I unpacked a bunch of equipment that has arrived yesterday. The camera is here, which is good. It was bitter sweet because I had gone paintballing on Saturday and my legs feel like firey death! I'm SOO sore. I unpacked the camera, tripod, light kit (SWEET), monitor, dv deck, speaker, keyboard/mouse, and other stuff not so crucial. It's amazing that I have my own area to edit in. By the end of this week I should be all setup and ready to fully go. I'm amazed. It's funny how I've forgotten little things to purchase like tape stock and batteries. It's all good, though. Those are just small startup items. Now I'm going to focus on the projects ahead and putting teams together. I've gotten a few inquiries about working with me in the In House Media Services dept. I'm thinking of putting together some kind of meeting once I have enough people who are interested around. I plan on doing quite a bit for Portico, the college age group. They need some work on their media and production side of things. We'll see how that goes. In the mean time it'll be great to get some projects going. I'm excited to see what God is going to use me for. Danielle visits in a little under two weeks. I can't wait to rush to the airport to pick her up. I'm going to be just crazy happy. I ordered a book the my old youth pastor Chris suggested we go through together for some pre-maritial counseling. I'm really excited about doing that with Danielle. I have to figure out what to do for Valentines day. It's the first big one and I know it's got to be special. I'd be happy just doing anything with her, but I want to make it special. I can't wait to go paintballing with Danielle :).

What an awesome day today! The Ikegami monitor and XLR cables came in. Jon also called me over to his office. At first I was nervous because I got that feeling of "Oh God, I know I haven't done anything wrong.. but... did I do anything wrong?!" Thankfully it was a very good thing. He asked me if I could go on a a shoot with them tomorrow. I thought about it for a little while.. threw the idea around and said yes before he finished asking :). Not really, but I jumped at the chance. We'll be conducting an interview with some professional sports guy. I'll be running the second camera while Schwa will be running the main camera. At least, that's what it looks like. We'll be leaving in the early afternoon, grabbing lunch then shooting the interview. I'm really really looking forward to it. At the same time I'm sad. My office will be ready on Friday but that means I'll be moving out of my little cubicle. I'll be moving away from the friends I've made in the "Rome" room on the second floor. It's cool because I'm around the staff and ministry leaders. They're good people. When I'm over in the other room I'll be pretty much alone. I'm thinking now I could still use the cubicle and only use the other room for my editing and such. That would be awesome. I know I'll be spending a majority of time editing, but not all of my time. We'll see what happens. On another note, I got my first check from Lakewood today. The budgeting begins. I have to find car insurance and set money aside for the future. I bought groceries tonight, which was cool. I'm going to do my best to save as much money as I can. Chris suggested a book for Danielle and I to go through with him for pre marital counseling. I'm really looking forward to discovering new things about our relationship. I just found out that she likes to play paintball! Freakin' sweeeeeet! I talk with Danielle almost every night and I really enjoy hearing her voice. Just listening to her helps calm me down at the end of the day. There's time when we're talking about tough stuff and I get frustrated or bugged, but the great thing is that when we talk about tough subjects we talk respectfully with eachother. We don't yell or try to heart eachother. We just talk and listen as much as we can. It's pretty cool :). I'm going paintballing this Saturday. I haven't gone in a long time and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm probbably going to only rent equipment this time. I'll probbably buy some later on. I think paintball is a pretty good sport to take up. Good times.

This is my girl: I love 'er. I miss 'er. I wish she was with me right here right now. I'm still looking at condos, but my Dad has got me thinking about renting, too. The thing about renting for me is that I just see it as throwing money away. It's not really going anywhere, or doing anything. I do understand the wisdom in not buying until I'm sure it's where I want to be for a long time. Descions like this also freak the crap outta me. I get nervous just thinking about buying a new pair of shoes. I mean, to me it seems like a descion that is suppoused to last me a while. It's not like buying Coke or... well, let's face it there's nothing that really tops Coke. Regardless, it's something to think about. I've come across one or two really good condos and it's definatley a little hard wondering if they'll stay on the market or not. Thankfully I'm working with a great real estate agent. Danielle visits in February, which isn't coming fast enough. I've been spending the past few weekends at Steve and Gracie Berk's house. This weekend I'm going to buy some food and cook dinner for everyone. The Berks are really great people. They both work for airline companies. Steve said he could help Danielle and I out with plane tickets for the wedding. Wendell and I met with David about media needs for the "Married Life" ministry. February 11th they have an event and they'd like some video for it. So, we'll do some "man on the street" interviews at the church and cut the thing together for the event. I'm still waiting for all of my equipment to come in, so we'll see what happens when everything comes together. We also recieved a video request from the Children's ministry for video of Childrens lessons. They want video for March, April and May. So, we'll meet with Craig and see what that's all about.

Yay! Excitment! Today I did my first "project". Granted, it only took two minutes, but I did it! Dr. Paul needed the chorus of a song burned to a CD for the intro to his message. So, Wendell and I did it. On another note I got the Lectrosonics wireless kit and SM87A mic today. The Arri kit is on backorder, so I'm waiting for that still. Everything else should arrive later this week or next week. It was great to get on a project and get it done. I know it was small but I was suprised at how excited I got. I can't wait to get my hands on other stuff.

