whatswhatinthewhohanow

first visit to santa

2011-12-12T12:21:00.001-05:00

day @ the playground

2011-11-08T16:42:00.002-05:00

which bed should I sleep in?

2011-10-22T08:58:00.000-04:00

new shelves

2011-10-15T21:33:00.002-04:00

finn's bitter-sweet relationship w/ airplanes

2011-10-04T14:42:00.000-04:00

got scattered?

2011-08-05T09:41:00.000-04:00

finn + ice-cream = this!

2011-07-12T14:51:00.000-04:00

finn @ the park

2011-04-17T23:28:00.001-04:00

finn's lullaby

2011-03-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

I will play with one hand

This song I write for you

I would used my left hand

But it is holding you

I will use these chords

Just so you will know

You can take the music

Where you want to go

I could write a line like

Rest your little head

But a thousand lullaby’s

It already been said

It’s not that I don’t wish

The exact same thing for you

In a matter of speaking

You know I really do

Interlude

So let this little tune

We co-wrote here today

Race you to your dreams

In an expeditious way

Meanwhile I’ll hold you

In my arms so tight

Just listen to the music

And let your dreams

Take flight

Meanwhile I’ll hold you

In my arms so tight

Just listen to the music

Cause I hold you tonight

©joelslater2010

finn saying goodbye to nana & grandpa harlan

2011-02-23T10:10:00.004-05:00

dulles airport, january 31st 2011

babies + a vacuum cleaner = sadness

2010-11-12T11:25:00.001-05:00

another day @ the office for holly. not sure why finn's crying...seemed like the right thing to do @ the time i guess.

lil' cupid

2010-10-29T22:35:00.002-04:00

finn joined us @ our halloween costume party.

baby gate

2010-10-26T22:30:00.002-04:00

so we've been looking at baby gates but have had a hard time choosing one.

some are pressure mounted other fixed, some gates open and close others you step over...not to mention how they look, some look like a jail and are really ugly.

holly and I decided to make our own which turned out really nice. the board slips in and out of the grooves depending on if we want it up or not, most of the time it'll stay in there and we'll step over it seeing we're of the long leg variety.

we're gonna paint it in the next week or so to match the walls. not bad for $14.

you're gonna die

2010-10-20T11:59:00.001-04:00

what about dave?

2010-08-24T17:52:00.001-04:00

finn's first letter

2010-08-10T18:25:00.005-04:00

finn's first letter, all the way from nana in australia

where's the money nana?

finn eats real food

2010-08-09T20:45:00.015-04:00

for the first time

rolling over

2010-05-22T19:12:00.002-04:00

runnin ' man

2010-05-22T12:14:00.002-04:00

2010-05-10T08:13:00.000-04:00

getting ready for a walk on mothers day afternoon

finns dedication

2010-05-09T19:18:00.009-04:00

finns baby dedication on mothers day

finn waiting for his bottle

2010-05-07T09:27:00.000-04:00

support the 'red couch' project

2010-05-06T16:53:00.004-04:00

on may 24th i'll break ground on my new full length recording project entitled 'red couch serenade'.

for those interested and have maybe expressed interest in the past to contribute to this project, i've set up an avenue to do so. you can either sponsor a full day, half day or one or more hours in the studio. every gift goes to help cover the thousands of dollars this project requires.

if you're interested in supporting this project you can do so via credit card below or if you prefer mailing a check please email me at redcouchserenade@joelslater.com and i'll reply a mailing address to you.

each level of giving receives a gift from me.

thank you for your support
js

support red couch here

finn fotos

2010-04-06T19:44:00.000-04:00

rocket suit

mum, dad and finn

mum and finn

afternoon nap

Piano with dad

playing piano with finn rocket

2010-04-01T22:58:00.010-04:00

playing piano with finn rocket from joel slater on Vimeo.

A Fathers Love

2010-03-25T23:53:00.000-04:00

This past Wednesday evening I became a daddy for the very first time, Finn Rocket Slater was born at 6:12pm weighing in @ 7 pounds 15 ounces. Many reading probably have children of their own but just for the record if you’re thinking that I’d write about anything else 36 hours after Finn’s birth, you’re mistaken.

