just a minute of your time...

moving our blog...

2009-09-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

We will be moving our blog to www.justaminuteofyourtime.tumblr.com. If you are interested in keeping up with us check it out there!

pics

2009-09-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

as promised...

Surgery, sports, summer, world changing, and adventures in real estate!

2009-09-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

My last post was about being a blog slacker...and I do freely admit that things have been a little hectic around the Patrick household...but my hopes are that this blog and a few more posts with pictures will bring me back into the good graces of the two people who haven't given up on us.

Here is the last few months all summed up:

Surgery: I tore my ACL, which I talked about in a previous post. I am now four months removed from the surgery it took to repair said tear and I have just learned today that I have been released back to my normal life again, this means that I can suck at golf, tennis, and softball again but at least now I can blame my surgically repaired right knee if it gets too bad

Sports: We have really gotten into soccer and baseball this summer. I joined some friends and got season tickets for our MLS team Real Salt Lake and have really enjoyed going to the games we just got to see the US national team play El Salvador in a World Cup Qualifier match...what a game! I have become a Boston Red Sox fan much to the chagrin of my sister who is a huge Yankees fan but when I was in Texas for a week Brandy made it possible for me to see two Red Sox/Rangers games the first game our seats were in the Comissioner's box and we were literally 20 feet away from first base...THANKS BRAND!

World Changing - I signed up for World Changers again this summer and the project went great. I was blessed to have the best summer staff I have ever had with TK, Lauren, Angela, and Christopher. I don't think I have laughed that much or had that much fun while working so hard. Some of the statistics from our project are: 28 projects completed, 4 community salvations, 3 participant salvations, 6 rededications, and 1 student called to full time missions! What a cool week. World Changers is changing up their schedule for next year. I'm not sure I like the changes but we'll see how it goes.

Adventures in real estate: Rachael and I are purchasing a house! I have included a picture of the house below. We've had an interesting experience while looking for a home. We saw one house that reminded me of Silence of the Lambs with its creepy basement and hat making business. Another home we saw had horrible water damage and smelled extensively of moth balls. We were very happy to find this house and God has really provided us with the right situation at the right time for us to get into the house. We close on September 30th and take possession 48 hours later. We'll have to re-do the carpet and have had the thought of hardwood floors in areas of the house. We'll also work to update the bathrooms and the kitchen of the house but it will be cool to make it our own and any improvements we make only help the resale value if we have to sell but we're not planning on that for a long while.

Rachael: Rachael went to Kenya with a team at the end of July and into early August. The medical team that she went with helped a lot of people with not a lot of supplies. God really used her experience to help her see through his eyes and I'm sure there will be return trips to continue the amazing work that is being done there. Rachael is hard at work in Occupational Therapy. Her mentor took a job at the University of Utah so she is now one of the most tenured OT's on the rehab floor. She is constantly telling me of patients and their stories, but is encouraged when she gets to see them walk or function in a new way.

Sean: Things in ministry have been going awesome. Since restoring our Pastor to full time ministry we have been moving in leaps and strides rather than in baby steps. People's lives are being changed and transformed by the movement of the Holy Spirit and it has been amazing to be a part of it. In addition to my responsibilities with Worship, I am now in charge of missions and properties at HBC. I can honestly say that I am in my dream job and it truly is an honor to be serving the kingdom with this congregation!

here is the house pic...

worst. blogger. ever.

2009-08-31T10:30:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted in a while and there is no good reason for it. I am mainly posting now to prove to myself that I can post. We've been busy and are enjoying life so that's good. I'm going to post soon with pictures from Rachael's trip to Africa, my knee surgery, world changers, and the happenings at HBC. Though I'm sure I've lost all readership, stay tuned and don't give up on the Patrick blog quite yet.

a moment that I will never get back...

2009-06-08T09:39:00.001-07:00

Here is an interesting moment

This weekend Rachael and I met up with her brother Jordan and his wife Holly to play Bocci at Murray Park. After dominating them with my bocci prowess, we decided that we had done enough to reward ourselves with ice cream. We headed to Iceberg, ordered our treats and proceeded to people watch.

I've noticed that Salt Lake City is getting a little bit of culture, strange culture, but culture none the less. During our time at the iceberg, we observed a man wearing a cargo skirt/kilt, another man who decided that waiting in line at iceberg was the perfect time to do calf raises and stretches, but there was one person that took the cake.

My attention was directed across the street to a rather large woman wearing a dingy white sports bra for a top, blue jeans of which there was significant amount of, I believe the term is "muffin top". Her jeans were tucked into shin high brown sueded, tasseled boots and the woman was walking with all sorts of swagger.

Right at the moment I chuckled to myself out loud and the other three in my group had done the same, a 10 year old red-head walked by us and said "Yeah, that's my mom." Our laughter turned immediately to panic as we contemplated our next move. We decided to run away. That's right, I took my ice cream treat and got into my car to avoid the painful stare of a ten year old whose mother I had just chuckled at.

While I've told this story to several friends and have been confirmed that they most likely would have done the same thing, I still can't get over the fact that I ran from a ten year old and that is a moment that I will never get back...

family update...

2009-05-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

Now that I am out of school, you can see that I have been enjoying/feeding my media addiction with movies, music, and books (especially books that aren't assigned.) I realized that there hasn't really been a family update for a while so I thought I would take some time to update our few readers as to what has been happening with the Utah dwelling Patricks.

Ministry: Our ministry has blossomed over the past year and we (Rachael and I) have been doing more and more together as a ministry team. We have the opportunity to go to Kenya at the end of July and are still praying that God provides the funds and the means to be His hands and feet to people who need to experience the love of God in tangible ways. We will be going to do medical clinics and youth/sports learning camps...I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it. Please pray for us as we face this amazing opportunity. Things in worship ministry are very different than youth ministry but I know that I am in the right place as God reaffirms my decision daily. We will continue to lift Christ up and Christ will draw all men to himself.

Life: In January, during a ski-day, I had a crash that ended up tearing my ACL in my right knee. It was originally diagnosed as a sprain/possible meniscus tear, but when the weather got warm and I was ready to play tennis and softball, my knee wouldn't let me. I had my knee looked at again and found that I in fact had a torn ACL and it required surgery. I had the surgery two weeks ago and am now recovering and participating in Physical Therapy to get my knee back to 100%. Rachael has been amazing during this time both in helping me with therapy and taking care of me while I was unable to get around. I'm on injured reserve for 4-6 months but am committed to getting it healed.

Wife: Rachael is doing awesome and is loving her OT job. She sees people as they are coming to grips that their life will never be the same, some may never walk again, and some may not be the same people as an accident left them with a brain injury. Rachael offers a bit of hope in showing people how they can function after these life-changing events. For every bad story I hear, she has 4 good ones of how someone is moving their hand again, or is realizing that there is more to life. I'm very proud of her!

Pics:

Whoa.

2009-05-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

I had an amazing movie/book night last night. After all the hype about Slumdog Millionaire we thought we would give it a shot, and while Rachael slept through most of it, I was on the edge of my seat. I then finished Cormac McCarthy's "The Road". Both of these were so good that I had a hard time going to sleep because I was thinking about the characters and the underlying messages of both of these stories.

Slumdog Millionaire: A well filmed, well told story of a "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" contestant in India knows the answers to each of the questions. Each question has to do with different elements of Jamal, Salim, and Latika's lives. The story ultimately has to do with love. The love of a brother and the forgiveness that can be found even when all looks dreary...as well as passionate love between a man and a woman. Jamal never forgets about Latika and spends the entire film trying to find her as they are seperated several times.
I am more of a renter now than a buyer of movies, but this is one that I will end up putting in my collection.

The Road: What is the bravest thing you have ever done?, a son asks his father. His father's response? "I woke up this morning." McCarthy's book is set in a post-apocalyptic world where everything is burnt, dead, or slowly turning to ash, there is no sun and the cold is all that our characters seem to be familiar with. The book really deals with the struggle of a parent in answering all of life's important questions when raising a child...what will they eat, what will they drink, what will I do if my child is threatened, where will they sleep, will they be healthy, what are they going to do without me. McCarthy's novel encourages the reader to face their own mortality while reading about this father and son. McCarthy also brings up the element of faith with his characters and how they don't feel that God is there because of all the evil in the world, which I found to be an interesting commentary on how people feel today even when all their needs are being met.

Both were truly amazing. Simply put: Whoa.

enjoying new media

2009-05-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

They say the first step to addiction is admitting that you have a problem. I'll admit it, I'm addicted. I'm addicted to books and music and I can't get enough of either of them. For a while I enjoyed itunes but now Amazonmp3.com is my favorite place to get new music. If you are interested in books and haven't been to alibris.com you are missing out. With all this music and reading going on I thought I would take some time to share what I've been listening to and what I've been reading since I gained my freedom from school.

Music:
1.) Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago - great chill album...one of those albums that you can just push play to.
2.) Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs - Cath has to be one of the greatest Death Cab songs ever
3.) Fiction Family - Switchfoot and Nickel Creek combine for some awesomeness
4.) Mewithoutyou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright - an acquired taste but I love this new album
5.) The New Frontiers - One of the best albums to come from a band who broke up right after releasing it. This album is great...another just push play.

Books:
1.) The Road - Cormac McCarthy - currently reading this one...
2.) Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - short but an amazing story of friendship and determination
3.) No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy - the movie follows this pretty closely and it won best picture...no kidding.
4.) A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini - A story of redemption and the history of Afghanistan
5.) The Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan - The second most printed book behind only the Bible. Very interesting...a bit of a tough read but well worth it.

Done...

2009-05-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

I've had a goal for myself since I attended Rachael's undergrad graduation. That goal was that I would go back to school and get my undergrad degree before I turned 30. There were a lot of things that needed to fall into place in order for me to reach that goal but God had planned it for me and I knew that he was going to provide a way through it.

The first hurdle was work. I was working two jobs, one semi full time (Overstock) and the other full time (HBC). I was brought on to the church staff full time and was told that I needed to go back to school as the church was investing in me and my future. I quit Overstock and signed up for classes at SLCC for the next semester

The second hurdle was math. I was terrified of it. I didn't think that it was possible for me to get through the required math classes to get my degree but thanks to some awesome professors, a lot of homework, and a lot of hard work, I passed each math class with an A.

The third hurdle was money. Working in ministry and putting your spouse through graduate school is very difficult and a strain on the finances. God was looking out for us here as well because right when I needed to transfer to the University of Utah, Rachael was out of school and working at IHC in a job that took the pressure off of us financially.

As of May 8, 2009 I became an alumni of the University of Utah. My degree is in Speech/Organizational Communications. I turn 30 on July 3, 2009. I screamed right up to my self imposed deadline but I made it!

My next goal?: Learning to play guitar within two years. That one is a bit more my speed and will hopefully be a lot more fun!

almost forgot I had a blog...

2009-03-09T10:27:00.001-07:00

So here is a blog slacker making a feeble attempt at updating the blogosphere as to what has been happening in the Patrick home these last few months.

A week before December our Pastor told us that he needed time off as he was having some difficulties. 16 weeks, a lot of counseling, and many prayers later, he is now back and is being restored to our body. This process was in no way fun, but it was good to see the people of God come together to support, pray for, and love on our Pastor. His first week back in the pulpit was last week. You can hear his sermon on Psalms 1 at our website www.hbcutah.org.

Going through this process has kept Rachael and I busy, coupled with school and work we are ready for a vacation...which is exactly what we get to do in a mere five days! We will be going on our first cruise! Brandy is going to meet us in Miami and go with us and a whole lot of good friends! I am ready to spend some time in the sun and away from all the gloomy snowy skies. I know we'll take lots of photos and I'll even make an attempt to post them on the blog when we get back. We're pumped!

Rachael is enjoying her job as an Occupational Therapist. The schedule is getting a bit tedious as both of us agree that a Rachael that gets to go to church is a happy Rachael. Because of her 7 on 7 off schedule, she only gets to come to church every other week. This month in order to cover days, and alternate weeks with her counterpart, she won't get to come to our church at all. In the meantime, we won't complain because she is in a job that is weathering this economy well. We are blessed.

I am working on finishing my degree at the U of U. I walk on May 8th. I'm so ready to be done with this typing papers, textbook reading, group projects life. I am looking forward to only being in ministry and not having to be distracted elsewhere!

That's about it for now, I'll post pictures from the cruise later, and if you're on facebook, you'll find many more updates and other pics there...add me as a friend if you haven't already!

