Cubo Lista!

Cubo Lista!

So here it is, our cubo lista! Some of these things only one of us really wants to do, others we both really want to do (we'll let you figure out who wants to do what). Our goal is to try and do at least two things a year on ou list, one that each of us wants to do. Honestly that seems like a pretty big chore, though some of the things shouldn't take up too much time or money, just some willingness to try! We just don't want to wait till we're 80 years old to start tickin' some of this stuff off our list. I guess it should be said that we shouldn't be living for fun or for whatever it is we really want to do and we can be 90 and on our death beds and not have done one thing from our cubo lista and be completely satisfied, because ultimately our satisfaction and fulfillment in life comes from Christ alone, but seriously, God just created too many cool things and places for us to not get out and experience Him! (btw, cubo lista is somewhat Spanish for Bucket List, but you probably already figured that out). So we'll probably add to and take away from our cubo lista, and as we experience some of these things we'll add them here!

- Go Skydiving (nathan & maybe carrie, still pondering on it)
- Play In A Legitimate Drum Circle (nathan)
- Climb A Really Tall Multi-Pitch Route (nathan but carrie will probably have to participate)
- Learn To Play The Banjo (both)
- Visit New Zealand (both)

- Play In A Chess Tournament (nathan)
- Have Children (both)
- Adopt Children (both)
- Beat all of our SEGA games without using cheat codes (nathan)

- Go On A Real Cross-Country Road Trip Out West, Grand Canyon being a must (both)
- Go To Disney World Together (both) ü
- Ride a Bicycle Built For Two Together (both)

- Visit All 50 States

- Run a Half Marathon (carrie) ü

- Be a Housewife ( nathan, i mean carrie)

- Go to Hawaii Together (both)

- Learn to knit baby booties! (carrie)

- Cook a Full Holiday Meal for My Whole Family, and it be good :) (carrie)

gAtLiNbUrG!!!

On Friday (the 20th) we left for Gatlinburg with my family. After sitting in traffic forever in Lebanon thinking there was a wreck we figured out it was because of the Wilson County Fair! Who knew that it was a big deal. The line for the fair was backed up for miles on the interstate, so who knows it might be worth checking out one year! Fortunately Clay and Amy's trail mix saved the day. Once we were able to get through the traffic we sped on to Knoxville so we could eat dinner with Chase and Lizzie. We ended up stuffing our bellies full with dinner around 10:00 then we got back on the road to go to Gatlinburg. Unfortunately Chase and Lizzie couldn't join us at the cabin that night. We finally got to the cabin pretty late so we went straight to bed!

The next morning my parents went to the grocery to get stuff for breakfast and lunch while we slept in. Nathan and I thought it might be a good idea to go running in the mountains IN THE RAIN! haha Well we didn't last very long. Once my parents got back we all had to decide what we were going to do... tube down the mountains or go white water rafting?

Since white water rafting WAS on my mom's bucket list we decided to do that! We were so thankful that they allowed us to put 7 of us in a raft. Ashley got to sit in the very front and not paddle, she ended up with mouthfuls of water but I think she loved it! Our guide, Amber, did an amazing job, and she is getting married today! whoohoo! Once we were done rafting we changed and went straight to Apple Barn. My personal favorite :) We ate so many apple fritters and they were delicious! We ended the weekend on Sunday by eating breakfast at the Pancake Pantry then the girls went shopping while the boys went hiking (see the post before this about how that went!) It was a quick but great trip! I'm sure there will be plenty more of family trips to Gatlinburg in our future. Here are some pictures of everything. HAPPY SATURDAY!

Goodnight Irene {or more appropriately} Death to the Patella Ginglymus

A little time spent hiking in the Smokies always gives you an appreciation for nature, calf muscles, the absolute beauty and intimacy of God's creation, slow-twitch muscle fiber and your own physical health (or lack thereof), and our little gallivant through the Smokies, or more precisely up Mount LeConte was no different. During our family escapade to Gatlinburg, while the women were shopping, my brothers-in-law (Chase and Clay) and my pappy-in-law and myself decided to retire to the Smokies for a little hiking. They decided to hike up the Rainbow Falls trail to see the magnanimous waterfall (something like a 6 mile round trip), and being the adventurous over-achiever that I am, I opted to take the 6.3 mile trip from the parking lot to the Bullhead trail all the way up the mountain to the trail junction and then run back down to the bottom of the mountain via Rainbow Falls (another 6 miles). Nobody knows why I possibly thought I could hike 6 miles up Mt. Leconte then run 6 more miles down in 2 1/2 hrs without either dying or losing a limb. Anyways I took off from the parking lot in high spirits and realized 20 minutes later as I was asphyxiating that I may be cutting my time really close. Snapped a few pics on the way up, and about 4 miles deep onto the trail I passed a couple coming down and they generously informed me that I still had over 2 miles to go (keep in mind that for the last half hour or so I had been telling myself that I would at any moment be at the top of the mountain taking a break at the trail junction). So I kept on bookin' it (death march came to mind) and after 2 hours finally reached to trail junction.

