Where To?

I love to travel. I love for others to travel. I love to hear about other peoples' travels. When someone says, "I was recently in Rome.", my heart skips a beat and I want to know all that they did.

When I ask you how your trip was, what you saw, what you did, I am not asking for the brief, 2 minute description. No no, I am one of those rare people who really wants to know your story. If you start at day 1 with your luggage getting sent to Paris, Arkansas not Paris, France, then continue with how your life changed on day 5 because of the little old couple that outdanced you in Poland, and end at day 12 with the red-eye flight where you sat next to the man who invented the Pringles can, I am a happy man. If you also tell me about day 2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10....even if you think it was run of the mill, I am ECSTATIC.

Recently I have had some friends travel, and it has ignited the flame within me. So here are some places I want to go. Feel free to join me or list some of your own.

1) Alaska.....backpacking and fishing.....and Moose hunting.....with binoculars
2) Italy.......not just Rome........all over..........fantastic place
3) Brazil.......perhaps to woo a member of the Olympic Volleyball Team
4) Ireland and Scotland.......I have been there before.......but my heart wants me to go back
5) Turkey......to visit friends there.......and learn some history/culture
6) India.......more than Taj.........the people
7) Uganda or Kenya.....completely different places....so maybe both
8) Washington D.C...........I think Wade and Kelley are enough of a draw
9) Washington or Oregon.......hiking and fishing.........and recycling
10) Guatemala..again, been there....but sometimes the Land of Eternal Spring sounds nice

Well, those are the Top 10 of the moment. Where do you want go..........and will you take me with?

Rejuvenation

First, I had to look up how to spell rejuvenation. It is a tough word. I read a lot of books, and yet I am the worst speller I know. Maybe I should buy a dictionary and just read that. But then I would know how to spell a plethora of words, and have no knowledge of how they are used in the real world. Quite the conundrum. Which I also had to look up...although I found out I spelled it right so......go me.

Anywho. Lately, I have been in need of rejuvenation. I left my home in Little Rock, moved back to my old college town, and started a new job all in three days. I also joined this job when it was in its busiest season. I also, as mentioned in the previous post, am less than talented at moving. Thus, while I have been in my new home for almost a month, I have done next to nothing in the area of making my house a home. Little decorating, bags everywhere, etc.

My usual ways of rejuv. are as follows.

- Read a book about someone greater than myself, to give me hope at the greatness of mankind.

- Go fishing.

- Volunteer to build something with my hands...like work on a Habitat for Humanity house.

- Have a beer with a good friend

- Go on a date with Jessica Biel.

Okay, the last one I have never done. But I am convinced it would rejuvenate me. All of the other "remedies" I tried in the last week....except the volunteer one, which I would have loved to do, but have not had the time.

However, I continued to be drained. I read a fantastic book by an man named Brother Andrew about his work in trying to support the church in the Gaza Strip. His passion for serving God (thank you Karlie for pointing out the misspelling there), his humility in doing God's will at all costs, his drive to never "retire" from serving the Lord, all give me such a rush. I love reading about this beautiful man who has given his life to one purpose: honoring and listening to his Lord.

I went fishing, and though I caught nothing, it was a fantastic day. My company was top notch, two great guys and my puppy. The pup swam for the first time in her life, which probably explains the lack of fish caught, but was worth it to watch her enjoy herself to such an extreme.

I sat down and had a beer with my good friend. He had just been through a very rough few days, and it was good to sit and laugh with him some.

And yet, I was drained.

And my parents were coming to visit today.

I love my parents, and I was excited to see them, but my house was wrecked, and all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep/hide. Instead, my brother came over this morning to use the interenet, and I arose to clean the house. He helped a bit, and I managed to get the kitchen cleaned, the laundry moved, the bathroom scrubbed, and my study somewhat arranged before the 'rents arrived.

And then we sat around and chatted. We went to see my brother's new apartment. My momma and I went to Wal-Mart to get my brother his first groceries and some other necessities (had to look that one up). I snuck a few things, like a banana hanger, in for myself. We drove around and saw the dam, and the lake.

And as I sat down on my couch after they left, I realized that I was finally feeling rejuvenated. I am tired, I still have a great deal to do, but I am rejuvenated from spending time with the crazy family that I love.

That is what family is for. Even when they are "taxing" you, they are giving life to you. Because, at least with my fam, they love you. And to be bathed in that love will outshine even a date with Jessica Biel....but only just barely.

Moving

It isn't until one moves, I believe, that one discovers just how much "stuff" one has aquired. I recently moved back to my college town from Arkansas, and was shocked at how much I had accumulated in one year. I threw away half of what I owned, and yet filled a 12' by 6' trailer with my stuff...and STILL needed more room.

Granted, had I packed better, perhaps I would have felt less burdened.

And when I arrived, it took me three weeks to get my internet set up, and I still can't get the cable to work.

I suck at moving.