Christmas/New Year's Pics

2009-01-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

So here are some of the pics that I took or had taken over the Christmas break with my new camera as promised.
1. My tattoo (I'm going to get another one soon!)
2. Crystal's expression of joy
3. Rachael and I playing Rock Band
4. Jordan posing in a monkey shirt
5. Rachael opening a gift
6.Brandy with her Utes gear
7. The first photo of the new year
8. Robert Marshall and I during our christmas eve candlelight service.

2008 in review

2009-01-12T08:59:00.000-08:00

A new year, a new semester, a new post.

Seriously, my apologies to those who have checked the blog in the past few weeks. It's not that we have been really busy but honestly, we've been really lazy which I count as one of the finer things in life and have taken it to a pure art form.

2008 review:

Books read:
The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
The Power and Protection of Spiritual Authority by Robert Marshall
Crazy Love by Francis Chan
The Cost of Discipleship by Deitrich Bonhoeffer
Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchman Nee
These were not all the books that I read but they are the books that I remember reading as I am sitting down to type this blog entry.

Albums enjoyed (each of these albums were released in 2008):
The Suckerpunch Show by Lovedrug
You are my Sunshine by Copeland
Only by the Night by Kings of Leon
Illuminate by Lydia
Mending by The New Frontiers
Dialog by Paper Rival
Gossip in the Grain by Ray Lamontagne
Way to Normal by Ben Folds
Narrow Stairs by Death Cab for Cutie
White Lights EP by Deas Vail

2008 was a good year for Rachael and I. We both started new jobs, mine at the same place and hers after she graduated from the University of Utah. Rachael is loving her job and despite some difficult patients and corporate mumbo jumbo, she has more good things to say about her work than bad. I am loving my job as worship pastor at HBC. I have received a lot of good feedback from both of our services and it has been overwhelmingly positive.

As I look back on 2008, I can't help but see how God takes care of his own. There are times when you think that you are walking alone, and at the risk of sounding cliche, He's right there all the time. God has a plan for us and it has been amazing to see how God is working in our lives and also in the lives of our church congregation. Things have not been easy but they have been good. We are truly blessed to be where God has us.

I'll post again with some holiday pics.

Sean

A good friend...

2008-12-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago I was invited by a member of our church to go to a Jazz game. This was a surprising invite as the phone call literally went like this:
Sean: Hello
Lynn: Hello Sean, this is Lynn Luttrell
Sean: Hi Lynn, what can I do for you?
Lynn: I've got a problem that I think you can help me with.
Sean: ....okay...
Lynn: You see, I've secured some tickets to tomorrow nights Jazz game and I need someone to take one of those tickets off my hands
Sean: (surprised) Well I'm sure that I can help you with that problem!

Lynn showed up and took three of us to the game the next night. The coolest part was that the tickets were second row seats under the basket. I learned so much about professional basketball that night, but I also learned a lot about my friend Lynn.

My friend Lynn passed away last night after an extended battle with cancer. He has meant a lot to the members of our church as he and his wife have poured their lives into making our church a reality in the Salt Lake Valley. In fact, our church actually started meeting in their basement and he stuck with it from that moment forward.

Lynn always went out of his way to greet me with a smile and shake my hand every Sunday. He stood in my corner when times got tough, and always had something encouraging to say. He loved his wife dearly and took care of her. It was very clear to see that Lynn loved Jesus and he wanted to see him glorified in his life. While it is sad to see him go, I am glad that I got to know him, and I know that he is now free from pain and standing in amazement of his Creator.

So goodbye for now my friend, thank you for your example and everything you have done for the kingdom. Rest in the loving arms of your Creator and welcome home.

Chili cook off and a fun holiday game...

2008-12-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

For the past two years, Rachael's parents have hosted the annual York, Patrick, Robbins chili cook off. This is a combines several birthdays of extended family and allows everyone to get involved. Each family is supposed to submit a chili which will then be voted as to which is the best for the year.
As the reigning champion of several chili cook off contests I was very confident in this year's submission: Tres Carnes (three meat) Chili. The meats were steak, chicken, and bacon, it was awesome. I'd like to say that my chili won the competition and retained the crown but sadly I lost out to another chili named Captian Brown's. I did however take second place and with it came a box of strange jelly beans.
Take a look at the list. Jelly Belly has lost its jelly bean creating mind. How do you come up with a rotten egg flavor, and what if you get them mixed up with the buttered popcorn and ship them to the wrong customer...sick.
So here is a fun holiday game for you and yours:
1.) Buy a box of Jelly Belly Bean Boozled jelly beans
2.) Open the box and commit to eat whatever jelly bean falls into your hand.
3.) Eat the bean
a. supress your gag reflex if the bean is bad
b. sigh in relief if the bean is good
4.) laugh at your family members or friends as they eat nasty jelly beans.
I personally had the joy of eating skunk spray, booger, vomit, and moldy cheese. Moldy cheese is by far the worst.
We had a lot of fun playing this one. I dare you to play. I'd be interested to see comments of which beans you end up with should you have the guts.

Copeland, Lovedrug, Lydia, and Lights in Concert

2008-11-11T13:19:00.000-08:00

Rachael and I recently got the chance to see Copeland, Lovedrug, Lydia, and Lights in concert at the Avalon. I was already a fan of Copeland and Lovedrug and went with an open mind to the other two bands. Here are my thoughts from the concert:

Opener: Lights
We got to the show a little late so we only got to see Lights perform two songs. Her music is what I would define her music as indie pop music. One thing that I noticed about her was that the girl could flat out sing. She really gets in to the music and it is evident that she enjoys performing
Opener: Lydia
Lydia was for me one of the best surprises of the evening. Two members of the band came out, played a song and started telling us that their trailer with all their gear was totaled when their trailer disconnected from their van. They have only been able to buy a keyboard and an acoustic guitar...so that is what they used. The lead singer has a really interesting voice and they use very interesting harmonies in their songs. I have since added their albums to my collection and they are good to quite good with a full band. I would recommend them.

Opener: Lovedrug (pictured above)
By far the best band of the evening. Lovedrug not only had the most efficient sound check of the evening, which I really appreciate, but they also executed their songs with precision and quality. They performed several songs and the crowd was obviously waiting for Copeland so the lead singer became frustrated that people weren't as in to them. They performed mainly songs from their new album, The Sucker Punch Show, and their second album, Everything Starts Where It Ends. I had been excited to see them perform but was very surprised at how talented these guys really are. They shouldn't have been an opener, in fact, Copeland should have opened for them.

Headliner: Copeland
After Lovedrug finished, there was an extended setup/soundcheck by Copeland. After they completed their sound check they left the stage for about another 10 minutes...frustrating. Copeland opened with a song off their new album, but I noticed that the harmony vocals/back up vocals were mysteriously missing. there were other mics on stage and each of the band members sound checked their mics but nothing during the performance. Overall I enjoyed their performance but the highlight was when Lights came out to sing with them. They weren't as together as Lovedrug was but still put on a good show.

Tunes/Albums

2008-10-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

When asked if I have a favorite band, I usually reply that the question is too difficult to answer as I listen to a wide variety of music. My favorite albums to listen to are the albums that you can just push play and listen to the entire album. The two albums pictured on this post are of that variety. If I am looking for something to listen to, I usually go back to one of these two bands. Copeland's vocal work and ingenious incorporation of a orchestral instruments, including a basson and dulcimer, and on several tracks lend an eerie feel. The albums ends abruptly and leaves you wanting more of the same...the way a good album should.

While I'm not a huge fan of the cover art for Lovedrug's album, the music more than makes up for the creepy cabbage patch vibe. The first thing I noticed about Lovedrug is their guitar work. Lovedrug give's its nod to some classic rock riffs but keeps it original while adding some very interesting vocal harmonies to the mix.

The best part about these two albums/bands is that they are now touring together and will be stopping in Salt Lake City. It is a rarity that two of my most listened two bands come to town, let alone together. I am very much looking forward to the show. I might even post about it.

Also listening to:
mewithoutyou
Band of Horses (thanks to Lawrence for suggesting these guys)
Ben Harper
Ben Folds
The New Frontiers

Home Alone

2008-10-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

Rachael went to an all girls leadership weekend and so I got to spend the weekend as a bachelor. The past couple times when Rachael has had to be out of town I have not enjoyed it but this time I decided to fill my weekend full of guy stuff.

You know what I mean: No shaving, violent movie watching, video game playing, junk food eating, football watching, guy stuff. I started the weekend with watching Thursday's episodes of My Name is Earl and The Office. The Office episode was quite possibly one of the most awkward and simultaneously hilarious episodes yet. I then met up with my bros-in-law to see the movie Appaloosa...don't waste your time with this one...and then went back to Mike's house to play Xbox Ghost Recon, eat pizza, and watch football.

This morning I got up and realized that there is a reason that one person should not consume pizza, cheez-its, oreos, and coca-cola all in one evening....ugh. I headed over to rehearsal and found that our auditorium smells of citrus carpet cleaner as we just paid to have our carpets cleaned. After I opened a few doors to let the powerful smell that I am convinced will cause cancer in laboratory rats clear out, I directed both of our service rehearsals.

After rehearsal I headed to the Utes game and watched the Utes destroy the Colorado State Rams 49-16. They are now 8-0 and are in the drivers seat in the Mountain West...Go Utes! I came home and realized that I hadn't showered since Thursday night. I spent some time reading and now here I sit, blogging...and yes, I did end up taking a shower so at least I have that going for me.

Even though I have enjoyed this weekend immensly, I have found that it is always better to have Rachael around. I'm sure I'll live longer because my sugar to good food intake will be severely lessened, I'm sure that I smell better when she is around, that and I kinda like her.

I can't wait for this week at the gym to make up for all the bad eating...ugh.

our view for the weekend

2008-10-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

I thought you might like the view from our mountain getaway...I know you're jealous!

getting older...

2008-09-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

I should have seen it coming. The moment when I first used a "Karate Kid" reference in a talk with the youth and they had no clue what I was talking about. I should have seen it coming when I got so excited about the "Transformers" movie because it would bring me back to my childhood days of watching the "good" Saturday morning cartoons. And when I realize that when the day comes that I have children, as they grow up they will have no concept of not having cell phones, the internet, or ipods, I am really starting to feel old.

Now I realize that there will always be people that I know in different life stages, I don't debate that you probably know better and in your eyes I'm still "just a kid" but hear me out...I'm sure all of us have had this moment, or will if you give it time. The beginning of my getting old feeling comes from this actual quote stated to me this weekend: "You were born in the 70's...whoa."

Actually I am quite proud to say that I was born in the 70's, am a child of the 80's, and in essence a product of the 90's. I can remember actively taking part in fads like slap bracelets, pogs, crystal pepsi, and hypercolor clothing. I will proudly admit that I watched shows like Mr. Belvedere, Doogie Howser M.D., A.L.F., and Full House. I had a metal Tonka truck, He-Man, and G.I. Joe to keep me from being bored. I will even humbly submit that I listened to such popular music as New Kids on the Block, Vanilla Ice, and yes, even Hanson.

The funny thing is that through each of these, I have always viewed myself as not arriving yet, there was always an age that I was looking forward to. I looked forward to 13 because it meant that I was a teenager, 16 because it meant that I could drive, 21 because it meant that I was an adult in the government's eyes, and 25 because it meant cheaper car insurance and the ability to rent a car. My next landmark? 30.

As I face this next July and my departure from my twenties to my thirties I have resolved to embrace getting older. I actually quite prefer it to the alternative. I've never looked good wearing girls clothing which seems to be the trend amongst skinny young men, I have never been able to grow my hair longer than a few inches before it starts bothering me, and I don't see what is so special about American Idol, even if last year's finalist was from Utah. I listen to the music that I like, drive what I want to drive and have the ability to select where I go on vacation. My favorite part of getting older? I get to laugh and be glad that I don't have to do things like high school, experience adolescence, or ask my parents for enough money for Taco Bell again. Besides...there is a glorious sophistication that comes from getting older.

As I have more and more experience at this thing called life, I'm feeling old, but maybe that isn't such a bad thing after all.

Go Utes!

2008-09-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

I realize this post is a little after the fact but I wanted to show you one of the greatest sights ever for a Utes fan.

The Utes did about everything they could to lose that game but still came out on top by two points...Go Utes!

My "last lap"

2008-08-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

With the Olympics ending in Beijing, I can finally get some sleep and take some time to update my blog. Maybe I can incorporate an "olympic" feel in my next entry...