As I stood there with my hands on my knees trying not to kill over and realizing that I was going to literally have to run 6 miles down the mountain to keep the rest of the family from having to wait forever in the parking lot (at this point we were supposed to be meeting back at the car) I hear a faint pitter patter of feet coming up the Rainbow Falls trail. I focus my gaze down the pathway to see an ole' Brit running up the trail. The only thing I could think to say was "Don't tell me you just ran up that." And in his heavy British accent he gave a simple "Yea sorry 'bout that". After a little more dialogue I found out that my boy had ran from Gatlinburg up the mountain and was about to run back down the trail I had just come up and then back to Gatlinburg (he'd ran a couple of 100 mile races so I wasn't too worried he'd make it back). We said our goodbyes, hugged, did the British kiss on the cheek thing and parted ways down the mountain. So I start running. The trail turns out to pretty much be one huge rock after another so after about 3 minutes my patellas felt like they were going to pop out of their ginglymus joints. I knew I had 3.3 miles down the mountain to the actual Rainbow Falls so I decided I would run to the falls, take some pics and take a break and try to breathe. My knees and ankles were swollen within the first 400 feet and I realized that 1) I am getting old; 2) this was not very well planned out; and 3) I may never see my wife again because at any moment I could literally have a coronary. I made it to the waterfall (it was pretty darn cool by the way) and I threw some water on my head and then kept on truckin' the 2.7 miles I had to go down the mountain. I was overjoyed about 7 or 8 minutes later when I saw my brethren making their way down from the falls, apparently they had decided to stay a while at the falls and were also getting back to the car later than they thought, so I got to walk the rest of the way back. On a side note, I was extremely dehydrated and almost died. But that's a minor detail. What's really important is that I got to kiss a Brit on the cheek. Sweet.

A view from the trail.

Sweet Switchback Trail Stump.

Rainbow Falls.

Did a little canoodling on the computer and thought maybe this kind of looks like a drawing or painting of the falls? Probably not though.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [Ever wonder what the inside of a Nintendo looks like?]

So we totally found Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game for the original Nintendo (NES) this past weekend at a used book/cd/game/underwear store down in the Boogie. In case you weren't aware, this was only the greatest game ever made. So we got it out to play and Shasta McShazbot if the thing wouldn't work! Super Mario started to work for a minute, then it quit. So, thinking back to my Nintendo playing days, I remembered that when all else fails, just blow into the game cartridge. That used to always fix it! So we did. And for the first time in my game playing experience, it didn't fix anything! So being the electronic whiz that I (nathan) am, I decide I can take it apart and re-route some wires or solder the circuit board or something. After all, I have learned a few things since I was 6 (but as you will soon find out not too many). So anyways I take the Nintendo to the kitchen table and get out the ole' tool box, all the while Carrie giving me that "what are you doing now? do you seriously think you are going to fix a Nintendo? you are only gonna break the thing" look. But I feel confident in my skills. So I take out all the screws and lift the lid cover. I am confounded by a number of brightly colored wires and some sort of green circuit/motherboard thingy (see below). Hmmmmmm......what to do?

Screws removed. Begin confused "I have no idea what I am looking at" face.

Still haven't figured out what I'm looking at. My first thought is to dust off the connectors where the game cartridge plugs into the Nintendo. I get a q-tip, rub down the connection areas really good and plug the Nintendo back into the TV to find out that it still doesn't work.

Put the game cartridge in and plugged the Nintendo back up to the TV, but all I see on the screen is........

Nothing. At this point, I'm a little discouraged, disgruntled and overall saddened by the fact that I may never again play my favorite game. Through a little tinkerin' I somehow figure out that when you plug in the game and push it all the way down into the Nintendo it will work. But the cartridge holder is spring-loaded so it pops the cartridge back up to whatever level it is supposed to be at for the Nintendo to read it. I guess ours is just old and messed up, so it needs its cartridge all the way down to play. But how do I keep the thing compressed all the way down? If I have to hold it down the whole time with my finger during gameplay that will seriously inhibit my ability to beat Bebop, Rocksteady and Krang. And what about Shredder? He's gonna get away with kidnapping April O'Neil and Master Splinter. Seriously, I'm gonna need two hands to beat that perp. Then, a revelation...

I see a little bag of Bananagrams sitting by the TV (basically just a smaller game of Scrabble or something, I have never played it). So i get out 4 scrabble squares and wedge them between the game cartridge and the top of the cartridge holder. I realize I still need just a little more pressure to keep the game all the way compressed, so what better to use than the zipper thing on the plastic bag holding the rest of the scrabble squares? I press the power button and....

It works!!!!! Time to tear me up some Shredder!

