some friends and Chi Alpha alum that I have not seen in while so it should make for a fun time.

Back from Argentina

2007-06-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

I got back from our missions trip to Argentina last Thursday and what an amazing trip it was. We had two teams go down making a total of 18 people all together. We spent the first few days together in Buenos Aires getting briefed and prepped for the rest of the trip and getting acclimated to the Argentine culture which was very European feeling. It turns out that nearly 95% of the population are 2nd or 3rd generation European immigrants. Kissing is a big part of the culture there as well when you enter a room you greet everyone there (in social situations mostly) including people from both genders. In Beunos Aires you kiss only one cheek however in much of the rest of Argentina you kiss both, which can make things interesting when silly Americans like myself don't know which cheek the other person is going for!! Luckily, there were not any mishaps :).
We visited several churches in B.A. ranging in size from 5,000 - 25,000, Argentina and in particular Buenos Aires has been in what many people consider to be a revival since 1982, so getting to experience the churches there and meet some of the pastors which have been a part of what has been happening there was a great privilege and opportunity. God is definitely doing some great things there.
After about 3 days the two team split up and traveled to different towns in the provinces of Argentina. My team traveled to Mendoza and Steve's to Cordoba. It took us 14 hours on a bus to arrive to get to Mendoza. the busses we traveled on were very nice chartered busses with seats that practically turned into beds, meals, and movies to help pass the time. But despite that 14 hours on a bus is still 14 hours on a bus! As soon as we arrived our hosts picked us up at the bus station and took us to one of the churches we were going to be working with to feed us lunch and to let us know the plan for the week we would be there. Up to that point all i had really been told is that we would be helping to reestablish campus ministries at the universities there. Being the leader of the team I met with the pastors organizing the trip to get "the scoop" and I was quickly overwhelmed. Daniel one of the pastors asked me what my vision was for the trip. I told him to share about Christ with university students, share the vision of campus ministry with churches, and to help the churches in the area start something that will last long after we leave. He said" great i want you to preach every night you are here." i was originally told that i would not have to speak so i had nothing prepared and only 5 hours till the first church service with no free time in between. Its one of those situations that really helps you learn how to pray a little better:). one of the other pastors hands me a phone without any warning and tells me that I am live on the radio. By the way i don't speak any Spanish so I am doing this all through an interpreter. I was also told that we were going to meet with the government and be given the equivalent to the key of the city, as well as be interviewed on the local television station!
To say the least they kept us busy the next 3 days. Usually we would start the day at 8 or 9am and would not get back to our hotel till 1 or even 2am the next morning! During much of the days we would be taken from meeting to meeting at different high schools, university's, churches, or government officials with out really knowing what was next until 15 minutes before. this was particularly fun at the high schools and universities where we would talk about a topic like alcholism, drugs, family violence , or eating disorders and we would not know the topic until 30 or so minutes before we arrived there. Luckily God definitely had things figured out in advance because we always had someone who could speak on each subject competently. Also we were able to speak openly about god in the schools and a large number of high school and College students accepted Christ and/or asked for more information on the campus ministry that was starting and churches in the area.
one of the big high lights of the trip was getting to meet with governing council and president of the City of Maipu. They gave us each signed copies of legislation that they passed honoring our group for coming. They gave us free reign to go into the high schools and share on the subjects I talked about earlier and openly share about God. They also pinned each one of us with the official seal of the town, gave each of us a special bottle of wine (that area of Argentina is known for its wine), and gave me as well as Patricia (the Argentine Lady who was helping me lead the trip) a medal. At the end of the meeting I got to pray with and for the council. To say the least I and the rest of the team felt highly honored.
While we were definitely kept busy we were also treated many of us felt like royalty. Many times they would provide us with lunch, dinner and breakfast and we would not have to pay for anything. The food was absolutely amazing( one of the primary staples of Argentina is beef, and boy do they know how to prepare it!!) On our day off they took us white water rafting and gave us a tour of a winery. We also got to go into the Andes mountains and got to visit a large chocolate factory that supplies much of South America with very fine chocolates and candy. The people there were amazingly friendly and accepting and really opened their hearts and homes to us.
After a week in Mendoza we headed back to Buenos Aires to meat up with the other team debrief a bit and spend a little time exploring the city before taking off back to the U.S.
This trip was with out a doubt very challenging and stretching for me. Leading a team in a place where I do not know the language and having to do things on the fly. I learned a bunch about myself, and it really stretched and grew my faith. It will definitely be an experience that i will be "digesting" for a long time and one that i will definitely remember for the rest of my life.