It is that time of year when the days get shorter and school gets back into session. When I was in Youth ministry I found it always to be a bittersweet time as I had to say goodbye to students who were in my group for five years and say hello to a whole new batch of 7th graders. Don't get me wrong...7th graders are great...really...I mean they are really cool...in their cute, 7th grader way. Anyway, my transition out of youth ministry is almost complete. We have 7 people in our church who have felt God's call on their life to be in the ministry. We are giving these 7 people the chance that I had 8 years ago. Hopefully a few of them will be on staff with us a few years from now.

Rachael and I are in completely different places in life and it feels as if we have traded places. If things were back to normal, she would be in school and I would be at work. But today I find myself waiting for my next class to begin while Rachael is hard at work. Rachael is loving her job but day after day I am finding that I understand her less and less as she is learning a new medical language complete with crazy abbreviations. Something that I'm sure Jake has been privy to since Erin started med school. Her patients, though I don't know names because of patient confidentiality, seem to be enjoying working with her and it has been amazing seeing how charged up she gets because she is doing what she loves!

It is a little weird but as the title of this entry states...this is my last lap. That's right, I will graduate from the University of Utah in the spring. I have 13 credits this semester and so far my classes don't seem like they will be too much of a stretch. That could mean that the classes are easy or that I am actually starting to grasp the concepts that these professors are teaching. I'm banking on the easy factor.

Worship ministry is going good. I am finding that it is a much more "in the spotlight" position than youth ministry. It is easy to celebrate victories but for everything that you do right there are several people who don't like the volume, the style, the look, or the overall feel of worship. I am of the school of thought that worship is not about us at all, but that is a difficult message to get across sometimes. I have enjoyed introducing new songs to our congregation...our band recently learned the song "The Stand" by Hillsong. If you haven't heard it, check it out. I have a lot of support from our Sr. Pastor Kevin and our other Associate Pastor Robert. We also have a team called the church leadership team or CLT. They have provided a lot of support for the changes we have been making across the board.

All in all, it has been one crazy summer and in a weird way, I am looking forward to the routine of a school semester and the fall. Go Utes!

Currently listening to: Myriad, Muse, Edison Glass, The New Frontiers, Radiohead, and lots of Ben Harper.

Currently watching: Nothing...didn't you read above?...school is back in session!

Titles change but the mission stays the same...

2008-08-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

If you have been to our church in the past year you would have noticed that I have been leading worship every Sunday. This came about during a huge transition time in our congregation in which our senior pastor (Rodger) retired and our associate pastor (Gregg) in charge of worship was called to another church.

While Gregg was here, anytime he took vacation I would fill in for him. When he left that role switched from filling in to a full time gig. I have been leading worship for a year now and am loving it while at the same time am terrified that I am insufficiently qualified for such a position. All the while God kept confirming that I was in the right place...right where He wanted me.

To make a long story short, when our new pastor Kevin arrived he asked me where my ministry passions were. My answer to him was "If you took youth away I would be sad, if you took worship away, it would kill me."

I have since take a step of faith into a completely new area of ministry. That means that I am transitioning out of full time youth ministry and will be working for the Kingdom in the area of worship. I will still be able to see my students and encourage them in their walk with Christ but the relationship changes a bit. It truly was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do when I told my students that I was no longer going to be their youth pastor.

So here I am. In the middle of yet another transition on this crazy ride called life. All I know is that I want to be where God is moving me. I may not know what is in store for me in this area of ministry but I know who is leading me and that makes all the difference.

They never told me it would be easy...only that it would be worth it.

Sean

Moab...our new favorite place

2008-07-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

Rachael and I have been married for 4 years as of June 26th. When we looked back at those four years we realized that we had not been on a vacation by ourselves since our honeymoon. This year we decided to change all of that and headed down to Moab. We got to spend two days and nights hiking in Arches National Park. We also got hooked up with a free hummer tour from some friends in our church family. The whole trip was amazing! You can bet that we will be taking the opportunity to get out a little more often now. Check out the photos! I even included some pictures of our dogs who recently got back from the groomer.

World Changin - Back in SLC!

2008-07-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

In 2001 I went on my first World Changers project in Casper, Wyoming. I have since been to Puerto Rico, back to Casper, Clovis California, and Sioux City Iowa on projects. Each of those years I served either as a crew encourager or a crew chief working on a house. Last year after working for a year and half to bring it here, World Changers came to Salt Lake City and I served as the Associational Coordinator. The project was amazing! In fact if you check last July's posts you can read about it there. This year World Changers was back in SLC and I was once again involved, this time as Project Coordinator. This year was awesome as well. Here are some first blush numbers from the week:

Participating churches: 11
Number of Crews: 21
Completed Projects: 30
Gospel Presentations: 85
Salvations: 8

Needless to say it has been a very busy couple of weeks for Rachael and I as we have been working to make this project happen. It worked out for us that the project happened during one of Rachael's scheduled off weeks so she could come and keep me from going crazy!

The worst injury of the week wasn't someone who fell of the roof, someone who fell off a ladder, or who impaled himself/herself with a nail gun. All things one would expect when dealing with teenaged construction volunteers. The title of worst injury goes to yours truly for spraining my ankle while setting up a worship service. While it sucked to sprain my ankle a very interesting story comes out of it.

I was given a master key to the school we used and could use that key to open any door of my choosing (ahh the power). I was in the coaches locker room and happened to check a closet and saw some crutches in there. I thought to myself, "It will be good to know where these crutches are if someone needs them." I then sprain my ankle and our first aid coordinator tells me that he is going to get some crutches for me. I tell him of my discovery earlier in the week and give him the key. After getting the crutches he comes back into the room and says, "How much do you wanna bet that we don't have to adjust these at all?" I stood up and checked the crutches and sure enough, they were perfect. God sure knows what he is doing!

There are a lot more stories from the project but I would simply bore you with them, so instead I'll just post a lot of pictures. I'll also start working on another post with some pictures of our trip to Moab. Watch out now!

Some of our summer staff...Randy and Quinton. We also had Danielle, Anna, and Rachel

My new friend Okesene (O2 for short)

Some shots of work being done...and the whole group:

I've got a lot more where that came from but blogger is being weird. I'll check back and post again later.

Sean
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Even busier

2008-06-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

Weddings, youth trips, world changers, graduations, church life, and life in general have all made this spring/summer a very busy one for Rachael and I.

Rachael begins work next week and is very excited about getting to use the skills that she has gained over the last three years to help people live better lives after tragic accidents. I am looking forward to hearing stories of recovery as they always make for good sermon illustrations.

I am busy with making this year's world changer project in SLC a reality. Keep praying for this one as we are currently a month out. I am working very hard to stay ahead of the game on this one.

Movies/TV shows watched:
Iron Man - see it! explosions galore!
Indiana Jones - good but it was my least favorite of all the Indy movies as it took a weird turn.
Juno - Loved it...a very honest look at teenage pregnancy but quite funny in the process. Why it didn't win best picture is beyond me.
Prince Caspian - Very good but the music at the end was very distracting
30 Rock - so funny
The Office - Will Jim propose?

Just read:
Unchristian - very good book about how my generation looks at Christianity
Angels & Demons - Dan Brown distorts images to tell an interesting story about science vs. religion
Do Hard Things - currently reading this one...I'll keep you posted.

Listening to:
Muse, Lovedrug, Iron and Wine, Sufjan Stevens, David Crowder, RHCP, Smashing Pumpkins, Lupe Fiasco, Wilco, and Copeland

If you are interested in seeing how the World Changers project is going between July 5-12, click here for updates.

Our Grad!

2008-05-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Rachael in her master's graduate garb as promised.

CONGRATS RACHAEL!!!!

It's finally here

2008-05-01T13:04:00.001-07:00

If you have read any of the posts for the past three years you know that Rachael has been working toward her Masters degree in Occupational Therapy.

Three years of hard work, studying, and internships have brought us to graduation day. Rachael has done an amazing job and I am so proud of her. She is very excited to see this chapter of her life come to a close and begin working.

Last night we went to her "pinning" ceremony. This is a time where all the students can thank their professors for giving them stress and anxiety problems over the past three years and the professors can tell the students how proud they are of the ones who made it through the program. The ceremony/dinner was held in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building downtown and the phrase "Oh balls" was stated over the microphone. The person who said it then tried to explain the phrase by saying it meant something like "oh shoot" or "Oh nuts". Awesome. Just awesome.

I'll post pictures of the graduate after the ceremony.

A thought

2008-04-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

So this post may make sense to you, or not. I just decided that I needed to pose a question and use this blog as an opportunity to start a discussion.

At our church we have been spending the last few weeks in the book of Colossians and moving forward in the transition that was started when Rodger left. It is the word transition that got me thinking. Shouldn't we as Christians always be in some form of transition? Is God ever happy to see us just stay the same?

This is played out several times by the Israelites as they stated time and time again that they should have been content to stay in Egypt or in the wilderness. This usually came after something happening that they didn't expect.

To me staying the same could be viewed as a refusal to grow and to be challenged. It would be like setting a goal to climb mt everest. When you reached the first camp and looked out over the amazing view you decide that you were content where you are and that it couldn't get any better than this. Life is a journey and God is continually showing us that there is so much more ahead of us. If the view is amazing where we are at now, imagine what it looks like to fulfill the dream that was began in you.

As this process continues I have resolved to no longer look at this as a transition but to be fully consumed by God's will for our church as the body of Christ. Whether that be administration, youth trips, planning worship services, or simply being still and knowing that this whole thing is in God's hands.

Our new pastor uses this phrase quite frequently: "You are more evil than you could possibly know, but you are more loved and accepted then you could possibly understand." - such a simple phrase but with it comes amazing freedom. We are wretched, sinful, horrible people, but despite that God offers grace to us so freely and says "get up and try again, I'll be here to catch you when you fall again."

Thoughts?

crashed!

2008-04-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

Clowns are creepy...

I'll have a Patrick family update here in a minute but first a thought...Have you ever thought about how we as a society have become addicted to technology? I came to that harsh reality when a spike in power took out my desktop's hard drive. The good news is that I will be getting a new computer and the drive is alive enough to pull the majority of my files, including 27GB of music...the bad news is that the laptop I am working on now is currently trying to figure out if it wants to work or not....bummer.

Another bit of good news is that I will be moving into the world of apple computers with my very own iMac. I am very excited. Mark B tried for a long time to convince me of Apple's coolness and I just wouldn't listen. Okay Mark, you win, Mac is cooler.

On to the update...

Rachael was offered a job at the new Intermountain medical center! She will graduate on May 1st and will start her new job on June 9th. That means that we will get a month to hang out and possibly take a vacation.

I am working on World Changers in SLC this summer again. Currently we have 246 people coming and will be working on about 25 to 30 homes in the valley. Please pray for the details of this project and that things go well as I will be in charge of the whole thing this year. I also have about three more weeks of class until the semester is over so there is a lot of projects, papers, and final exams left. I am still very much on track to graduate next spring...full steam ahead.

Things at the church have been progressing well. Our new pastor Kevin is a cool guy who just wants to see Jesus glorified in everything that we do. He has challenged us to pick up and start moving forward which the church has been ready and willing to do so far. Keep praying for us as we will no doubt be challenging some deep rooted traditions that are antiquated and in need of change. We're having fun in the process which is a very good thing.

Currently listening to:

Fun stuff - Iron and Wine, Muse, Lovedrug, Copeland, and Sufjan Stevens.

Worship - David Crowder, Starfield, Leeland, Fee, and Chris Tomlin.

Until next time!

about freakin time...

2008-03-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

to our devoted readers...all two of you, it has been a long while since I updated this blog with any sort of relevant information and for that I am sorry. I plan to remedy the problem with some photos and a Patrick family update in the paragraphs to follow.

Can you tell that I have been in college courses yet? I am sick of framing arguments and writing papers. I am just ready for a little bit of a break. Thankfully spring break is next week, the only problem is that it is also easter week and that is quite possibly one of the busiest weeks for those in pastoral ministry at a church. Oh well, you take the good with the bad huh?

Rachael is loving her internship at IHC. They liked her so much that they are working to create an opening for her in the midst of a hiring freeze. She comes home with great stories of occupational therapy triumph and sad stories of how lives are forever changed by simple accidents. Rachael only has 3 weeks left and then will be studying for a big test (I can't remember the name of it right now). In the meantime she is starting to look at job opportunities. She graduates with her Masters degree on May 1. I am so proud of her!

School is going well for me. I will have two more semesters after this one and will graduate from the U. I'm very excited but I have to take it one day at a time.

