Dallas Road Trip.....oooh yeah.

So Christmas was awesome....me and the kid (my younger brother Jake) made a trek in my friend's Explorer all the way down to Dallas, TX from Leavenworth, KS. I know you don't want to hear about it, but i'm gonna tell ya anyway so at least i can reminisce about how freakin awesome it was.



Day 1
Me and the kid depart. We make some stops in Wichita (we bought 10 tacos for 5 bucks and shared) Oklahoma City (to check out the
Me and Jake at the Oklahoma Bombing Memorial
memorial....wow!) and at some boondock gas station to make a call from a pay phone only to realize.....i left all my numbers at home (yes....i didn't have a cell phone, but the kid bought me one for christmas.....you should check out my
voicemail sometime, it features a classic belch from my little bro...completely unrehearsed!
Anyway, made it to Dallas, caught up with my boo (Sam Williams - Cocounsellor at Camp....awesome guy!) and went out to eat with Steph (another counsellor at camp - she's in the

middle east right now visiting her parents, then going to Sri Lanka!!). Then, as if this day wasn't going to end, we went and met Priya and Amy, two of Sam's best friends, at Priya's mansion (that's right, we hung out in her personal movie theatre....amazing!!). By that time the kid and I were pretty wacked....so was Sam, so we went back to his bro's house (Tony) and crashed. An incredible first day, but man so much more happenned. (bored yet?)



Day 2
Went to IHOP for brekkie.....can't beat that place. Then we decided we needed to get some physical exercise, so we went and threw the frizz for a little bit, then went and met up with John and Laura, Sam's old college group leaders who work at Dallas Baptist Seminary. From there we went and dabbled in some American football which the kid had never played. Once i told him it was full tackle he rode Sam into the ground on his first play! Ouch!
"And Jesus Wept"
After that we went to the William's residence and met the fam.....incredible people. From there we went to Sam's college group at his church. He asked me to help them out with their worship to which i replied "ummmm heck yes!". We met some more real
nice people there too. We met Tony's girlfriend, Christina, and her best friend Jill.......yeah, we're facebook friends now! Ok...i'll stop bein a geek.

After that we met up with Rachael, a friend of mine from school who happenned to live in Dallas, and went to Natalie's house (another Camp counsellor) and caught up with a couple of other counsellors from camp. It was a great night......we played 16 player cutthroat pool....the longest game ever invented.....but we sat around and just talked for awhile which was great. After another long night in D-town.....we hit the hay.

Day 3
Ummm Christmas in 2 days and no shopping done.....so after getting up at 12 we made it over to the Frisco mall in Dallas (which has its own skating rink! yeah.....malls like that don't exist in KS!) . We walked around for a long time - me, the kid, Sam and Rachael.....not really buying anything, just lookin for stuff we might want. Anyway, we ended up buying one thing, and paying too much for Chick Fil-A at the food court (ohhh but it's soooo good!).

That night we went to the Williams house and a party showed up. About 10 of Sam's friends came over including Christina, Jill, Priya and Garry (another counsellor from camp that i used to jam out all the time with on worship songs). We watched some basketball, ate some Sonic, jumped in the hot tub, then jumped in the pool (it must have been below 40 in there because m sure Antartica doesn't get much colder than that pool was. Jill jumped in too, she can back me up!). It was a great night....we just got to hang out and chill with some awesome people. Man i miss Dallas! Well, after all that we crashed back at Tony's place and that could only bring me to....

Day 4
Christmas Eve. We went to Fairfield, TX to catch up with Wiggy (one of the directors of the Camp Sam and I went to) and made a great day of it. Started off by gorging ourselves at
Wiggy, me, the Kid, and Sam huckin some fizz at Fairfield, TX
the buffet at Sam's resturant (no....not my boo), then went to the Big Field in Fairfield, to throw some more frizz. We must have been out there for a couple of hours, and if it wasn't for all the food we ate, we might have been blown away by the wind out
there. But it was a lot of fun.....a lot of catching up, messing around, and unfortunately, a pulled hamstring for me (yeah....im still sittin out of basketball because of it!). But it was a great afternoon. Wiggs, is one of the greatest people you'll ever meet, and if you want to work at Camp Champions this summer, he is the man to see.

