Books from October - Tebow, Germany, and High Places

Ever since I purchased my Kindle in August 2010, I have become quite a reading machine (if I do say so myself).  About January of this year (2011 [for when I am taking a trip down memory lane in 2031]) I had to make myself temper my fiction reading with some non-fiction.  Then, in about March 2011 (again, for posterity) I started focusing on Jesus-centric reading (Francis Chan, Steven Furtick, etc).  Nowadays, I have to force myself to finish ONE book before I start another (which is so much easier in theory than in application).  Anyways, all of that said as background to provide a brief update on the books I read in October (caveat:  I have never been good at book reviews.  I am not eloquent or introspective.  I am not even sure why I am writing a book review now...).

Hinds Feet on High Places

I loved this book.  Christ's love and patience and plan for us (and His walk with us) and the challenges we face in our Christian walk is woven in with a tale of Much-Afraid and her journey to transform her feet to be like hind's feet and journey to the high places.  Though it took a couple of chapters to get used to the naming conventions Hannah Hurnard uses, I couldn't put the book down.  I am all too often Much-Afraid and anxiously await my hinds feet to get me to the high places.  I call out to the Shepard quite often and thankfully and gratefully he is there.  I will be re-reading this book before the end of the year; as much as it is a tale, the story is challenging and has applicability to my life everyday.  It reminds me so much of C.S. Lewis but is easier to read and understand the analogies and metaphors.

In the Garden of Beasts:  Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

After reading Unbroken, I was looking forward to this book as I hoped to continue my journey of reading about the heroes of World War II and their stories.  However, as powerful as Unbroken was, In the  Garden of Beasts was not (for me).  It definitely read like a history book and in many cases I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.  The story is eye-opening, as it showed a different side of  Berlin  (not that I have been to Berlin, but did study WWII in college during my history classes [history major here]), but I can't say I really took anything away from it (other than a history lesson).  While I would recommend Unbroken to anyone and everyone, I would not recommend In the Garden of Beasts to everyone.

Through My Eyes

Let me start with I like Tim Tebow.  It started with a picture of him in Thailand with one of my friend's from high school little girl (click here for that picture [it is awesome!] http://www.aolnews.com/2008/07/10/tim-tebow/).  I admire his outspoken testimony and his passion in both his walk with Christ and on the football field (that kind of hurts to say as I am a 'I bleed garnet and gold' FSU fan).  I didn't even laugh with my friends when Tim Tebow cried when the Gators lost the SEC championship in 2009.  All that to say, I did not love his book.  Though his testimony is inspiring and challenges me in not only my actions but in my words and thoughts, to me, all too often (in the book) his passion comes across as arrogance (my parents sometimes refer to this as 'humble bragging').  Also, I don't care about football stats.  Running however number of yards in a game and passing for however many yards goes in one eye and out the other (the reading equivalent of 'in one ear and out the other').  I think that as Tim Tebow gets older, his writing will evolve and improve (I do hope he continues writing).  I would love to hear more about his trips overseas (such as the Philippines) and his foundation.  I loved the chapters about his work with the hospital in Gainesville.  These are the kind of things that inspire me, not how much one can benchpress or negative comments about FSU.

Chicago - I Finally Went!

Last week I went up to Chicago for a work function.  I have never been and just about everyone I know talks about how great and beautiful and fantastic Chicago is and I have been longing to go for a while.  I also wanted to see the Cloud Gate/Bean.  There is a video on YouTube:

(sorry I can't figure out how to make the embedded video smaller)

I have watched this video far too often and at about 2:27, he is at "The Bean."  Needless to say, I have really, really wanted to go to Chicago!  And finally I got to go!

This is the Cloud Gate, also called The Bean.  Being there in person is pretty awesome; I don't think you can properly appreciate it until you are there face to face as part of the full experience is watching everyone react to it.  However, I was far to shy to take a picture of myself looking at the Cloud Gate!

Underneath the Cloud Gate looking up.

This is a very small slice of the Chicago skyline.  It was incredible that whichever way you looked, there were skyscrapers everywhere, a mix of old and new.

Another shot of the skyline and the Sears Tower (I know, it is now called the Willis Tower).  The Sears/Willis tower is the black tower with the white spires.

Taken while we were walking through Millennium Park.