Things at the church are gaining steam. Kevin, our new pastor, has really challenged our thinking and is taking us forward. His favorite phrase over the last few weeks is "That will change." It is an exciting time for us as we are allowed to dream again. I have been leading worship and keeping up with the youth group. All things there are going well.

Speaking of our youth group, we recently teamed up with five other churches for World Vision's 30 Hour Famine. Our students raised over $30,000 to combat poverty and world hunger. It was an amazing event and was even better because I got to spend it with my youth ministry friends from other churches.

I'll close with a few random photos that I pulled from my cell phone camera. I hope you enjoy them. I will try to update this blog a little more frequently for the two of you that read it from now on.

A fine example of the parking situation at the University of Utah. I had to climb in my passenger door to get in.

Look closely at this car in front of my truck...yes friends that is a duct tape convertible!

Did I mention that I am majoring in Pirating at the U?

Until next time...

Super Bowl Ads

2008-02-04T09:46:00.000-08:00

This year's super bowl game was amazing. That is good considering the commercials were disappointing. The ads that surprised me the most were the somewhat racial salesgenie.com ads and the lack of coke and pepsi commercials. In my humble opinion Bud Light took the award when they let Will Ferrell do what he does best...make an absolute idiot of himself.

Here is the ad, and remember: A ton of sweat goes into each Bud Light.

Here is another bud light ad that makes me laugh every time...

A few photos to share...

2008-01-28T14:34:00.001-08:00

A shot taken on our snowmobile adventure after Christmas

Robert Marshall's trademark prescription/multi colored reading glasses look

A Utah way to make sure the small shopping cart doesn't roll away

SNOW!

2008-01-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

No posts for a few weeks means that school is back in session. Rachael is loving her final internship and is hoping that a job position opens up where she is at. We are both excited for her to finish her Masters and get involved in what she really wants to do.

I'm currently sitting in the Marriott Library at the U working on some homework. When I walked in about an hour ago it was sunny and a little windy. I just happened to glance out the window an hour later and we had been hit with yet another winter storm. Last Monday we had about a foot of snow in our front yard. I love the snow and living in the mountains, I would just like a little bit of sunshine between storms and Utah inversion.

Another funny thing about the snow is that our new pastor Kevin Lund and his wife Mary drove into town last night to go house hunting. Talk about getting immersed in Utah winter weather right away. Here is hoping that they aren't having to drive in it.

Here are a couple pictures I took while walking from the Library to my next class in the Social Work building

Even with snow blowing sideways...this dude still thinks that shorts and a t-shirt is a good choice

Here is a shot looking at the Marriott Library. 40mph sideways snow makes it real fun to walk around campus.

Yet another new year...

2008-01-02T10:15:00.001-08:00

Another new year means a delayed update in the Patrick blog. I hope that all of you had a Merry Christmas and a spectacular New Year.

The reason for the picture is that we have had a lot of our married friends tell us recently that they are pregnant. This has caused several questions as to when Rachael and I will begin trying for a baby. The answer to the question is: Not yet. Should it happen, it wouldn't be a horrible thing and we would both be excited about it but right now we're still going to wait. If you have been married for any period of time you know the questions that are most frequently asked: How's married life?...and...When are you guys planning to have a baby?...

We had a very relaxing break but it will be good to get back into class and a weekly routine that isn't full of parties with all sorts of baked goods and treats that make you feel instantly guilty after eating them.

We spent Christmas Eve with my Dad and Christmas Day at the Robbinses house. We had planned to drive to California to visit my Mom and Doug for a few days but the weather scared us away. Now that they are in Cali it is a lot easier for us to get out there to see them. We'll probably be headed that way over spring break.

Things at the church are going great. We are getting geared up for our new pastor to start in February and in the meantime Robert Marshall has been challenging us and encouraging us in a huge way. It will be sad when he is no longer preaching every week but I asked he and his wife Donna to mentor Rachael and I and they agreed. We'll still be seeing a lot of them and their family which is all right with me.

So kind of a boring post but hopefully this snowball fight video that I made on jibjab.com makes you laugh a little bit. Until next time...

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

The wait is over...

2007-12-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to pass along that HBC just called a Sr. Pastor! Our pastor search team has done a great job and I know that God has some amazing things in store for HBC. His name is Kevin Lund and is from Nebraska.

We're all pretty excited over the news. I'll blog more about it later but finals week is demanding more of my time.

God Bless!

Thanksgiving!

2007-11-29T12:24:00.000-08:00

Here is hoping that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I also hope you enjoyed the previous post with 18 Wheels on a Big Rig. Heywood Banks has to be one of the funniest people in the world...He strangely looks like he could be David Crowder's Dad....hmm.

Rachael and I had a great Thanksgiving. We spent the week leading up to turkey day helping others. Our youth group had been raising money for the 28 families that were picked for world changers last summer. They formed a change drive and were able to buy meals for 28 families. The meals consisted of a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, rolls, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce, and a world changers t-shirt. The picture you see is one of our youth, Jeremy with the 28 turkeys that we bought from target. It was pretty funny to walk through the store with two carts filled with turkeys.

We put the food together and split up into teams to deliver the food. 28 meals were delivered in one evening. Some meals had to be put on doorsteps because the families weren't home. We received several letters, voicemail messages, and thank you cards for the hard work. Way to go youth!

We then spent some time at Reach Salt Lake (formerly the Baptist Concern Center) and helped them give out food to over 1300 families this year. That number is amazing considering that the Utah Food Bank was at the lowest it has been in over 20 years as far as food levels.

We spent turkey day playing football, getting injured, watching football, and eating some great food. Rachael and I spent time with her family for the day and we had a lot of fun.

In other news...Rachael's little brother Jordan proposed to his girlfriend Holly last weekend. To all of our surprise she said yes! Way to go Jordan! I think they are planning to get married in late May or early June. Here is a picture of the lovely couple...and Jordan and Holly. (yes those are fur hats...what of it?)

Until next time...

18 Wheels on a Big Rig

2007-11-29T12:19:00.000-08:00

Grammar by Fire in California

2007-10-23T14:48:00.001-07:00

Rachael and I spent the weekend in San Diego with our friends Dave and Jaime. We went to the National Youth Workers Convention...which was awesome.

We stayed at the Royal Crowne Plaza and were greeted by the sign that you see here. Maybe it is the high amount of writing that I have had to complete lately or maybe the grammar was simply that bad but I found this sign to be quite humorous.

I'll explain.

In journalism you learn that if you are going to capitalize words in a title, or a sign in this case, you capitalize words longer than three letters. My question was why are the words "in" and "on" capitalized? This sign also spawned a hilarious conversation about giving an invitation at church by asking "Do you know with a capital "K" that Jesus is your Savior?"

We started to drive back yesterday and were affected by the wildfires that are currently burning out of control in southern California. It took us a couple extra hours to get out of California because of those being evacuated and high winds. At one point, as we were heading north on I-15, we were literally twenty feet away from the flames as the south side of the freeway was on fire. It was pretty crazy. Keep praying for those people as CNN is reporting that 500,000 people have been evacuated this far.

Until next time...

updates "r" us

2007-10-19T07:56:00.001-07:00

No reason for the picture I just think that it is really funny when you have an itch that you just can't seem to scratch...maybe because your backside is a little too large. Or maybe I am starting a series of blogs that have a rodent theme.

There has been a long delay in posts simply because we have been really busy with life. I have been leading worship, continuing with my youth, and 14 hours of school. The good news is that there is only one more month until this semester is over and I will have an Associates degree in Organizational Communications. All of you with college degrees might scoff at such a meager accomplishment but for me it is big news. I am happy to finally have something to show for all the hard work I have put in over the last few semesters.

Things at the church are going amazing! It may sound like a shock but God really knows what he is doing. The culture and mindset at HBC has been changing and I have been so encouraged about what I am seeing. An example of this is seen while we worship. Previously we had to ask people to stand up and clap during the music. When we lead worship now the moment the first note hits everyone stands up, people are clapping, and there is true worship taking place. One of my favorite phrases to use when I debut a new song is, "If you don't like it, sing it loud anyway, because we're not singing it for you."

Rachael is almost finished with her last semester of classwork. She will be defending two years of academic work on November 3rd. She has been a little stressed as anyone should be while having to justify the last two years of research. I know that she will do a great job. She will then start an internship at LDS hospital that takes up the whole semester. She will graduate in May and FINALLY start getting paid for what she does (the heavens open and a chorus of angels sings Hallelujah!) (Or as Jake Holy Ghost Power!....or was that T-Bone)

I am considering returing to the Middle East this year. I really hope that it works out but at this point I will have to leave that to God.

In other news...the Broncos suck this year. I am still a fan but it is tough seeing your favorite team be ranked 31st of 32 teams in rushing defense. A ton of starters are injured...what say we play for draft picks?!

Until next time,

Remember the dramatic rodent

Dramatic Rodent...

2007-09-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

Back in class...

2007-08-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

Rachael and are officially back in classes for the fall semester. This year marks a few accomplishments for the both of us. I will graduate from SLCC with an Associates in organizational communications and Rachael will be graduating with her Masters in Occupational Therapy.

I have officially been accepted to the University of Utah and have already started work on my Bachelors in Speech Comm.

Rachael is excited to almost be done and we are both very excited for her to enter the workforce as an Occupational Therapist.

Things at the church have been going and going. We are still without a Senior Pastor and now we are going without an Associate Pastor. I have stepped up to lead our late/contemporary service and have been planning/leading services for about a month now. All of this is on top of my responsibilities with the youth group. Our pastor search team is working hard to bring in the man that God has for us, but in the meantime we have been blessed to work with two Interim Pastors.

I feel really good about the direction the church is heading in. My problem is that I am not a very patient person and at times it can be difficult to sit in meeting after meeting talking about change but have the change process happen so slowly.

I'll try to post pictures soon.

Something new

2007-08-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite days as a youth pastor is Interlinc day. Interlinc is a youth leaders resource that includes posters, bible studies, music videos and a ton of new CD's. It is always a lot of fun to go through the selection and see if there is any good music. Lately it has been hit or miss with the selection of the CD's but once in a great while I will find a really good band that I can really enjoy. Enter Needtobreathe. These guys recently signed on to tour with Jars of Clay and have been on tour for quite some time promoting their first album "Daylight". Both albums are worth a listen. If you like it I'm glad I could help. If you hate it, sucks for you.

Currently listening to: Lovedrug, Copeland, Edison Glass, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, Future of Forrestry, and the David Crowder Band.
Coming soon: Patrick back to school update.

World Changing in Salt Lake City......Utah!

2007-07-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

So I'm really tired but I am so excited to share about World Changers in Salt Lake!

The back story -

I was returning home from a World Changers project in Clovis California. It was one of those rare moments in youth ministry, where everyone in the van was asleep. I was excited for the silence and for the opportunity to thank God for the week. I ended up asking God where we needed to head next and I felt God tell me that Salt Lake City would be a great location for World Changers. After some delayed obedience I made a phone call to NAMB and left a message on the world changers general mail box. To my surprise I received a return phone call from the director of World Changers 30 minutes later. He told me that he was going to fly out and we would pitch the project. To make a long story short we pitched the project to two cities and both loved the idea. NAMB approved the project dates for July 14-21, 2007. It was here that the work began. I was appointed by the Salt Lake Baptist Association to serve as the Associational Coordinator and began all the prep work to make a World Changers project happen.

The Week -

307 volunteers from Illinois, Utah, Oklahoma, Idaho, Iowa, Washington, California, Texas, New Mexico, and Wyoming showed up ready to work. They came prepared to roof, side, paint, replace windows, perform yard clean outs, and anything else we needed them to do. These volunteers came with a purpose: To tell Salt Lake City that God had given them a gift and because of that gift they wanted to serve God by serving others. These volunteers slept on cots or air matresses in classrooms. They were constantly hot, sweaty, and tired, but despite all of this you never heard them complain. They were overjoyed to participate in this project.

Their efforts helped lead 13 people to Jesus during the week. Several others wanted to know about how and where to attend a church that was supporting World Changers. The media was all over the project. KUTV, Fox13, KSL, Univision, Telemundo, The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News and several others all came out trying to understand what these people were doing.

I was amazed at their constant positive attitude. They all desired to know and understand the culture they were surrounded by better. I'm not sure if I could put into words just how I feel about the project. Good just doesn't seem to cut it. God blessed this project and the efforts of the 400+ volunteers that helped make this project a reality.