Holly and I decided as we found out that we were pregnant that we weren’t going to find out what we were having. We had numerous opportunities to find out and most ultra sounds began with me telling the tech or Dr, “we’re not finding out what we’re having”, to which they were grateful that I told them because finding out is the norm now days.

I was 90% sure it was a boy but there was always that slight chance of girl in the forecast. The anticipation of the delivery room was intense; I was working with holly to keep her focus on the baby she was about to hold. Minus a few details you don’t care to hear, the Dr held out the baby for me to announce “it’s a boy”.

The feeling, which many of you know, is life changing. Through the tears and laughter I instantly had a new perspective. I’ve always been the child but never the father, I can now see what it is to love and give to someone when they’re unable to give anything back to me. How I feel towards Finn is how God feels towards me. God loves me inFINNitely more than I can ever love Him.

Having Finn helps me know God in a way I never have before, Finn having me will help know Gods love for him.

it's a boy

2010-03-24T22:58:00.003-04:00

introducing finn rocket slater. born march 24th @ 6:12pm. 7p.15oz and 21" long. mum and baby are doing great.

baby gift from pat and bunky

2010-03-15T11:06:00.000-04:00

Pat and bunkys baby gift from joel slater on Vimeo.

blizzard

2010-02-07T12:07:00.008-05:00

..WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST SATURDAY... A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST SATURDAY. * PRECIPITATION TYPE...HEAVY SNOW. * ACCUMULATIONS...WIDESPREAD STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 20 TO 30 INCHES...WITH SOME LOCATIONS IN EXCESS OF 30 INCHES. * TIMING...SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL WILL OCCUR THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING WITH THE MOST HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS OCCURRING OVERNIGHT. * VISIBILITIES...WIDESPREAD VISIBILITIES AROUND ONE-QUARTER MILE ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT IN HEAVY SNOW. * TEMPERATURES...TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE MID TO UPPER 20S TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. * WINDS...BECOMING NORTHEAST 10 TO 20 MPH LATE TODAY. GUSTS OF 20 TO 30 MPH TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... THIS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RECORD SNOWFALL FOR THE BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON DC METROPOLITAN AREAS. TRAVEL CONDITIONS TONIGHT ACROSS THE REGION WILL BE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS AND LIFE-THREATENING. HELP YOUR LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT FIRST RESPONDERS AND TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES BY STAYING OFF THE ROADS. A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE... ESPECIALLY NEAR THE COASTLINE. &&

Christmas gift idea

2009-12-06T15:45:00.001-05:00

looking for a Christmas gift idea?

this past april headed into the studio to start work on recording my first CD 'scattered'. my prayer has been and continues to be that people will be drawn into a closer relationship with God our creator because of it.

keep 'scattered' in mind as you're thinking what will bless your love ones, friends and co-workers this season.

Godbless and Merry Christmas

joel slater

free shipping orders at www.joelslater.com/store

Merry Christmas

2009-12-05T11:22:00.006-05:00

although it's been said many times many ways...Merry Christmas to you. j&h (plus one)

back in the usa

2009-12-05T10:10:00.005-05:00

it's crazy to think that just a week ago we were in sunny australia, now a week later we find ourselves here in cold washington dc.

i've decided that if it's going to be cold it may as well snow like it is here this snowy saturday morning...very cozy being inside and not having to go out.

fire @ pine point, yorke peninsula

2009-11-20T19:46:00.005-05:00

view of the fire from our beach house

2 days away from being away

2009-11-19T23:48:00.008-05:00

holly and i just spent a couple of days taking a holiday from our holiday. we went away to a beach front property on the 'Yorke Peninsula' with my brother, his wife and his 3 kids.

last night @ the beach house we saw smoke on the horizon thru the big glass windows as we sat down to play a board game which led us to look stand up and walk outside. a mile or two away we saw a blazing fire picking up momentum with the strong winds (55 miles an hour) which left us wondering if we should get the heck outta there or just keep a close eye on it. the winds were blowing away from us which made us feel better and came to the conclusion that seeing we were so close to the beach we were in the best place. if we it came to an emergency we could scoop up the kids and head for the water...anywayz, it didn't come to that but was a little scary.

here's where we were on the map. 'A' is where my mums house is 'B' is where we went.