Andante op 44 nr 16 - by Fernando Sor

2007-05-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

This a peice I have been working on for the past month or so Hope you enjoy it.

Argentina

2007-04-03T23:25:00.000-07:00

So wow my mom pointed out to me the other day that i did not post on my blog yet that I am going on a missions trip to Argentina. What can i say, Im guilty as charged. On May 9th I will be leading a group of 7 college students to Argentina . The first few days of the trip we will be in Buenos Aries after that we will travel to the city of Mendoza to work with helping establish a campus ministry at the university there. We will be traveling back on May 26th. So heres a pic of my team.

From left to right Weston, Cheri, Phil, Asher, Me, Christine, Jenni, and Aly

French Lullaby

2007-04-03T23:17:00.000-07:00

So here you go my first musical post.

Podbean

2007-04-03T23:12:00.000-07:00

Podbean is a great way to post audio or video or almost any other media file on a website. They also host a blog for you.

audio post

2007-03-21T09:38:00.001-07:00

Gabcast! Gregs Guitar Music #1

hip hip hooray!!

2007-03-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

My laptop is functional again after a 3 month hiatus, and there was much rejoicing. at least on my part.

Spring weather is here!!!!

2007-03-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

Its currently a wonderfully warm 62 degrees and blue skies here in Pullman. Now I'm off to go wash my car and enjoy the sun.

New Post

2007-02-27T21:20:00.000-08:00

So it has been over a month since my last post. What can i say things have been busy and I have not been thinking about the blog but here is a little update. Over all things are going well. I guess one new exciting thing in my life is I finally got connected with the classical guitar department over at the University of Idaho. I met the professor James Reid and played at one of their studio classes. It definetly brought back some college memories. It was alot of fun and looking forward to trying to play again tomorrow.
On the opposite side of life a major concern of mine at the moment is finding a new place to live for this summer and next year. My roommate is getting marrried so Im out on the street as it were, which is fine cause id feel kind of weird hanging around :). I've got a few leads but its still up in the air.

Karen!

2007-01-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

For those who do not yet know. I am dating a wonderful girl named Karen Lichtenberg. We've been "officially" dating for a little over a month. She works with the Chi Alpha at the University of Idaho and is pretty much amazing. Heres a pic we took of ourselves yesterday.

The Harm of Advertising

2007-01-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

The American Academy of Pediatrics has expressed concern that inappropriate advertising contributes to many problems among today's young people including: obesity, anorexia, alcohol, and sexual promiscuity. They estimate that young people watch more than 40,000 ads a year on TV, and are exposed to tens of thousands more through the internet and print media. They have recommended a number of steps to curb advertising, especially to children. While critics cry freedom of speech, the academy report points out the Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Belgium all limit ads directed at young people. (Chicago Tribune December 4, 2006 sec. 1 p. 7)

Searching For God Knows What - Donald Miller (Quote 2)

2006-12-29T12:51:00.000-08:00

"A child learns early there is a fashionable and an unfashionable in the world, an ugly and a pretty, a valued and an unvalued. Where this system comes from, God only knows, but it is rarely questioned, and though illogical and agreed upon by everyone as evil, it remains in play, commanding our emotions as a possession" - p.96
True though I would say that it is generally agreed upon as evil and especially when we are the ones on the outside, unfashionable, and unvalued.