Here are some pictures of one worksite. This house started off with wood siding and wood shaker shingles. This crew was tasked with replacing the roof, including new decking and siding the house. They also re-insulated the attic. This was truly an extreme make over. I talked with the homeowner and he told me that he would need to make his address marker bigger because he didn't recognize his own home. This house tranformation easily echoes the change that came about in Salt Lake City last week. It was great to see Christians in the news for something positive.

Great job World Changers! Thank you for your efforts and love of our community. I hope you all come back next year!

Ugh...gross.

2007-07-05T10:18:00.000-07:00

As an avid sports fan I spend most of my mornings watching sportscenter on ESPN. I am usually holding out for any NFL news relating to the Denver Broncos but usually during this time of year the only thing that is happening is baseball. Reluctantly I ended up watching a spoof about a japanese professional eater named Takeru Kobayashi. This guy has won the 4th of July Nathan's hot dog eating contest for 6 years straight. Kobayashi had just had his wisdom teeth removed and, as many who have gone through that precedure can attest, couldn't open his mouth very well. All the commentators were giving him a hard time saying that he was a coward and was afraid of the competition.

The 4th of July came and, as is the custom, the competitors filed out one by one at Coney Island to gorge themselves on hot dogs. I stumbled upon a re-run of the contest and was absolutely sickened by the contest but also the commentary. The outcome came down to a guy named Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi. Chestnut had to eat 66 hotdogs and buns in 12 minutes in order to beat Koabayshi. While this is going on the in-contest commentary is saying things like this is the greatest moment in American sports and that courage and valor were the things that were helping these great "athletes" accomplish this spectacle of gluttony. I ended up turning off the television very disappointed.

Every day, millions of children go to bed without having even a scrap of food. This isn't just in third world, poverty stricken countries overseas. This happens in our backyard. People go hungry and are dying because of it. I don't have any statistics but I know enough to know that it is a very big problem.

I don't think these pictures look very heroic...do you?

World Changing in Sioux City......Iowa!

2007-06-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

I just got back from taking my youth group to World Changers in Sioux City Iowa. The drive from Salt Lake City is 17 hours if you drive straight through which we found out the hard way. I'm not sure if I ever want to drive that far in a stinky van full of teenagers on Mountain Dew ever again....but I probably will as the trip was amazing!

God did some amazing things in the lives of our youth this year. One of them even committed their life to full time ministry! The Sioux City WC project completed 11 jobs that included everything from roofing and wheelchair ramps to building garages from the ground up.

A the coolest thing about the trip for me was getting to see our home owner use the ramp that we had built. Our home owner had recently returned from the nursing home recovering from pneumonia. She had a set of large steps in the front of her home that took every bit of energy to go up and down when she tried to leave. This caused her to just stay at home and have her daughter take care of her. We put a new roof on the house and built the ramp and on Friday she walked down it on her way to a doctor appointment. What a cool moment to see that we could help her with something as simple as a ramp. Hopefully it will help her get out of the house more as she continues on the road to recovery.

Another cool moment happened in the service today. Our church has two services and the second service needs some extra chairs put up. I asked some of my youth to help and all of them stood up without complaint and put up all the chairs that we needed. Hopefully this attitude is contagious!

I will leave you with some pictures of the trip.

(from the top....Bill losing his head, Nail Heads 2007, George taking a nap, Happy mural in the school, the most evil looking painted face in history, Jordan taking a break)

Check this out...

2007-06-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

Guys like to show off war wounds so I had to show this baby off. I play in a Men's softball league on Tuesday nights and this is proof of what a line drive to the leg will do. I was playing 3rd base and didn't have any time to get out of the way. This picture was taken a week after and believe it or not the bruise actually got bigger and darker!

Not to worry though...it has healed up fine and they won't have to amputate.

June already?

2007-06-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy lately...thus the lack of posts to our blog. I have been working on all things world changers. I will be taking our youth group to Sioux City, IA on Friday and will be roofing, fencing, or painting all next week. Rachael is bummed because she is in the middle of a summer internship and isn't able to take the time off to go with us. She will get to hold down the fort in SLC. She has been working with some community patients and has plenty of stories of some strange people and their crazy antics.

I have also been working on the World Changers project that is going to be in SLC from July 14 to the 21. I have had to drive all over SLC getting things ready and we are still more than a month out. I am scared to think what the week of the project will look like. I am also working on bringing our local churches together to work on this massive project. We have committed to 29 projects in South Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. 14 of those 29 projects are new roofs. Our youth are also raising money to benefit these families during the holidays...they will be buying thanksgiving dinner for them with the money they are raising now. I couldn't be more proud of them.

Things on the church front have been moving slow for my taste but they are progressing. We still don't have a Sr. Pastor but for now that is a good thing. Our church is dreaming again and that is amazing. My overall feeling is that the church is ready for some changes and we are moving forward to make those changes in the way we minister to our members and our community. I have been frustrated, excited, mad, let down, encouraged, and supported...it kinda sounds like life huh? As we discover who God wants us to be as a church I can't help but press on. I have a good feeling about this...more posts about this soon. I am also our church's new webmaster and have used a great website sofware called snapshot to create our new site. Check it out at www.hbcutah.org. It is still a building process but at least we have current information posted.

Check my next post for some of Kevin King's Wedding photos.

too busy to blog?

2007-04-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do online is catch up with my friends who have left Utah behind. While I will admit to occasional blog slacking caused by busyness, lately I check blogs to no avail. What happened to the quotable quotes, witty responses, and interesting pictures? Lately I have been forced to be entertained online by nintendo8.com. I hope all of you are happy.

p.s. enjoy the picture.

Quality Amongst Crap

2007-04-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

As I checked out this week's Box Office numbers, I realize that people are spending hard earned dollars on absolute crap. The top ten movies this week were the following:

1. Blades of Glory
2. Meet the Robinsons
3. Are We Done Yet?
4. Grindhouse
5. The Reaping
6. 300
7. Wild Hogs
8. Shooter
9. TMNT
10. Firehouse Dog

COME ON PEOPLE! Of the top ten, I could make a case for seeing possibly two of them. I normally don't give you my take on movies because, like Clint, I really haven't seen anything lately that I have been wowed by. That was until I saw Reign Over Me.

Let me first say that our first choice was Blades of Glory with Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. The idea of Will Ferrell in spandex and figure skating sounds too funny. My dad had already seen it and Reign Over Me was next on the list. I'll probably also end up renting Meet the Robinsons mainly for the T-Rex.

Basic Plot (no spoilers here): Adam Sandler plays a man named Charlie Fineman. Fineman has lost his entire family in the September 11th attacks. Fineman runs into his old college roommate, Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle) who finds that rekindling their friendship is the only way of helping Fineman deal with his grief.

Reign Over Me is labeled by imdb.com as a dark comedy....don't believe them. While this movie has its funny moments the truth is that this movie is a great example of how resilient the human spirit can be in the midst of unspeakable tragedy. Adam Sandler does an amazing job in the funny moments as well as the serious dramatic moments. When the credits rolled I actually said..."wow". Rachael and I also spent a lot of time talking about the film afterwards.

Check it out if you dare.

Next blog: Patrick Spring Update.

Crazy Faces

2007-04-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

Since I now have a phone with a decent digital camera taking pictures has become much easier. Here are some photos of crazy faces. At least we are having fun!

Starting top left...Crazy Fro Zach, Crystal and Mike, Yours Truly, Rachael after a day of studying, and Happy Max.
I'll be posting soon.

Spring is coming!

2007-03-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

Spring is on its way finally! After some freak snow storms it has actually been flip-flop weather in Salt Lake City. This meant that we could finally have our dogs groomed. They have really been needing it. Our dog Scooter's hair was so long that he actually got his paw stuck when he was scratching. His claws got tangled in his long hair and he sat that way for a little while until I realized what had happened and bailed him out. Here are some pictures. I think they look much better.

Scooter Before Scooter after

Timber before Timber after

It's snowing updates!

2007-02-27T13:31:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken as I was sitting in my car on I-215. You can see that several cars were stuck and so the cars behind were trying to get around any way they could. It took me almost two hours to get from school to the church. That drive usually takes at the most fifteen minutes.

I hear that we should be expecting another storm to be moving through today. I'm ready for spring!

***UPDATE***

Life: I recently returned from the middle east. We had an amazing trip that I can't tell you about here. If you are in Salt Lake, come on by, we'll make you some tea and I'll tell you all about it. It was really sad to go from camping on beaches, shorts, and sunglasses to snow shovels, jackets, and snow but it was good to be home. In other news, Rachael and I are in month two of our strict training program. Rachael doesn't need it but is encouraging me and pushing me toward my goal. This is the longest I have been able to stick with any diet/training program. To date I have lost 18 lbs. I hope to be at my goal by this time next year. I was thinking about posting pictures of my progress but I would rather just have a before/after.

School: Rachael and I are halfway through the semester and both of us would love for it to be over. We have been busier than ever! We are going to Moab for a few days during Spring Break. We'll update the blog with pictures from Arches when we get back. I am looking forward to doing a little bit of hiking and taking a break from everything.

Church: As you know, Rodger has officially retired. If you want to check his progress on the trail click here. We are in the transition process now and to be honest it has been a little stressful/busy. The good news is that I got to preach last week and I feel that it went about as good as it could have. I received a lot of good feedback from the congregation which was really encouraging. I am excited to see what is going to happen at our church. There are a lot of changes coming up with the youth group that they are really pumped about! More on that later.

Currently Watching: We were finally able to get our Directv DVR set up so we can now watch all the shows that we wanted to but couldn't before. Scrubs, Heroes, Grey's Anatomy, CSI: Miami, 24, and The Office are all set to record. If you don't have a DVR or Tivo...you're missing out. I like that I can fast forward commercials and pause live TV.

Current Tunes: Future of Forrestry, Gnarls Barkley, Jim Gaffigan, Norah Jones, Anberlin, Smashing Pumpkins, Switchfoot, U2, The Fray, Mutemath, and Corrine Bailey Rae are all in frequent rotation on my ipod.

Idea: I was listening to a podcast this week and they presented an idea of taking one interesting picture a day for one year. I think I am going to try this one out. I'll post them here if I decide to do this.

Until next time!

Picture time...

2007-02-14T12:53:00.000-08:00

I have had this picture on my fridge since it was taken during the Olympics. Several people have moved away, others are married, and I have no idea about the others.

Keeping it real

2007-02-01T13:39:00.000-08:00

I want to be cool like Jake and Gino-Dean so here we go.

1. List your 3 favorite musical artists
Dave Matthews Band
David Crowder Band
....too many to choose from....

2. List your 3 favorite TV shows
Grey's Anatomy
CSI: Miami - Horatio is da man!
24 - power to Bauer

3. List your 3 favorite books
Flashbang: Mark Steele
Blue Like Jazz: Donald Miller
Don't Waste Your Life: John Piper

4. On a scale of 1-10 how important is Clay Aiken when thinking of home refinancing?
The question should be when am I not thinking about Clay Aiken

5. Have you changed your religion since you were a child?
No...I have always been a Broncos fan. I meant...no

6. If money were no option would you live near the water, in the woods, in a city, or on a dirigible that circled the globe on a tri-monthly basis.
near the water, in the woods, close to a city.

7. List 3 of the best songs ever written
"Wedding Dress" by Derek Webb
"Return of the Revolution" by The O.C. Supertones
"Worlds Apart" by Jars of Clay

8. List 3 people you've never met who you'd like to have lunch with
John Piper
John Elway
John Boy Walton

9. List 3 ways the internet has changed your social interaction
I agree with Jake on this one

10. List 3 of the best concerts you have ever seen
Neil Diamond at the E Center
Mutemath
Dave Matthews Band with Robert Randolph at the Usana Amphitheater

A new year...

2007-01-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

These are my dogs Timber and Scooter. There is no particular reason that they are on this post other than to say I really like this picture of them...they both need to get groomed in the worst way!

As a new year begins there is a ton of things already happening in the Patrick area of life. Here is an update:

1.) After 31 years in the ministry our Pastor, Rodger Russell has retired. This brings about a change at Holladay but one that I am excited for. It does mean that I will be busy to quite busy with all of my new responsibilities and other said fun stuff. Rodger posted the reasons for his retirement on his blog and you can read all about it here. They leave to follow a dream...God Bless and the best of luck to the Russells.

2.) We had a good time over the holidays and were able to re-connect with friends and family. We saw our out of towner friends/family Brandy... the Umbriacos, Kevin King, Jordan, and Holly. We capped off the holiday season with a New Year's Eve Lock-in with the youth group. We had a great turn out and had fun hanging out with our new friends from Mount Oly.