View Larger Map

first glimpse

2009-11-11T07:33:00.000-05:00

8 weeks

18 weeks

here we go...

2009-11-08T14:16:00.002-05:00

on our way to oz.

adelaide

2009-10-30T08:45:00.002-04:00

here's a song i wrote recently as i anticipate seeing my favorite place in the world, adelaide.

adelaide

verse1
i got my feet back on the ground
i wipe my eyes and look around
it's funny to see how everything is changing

i see my mum and my step dad
they're waiting where i get my bags
they're looking great even thought they're in there sixties (sorry mum)

chorus
O how i love this place
adelaide

verse2
i'm walking to my ol' front door
it's looking bett'r than ev' before
i can't believe that it's been nearly 3 years

i's getting close to 5 pm
that it when i'll see my friends
ben and andrew
don't forget matty newman

chorus
O how i adore this place
adelaide

bridge
they say the grass is always greener
the usa has come between us
believe me cause i mean it
when i say that i still love

verse3
twenty days is not to long
that is why i write this song
i'll remember you every time i play it

i check my bags and shed a tear
it may be 3 to 6 more years
til i'm back where everything is normal

chorus
O how i'll miss this place
adelaide

autumn

2009-10-27T21:57:00.000-04:00

new biz phone number

2009-10-26T19:21:00.000-04:00

we have a new separate line for those calling to book me and my band...pretty cool! (615) 671-9459.

joels in studio 'scattered' interview

2009-10-24T10:30:00.000-04:00

i was asked if i'd like to sit down in the studio and be interviewed on camera to talk about my music and to introduce people to who i am and what i stand for. here it is...

can't find our blog easily...

2009-10-22T17:00:00.002-04:00

go to www.joelandholly.com and it'll bring you here

indonesian tv

2009-10-22T09:50:00.006-04:00

as i may have told some of you, i was asked to be a performer’/pianist for the taping of an indonesian tv show being filmed in washington D.C back in march. it was nothing like they told me it was going to be which made things interesting as you'll see :)

surprise!!

2009-09-20T20:09:00.004-04:00

shelves

2009-06-28T23:07:00.004-04:00

laundry is finished

our laundry makeover

2009-06-23T09:16:00.014-04:00

i wanted to surprise holly by stacking our washer and dryer to create more room in our laundry. she went to work...so did i.

clean up this mess

move the appliances

take out the shelf

patch the holes

painted

stacked using a stacking kit and with some help from ricky

surprise

something beautiful

2008-09-23T21:36:00.011-04:00

something beautiful

your life, sacrifice
your price, poured out for me
the day, love would pay
to take my sin, away

something wonderful
something good
you took my brokenness
when no one else could

something beautiful
something beautiful
something beautiful
something beautiful
of me

two thousand years, and three days
hell’s put under, you were raised
to make, scornful sinner
like me, set free

something wonderful
something good
you took my brokenness
when no one else could

something beautiful
something beautiful
something beautiful
something beautiful
of me

you took my pain, you took my shame
you took my brokenness, from me

something beautiful
something beautiful
something beautiful
something beautiful

something beautiful
something beautiful
something beautiful
something beautiful
of me