The Public Library.

While we were walking back to the hotel (after walking about 4 miles around city on a cloudless, beautiful day in the city), we saw this crane and were amazed by both the counterweights as well as the number of tires on the trailer.

While I did not like the Chicago traffic (an hour cab ride to and from the airport at what I would thought would be non-peak hours) the city is beautiful and I had a wonderful time!  I can't wait to go back to eat authentic Chicago food (due to 3 hour waits, we did not eat any Italian food.  We also did not get a chance to have any Italian beef sandwiches, deep dish pizza, or Chicago-style hotdog).

Fun Things of the Week

I came across a few funny things this week, courtesy of surfing the internets and my friends.

1. Pinterest.com - a cool site for 'pinning' cool ideas, thoughts, web sites, things, etc. This is my favorite pin this week....

2. Baby laughing at mom blowing nose. I think this speaks for itself!

3. My favorite article of the week: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44903898/ns/technology_and_science-space/

4. Random drawing of the week. The flower is my signature doodle (I do not have awesome drawing skills).

5. Picture that literally makes me smile! This was taken of the board at work that is right outside the kitchen area (I was trying to be covert to take it, I apologize for the blurriness).

Kolomoki Festival + Geocaching = Great Weekend

This weekend we ("we" being my dad) learned about a geocaching event at Kolomoki State Park (just outside Blakely, GA). The event was being held during the Kolomoki Festival. My dad and I packed up the vehicle (again, this was mostly my dad as I was still sleeping, after all it was 8:00 a.m...on a SATURDAY!) and headed north. Mom was attending a re-certification conference call for the American Cancer Society so unfortunately she could not come with us this time, and due to many people and dogs attending the Festival, we had to leave behind Allie (she was NOT happy about this).

Though we only saw 3 geocachers at the Festival (and they were the ones manning the geocaching tent), we had a great time! After talking to the 'cachers, we wandered around the festival for a bit taking in the sights, including some 'primitive' booths (aka wild animals, blacksmithing, the making of clothes, etc) and some old tractors. The tractors were really pretty neat!

After wandering around the Festival for a bit, we started our caching adventures. There is a trail at Kolomoki that has about 8 caches on it and the trail is about a mile and 1/4. Our trek was very successful! Well we didn't find one cache that was somewhere around a bona fide outhouse (the cache name was: P U Cache!).

After Kolomoki we headed back home; on the way stopped to find 2 new caches (we were hoping to get the "FTF"s)! And success! Both of us found one!

It was a beautiful day and we had a great time! It is nice to have the fall weather back so we can get out and cache!

Book Review: Unbroken

About 2 months ago, I saw a tweet about the book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. Someone on Twitter mentioned that it was one of the best books they have read in a while and highly recommended it. Now, I don't endorse the Twitter-verse as the most accurate place to obtain book recommendations (contrary to what some may think, everything on the Internet is NOT true!), but whoever the tweeter was (I really can't remember now) seemed to have good taste so I figured I would take a shot and read the book. After all, Twitter can't be worse than a review in Entertainment Weekly which recommended Beauty Queens, which was awful!

Anyway, I couldn't put the book down. This story of Louie Zamperini's life and survival as prisoner of war in World War II is absolutely amazing (and when I say amazing, I mean A-MAZ-ING) and inspiring. Laura Hillenbrand has a way of making a non-fiction story quite captivating, and the book was impossible to put down. There are many things to take away from Louie Zamperini's story, such as the human will to survive, overcoming truly dire circumstances both as a member of the military during war and as a prisoner of war, and the sheer power of the human spirit. What I loved the most was Louie Zamperini's encounter with God at Billy Graham's first crusade. Reading Louie's redemption story was humbling and moving. To see his life changed by God working through Billy Graham and seeing the power of God working in Billy Graham challenges me personally.

I now can't stop recommending the book. If I have recommended the book to one person, I have recommended it to 10 people. In spite of the pain and heartache and the tears it brings, it is one of the best books I have ever read.

So, go read the book. You will not regret it. At all. I promise.

Happy Easter!

"For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him." Colossians 1:16

March on Lake Seminole

I spent the weekend at my parents house on Lake Seminole. On Monday, my dad escorted me around the lake while I used his camera to take some pictures.