3.) Rachael and I are back for yet another semester. I have 15 credit hours and Rachael has 17. We just started so it will take a few weeks in order to settle into a routine. After the holidays though, I am ready for routine. We have also entered as our friend Dave would put it...Strict Training as we are seeking to eat better and exercise more for the new year. Hopefully after watching the marathon of the Biggest Loser I can get motivated to lose a few.

4.) Books, books, and more books. I have read several books over the past couple of months and will be posting about them in the near future. It would be cool to get a conversation going about a few of them. The books are:
Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller
Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven But Nobody Wants to Die by David Crowder and Mike Hogan

5.) click here

Traditions

2006-12-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas time is a time of traditions. Every year there is something that you have to do or it just doesn't seem like Christmas. My idea of Christmas has been changed quite a bit over the years but it is still fun to look back and see what used to be Christmas to me. Here are a few of my favorite Christmas traditions.

1.) The Christmas Eve Candlelight service. This still is one of my favorite traditions.

2.) Every year my sister and I got to open one gift on Christmas Eve.

3.) When we (my sister and I) were little and were still avid believers in Santa, my parents had a heck of a time getting us to go to bed on Christmas Eve. After we had opened our gifts my mom snuck out of the room with a Santa hat. She snuck outside and shook the hat by the window that we were sitting next to. My dad told us that it was one of Santa's elves and if we didn't hurry off to bed, Santa would skip over our house. I don't think we ever went to bed that quickly ever again.

4.) When the movie Home Alone came out on video it became a tradition to watch it on Christmas Eve.

We kept that going for a few years and then Home Alone 2 came out. We ended up watching that one for a few more years. This is one tradition I was glad to see die.

5.) Breakfast Burritos for breakfast on Christmas day.

6.) Steak, Baked Potato, and Caesar Salad for Christmas Dinner.

7.) Christmas Parties with friends and family.

Rachael and I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. From our family to yours a Happy New Year as well!

I is a kollege stoodent

2006-12-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

This will be a short post...

I feel like my friend John here. Taking class after class and final after final can really fry your brain. The good news is that Rachael and I are finally done with this semester. We are looking forward to taking a break for a couple of weeks and enjoy the holiday season.

If you are in classes...congrats for making it though yet another semester. If you are out of college...congrats on finishing and getting your degree.

I'm going to play Nintendo...and turn my brain off for a little while. It was beginning to overheat anyway...who's in?

Frosted Muffins for Everyone!

2006-12-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

It is true. Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Or in my case, I am from a small family and she is from a large family. Or even better, I am from New Mexico/Utah and she is from Idaho. All that to say that our conversations at times are quite funny as we try to understand what we mean.

For example...

I have always understood the word "frumpy" to describe someone who is in a bad mood or is irritable. My mom would use it like "Why are you so frumpy today?" or "You're sure in a frump today." On the other hand Rachael had always understood the word "frumpy" to mean a very old/overweight/moo-moo wearing/sad looking person. Imagine my surprise when, while we were dating or engaged (I can't remember), Rachael was in a bad mood and I asked...."Why are you so frumpy today?" (insert gasp here.)

I'll let those words soak in a bit...

The reaction you are thinking about is the reaction I received. She shot me a look that would cause the strongest of men to curl into the fetal position and cry for their mama. Needless to say she was hurt that I would ask her why she was frumpy. What she thought and what I meant were two different things and it took a few minutes for me to explain what I meant by frumpy. I have since removed frumpy out of my vocabulary and Rachael has taken to pointing out what frumpy is when we come across it in public.

Fast-forward to last night. We were in the store buying some things for dinner when Rachael remembered that she needed to buy some items for her class-mates as she was going to bake a tasty treat for them. She told me that she needed to make muffins so I started to look for blueberry, poppy seed, or cinnamon muffin mix. She then told me that those wouldn't work because they needed to be "Frosted Muffins." When I explained that I have never had a frosted muffin she shot me another look (not as intense as the first one). She couldn't believe it. I told her that I had eaten a cup-cake but never a frosted muffin. To which she replied "That's what I meant! Cup-cakes!"

I have found that in marriage I am bound to be an idiot but as long as I can avoid becoming frumpy by eating my frosted muffins, we might just be able to communicate!

Until next time....Frosted Muffins for Everybody!

another random photo

2006-11-14T08:22:00.000-08:00

In need of a piano? I wonder why this store was going out of business...

November Update...

2006-11-13T13:04:00.000-08:00

I must say that I am extremely disappointed in our two faithful readers. The Mulletwatch 06 title goes to me by default as there were no other entries. Jake gave a concession speech similar to many Republican Senate candidates. I guess everyone is so busy that they can't stop and view the mullet. Rachael and I will continue our game. If you want to submit a mullet score...bring it on. We're pretty good at spotting them. So without further ado...here is the Patrick November update.

Football: The biggest news in the football world is about my bro-in-law's pee-wee team. They went 11-0 and won the championship game. It was awesome to see Zach play. He played as MLB on Defense and Running back on offense. WAY TO GO ZACH! (Black dot...PRIDE) In other football news...The Broncos are 7-2 but they barely squeaked out a win against the Raiders. The defense is hurting and with the way the offense is playing, it has been tough to watch the games as an avid fan.

Random stuff: Rachael and I are still busy with school. Arabic is becoming increasingly more difficult. Constructing a sentence in the language is very difficult if you are thinking in english grammar. Rachael got to spend two weeks in an internship in Occupational Therapy (OT). She said that she enjoyed the internship more than she has enjoyed her classes because it was more like going to a job. We are also getting ready for Mike and Crystal's wedding. I will get the chance to lead 4 worship songs at their wedding with Jordan and Holly (his girlfriend) joining the band. That should be fun. In other news...I got the chance to go with some church members to a Utah Jazz game. I have attached a scanned image of my ticket, note our seat location.

IT WAS AWESOME! I have been in the lower bowl for a game but never on the second row! The Jazz played great and have found a new, fast-paced, offensive attack. Their defense was pretty tough as well. As I type this the Jazz stand at 6-1 and are ranked 3rd in the ESPN power rankings. Call me a bandwagon fan but...Go Jazz!

MOVIES: Rachael and I recently hooked up our old-school VHS player and have been re-watching some old favorites. We hadn't been to the theater until last night when we saw a portion of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. I say only a portion because we walked out after the scene where two grown men were wrestling...naked. I thought that the movie would be funny as the clips that I have seen were hilarious. It just seemed like the producers and Sacha Cohen (Ali G) wanted to blur the line of what is acceptable. I was told before seeing the movie that if you stayed long enough you were guaranteed to be offended...so true. If you want my opinion. Don't EVER waste your money on this film. Save it for a trip to Coldstone or to rent something a bit tamer.

MUSIC: Currently listening to: Skillet, Pillar, RED, The Fray, Mutemath, David Crowder Band, Incubus, Mat Kearney, and Jack Johnson

BOOKS: Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die by David Crowder and Mike Hogan, Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell, i am not but i know I AM by Louie Giglio, Marley and Me by John Grogan, Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller, and Collected Writings by Mike Yaconelli. (I welcome your thoughts on any of these books)

That is it for now. If I don't post before then...Happy Thanksgiving! Take down a turkey for me!

Mulletwatch '06 and the World Beard Championships

2006-10-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

Rachael and I have noticed a strange phenomenon. It occurs everywhere we go from bookstores to the state fair. Everywhere you go you will notice young and old throwing their fashion sense into the wind when they declare "Business up front, party in the back!" The mullet is everywhere! We first noticed this phenomenon when we attended...no joke...a demolition derby. While we were getting our culture we observed 14 different occurrences of the once thought extinct mullet. Some 'loving' parents had even passed down the mullet tradition to their children as many a 'babymullet' were seen. This disease doesn't just affect men! Women can be attacked by the 'femmullet' and many of those have been documented.

So here is the challenge: On a specifc outing such as a trip to the grocery store, mall, or the movies, keep a eye out for the mullet. I doubt you will beat our experience at the demo derby, unless you live in Texas...the unofficial birthplace of the mullet. The current record is 14. Remember...we are on the honor system here.

In other hair related news...check out www.worldbeardchampionships.com. Trust me. You won't be sorry. Apparently there is a competition for growing and grooming facial hair that is held in England each year. Below is one example from our very own Team USA. They even have a documentary called what else? Splitting hairs.

Nature pics

2006-10-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

The funny thing about where you find things. They usually are right where you left them. This was the case with our camera. I pulled off the pictures and noticed that I have been attempting to be a nature photographer. What do you think?

Sitting underneath Corona Arch in Moab, UT

A really cool dead tree in Glorieta, NMA picture of a "Wadi" in the Middle East.

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park

So it's not nature but this old fort entrance in the middle east is pretty cool.

September in a nutshell...

2006-09-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

The month of September is nearing an end. Since I don't blog very often, this is my attempt at summing it up.

Church - Our month of reconciliation has been amazing...but...we're not out of the woods yet. Please continue to pray for our church as we continue to heal and get back to where God wants us to be. Last week we participated in the Lord's Supper and had a time of celebration. We will continue to be in one service until at least Christmas.

Home - Rachael and I are immersed in school. I am learning more about the Arabic language, Math, and Communications while Rachael is learning all the facets of a great Occupational Therapist. She is working really hard and I know that she will be great at it.

Family - (multiple points)
1.) My dad got married in September. Because of this event I got to see Brandy in SLC. It was good to see her and we had a lot of fun while she was here. I have become something of a wedding singer as my dad asked me to sing a Garth Brooks song at the ceremony. After I sang, several people asked me if I wrote the song and how it was a really 'nice' song. I also got to see my Grandma, Uncle Phil and Aunt Mary Alice. It was good to see them for at least a few hours as they drove back to Grand Junction right after the reception.

2.) Speaking of weddings....Mike and Crystal got engaged! God had his hand on this one! They will be getting married in November. They have asked me to sing at their wedding. I'm going to start charging after this one!

3.) My mom is going a little crazy. Have you ever seen the 'festivus' episode of Seinfeld? My mom has created a new holiday called TexGiving. This 'holiday' will traditionally be held in July and will incorporate poem reading, decorating a tree, and traveling to Texas. It sounds weird huh? The funny thing is that I am behind the event because it gives Rachael and I a chance to visit my mom without the added stress of the actual holidays. If you would like to join us for the miracle of TexGiving...the more the merrier! This means you Jake and Erin! Something tells me that Jake would have a great poem or story to read in celebration of this new holiday. All I can say is keep July open!

Music - The Fray, Chris Tomlin, RED, Skillet, Project 86, Leeland, Charlie Hall, David Crowder, Mat Kearney, Underoath, and the RELEVANT podcast have all been in frequent rotation on my iPod.

Movies/TV - The last movie that we saw in theaters was Talledega Nights: The ballad of Ricky Bobby. Sportscenter, Mythbusters, CSI: Miami, Grey's Anatomy, and Miami Ink have been the most watched shows.

Football - The Broncos D has looked great in the first three weeks but the Offense has left something to be desired. Plummer has looked horrible until last week against the Patriots, and our running game isn't stellar. They have, in my opinion, all the tools to make it to and win the Super Bowl. They just need to figure it out. The loss against the Rams gives my bro-in-law Zach bragging rights as he is a big fan.

My camera has gone AWOL. We have been looking for it but haven't found it. It has been missing for quite some time now. If we find it we'll post some pictures...otherwise we'll just have to go buy a new camera.

Until next time...

simply amazing

2006-09-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

This post may not make any sense to you. I just have to tell the story...

Have you ever been present when in the midst of something you were doing...God showed up? This is one thing that no matter how many times it happens it never ceases to amaze me. God has made an appearance at each of the last two services at our church. Don't get me wrong...every week the gospel is preached, we sing, praise, and teach. But something in the last two weeks was something so amazing that I am addicted to it. I want to feel the Spirit move in the hearts of those who don't know him. I want to feel the presence of our Savior in and through the people who have gathered corporately to seek His face. God is healing the wounded heart of his church...not just HBC but everywhere. This is something unlike anything I have ever seen or been a part of.

It all started a few years ago when our pastor asked the staff if we could be experiencing a famine similar to what King David experienced in 2 Samuel chapter 21. Was there some sin that our church had committed that caused there to be a famine in our land? The evidence seemed to support that there was. We started working with the deacons of our church through a study called peacemakers www.peacemaker.net. If you haven't read Ken Sande's book I highly suggest it if you want to handle conflict at home, church, or work in a biblical manner.