©joelsong’06

box

2008-09-23T21:07:00.008-04:00

box

take this box that is tied with string
inside this box is all I have to bring
hold it with two hands
never let it go

take this box although it’s small
it isn’t much but it is my all
please take the scratches
mend them with patches

when the world stops to mourn
because my box is ripped and torn
paper, string is scattered
you are all that matters

this is my box for you to spend
please take it all, form beginning to end
when this box should break
bend or fall

when the world stops to mourn
because my box is ripped and torn
paper, string is scattered
you are all that matters

when this box should break
bend or fall

i’ll say that I have given you my all
they’ll say that I have given you my all
you’ll say that I have given you my all

joelsong07

awakeningfest 2008

2008-09-23T20:48:00.005-04:00

hanging out with paul colman (news boys) backstage @ awakeningfest sept 2008

dad's memorial vid

2008-06-09T22:29:00.006-04:00

sound system

2008-06-09T10:23:00.006-04:00

my sound system.

mackie cfx20

mackie sr1530

16 channel 100ft snake

can't take my eyes off of you

2008-05-20T22:52:00.009-04:00

me on sunday singing 'can't take my eyes off of you' for our current series 'til death'

shelves on our garage

2008-05-19T10:33:00.008-04:00

mum and harlan

2008-05-09T14:40:00.007-04:00

mum and harlan visited here with holly and i recently, their entire stay with us was 6 weeks out of their 6 1/2 months on the road. i had some time off of work as did holly and we made a few really fun trips with them, the other time was hanging out @ home and them being apart of our regular busy life here.

williamsburg va, busch gardens, nyc and gettysburg pa were the biggies.

mazda 3

2008-03-15T23:08:00.006-04:00

new car

dodgie neon

2008-03-15T22:54:00.005-04:00

sold my neon. i paid $500 for this little beauty nearly 5 years ago against my brother phil's wishes from a guy at church. he was sure it was going to break soon hence the wonderful deal.

the speedometer rarely worked nor the odometer which always made life interesting. there was no air-conditioning and it squealed @ traffic lights when the fan was on sucking the power outta the engine.

despite it's short comings it was a really good car needing a little work over the years but for the most part it treated me well.

barry manilow

2008-02-10T22:08:00.000-05:00

if i hadn't forgotten my camera i would of taken my own photo of barry manilow last night (sat feb9th). however the photo wouldn't have been as clear from my seat in row Q up in the who knows where. our friends (die hard bm fans) said there were tickets for $9 available and asked if we'd like to come...sure why not, you can't even see a movie that cheap these days.

to our surprise our seat were upgraded to a better section and although we weren't on the floor rather off to the side, we could see really well as long as the ladies in the row in front of us weren't standing for yet another one of their favorite manilow songs.

my favorite part was when they showed one of his first tv appearances singing 'mandy'. as they showed him singing and playing it on the screen from the 70's he rose from underneath the stage playing the same song on the piano and singing a duet with himself.

holly and i didn't really know any of his songs but it was enjoyable from a purely entertainment point of view. good concert.

angry young man 2

2008-01-15T19:34:00.000-05:00

Hey, Joel!

I just wanted you to know that Billy Joel has NOTHING on you, my friend! I loved your version of "Angry Young Man" and knew as soon as you played the first few notes what song you were doing.

My husband and I have seen Billy Joel in concert three times (years and years ago!) and he is phenomenal. He plays that song even faster in concert than he does on the CD, and he's just amazing. I must say, you play a wicked piano and I'm sure Billy Joel would be proud!!!! (In fact, I think Fair Oaks Church has its very own "Piano Man"!!)

Fondly,
Dana Molaski

angry young man

2008-01-10T14:07:00.001-05:00

practice makes perfect? i'm still working on the perfect part but yes, it is getting better. i'm learning this song for church sunday which is coming sooner than i'd like it to be but @ least i have a deadline. it's the 1st 16 measures thats the hard part...could you tell??

listen to billy joel do it.

GMC Sonoma 1993

2008-01-03T19:45:00.000-05:00

93, GMC Sonoma Pickup Truck. Excellent working condition, body in pretty good shape minor dent in front bumper. Reliable, owned by grandpa most of it's life. Well maintained. 127,000 miles, automatic, 2.5L, 2WD and new tires. Wonderful truck.

$1500 or near offer.

