dog-sitting

I've been watching my friend's dogs this weekend... meet Lola (blonde) and Franklin (black). It didn't take long for them to find their way into my heart. They have been the best company I could ask for... I can't wait to do this again!!

disclaimer*

I know the last few months I've posted a lot of things that may seem like my life is one big ball of discouragement... it isn't... I have a blessed life. There are so many things that I am thankful for, but when I'm feeling down, I feel like getting my feelings out there is very therapeutic...

thanks for reading... (:

sometimes...

...my girlfriend likes to send me pix messages to my cell phone... just to let me know she's thinking about me.... (:

something

it really is something... everything that's happened in my life over the past 6 months or so. Sometimes when I think about it, I feel like I'm trapped in a vat of seaweed struggling to find daylight... just because it seems to never end... so I try not to think about that too much.
it really is something... sometimes it feels like time is moving on, progressing, and the people that mean the most to me (my family) are regressing... life shouldn't be about this... this isn't what God intended.
I know that the God I serve is in the business of making beautiful things out of broken things... so to this promise I cling... I put my hope there and I find comfort in some serene way... I have found peace within myself... it really is something.

(sigh) 2008

here's to another year...
I look forward to better things this time around... 2007 kinda sucked.

repressed childhood memory

I was hanging out with Jenn and her boys a few nights ago when one of them asked me a question... I don't remember exactly what the question was, but it was one that had an obvious answer... not really a rhetorical question, but one more like this: "Eric, is the moon made of cheese?"
Now, that wasn't the question he asked, but it was something that he obviously knew the correct answer to... at that moment a distant, foggy memory came rushing to my brain... and I immediately began laughing.
When Andrea and I were kids and would ask ridiculous questions like this, my mom and dad would say: "what do you think?" and we'd answer the 'obvious' question correctly... at that point my mother and father both would reply: "very good retarded child."
The more I thought about this, the more I laughed... I couldn't believe my parents called us retarded, but I remember laughing about it back then too... but I don't know why I would have thought that to be funny back then as an impressionable, fragile young boy...
Upon further investigation, I asked my dad about this scarring detail in my life... he immediately began to laugh uncontrollably. He told me the 'very good retarded child' line was a punch-line to a joke that he and my mom heard around that time and then just always used it around Andrea and I to make us laugh...
Don't think that my parents would call their children retards... on second thought, that could explain so much...... (:

sometimes

there is just nothing to write about.

I hate winter

my car got stuck today and the blower is broken... so no heat and no de-fog... perfect.
I'm so glad I bought a new car that doesn't even work.
I'm selling it and getting something with 4-wheel drive I decided this morning... I might change my mind here in a few minutes... we'll see.

thankfulness series: post three

with you I'm spoiled, without you I'm soiled...

happy holidays

let it... ugh... snow?

the worst part about snow is driving in it...
the best part about snow is that Jen looks like an angel in her little hat... (:

thankfulness series: post two

Seeing that I have had a lack of Internet and didn't really have any more opportunities to post during the week of thanksgiving, I will just post a collage of other things that I love and am grateful for...

thankfulness series: post one

Seeing that Thanksgiving is right around the corner I thought I would take some time in showing some appreciation for some of the people/things I am most thankful for… without further ado…



I am thankful for my beautiful mother. I have never known anyone more full of life and passion than this amazing woman. Her heart is so evidently displayed whenever she has something to share… most things being that of love and compassion for others… the way she talks about her friends who need Jesus and healing, orphaned babies in Romania, and especially her family. I don’t think I could even get started on how she feels about her family… I did not realize such love existed… I feel it every time I am around her, every time I hear her speak to me and every time I hear her speak about me. I love my mom deeper and richer than anything I have ever loved (next to Jesus)… Jesus may have loved me first, but my mother loved me the very second He spoke me into existence.
My mom has always been my biggest fan and number one supporter… If there is any self-confidence and social skills oozing from this once shy little blond haired, blue eyed, 45-pound five-year-old it’s because of what my mother has shown me. If there is any hint of respect and honor that I show girls it is because of what my mother has instilled in me. If there is anything I speak about truthfully or honestly, if there is any part of me that shows humility, integrity or if there were ways that prove me to be just, if there is anything inside of me that cries out for compassion, lives for joy or dreams for others, then I can not take any responsibility for these things. These are all things I have seen and continue to see displayed by my mother.
As I write this list, I can hear her specific words of counsel. My mom has always been so gifted in discerning right from wrong. There was never any question while I was growing up distinguishing between the two. It was always black and white and I am so grateful for being raised with that.
If you know my mom, I’m sure you all already know all of this and need to be reminded. If you don’t know my mom, I hope that now, you feel like you do… I would never want anyone else to take her place.