After the study we decided it was time to stop avoiding our problems and start standing up to them. Beginning in September started a month long process to identify, deal with, and bury the problems of the past so that our congregation could move forward in the name of Jesus. Last week we talked about the corporate heart. (read 2 Samuel chapter 21 and Joshua chapter 9) Yesterday we talked about the wounded heart. We were able to identify several issues that had been holding us back. At the end of Rodger's sermon...he asked for our [the church's]forgiveness. I have never been in a setting where the spirit of God was so thick. It was like a huge weight had been lifted at that moment. Rodger called for an invitation and for the next 20 minutes people came forward. Two people were so moved by it that they joined our church stating that they wanted to be a part of what God was doing at Holladay.

I am proud to be a member of Holladay Baptist Church. I want to be a part of what God is doing and I am honored to be able to serve as their youth pastor.

I asked you to pray for our church in my last post. Please continue to do so as we continue to seek out God's will for our church body. We're not there yet but with God's grace and guidance we, as a church, will start walking the path He has set out for us.

Sean

Tired

2006-09-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry there hasn't been a post in a while. Things have been pretty crazy in the Patrick house as of late. Here is what has been going on.

1.) Rachael and I started school again. I really want to choke that 19 year old me who thought that college was not for him. No matter. Classes are going good. I am learning Arabic and should, by the end of the semester, be able to speak, read, and write in a new language. I think this will help me in Seminary when I am taking Greek and Hebrew. I could also be horribly wrong.

2.) Rachael and I got to see DMB last week. If you know me at all you know that I am a huge Dave fan. I have seen DMB 8 times now live and they get better every time. Here is the set list...cause I'm a geek.
Pantala Naga Pampa
Rapunzel
Proudest Monkey
Satellite
Big Eyed Fish
Bartender
Everyday
The Idea Of You (a new song)
Louisiana Bayou
Shotgun (another new one)
Crash Into Me
Hunger For The Great Light
Loving Wings
You Might Die Trying (Robert Randolph on steel guitar)
Two Step (Robert Randolph on steel guitar...the best version I've ever heard!)

3.)My Dad and Teresa have decided to get married...on Saturday! This means that I will get to see Brandy here in Utah tomorrow as we get ready. If I can find my camera I will post pictures of our adventures this weekend.

4.) Our church is going through a "revival/reconciliation" month. Please be in prayer for this as it will shape where we head in the future. I'll go into more detail as it comes available. Last Sunday Pastor Rodger called us to suit up for war, because it is going to be a battle.

5.) I have signed on as the "coach" of our Men's softball team for the fall league. I am currently 0-2 as a coach. Hopefully we'll get our first win on this upcoming Monday.

6.) World Changers www.worldchangers.studentz.com has approved a project in SLC for 2007. I have been appointed as the Association Coordinator for the event. I will be working with our local churches to make sure that the 300+ volunteers have lunch everyday and training to be a project coordinator for 2008. As I learn more of what this means I'll keep you posted.

Currently listening to:
The Fray
Project 86 - And the rest will follow... (this one rocks hard!)
Ben Harper - Both Sides Of The Gun
Dave Matthews Band
Charlie Hall - Flying Into Daybreak
Leeland

next post: The crazy wedding weekend

hey kids...stay in school!

2006-08-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

So I recently got some unfortunate news about my continuing education...
I went to the college yesterday to make sure that everything was in line for me to receive my associates degree from SLCC. I found out that everything was great but...since I am not currently majoring in communications at SLCC there are quite a few classes that I would need to take in order to catch up.

So I changed my major and added on two more semesters at SLCC in order to obtain an Associates in Organizational Communications. This way when I go to the U, I will be able to only work on the major and not any other junk.

I used one of those programs that allow you see what you will look like in the years to come to see what I will look like on the day that I graduate with a bachelors.

Things aren't all that bad. I will have at least two to three good years in my career before I retire. All this to say...stay in school kids, stay in school.

We then took our dogs Timber and Scooter to the vet to get caught up on some shots. Scoot needed rabies, distemper, and bordatella shots, Timber needed distemper and bordatella shots. As the vet took a look at the dogs she made note to say that Timber is overweight and needed to go on a diet. She looked at Scooter and told us that he has a yeast infection in his ear and that is the reason that he has been scratching. So Timber is now in doggie boot camp, and Scooter gets to have his ear flushed and medicated twice daily.

It was a rough day yesterday. I am just laughing about it now. Hopefully you can laugh too.

Another picture

2006-08-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

Here is another picture of our group at camp. I work with a bunch of crazy kids and even crazier volunteers. If you are the company you keep...I must be crazy too!

The dog days of summer.

2006-07-31T08:48:00.000-07:00

So Jake thinks I should update my blog...at least we have one faithful reader.

So what is going on with us?

1.) I am in the midst of studying for finals as the Summer semester ends on Wednesday of next week. I am immersed in all things Math and Argumentation. Luckily the final for Argumentation is a take home and we can collaborate with our fellow students. While I study Rachael has been enjoying the time off of school and is preparing to start up again on Aug 23rd.

2.) Rachael and I finally had a chance to attend a Real Salt Lake game which was awesome up until we lost with 30 seconds to go in stoppage time. As noted in a previous blog entry...Soccer/futbol is awesome! I have really enjoyed getting plugged into the game!

3.) Speaking of football...The Broncos (the only important NFL team) seem to have the pieces in place - in my mind - to get back to the playoffs this year. Is anybody interested in starting a fantasy football league? We could have a trophy and everything. If you aren't scared of losing step up! Comment on this post and we'll see who is interested.

4.) Here is one of our camp pictures! Our youth representing the H B C all up in Glorieta's grill.

It's Camptastic!

2006-07-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

Rachael and I just got back from Glorieta NM. We took the youth group there for Centrifuge. It was a truly awesome experience. I promise I will have some pictures posted as soon as I can get them from the kids.

God did some amazing things at camp. We had four of our youth accept Christ and several more re-dedicate their lives to our Savior. When we returned home I had the great priveledge of baptizing 5 of our students including the four who accepted Christ for the first time. Our church could've exploded!

I'll share more about camp in another post but in the meantime I have a ton of work and homework to catch up on!

To the moon and back....

2006-06-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

Kudos to those who know why I used the title for this blog. If you don't check out the children's book "Guess How Much I Love You" by Sam McBratney and illustrated by Anita Jeram

Rachael and I were married on June 26, 2004. Today we are celebrating our 2nd anniversary! I am so blessed to have Rachael and I can't imagine what my life would be like without her. She embodies Prov 31:10-31. She is so supportive of my ministry and is often times working with the youth right alongside me. We've laughed, cried, and dreamed together, and all I can do is simply thank God for her.

For Rachael,

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where
I love you straightforwardly without complexities or pride so I love you because I know no other way than this:
Where I does not exist, nor you
So close that your hand on my chest is my hand
So close that your eyes close as I fall asleep

gone to the dark side...

2006-06-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

So I have to admit something...

I have never really liked soccer. I have heard Chad and Jake talk about it like it is the greatest thing in the world but I just couldn't get into it. All the low scoring and ties. It just seemed to slow moving for me to get into it.

until...

World Cup 2006 hit huge! Even though the U.S. got spanked in their opening match, it has been a blast watching the games that I have seen. I actually wanted/got to sit down and watch the first half of Brazil vs. Croatia and I was into it. Soccer has the great ability to get you involved because you don't know if each play is going to work or be stopped by some great feat of athleticism. So here it is....I'm hooked. No longer the ignorant american, my hat is off to you, soccer/futbol. I guess you are #1 sport in the world for a reason. Just call me darth. American Football is still my #1 sport but I think there could be room to start watching/playing another.

Denver Part 2 - The rest of the story

2006-06-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

Mile freakin High...need I say more?

Party on Wayne...Party on Garth (Zach and I gettin' our mullet on)

Rachael, Zach and I at the Denver Aquarium

Riding a 4 person bicycle at the Denver Aquarium

A tiger, a creepy green eel, a diver with turtle above (for me to poop on), Zach with a horseshoe crab, another tiger, and the un-manned 4 person bike...all at the Denver Aquarium. That place rocks!

Some street performers on 16th street downtown....The statue lady really scared Zach! She moved right as he was right in front of her...he thought she was a real statue! The froed out robot was a riot to watch.

We went to Denver with the whole Robbins clan and Mike York for a seminar on finances. We took Saturday and Sunday and decided to hang out in Denver. We went to the aquarium and found out that they had changed it around quite a bit since I had been there last. We rode the bicycle built for four and quickly found that it is difficult to coordinate that many people with a pedaling rhythm. We then headed inside to check out all the wildlife. We came up on the big shark tank right as it was feeding time for the smaller fish in the tank. Divers emptied two nalgene bottles of grub and then started looking for shark teeth on the bottom of the tank.

After the aquarium we decided to drive by Invesco/Mile High to see if we could take a tour. We found out that they were holding a Fan Fair and that for $15 we could get into the stadium and meet players and coaches (see previous blog). We decided to do that on Sunday and headed downtown to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. Rachael and I had some awesome pasta and we split between the four of us...Godiva Chocolate cheesecake and fresh strawberry cheesecake. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

We walked up around the 16th street mall and I came to this observation...Denver has culture! Salt Lake has culture as well...boring! There were street performers playing music, dressed up in all sorts of crazy costumes, and people actually hanging out downtown. It was cool to see. A lady was dressed up to look exactly like a statue...she even held completley still. Zach walked right up to her to see the statue and she moved into a different pose. Zach turned into a Denver Broncos lineman as he pushed a man three times his size to the side as he ducked and ran away.

We then headed to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to see an exhibition called Body Worlds 2. (www.bodyworlds.com) here is an example of what you can expect to see at a Body Worlds exhibit:

I have edited the image...so if you are wondering what is under the black box...don't...trust me...you don't want to see it. I won't lie, I was a little creeped out looking at all the randomly placed humanity. It did, however, remind me that our bodies are awesome! God is truly amazing as evidenced by His creation. Wow!

We ate dinner at a mexican food restaurant and I had to console Jordan as Holly wasn't there with him (see picture above). If you are ever in Denver and are looking for some good Mexican food...go to Jack N' Grill on Federal and 25th ave. It was awesome! They use New Mexico chile! My lips were burning which is a good thing. We stuffed ourselves and resolved to never eat again....or at least hit the treadmill and do a few sit-ups...

On Sunday we checked out of our hotel and headed to Invesco. It was awesome to see the players up close and personal. You can see our blog below for some more info on the Fan Fair. Here is Zach getting an autograph from Willie Middlebrooks.

All in all our trip to Denver was great! I am jealous of Gino-Dean, whom I totally forgot was in Denver, who gets to experience this on an everyday basis. You are lucky bro! I'll be back to Denver soon enough for a Broncos game. Who's down for Indy vs. Denver on 10/29/06? Let's get tickets!

Denver Part 1 - Meeting Barrel Man

2006-06-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone....

Rachael and I just got back from Denver! I'll have a ton more pictures soon but I wanted to share this with you guys. If you are a Denver Broncos fan you know how cool this picture really is.

We found out about a the Fan Fair at Invesco while we were there. There were a ton of players and coaches that were there including John Lynch, Willie Middlebrooks, Dwayne Carswell, and Rod Smith. We got to Invesco/Mile High Stadium right as it opened and quickly found ourselves with lines waiting to get autographs from the players. We didn't wait in the lines but instead played blackout bingo lead by two new Broncos. The prize was two tickets to a regular season game. I was so close (only two squares away) but so far away when someone called out bingo and won the tickets....but it was fun anyway.

That leads me to the picture. For those of you who don't know...Barrel Man is the most hardcore Broncos fan ever. The guy wears just a barrel to games (even in the cold) and has become a staple at Mile High. The Broncos give this guy free season tickets and have fashioned a bobble head in his likeness. How cool is that?

I will soon post part 2 of our Denver adventure. Including our experience at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science....pictures to come!

Geocaching adventure and pics

2006-05-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day we had an opportunity to hang out with our small group from HBC. We decided to go hiking/geocaching. I have never been geocaching before but it was a blast. With the help of Mike we had two GPS devices and coordinates that were along a trail that the kiddos could handle. As you can see from the pictures Mike was a little sad that he didn't get to keep anything from the three caches that we found. That was okay since he had been to each of them before.

We told the kids that we were on a treasure hunt and it was awesome to see how excited they got over finding each of the coordinates and the "treasure" that was in each of the hidden boxes. After our hike we ended up back at the Halley's home for some good ol' fashioned BBQ. We tossed the frisbee around and had a great time relaxing! Every now and then it is good to take a day and relax.