Boogie for The Birthday

Nathan's birthday was on the 13th so we traveled down to the Boogie (short for Chattaboogie a.k.a. Chattanooga, for you non-'noogans) for the weekend to partake in birthday festivities. And festivities they were. Steak eating, thrift store shopping, breathing, climbing, talking, muscle flexing, toe stretching, present opening, molecular deconstruction theory debating, basil marceaux viewing, bow shooting, mind extending, and teeth whitening are only a very, very few of the revelries of which we partook.

By far the best part of the weekend was buying the Lion King soundtrack for $.95. Best music ever made from the best movie ever made.

Got a new Osprey daypack to take on the Race (my mom is awesome by the way)

Emporio Armani shirt. No surprise here.

Carrie got a present too! A decorative Halloween bowl! Woohoo!

Watching Basil Marceaux and Antoine Dodson videos.

If you haven't seen Antoine Dodson, please do so immediately. And then follow it up with this.

A little pebble wrastlin' at LRC

Carrie is quite the lil' photographer.

Our Nonny made me a dazzlin' little bday cake.

Birthday Dinner!

Well my birthday is on Friday, but my bride decided to cook me a special birthday dinner tonight because we'll be busy the next couple of nights. So I came home to find a big bowl of homemade turkey spaghetti looking at me like a pair of apple bottom jeans, and much to my triumphant joy a warm Funfetti Cake sat perched upon our kitchen table! Guess which one I was most excited about?

Some super scrumptious spaghetti that the missus made! It even had some of our Roof Garden bell peppers in it!

Look at that Funfetti Cake!!!! Easily the best thing I have ever eaten. Ever.

{I heart my wife}

Small Group Girls!

When I was a freshman at MTSU during a normal Wednesday night at AO (our college ministry) the youth minister at Belle Aire made an announcement that they needed some leaders for One Weekend (d-now). A friend and I decided that it would be a lot of fun to volunteer for it. Little did I know that that "One Weekend" I would meet a group of girls that would help make my college experience so wonderful! That next summer at a water park with the youth, Renee Chambers asked me if I wanted to lead a small group with her.I am so thankful she did!

Renee has taught me a lot over the past 5 years about leadership, serving, faith, and friendship. I am very thankful to have been able to lead with her because she was such an example to me! Each of these girls are very special and unique. We have had several new girls join throughout the years and a couple leave us but watching them grow in Christ has been amazing.

Each girl has her own thing that she likes, several of these girls are very different from each other but somehow they have learned to appreciate each girl for who she is. I find this very rare for high schoolers, well really just people in general. I can't even start telling you the talent that each girl posses but I promise they do! The girls have been very faithful to their Lord, friends, and the small group. We met every Sunday night for bible study but we did several things outside of that together. We have painted pottery, gone to the lake, bowled, ate, ate, ate, played games, been to lock ins, etc.

Last summer (2009) Renee moved to CA and I moved back to Clarksville to get ready to get married! Danielle and Brannie stepped up to the plate to lead these girls. I am so thankful for them. It has been difficult to not be there each Sunday but I know that I can count on seeing them any time I go to the boro. Renee has since moved back and is able to continue leading with them too!! Most of the girls graduated this past May and a couple are going to be seniors. This is a big time of change in our small group life! The girls are spreading across the south for school and the rest are getting ready for their last year of high school. I couldn't be more proud of them. We were able to all go on a small group getaway for the weekend in July. We stayed in a cabin, went canoeing, played Bunko, ate til our stomachs were pouching out, played in the creek, and had some special time together. We also finally got our small group tee shirt! (it had been in the making for a very long time) It was a blast and a blessing to be able to spend so much time together.

Thank you Renee, Danielle, Brannie, and each girl for your faithfulness and love! I am so proud of each of you and cannot wait to see what all the Lord is going to do in your lives! LOVE YOU EACH VERY MUCH!

Out and About!

So we were walking around downtown a couple of nights ago and came across this wall, maybe about 100 feet long and anywhere from 8-14 feet high. I looked at Carrie and said, "Hey baby girl, I think we should come back here and climb around on this wall, it might be cool." Well we went back to the wall today to climb around on it. And it was cool. Called that!

It is somewhere near the police station (hope they don't mind). And for some buildering in the middle of Clarksville actually turned out to be quite fun and definitely worth another visit. Plus it probably (and more importantly) is going to turn into a great place to play Pokemon. Man do we love playing Pokemon (woooohhooooo Jigglypuff!!)

Carrie chillaxed in the crazy creek chair while reading Crazy Love. CRAZY!

More often than not I look dashing. This is one of the moments that is more often than it is not.

A kiss for the winner!!! (name that movie!!)

Just Another Grand Evenin' at the Chance-Hold

What a spectacular evening. Carrie got some knitting in while we indulged in the Informant (pretty good movie if you haven't seen it yet. But don't let your childrens watch it). And Carrie made some cinnamon rolls!!!!!

We also played Primal Rage on the ole' SEGA Genesis. Carrie won by a land-slide.