Call or e-mail Joel
571-274-8251

the ad that sold our ute. we wanted anything over $1000...we sold it for $1300.

the nutcracker

2008-01-03T19:27:00.000-05:00

anna, the girl holly and i take to school each day is in ballet.
every year they do a performance of the nutcracker. i told her that i was going to be in it this year...i said i was going to be the nut! her parents invited us to go see her perform...she's the angel on the right in the video.

christmas/birthday

2008-01-03T18:12:00.000-05:00

why write 2 entries when i can double up and cover christmas and my birthday in one...perhaps if i got double the presents i'd be a little more motivated to write twice as much??

seriously i had a great birthday and both holly and i had a great christmas, not the same as being @ home but thats what you get when you move away.

my b'day kept getting better as the day went on, i worked on the 18th for the first time in my life but wasn't feeling so great @ work so i came home and slept it off (conveniently). holly came home in the afternoon and i opened my gift which was a craftsman's tool chest/cabinet on wheels. now that we have a double carport this was a real appropriate girt from my wife...this R2D2 tool box of course fits more tools than i own. fun nonetheless.

the night wrapped up or got started depending how you look @ it with a surprise party @ some friends house. for some reason i'm always surprised, the 18th is so close to christmas i just assume people have better things to do than jump out and scare me. last time i fall for that "hey come look over here line".

christmas was the morning @ home with just me and holly followed by presents and lunch @ her parents. holly got me a espresso maker which is wonderful and i framed a ken duncan picture for holly among other things...they were the biggies.

gabe's engaged

2007-12-04T22:37:00.000-05:00

we found out today that my brother in-law gabe johannes got engaged yesterday. something to do with him cooking her dinner and a fire place, thats all i know. she said yes.

the tall bloke in the back and emily in the front

beard, goatee or mustache

2007-12-03T16:23:00.001-05:00

i can't decide if i like facial hair or not...but it's sure fun trying

beard?? maybe more like unshaven for a few days

goatee, i had this for a few hours before buying a pack of razors @ and shaving it down to a mustache

mustache, like my uncle bill and robin...i had this for a few minutes before shaving it off

today i'm trying this 'friendly mutton chops', not sure what i think of this but i'm only a shave away from being normal again

wedding video

2007-11-28T23:15:00.000-05:00

a 'short' wedding video...beats the other 2 hour play by play one

nyc

2007-11-26T00:23:00.000-05:00

yeah, yeah, yeah. i know, i know...another trip to new york, photos of the same things for everyone to look @...again. but i don't really care, so sit back, relax and i'll type on.

i've heard before of this service called the china town bus, a bus that goes from washington dc's china town to new york city's china town for $20 oneway....

$20 x 2 = $40 x 2 = $80 for both holly and i, a deal really hard to beat.

we bought last minute tickets on friday to ride up and back on the bus the following day, they have buses running all day long back and forth plus a bunch of companies do it so there is no shortage. we got up early saturday morning to drive into dc to catch our 7:30 bus, this went well however an eager chinese girl was trying to woo us onto her bus with her bus company.

the thing thats great about riding up on a bus other than the deal on the price is that you're not having to worry about petrol, tolls or parking when you get there. holly and i spent our ride up watching 'grey's anatomy' on holly's ipod, a quick nap and we were there before we knew it. we pre-arranged our drop off point to be @ penn station so we'd be close to time square to catch an afternoon show. however the problem we had was alot of shows weren't running because of a stage hand strike which made it hard to find a broadway show that we'd want to spend the money on. we decided on an off-broadway show called 'the perfect crime' which worked in well with our budget as did the slice of pizza we ate before the show, it was in a smaller theatre but still just as good. the theatre wasn't full so the attendant said we could all move up, so we did, in fact we sat in the front row which made the show all the more interesting.

after the show we made our way downtown to china town where we shopped and looked around and found holly a knock off brand name purse, i ended up buying gloves and a woollen hat because it was cold. we perused up to little italy where we had dinner at a restaurant there (it was nice to get out of the cold and warm up for a little while). after dinner and a connoli from a stand on the street (apparently the best in the world) we still had time so we went back up to time square now dark to see the lights.