Here is hoping that everyone had a most relaxing Memorial Day. We should be thankful to our troops who have fought and are fighting to preserve our freedoms.

Some pics...

2006-05-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

Timber and Scooter have X-ray vision.

We took this picture in Ogden...I don't know if I would do my grocery shopping here.

Praise God!

2006-05-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had the opportunity to preach at "Gospel Camp 2006". The event is held by the Salt Lake City Chinese Christian Church or SLCCCC. They invite churches from all over Utah and Idaho to participate. They hold a chinese speaking service and an english service. I had the opportunity to speak at the english service because "Domo Origato Mr. Roboto is the only....japanese I know....oops....I guess I don't know any chinese.

I shared about being an explosion for Christ rather than a flashbang/firecracker. (Acts 4:1-20, Rev 3:15-16, 2 Chron 7:14, Matt 28:19-20, 1 Peter 2:9-10, Romans 8:31-39, Phil 4:13) At the end of the sermon I offered the students a chance to accept Jesus for the first time. 11 students raised their hands to make first time decisions for Christ! PRAISE GOD! I was so excited that I could have preached another sermon.

Even now, God is moving! God is bringing his people back to him. Please join me in prayer for these 11 new souls and their new walk with Jesus!

Party on Wayne...

Summer School

2006-05-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

I know you've felt like this!

May 15th...82 degrees...a day that should be celebrated by spending it outside in the nice warm sunshine. But not for the Patricks! We both started Summer classes today. I am in Math beginning at 6 a.m. and Rachael is in yet another Occupational Therapy class that will continue to train her to be, what else?...an occupational therapist!

My day started very early to say the least. I got there a little early and prepared to be attacked with all sorts of math formulas and homework. Our professor walked in and introduced herself as Lyudmila or Mila for short. She has a very thick accent and at 6 a.m. it was a little difficult to understand what she was trying to say. I just kept thinking of Rocky IV.....DRAGO!

The mind does tend to wander whenst immersed in mathematics in the morning! I just wanted her to say "I will break you." It was at this moment I realized I was telepathic. A problem was put up on the board and everyone reached for their graphing calculators. Lyudmila said "PUT DOWN THE CALCULATORS!.... I WILL BREAK YOU OF HABIT!" So it wasn't quite there but the "I will break you" was there. I had a hard time not laughing. I think from now on my Math professor will be known as Drago. The only thing better would be if she looked/sounded like our old pal Mr. T....what a handsome woman!

on a side note....this picture is hilarious. I feel like wearing 85 lbs of gold chains and shaving my hair into the 80's hawk! Represent fool!

I then went to my second class only to find out that it doesn't start until June 8th! I totally interrupted another class that was going on...it was my welcome back to school moment.

Peace out fool!

Slacking...horribly!

2006-05-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

I have recently received revelation that I have neglected to get the log out of my eye while trying to point out the speck in my fellow blog friends eyes. I haven't updated this in a while so here it is...an update!

Rachael and I recently both finished finals and will be headed back to school on the 15th. Rachael has been kicking serious butt on her Masters degree and I'm inching ever closer to a degree. I will be taking a communications course and math. Rachael will be taking a class that proves forever that she is smarter than me when it comes to all things therapy. This last semester was the end of anatomy. I am looking forward to Rachael not coming home smelling of formaldehyde and other preserving chemicals. I will also be glad to not hear about how she was holding a human brain, heart, kidney, anything internal.

We are also very busy with our church. We started a study last night called "The Peacemaker". I have a link to the book and what it deals with. Can you imagine what a church filled with peacemakers would look like? Check out the book if you get a chance. They use these techniques to settle multi-million dollar law suits right down to arguments with your spouse or family.

We just wrapped up Spring Fling this weekend. Spring Fling is a up-all-night lock-in for youth. After various energy drink consumption Rachael and I were able to stay up all night, walk over a mile on the jogging track, ice-skate at 4:30 am, play in a dodgeball tournament (I got worked.), and be the responsible adults that we needed to be....right. I'm glad that we don't do more lock-in's. I am getting older and the recovery time is just too much to take! I enjoy sleep too much!

Enough rambling. I have to go make sure I am registered for classes!

Confession

2006-04-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

I must admit that when I started reading Don Miller's book "Blue Like Jazz," I didn't like it. I found his writing to be sporadic and without thought. I had a hard time seeing what people were getting out of this book and why it was on everyone's reading list.

Last week I decided that I was going to try reading it again, laying aside my instant judgement and thoughts. I found out something about myself that wasn't written in the pages but God was showing me this: Everything doesn't and won't fit my plan. It fits his. Period. I don't have to like it but regardless of my like or dislike, I can choose to praise God or reject his plan.

After starting to read what Miller has to say....I actually like and resonate with this book. To tell the truth, I haven't been able to put it down. Here is my favorite quote:

"A friend of mine, a young pastor who recently started a church, talks to me from time to time about the new face of church in America - about the postmodern church. He says the new church willl be different from the old one, that we will be relevant to culture and the human struggle. I don't think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is just another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing."

If we get caught up in Religiosity and start defending our religion, rather than, sharing Jesus we lose sight of Christ and trade it instead for, as Miller puts it, our passion about nothing. We tend to surround ourselves with everything "Christian". Drinking our mochas at christian coffee shops, accidentally spilling some on our christian T-shirt while listening to our Ipod's with the latest and greatest christian music. I'm not bashing on all products christian...but if we convice ourselves that we are best serving Christ by listening to music or drinking a mocha then we are guilty of being busy about nothing. I have talked with several people about this and it is surprising to me how many Christians don't know anyone who is lost.

I don't want to be the wicked servant who buried the talent so that he could escape his master's wrath.(Mat 25:14-28) I don't want to do just enough. I want to hit the ball out of the park, score the winning touchdown, or get the knockout.

I realize that this post may not make a lot of sense to you. I have wrestled with the idea and I'm not sure I have put it in words that make sense. My confession is as simple or as difficult as this:

I want to make a difference for Jesus Christ. All stereotypes aside I want to be found doing His business. Only Christ saves...only Christ. He died for me, I'll live for Him, no matter what that means. I guess as I'm typing this it sounds simple. But typing/saying it and living are two different things.

An Easter full of surprises

2006-04-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

HE IS RISEN! (I hope you will all comment back with "He is risen indeed.") We had a great Easter Sunday at HBC! We stayed with two services rather than combining as we would not have had room for everyone...both services were packed! I was surprised to see so many people but I was blessed to see the face of my friend Jayme Barton in church. This was the first Easter surprise.

For those of you who don't know Jayme, let me explain why this was a great surprise to see him at church. Jayme was in my youth group when I first started as the youth pastor. I saw him grow up and accept the call of ministry on his life. Two years ago Jayme was complaining of severe chest pains and actually collapsed. They took him to the hospital and after several painkillers and tests he was diagnosed with Lupus. He was immediately put on more medications including Prednisone (a very nasty drug). He has since gone through several surgeries and been in and out of the hospital. The prednisone has caused him to go from 165 to 270 in the span of about a year. He hasn't felt good enough to come to church in about a year. He was there yesterday! He told me after the service that God has continued to comfort him and that being there needed to happen. Through all of his sickness he has had the opportunity to blame God and feel down on himself because he isn't able to do the things that a normal 21 year-old should. Jayme has used his illness to draw near to Christ.

On a lighter note, surprise #2 came later that afternoon....

Over the past few Easter Sundays we have met up with my Dad and had dinner. True to tradition we met up with Dad and Teresa and had a great dinner. Ham, Turkey, Green Beans, Funeral Potatoes, and Rolls. Needless to say I'll need to spend some extra time on the treadmill today! We had a great time hanging out and talking until...

My Dad has another Easter tradition of giving us an Easter basket. It usually has some candy, and a gift certificate or a DVD. He handed me my basket and I started to look through it. There was the candy and a gift certificate and a movie...
I have had no desire to see a movie...regardless of the critical acclaim...about gay cowboys. I prefer the John Wayne type of cowboy. Doc Holiday, Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid, and Jesse James are the type of cowboys that are in my DVD collection. Movies like...Unforgiven, Tombstone, American Outlaws, Young Guns, etc.

My Dad waited until I saw the DVD and erupted in laughter. He decided that the joke was too good to pass up. We all had a good laugh about it and he gave me the receipt so that I could exchange the movie.

My Dad's birthday is coming up. I may just keep the movie and re-gift him. I am open to suggestions as this new practical joke war has begun.

Here is hoping you had a great Easter, and all joking aside. Let's thank God for the amazing gift that he gave us in His resurrected Son...He is risen indeed.

Sign Of The Apocalypse

2006-04-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

As reported from April 10th issue of Sports Illustrated:

"A youth minister was charged with assault for allegedly kicking a 16-year-old boy in the groin after taking a head shot from the teen in a dodgeball game. "

All I can say is....wow! I'll bet nobody messes with that youth minister from now on in dodgeball.

A tale of domination...

2006-04-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

During a recent trip to Texas (YEEHAAW) Rachael and I were finally able to settle the argument of who is the better Go-Cart Driver. The picture didn't turn out as good as I had hoped but you will note that it is Sean in 1st...Rachael in a submissive 2nd..and Doug in a very sad looking 3rd.

This debate has raged between Rachael and I since our very first date. I took her to Nascart in SLC and had to convince her to put on a hair net and a helmet in order to race. This would have been fine but apparently she had spent a great deal of time on her hair....something I should have taken note of as we headed into marriage. Needless to say that as the very interested Sean I let Rachael totally dominate me on the race track...how else was I to get a second date? Truth be told I tried as hard as I could to win but she was the better driver that day.

As we continued dating I decided that I couldn't take the thought that my potential bride would always have go-cart bragging rights. As most of you men know, there have been wars started for less. I decided that a re-match was the way to go. We got to the track and prepared for our version of Go-Cart World War II. The race began and from the get go it looked as if Rachael would claim the victory. She ended up passing me and almost lapped me. So what did I do? I did what Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earndhart Jr., or Richard Petty would have done. I put her into the wall. As I've learned from Days of Thunder..."Rubbin's Racin!" I ended up finishing the race under caution and claiming victory from the jaws of defeat.

That brings us to Go-Cart World War III, or as I have come to call it "Total Domination". We agreed that this race would be the race to rule them all. I put on my game face and prepared for the race of all races. Rachael and I started neck and neck but she was able to pull ahead and had the race set up. She picked her lines well and I was not able to pass her. Until...a wreck at turn #1. We were all required to stop so that the race technicians/lackeys could straighten out a rather large wreck. When the green flag was waved I got the better start and ended up in front. I was able to hold her off as I narrowly avoided another as Rachael headed right for it. The checkered flag went to me and I proudly took my place in the winners circle.

So as the picture above notes...don't mess with me and a go-cart or you might just end up in the wall. Dominate!

an 18 foot malone...watch out!

2006-04-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

Dateline - Salt Lake City (March 23rd - ish)

Jazz fans worldwide celebrated on Karl Malone night...a date that needs to be added to the national holidays list if you ask me...(insert sarcastic comment here). The team and their proud owner Larry (I got too much money...and time) Miller, thought it best to bless the fans and Karl with an 18 foot statue of our beloved mailman....(insert laughter here). Cowboy Karl took some time out to stand beside himself and smile for the cameras as onlookers were amazed at the sight of the 18 foot Malone.

This got me thinking....

Why don't more people build statues after great careers are over? Why is this reserved for people who play sports, are great thinkers, find the cure for cancer, etc? Why don't we have a statue to remember the illustrious career of Joe the garbage man, or Frank the rain or shine UPS driver. Or even Flo the waitress forever remembered in Dumb and Dumber...."Excuse me, Flo?"

Can you imagine if churches built statues of their pastors after they retired? The front yards of churches would be even more hideous....especially in Texas. I can't imagine what an 18 foot representation of myself would look like...I guess for one time in my life I would look tall...a dream I still cling to....it will happen for me one day....I just know it. Maybe I just need to hang out with more short people....or get over it.

Who knows/cares?

In the meantime...I can't wait to get downtown to see it for myself..(again, sarcasm.)

Sean and Rachael are finally blogging...i guess we're cool now

2006-04-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone....

We are finally online and ready to display musings, thoughts, ideas, and other random junk that you might find interesting or, if anything else, it might just cure some boredom.

We are excited to blog it on up. I hope you will stop by often and leave comments that make us laugh!

Blog at you soon!