Searching For God Knows What - Donald Miller

2006-12-29T12:41:00.000-08:00

"...My Friend who owns the coffe shop told us, in a tone of kindness and truth, that nobody he knows who is successful gambles; rather, they work hard, they accept the facts of reality, they enjoy life as it is. "But the facts of reality stink" I told him. "Reality is like a fine wine" he said to me "it will not appeal to children." - p.11
A bit harsh, but I think its true. Our culure is filled with fantasy fanatics, and sadly I think I am one.

Merry Christmas!!!

2006-12-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

" Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you: he is Christ the Lord." ~ Luke 2:11

C.S. Lewis - The Four Loves (quote 2)

2006-12-23T14:10:00.000-08:00

Speaking of Jesus.
"...He is not at all like the psychologist's picture of the integrated, balanced, adjusted, happily married, employed, popular citizen. You can't be very well "adjusted" to your world if it says you "have a devil" and ends by hanging you up naked to a stake of wood." (p.81)

C.S. Lewis - The Four Loves

2006-12-23T14:02:00.000-08:00

Speaking of people that happen to be around us and a part of our lives.
"Made for us? Thank God, no. They are themselves, odder than you could have believed and worth far more than we guessed" (p.60)

1/2 of the grooms cake!?!?!?!?!

2006-12-21T21:06:00.000-08:00

So as my brother was blogging about his 10 year wedding aniverserary he blatantly, boldly, without any reguard for my reputation accused me of eating half of his grooms cake. Well I admit I may have eaten a fare share but a half is an overstatement. It was probably closer to one third :). Congratulations Glen and Paula!

Snow is here with a vengence

2006-11-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

The snow has arrived and delivered the first strike. It has been under freezing all week and within four days of the first sowfall I had a snow related accident. So my car is out of commision for a while. I took a turn off one down hill street onto an uphill steet lost traction slid sideways and then slammed into the curb. No body dammage but both suspension arms on the left side of my car are toast. So I'm riding the bus for a while. Here are some pictures of Pullman from outside my apartment complex to give you an idea of the level of snow we have.

I've always thought the tree was cool. Its by itself on a pretty barren hill.

Quote of the day

2006-11-30T18:37:00.000-08:00

"Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now." - Mr. Rogers

Thanksgiving vacation

2006-11-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

So Right now Im in not so sunny California enjoying a vacation with my brothers family and my mom. I've really been enjoying myself playing with my neice and new nephew. Its nice to completely refocus for a few days, its really recharging my batteries. Its also given me a little time to do some reading. I've been going through "The Four Loves" by C.S. Lewis. An author that I enjoy but dont read as much as I would like. There are some really great quotes that I found in this tome. I think I will begin posting quotes with some kind of quote cateloger on this site. because a) it will hopefully make this blog more intersting and b) hopefully keep me reading. So with that I will leave you and wish you a happy turkey day aka thanksgiving.

I got a nephew!!!!

2006-11-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

So my new nephew was born yesterday. His name his Alexander and I get to meet him today!! If you are interested in all the info and stuff heres a link to my brothers blog there are some pictures there as well.

2006-11-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

Here is an old quote that I saved as a draft and forgot to publish its just so beautifully random that I thought the world should get to share it.

During a random conversation today about super heroes during a planning time for our Bible study Derek Nevins said this " so... super heroes are just the manifestations of schetzofrenic women." wow