the subway back to china town to catch our bus home was interesting as i didn't want to make eye contact with the 4 guys singing 'in the jungle'

for tips on our ride or the guy who proclaimed to us all how he didn't have a place to sleep last night and needed $22 for a room for the night. he stopped at my seat cause i had my nose stuck in a map of the subway, he asked if i needed help cause he knew everything about the trains. i said no and then no again when he asked for money saying 'i only have australian dollars'. that settled that as he walked off, it's not that i couldn't have put coins in his empty starbuck cup but i really didn't think he was legitimate.

the bus ride home which was due to leave @ 11pm left @ 10:20pm? and i don't why. anywayz avoiding another lady trying to get us to take her bus back to dc, we got on this time not nearly half full. this meant we got a row to ourselves to sleep. we arrived back sometiome around 2:30am and were back in our bed @ 4am...slept til 12:30 :)

yamaha cp 70b

2007-11-14T10:57:00.000-05:00

this may not mean a whole lot to the 3 people that read this but i'd like to write about it non the less.

once upon a time i played this piano 'thing' at a church, this piano literally had me @ hello. it was a piano with real strings and real hammers but it was also able to be folded up into 2 portable road cases and transported.

this would give the piano player who loved the feel of a real piano a similar action of a real piano with the added ability to take it with them on the road. this instrument has pickups under each string and output jacks so you can plug it in to your PA system for amplification. the making of this portable grand ceased in the mid 80's so it's hard to find, when you do find one you're kinda @ the mercy of the seller to set the price cause you know it may be a long time before you see one of these for sale again.

since playing that one at that church many years ago i've kept on looking for them 4 sale but the rare times i've seen them i have never been in a position to buy. i saw one being sold on-line right around the time i was buying my house and thought it'd be nice to buy it but it didn't seem like a wise decision at the time. however i kept the information and rang this guy last week...as it turns out he hadn't sold it and a few days later i went and bought it.

it's hard to explain exactly what it is so i'll let the pictures which aren't of my piano but the same model speak for themselves. the piano itself is part of the road case, i was amazed @ how it all disassembled, quite amazing. if you want to read more click on the link to your right (yamaha cp70b).

eighty five, feelin' alive

2007-11-07T15:15:00.000-05:00

nanna mac my last living grandparent who is 85 came to visit us this last week. in all her years she has never left australia which made this trip a big deal for her and those who know her 'positive' outlook on life. if you were to ask me if she was the get busy living person or the get busy dying person, i'd say she's the one getting busy dying, and that's just who she is. and who am i to say which one she should be, i'm not the one who is 85.

i should mention that my uncle bill and auntie ruth are the reason this trip is happening, because of their initiative and persistence they somehow convinced nanna to travel around the world with them.

from adelaide to brisbane to la and chicago followed by florida to see my brother matt and then to me here in dc. i was impressed to see her on the other side of the world seeing she is mostly dependent on a walking frame and mobility is a problem. i picked her up and to my surprise because of my wrong turn out of regan national airport we took our first tour of dc earlier than i'd planned. she was somewhat impressed with holly's and my new house but the stairs did create a bit of a challenge but with a a little help from her friends we got her up to the middle level where we spent thursday evening hanging out together.

friday we went back into dc for our now official tour. if nanna was to hate her walking frame then she would really hate being pushed around all day by me in a wheel chair. i could see us doing it no other way, if we were to cover the ground we wanted to then we needed to put her on wheels. we saw the FDR memorial to the lincoln memorial/korean/vietnam, on to the white house nanna refusing to have her photo taken @ each land mark. we circled the george washington monument as we had been indirectly all day and finally made it back to the car before our 3 hour park ran out.

saturday we pretty much did the opposite of the day previous, instead of heading towards the city we headed into the country. we drove skyline drive down in shenandoah national park, this of course worked out well as she didn't have to get out of the car to see the view. plus we saved $15 on admission because of nanna's disability pass, she was happy that she was able to help out saying "at least i'm good for something".