That night we drove through to "Ritz" of Dallas' suburbs and checked out the Christmas lights. I don't know what was more jaw dropping.....the lights or the size of the houses! But it was a lot of fun. I drove with Sam's parents and his younger sister Shannon, and we listened to Vegetales Christmas Carols for most of the way (quite an interesting collection of music...heheheh!). Another great end to a great day....to prepare for another great day......

Day 5
Jesus' birthday. I really enjoyed the service at Sam's church. Their pastor went through the story of Christ's birth from the Bible, then talked about how this story had impacted his life through the lives of others. We got to catch up with some of the college group people and meet some more of Sam's friends. We then did the whole Christmas thing of opening presents, which was really nice of the Williams family to include us in their day. We went to their grandparents later and gorged on some more amaizing food, and rounded off the day with a relatively early night of watchin TV and Tony's. It was just a great day to pause and remember the birth of Christ and bask in the love He has given all of us by enjoying it with family and friends. Somehow, i don't think Christmas will ever lose this.

Day 6
This day was cool. Tony has this awesome setup in his house which allows him to record music form a piano, guitar, drumset, you name it he's got it. So.....Garry came over,
Me and my Ray Charles impersonation.
and we recorded a song of his that he had written a while back, and one i always enjoyed. He let me back him up on the keys while he played guitar....but it was just so cool to be able to do all that in one afternoon. Garry and i always used to rock out together at camp with just a guitar and him singing, and it was great to be able to record something with him.....i might see if i can audioblog the song or somethin becuase it turned out really nice.


Later that night me, the kid, Sam and Tony went to see the Mavs kick the snot out of the Pacers!! It was cool to sit in such a big arena and watch basketball played at its best. Me and the kid have always loved the game, so it was good to finally see an NBA game together. Later that night, we met up with Priya, Rachael, Christina and Steven and went out to go "clubbing". Ha! If only we knew that we were venturing into a black community where all the clubs that we could go to were closed, and ended up walking around for about 10 minutes feeling like the dorkiest people that had walked the planet. We did get a sweet picture outside the Tiger Club though! So we went back to Tony's and played Texas Holdem' for M&M's and Hershey's Kisses. Was another awesome night......im counting my blessings on this trip for sure.


Day 7
Last Day! I think we got up at maybe 1pm.....spent the whole day at Sam's parent's. Played some NFL Blitz on the N64 and "chilled in the hot tub" for about 2 hours. Sooooo relaxing, it must have been about 75 that day. Then we figured since we had eaten a lot of food at the William's place that we'd cook them all dinner. Priya, Amy and Geoff (another one of Sam's friends) came over and Sam grilled some chicken, and the kid and I made some pasta and a salad. Was a great night to
Garry singing "Hold On"
top off a great trip. We just relaxed, caught up and relaxed some more. My hammy was still hurting, and i seriously thought about callin coach to tell him i was too hurt to play, and that i was gonna stay in Dallas another week. But reality had to set in sometime i guess. The kid and I got up early the next morning and made the 8 hour trip back to LV, KS........the home of 6 jails. Hooray.

But our road trip was amazing......i think the kid fell in love with Texas, and i fell in love all over again. I love that place, and the people. Sure, they have the whole "bigger and better" complex, but most Texans i know are pretty humble about it, and very hospitable. They make you feel like you're at home.....and it was.....at least for another week.
I'd love for anyone who reads this to pray for me, and my future. Spending an incredible week like this in such a great place really makes me consider what i am going to do
Me and my boo (yeah.....its a counsellor thing)
next year. God has blessed me with two incredible options to either intern in Leavenworth, or in College Station, TX, which are both as equally appealing, and i am torn to decide where i should go. I know that God has a great plan for my life, and that wherever i choose, i will strive to do His will. But i'd ask that you help me in praying for that decision which could be so crucial for my future.


~Lord, you can have all of me, right now, in this place. None of what I am is hidden from You. Do with me what You will. You know all me, and i want to be with You always. Guide me on Your path Father.....to where You would have me. Amen~















The Kid, my bro, Jakey poo.....be prayin for him too. God loves him, and so do I.