Ten Year Reunion

2006-11-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

Here's a post from a couple months ago that I saved and never got back to finishing up and publishing. I guess I was feeling pretty existential...
So I just discovered that my high school graduating class just had their ten year class reunion. The past few weeks I have had several old friends and acquaintances from high school contacting me on "myspace" and now it makes sense. Of course being in Washington State there was no way that I could have attended despite that fact that I didn't know about it. And its not really a big deal that I missed it but It just got me thinking about the last ten years and remembering that 17 year old boy in south Louisiana trying to figure out who he was and what his place in the world was though he didn't know it. In a sense I'm kind of in a place of mourning for him and the mistakes he made but more probably how i would have done things differently. The last decade or so has brought many changes to me and my life and my relationships, in how I view this world and the God who made it. I must say He(being God) has brought me a long way from where I was then and done some really hard work in the incantricies of my being how I weigh myself and others worth. I know there is much more to come though. A friend of mine once said "campus ministry is one of the few professions that you feel over the hill at 27" i must say being a 29 year old campus minister, I think that statement rings true at times. I wish all my fellow "95 classmates a good life, the joy of knowing the reason of their being, and knowing the One who formed them.

New pictures, and an update

2006-11-04T10:32:00.000-08:00

So I'll have some new pictures going up on my album soon. Things are going well and lifes good. The cougs are winning and so are the rajin cajuns (hard to believe but true). Plus I got wireless working in my laptop - I know now one but me probably cares but hey, this is my blog :).

Lappy update

2006-10-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

Heres an update on the saga that is my laptop. So I got it up and running with a free operating system a special flavor of linux known as Ubuntu, but I never could get my soundcard to work and never could get wireless up and running either. So after a few weeks of using it I tried a fw different things to get thjose things to work but no go. So eventually after getting a PCMCIA wireless card that was supposed to work out of the box with linux in general did'nt work I got a little fed up and decided to just put Windows XP on it. So I did and it worked great, sound and wireless, for anout 6 hours then the blue screen of death began to appear. and in about two hours it died.
So Im back to ubuntu again, which let me say overall I like, its got some pretty cool resources and is supported very well. I know have a buddy who is a Computer science masters student helping me with it and hes haing a little bit of problems to which makes me feel better :) becase it was'nt just cause i was new to the whole thing That I am having all these problems. On top of it I took it to a Linux useers group yesterday and they were a little perplexed by it too so we both felt better :). Its l;ooking like I might have it working soon though

a quote

2006-10-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

"We are more impressed by a church of 4,000 people who have no clue about God's character and His expectations, than by a church of deeply commited saints who are serving humankind in quiet but significant ways"- George Barna

A Keailer Sighting

2006-10-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

So this morning i was haveing coffee with Steve (my boss) and Jason (XA campus pastor at U of I) like I do every friday morning. Today we met at the Daily Grind, a coffee shop in Pullman. In the middle of the discussion someone walked in the front door, being the add person I am I turned around and low and behold ther stood garison Keiler of Lake Woebegone fame. He is doing a show in Town this weekend and I guess needed a cup of coffee. I did'nt have the opportunity to talk to him since he was on his cell phone almost the whole time he was there but it was kind of a cool experience. It just added a little bit of excitement to my day. He is the second person "of note" that I've met in Pullman. The first was the actor who played Chunk from the Goonies. No lie:) I can just feel myself getting cooler by proxy, just just kidding.

I WIN!!!!!

2006-10-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

I got my new laptop on the internet. In fact right now I am updating my blog on it. Greg- 1 Linux- well more than I'm willing to say but Im on a comeback. I am atually really enjoying ubuntu so far now that I have internet it will beinteresting to see how userfriendly it really is. As for now I feel like getting a pizza :).

Finally a new post.....