sunday we went to church which nanna later said that was her favorite part of her visit to dc. after church we were in the car eating pizza on our way to mt. vernon, the home of george washington. we had the joy of pushing her around again as it would of been to much for her to walk. we were restricted in getting up to the 2nd level in the mansion in the wheel chair although it wasn't big deal not taking nanna up there. on his farm like property we saw his house, his gardens and his grave.

monday we did some minor shopping as they were flying out later that night. we went to dinner @ craker barrel the old southern style restaurant which was fun. nanna insisted on paying however i beat her to the register and took care of the bill.

nanna mentioned several times on the trip "this is the perfect end to the perfect day" as we'd sit around playing scrabble and eating something nice sipping coffee. it was sad to see them go, a little piece of adelaide came to visit, then like most things had to leave again. i'm proud of her for having the courage to do this trip. well done nanna.

halloween

2007-10-30T09:27:00.000-04:00

trunk of treat is an event my church puts on for our community halloween night. this was a new concept to me because in aus no one cares about or even acknowledges october 31st especially a church...what's up with that?

here in the USA the community at least where we live is all about halloween in the sense of dressing up and going door to door asking for candy. i've witnessed and have been proud to be apart of our annual trunk or treat event for the past 4 years now, with our church taking something that is viewed as an "evil" day in many peoples minds and turning it around to have people come onto our property for 2 hours october 31st evening. last year we had over 5000 people come and partake in this event, everyone receiving a bag of goodies with information on the church, service times, up coming events i.e. christmas eve etc.

how amazing to have this amount of people come each year to your church who receive literature of God and his salvation plan who may never any other time step foot on church property. people argue with us about doing this event but i'd rather be involved in something boarder line acceptable in the christian community and see 5000 + people coming to our door step than to be the one who sits @ home with their arms folded grunting about how evil this church is, who is making the impact for Jesus Christ? i'd rather stand before Jesus having been active for his kingdom than to be pulling down what other's are doing. a little less thinking about me and how it makes me feel and alot more thinking about them and their need for a saviour.

get out there, be relevant to the culture you're living in and meet the people where they're @.

finally

2007-10-04T19:31:00.001-04:00

it finally happened, the day arrive and we bought our first house, the house we've been waiting, praying and watching since we started looking at homes.

September 28th: i arose before the alarm went off (rare) and started moving round the apartment trying to occupy myself and to hopefully compress the excitement of buying a house in a few hours time. the apartment needed to be ready to move later that arvo so i worked my way around the kitchen empting the dishwasher. holly woke up...or did i wake her up?? and we went about our regular routine of dropping anna off at school and then drove to the vicinity of where the attorneys office was in tysons corner. being in the area avoiding the traffic we were there early so we went to a nearby silver diner and had a sit down breakfast.

the time came to move on to our appointment where we had ken our realtor, the sellers realtor and the attorney at this big desk to sign papers stating if we don't pay they're coming after us. that went well and they went back and forth talking about whatever they talk about, finally i said "so do we own the house"? the attorney said, "O'yes it yours now" which was all i wanted to hear.

we had a bunch of people come that afternoon and from church to help us move and in 2 trips we were moved. done and done.

awakeningfest

2007-09-18T18:14:00.000-04:00

last saturday holly and i attended awakening fest @ bull run park about 3 plus some miles from our apartment, this is a 10 hour long festival put on every year. we really had no desire to go in the weeks prior to the event cause it's aimed at younger kids and youth groups, however our realtor ken mckeehan kept asking if we were going or not. his invested interest is his son toby (toby mac) from former band dc talk being the main act at the end of the evening.

i was in charge of picking up the tickets @ 10:30 the morning of for all who had purchased them from our church. the other reason i went to get the tickets was somehow michael became friends with toby mac's drummer (whom i'd met before) and he wanted to get off the grounds for a little while. i met up with him while i was standing in the line waiting for my tickets, he said "don't worry about standing in line, come with me", he took me behind the ticket stand, told them who he was and bamo, i got the tickets. the highlight of driving brian around was not having lunch with him or driving him past my apartment to pickup holly but the fact that he sat in my $500 paint faded dodge neon as i drove him to michaels office (my car only stalled twice), fun times.

holly and i bought lawn chairs and went around 3pm and just sat out listening to the music and just enjoying the awesome weather. more and more people joined up with us till we had a decent size group on our piece of real estate.