getchyo fitteds

if you haven't heard my brother's rap side project yet, be sure to listen in.
He's the one who raps second.
I'm sick today. I've felt it coming for a couple weeks... allergies/sinus/cold stuff... sucks...
Meanwhile the Lions are 6-2. It's about time they're playing well.

fall is here

I love this time of year... I love wearing jackets, long pants, beanies, turning the heat on in your car first thing in the morning to take the edge off the chill in the air. There's nothing quite like the month of October... baseball playoffs, football season, my birthday, halloween, the leaves... it's the best month there is... hands down.
I hit the road again sunday for about a week or so... we'll be in Colorado and Louisiana. Not too close to each other.... will surely make for some long days in the good ol' van.
The holidays are just around the corner as well.... I am already feeling the pressure of family issues coming down on me as they approach. It's going to be interesting juggling thanksgiving and christmas around my mom and my dad especially with the dynamics of andrea and the boys needing to try to juggle their families as well. Nothing will be the same and that's hard to come to grips with. I've always valued my family being together on the holidays... and I'll never get that back...
At least it's October... for another week anyway.... that makes me happy...
that and my previous post. (:

drum roll...

I know you are all anxiously awaiting the details of this new development in my life... without further adou.. let me introduce to you my girlfriend.. Jennifer...
she's the best. (:


If you're lucky you may get to meet her someday... I'm sure glad I did...

home for a week...

it's been a good week... I have been home from tour for seven days.
A lot has happened... two of my best friends got married (Nate and Holly)... I was able to re-connect with a lot of people I hadn't seen in a while and had a great time at the rehearsal dinner as well as the wedding and reception....
I have also just been able to spend a lot of time with close friends and family... which is always good.
I didn't realize how much I have missed being at a church, being a part of corporate worship and being fed by some good preaching... I really enjoyed that today... so much in fact that I went to Lakeshore Community Church this morning and Mars Hill this evening...
There is also another new development in the 'relationship' area of my life which most of you who are close to me know already, but more details to come with that in the near future.... (:

my 205th post!!

I missed my 200th post a few days back so I thought I would take the time to at least celebrate something.... better than my 28th birthday which is one week from today...
I've had this blog for just over two years now... an average of 100 posts per year isn't too bad in the blogger world I suppose... it's been quite a journey... for those of you who follow my life and it's ins and outs know how crazy things have been!
The latest chapter of my life has been an awkward one... one I didn't really see coming... stepping away from my job at the church was not an easy decision... I really thought I would gain some sense of clarity about my future while I'm on the road, but sometimes I sit back and think that I'm just more confused... maybe confused isn't the right word... the biggest question that I wanted answered was whether or not I wanted to immediately jump back into full-time ministry when the tour is over... and I still feel like I don't know... I hope and pray that it will be clear to me at the right time.
On a lighter note, I had Chipotle for dinner tonight in Ohio... it was awesome. and by the way, if you haven't checked out AG Silver's music yet, do yourself a favor and do so immediately... you will never regret it the rest of your life...
Traveling has been great... I wish I could see every inch of the whole world, but if I traveled to a different place every day of my life from here on out I still wouldn't even come close... oh well... at least I have this time to do a little traveling in the U.S!!

middle-of-nowhere, massachusetts

9/26, MCLA
soooo... we may or may have not drove 60 miles out of our way today... but we did.
what a beautiful ride though... rolling green hills, pastures of sunflowers, cottages on perfect little hills... breathtaking.
a great show tonght too... our last college show til mid-october. there were about 50 people there, but they were loving every second of it...
we're off for the next two days now... saturday night we play a festival in Cinci.... then home sunday...
miss you all...

my first trip to New Hampshire...

...was a memorable one...
Plymouth State University: 9/25/07
We may or may not have set the smoke alarm off with our hazer mid-way through the show... I am still holding to the theory of a disgruntled campus safety worker tripping the alarm to prove a point... but none-the-less, it went off and the building was evacuated... after a 20 minute delay AG Silver finished the show strongly without losing any listeners...
P.S. New Hampshire is beautiful... many rolling mountains and forests... much like Vermont...
back to Massachusetts tomorrow!