2006-10-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

I know as many of you have pointed out, several times :), it has been a long time since my last post. I have no really good reason why I have not posted lately guess I just got wrapped in other stuff I guess. Things have been going really well. I've settled into my apartment and am enjoying having a place to get away from things.
Some new things in my life. I bought a laptop recently. Its an old Pentium II gateway comp. Its a bit slower than Im used but its nice to have a bit more mobility. I have moved up (or down depending on your perspective) in my level of geekdom by installing Linux on it. Im using the Ubuntu release of Linux and so far its been good despite a few frustrations with getting it on the internet. Installing drivers can be a bit more complex than with windows. So I'm having a friend come over and help get it set up for wireless so I will truly be free. Thats right I will join the countless masses sipping a latee and staring a computer screen in a coffee shop. I'm actually thinking it will make my ADD brain be a little more productive but we shall see.
Things have been going pretty well with Chi Alpha. I hate to get into the numbers game but we have grown quite a bit since last year. Im helping to lead a small group in the dorms and its been going great. My next newsletter will probably be about that although I may just go over the retreat as well, I'll just see where my whim and or the spirit takes me.
On a more persona note I have been playing alot of guitar recently. I'm going through a pretty creative phase at the moment. As far as reading I know the books IM reading have not changed in a while but IM still plugging away. I currently sucked into " It Does'nt Take A Hero" its the autobiography of General Norman Schwartzcoff. Im not usually a biograohy reader but hes lived quite an extrordinary life. I picked up the book at a goodwill about a year ago to have something to read on a plane and just never got to it. So there you go an update on whats been happening. I know its a bit flow of consciousness like but I figured its been such a long time Id give a big slice of my thought life.

Quote of the day

2006-09-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

Heres an old quote that I saved as a draft and forgot to publish its just so beutifully random that i thought the world should get to share it.

During a random conversation today about superheros during a planning time for our Bible study Derek Nevins said this " so... superhereos are just the manifestations of schetzofrenic women." wow

I don't know what to write

2006-09-06T21:48:00.000-07:00

So really do not know what I'd like to write right now but its about time that I update this blog. Things are going well. I'm enjoying living at my new apartment and getting to know my new room mate Leland. I've stared using the Pullman bus system to save on gas a bit, and I must say I am really impressed. For a small town its a really good system. You can get anywhere you need to go in a relatively short amount of time.
Right now I'm sitting watching a movie with a few friends and eating some really amazing pumpkin cookies. Life's good :)

A new Transformers movie ?!?!?!?

2006-08-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

I was just perusing the new movie trailers like I do from time to time and saw one labelled "transformers". I assumed that it was something else besides the cartoon series but it peeked my interest so i checkeed it out. Well I was astounded to find out that Dreamworks is producing a Live Action "Transformers" movie. I have no clue yet whether it will be based on the old 80's cartoon series or the newer ones (rest assured though that I will be snooping around) but based on the teaser trailer it looks good. The ten year old in me is quite stoked :).

What was lost is now found!!!!!!

2006-08-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

I have been a little bummed the last few weeks because I had lost my leather satchel. I got it for Christmas about 6 years ago and have used it nonstop since. The last I had seen it was two weeks ago on our XA leadership retreat on the west side of the state. After calling every where that I could think and looking everywhere it could possibly have been I gave up hope two days ago. Then this morning the student whose house I stayed the night before the retreat told me that her mom had found it!! Let me tell you there was much rejoicing! Because on top of the bag itself and the sentimental value it has it also contained some irreplaceable writings and notes inside. I feel like some of the characters out of Jesus's parables.

Luke 15
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
1Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
8"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Something thats been running through my head.

2006-08-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

This quote has just been popping up in my thoughts alot lately. It's by G.K. Chesterson . I am sure that I am altering it a bit but here's the jist. "Christianity has never been tried and found wanting, It has been found difficult and left untried."

The Craziness Begins!!

2006-08-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow the bulk of the new students start moving into their dorms. It's hustle time for us. We're going to be manning info tables, handing out otter pops (that's right those plastic tubes full of icey sugary goodness), and getting to know lots of new people. If you get a chance pray for us that we'll have stamina to get through it and that God will use us as we reach out to share the love of Jesus. It's by far the busiest and the most crucial two weeks of the semester.

I am an aprtment dweller

2006-08-09T19:21:00.000-07:00

A week ago I moved my stuff out of the XA house and moved into an apartment with a friend. The XA house has been where I hung my hat and had countless adventures, aggravations, and fun times with a myriad of students who moved in and out during the last four years. It has been fun but I'm looking forward to living in a place separate from where I work. It could be overwhelming at times. I'm still going to be working with Chi Alpha full time I'll just be concentrating my energies more into leadership development, worship, and media. If you want my new address and home phone send me an email.