@ 6:45 my instruction from ken was to meet him at the right hand side of the stage and he'd take a selected few back to meet toby. we stood @ the side of the stage and ken brought us back. virginia is toby home town so there was family wanting to see him but me and holly and a few friends from church got to hangout with him before he went on. this is the second time i've met him and he remembered who i was for whatever thats worth, nice normal bloke, and the show was awesome.

contract

2007-09-07T13:15:00.001-04:00

both holly and i found out thursday that our contract had been accepted. we knew that we most likely had the house because we had agreed verbally on it, but until you get the contract in your hands there is a chance it might not workout. anywayz, it did workout and so we're excited about settling and moving in on the 28th of septermber.

trucks, cars and buses

2007-08-17T17:44:00.000-04:00

in the state of virgina by law you have to get a safety inspection every 12 months, this puts you back about $16 and can be done at practically every other petrol station. my experience with this has never been a pleasant one, seeing i drive an older car ('95) than most other people in this area. my first year having an inspection cost me $90 extra dollars; the second, $260 something to pass as i needed to put in 2 new whole headlight fixtures (and that was the discounted price cause i did it myself). my last inspection i passed no worries cause i foresaw the need for new tires and i got those replaced before the inspector told me i needed to. additionally, since having the car for 3 years i have avoided replacing my frayed seatbelt, by strategically placing the buckle over the frayed portion of the belt so they never see it (shame on them for not putting on their seatbelt when they get in and drive my car into their garage).

now i am married and i have 2 old cars to get through inspection ('93 Sonoma) which makes me feel sick knowing some garage is about to get more money outta me for things that really aren't "too bad". the month of august marks the month that holly's truck (ute) needs to pass safety inspection, so i took the drive thursday knowing a few things were wrong but nothing too bad...right. i was informed by mr. inspector that our reverse lights would flash on when the vehicle was put in 'R' but wouldn't stay on...hmm, "how much sir" i asked "hey victor how much to fix this reverse light thing" he yells across to a guy with his head under another car", "$60 and i can't do it today". needless to say i said i'd bring the truck back later this month after i'd taken a look at it myself, perhaps i could fix it with some duct tape or something. feeling down i pulled the truck into a garage where we've recently spent a small fortune fixing both our cars to get them working again and i know this guy might respect that and give us a discount...might.

i told about the few minor things wrong with the car and he said he would fix it up for me and even take it to a garage and get it through inspection for me for a total of $50, wow what a nice guy, so we left the car with him.

9:37 Friday morning the phone rings, half asleep i let it ring out and listen to the message. yep, it was the mechanic asking me to call him back, i did. "ahh yes you have a broken muffler, i can get the reverse lights to pass but they're going to notice that and fail it, we need to fix it". "ok, can you tell me how much?" "yes we can do it here for $250 plus the original $50 to get it through inspection". knowing i couldn't fix it myself and having had the muffler done on my car last year i knew the price was about the same, "ahh crap, sure go ahead and take care of it for me", "ok, it be ready by 1" he said in his broken english.

the truth is God is in control and we've been blessed to have our old cars run as long as they have, we've been blessed to be able to do some of the work ourselves to relieve some of the cost. and even though it seems we broke the bank in car repairs in the last 3 months we were blessed to find $200 in an envelope for us labeled " hope this helps with the cars" no name.

God is good even though sometimes it's hard to see it.

house sweet home

2007-08-17T16:10:00.001-04:00

this is our new house. all going to plan we'll close on september 28, which is nice seeing we have to be out of our apartment on the 30th. we had the home inspected and according to fred our trustworthy inspector everything is in great working order except for our doorbell which apparently is a $2 fix.

being from australia and away from my family i put together a video to show them our new house, this way it helps to bridge the 10,000 mile gap.