A Interesting Quote

2006-08-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

"...., what we want is what makes us who we are." -Vlad Taltos in Tekla by Steven Brust.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest

2006-07-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

I just got home from seeing this movie about an hour ago and now that I have cooled down (it ticked me off a bit at the end) I realize that I really enjoyed it. It moved fast, had lots of humor, and lots of action. It was darker than the original movie, definitely not something to take the little ones too but if you enjoyed the first one this one will definitely give you the pirate fix that your looking for. Plus I had the advantage of seeing it with some old friends Scott, Paige, and Kristina. It was good to see you guys, enjoy the rest of the hot muggy Louisiana summer :). I also got together with some other friends on Friday I'll put up some pictures and post on that latter.

Trip to California

2006-07-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

I just finnished a trip down to California to visit Glen(my brother), Paula(his wife), and Dana(their daughter). I drove my car down so I camped at Crater Lake National Park to break up the trip

I had to do a u turn to get this picture, "You might be a redneck if..."

and here are some pictures of my neice

Right now I'm down in Louisiana visiting my parents and doing some support raising. I'll be back in Pullman around the 27th.

superman returns : My take

2006-06-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

I give the movie to thumbs up; good plot, good sub plots, good characters. The only problem I have with it is the same problem I had with the later Superman movies in the series (i.e. 3 and 4) It departs a ways from the comic book. My major problem with the older ones is Superman having powers that he never had, like rebuilding the wall of China with somekind of magic eye beam (superman 4). This one was very true to the powers that superman has, its just some changes in the characters that I personally would have preffered not have happened but they make sense and work well in the story of the movie. I think Brandon Routh does a great job stepping into the role and keeping true to the character as Reeves played him. This is one of the best movies in the Superman series. That's my take anyhow.

Superman!!!

2006-06-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

For those of you worried that I've turned into a rant and rave blogger here is a light and fluffy post for you. I'm really excited that I get to go see a preview of the superman movie tonight. WoooHoooo!! I'll post my thoughts on it after (but don't worry I'll do it without giving away any plot points) Here is a picture of the big blue guy to wet the appetite.

How we look at the world

2006-06-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

I don't often wax philisophical on my bog here (which is probably pretty evident by the fact that I used the words "wax philosophical") but this video coupled with a conversation I had earlier today just made me think. So often in America we take for granted the wealth that we have and many of us falsely assume that the rest of the world has it just as readily available as we do, or we realize that others have it worse but they live far away. Heck I've traveled a bit and I find myself at times falling into the same trap. Many times we just forget that even the poorest here in the United States are still probably among some of the wealthiest people in the world, or at least have more opportunities than most of the rest of the worlds residents. Not to lessen the plight of those who are in poverty here but there are alot of people in the world who have it far worse. This video that I stumbled upon does a great job I think of showing how big a gap there is between our way of life and the way of life of much the rest of the world. An additional plus is that Sarah McLachlan is the artist singing and she is darn cute :).

Zoe's is good folks

2006-05-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

So I was looking at the Zoe Cafe website and saw that they put up a little blurb about me on their page. for my show on Friday. I'm touched.

Great Worship Resource

2006-05-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon a great resource for people involved in worship ministry of some kind. Its a free text over video presentation program called Adoration. I've just played around with it a little this morning and it looks really cool. Best of all the price is right, these types of program can run $200 and up.

Thailad well wishes

2006-05-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

I got a Birthday card this morning from a hotel I stayed in while I was in Thailand last year! It was a little random. I also got a card from my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad!

B-day

2006-05-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

Today I turned 29. Wow where did the last ten years go. It was a good day. I got to talk to my family, hangout with some friends, and eat some cake ( an important part of any b-day). Next stop thirty. Yikes, that just does not sound right.:o!!