The hunt for car insurance begins. I have until February 25th to find a new insurance company or find out if I can afford to stay with Geico. On another note my equipment should be arriving next week. When all of my equipment arrives I'll be moving into my office in the Children's Ministry building. I was given my Lakewood Laptop today. The supplied me with at Dell Latitude D800. It works well for my office work. I can't wait for my equipment to arrive so I can get going! At the same time I'm trying to plan ahead for the work I'll be doing. It's a tough process since I haven't done much work that requires pre-planning like this. I'll be learning alot of new things with this job. I'm going to try and develop a five year plan. I'll also have to learn to deal with a budget. All new and exciting stuff. I'm hoping to meet up with the real estate agent I'm working with on Saturday to talk about homes and look at a few if possible. It hit me the other day that I might actually buy a home. I'm also still open to the idea of renting and saving up for a home. Waiting for my paycheck is driving me nuts. I am so pissed that I wasn't able to put much if any money away while I was working in LA. It's made things kind of tough, but I'm not broke, so that's good. God has always been faithful to provide me with everything I need.

I have been in Houston for one week. Everyone asks me "how do you like it so far" and so far, I like it :). I've enjoyed getting lost going various places and finding my way back around. I've met some wonderful people and had some good food. Yesterday I went to the Sunday service for the second time. I was really moved when Joel invited the ambassador of Malaysia and the Texas senator up to the front. He talked about how many people died and he began to weep. He prayed for the people that were effected by the Tsunami then everyone sat down. I enjoyed the service and was really encouraged by the message. After the service I met up with John to watch him do a shoot for Joel's book "Your Best Life Now". He was interviewing people about what they thought of the book. It was a good shoot. They had an Arri HMI as well as a few scrims and bounce cards. They were shooting on Digi Beta, too. After the shoot I followed John up to the switching room to watch him direct the video for the service. I learn so much each time I go up there. Earlier in the the week I met up with John, Dakri, Brian, and Schwa to see "The Polar Express" at the 3d IMax. If you haven't had a chance to see this, you must leave your seat now and go find the nearest one. What an awesome experience. After that John took Brian and I to Red Robin for a "bite to eat". What the heck does that mean, anyway? Now it's Monday and I start the week all over again! I've allready got a few projects to work on so I'll see how that goes. Danielle is coming in February and I can't wait to see her. It seems like these few months are going to creep by. I can't wait to marry her.

Yesterday was my first semi-day off. By that I mean, I spent some of the day out and out about then the other part of the day working at home. As is my tradtion, I determined to find a destination and got lost very quickly. I asked the nice ladies at the apartment information desk how to find a J.C. Pennys, they told me and I messed everything up. I ended up at Memorial Park with my new "Key Book" from Steve Berk. I flipped through the pages and found out where it was I needed to go. After I finished shopping I tried to find my way to an Express Men. After much turning around I ended up at "The Galleria" in downtown Houston. This place is HUGE. There are hundreds and hundreds of stores. They even have stores like Tiffanys jewlery and Saks 5th ave. After my shopping adventure I arrived back at my little apartment. My first project is a series of videos to illustrate points during a volunteer leaders training confrence. I worked on a few ideas last night and had a nice chat with Danielle before I headed off to bed. After work today I have to head back to JC Pennys to return the shirts and a pair of pants I bought. The shirts were way too big and the pants are pleated in front (not flat.. I like the flat fronts). I miss Danielle, seriously. We talked about how we should have just gotten married earlier then we are. I understand what she means, and I'm glad that our engagement is short. I can't wait for her to visit in Feburary. Until then, we'll just have to talk on the phone and miss eachother. So sad.

This is the living room/dining room/kitchen of my Apartment. I'll upload more pictures as I get them. 

This is the living room/dining room/kitchen of my Apartment. I'll upload more pictures as I get them. 

Dad in front of the Alamo 

The Alamo 

Dad and I in front of the Alamo 

Here I am in front of the Alamo!  

STUD! 

Dad grabbed this awesome sunrise 

Beautiful light streaming through the clouds 

Dowtown El Paso 

The two big studs 

Here I am in front of the Texas border! YEEHAW! Texas will NEVER be the same! 

This is the most awesome Coca Cola truck on the planet! I didn't get a shot of them, but there were about six little birds underneath the truck to keep dry. So cute. 

We ran into some rain on the way to Houston. Also pictured is "Rhonda" the GPS navigational system. She was invaluable. 

Dad driving from Fort Stockton to Houston. He looked like this the entire time. Didn't move. Really weird. 

Today marks my second day at Lakewood Church. Everything has gone really well so far. I've met all kinds of wonderful people and filled out all kinds of confusing paperwork. I arrived at my new apartment on the third and was really suprised. The apartments I'm staying at are fully furnished. It was ready for me to move in and live in (minus food). There is a pool, workout room, business room with computers and internet access, and gated entry. Unfortunatley, I don't have internet access in my room, so I brought my laptop to work so I can access my normal stuff. Today I'm going to be doing some planning for the future of the department. I like to think of it as my "Standards & Practices". I'm going to start working on forms, how I'll store my media, guidlines, etc. It's really awesome that I get to devleop this deparment in such a way that I'm comfortable working in. I'm not without supervision, but I'm not tied down either. The equipment list that I sent in was approved yesterday. My computer should be in the office in about a week. The other equipment might take a little longer. Once everything gets in I'll get setup and started it seems. I know that I'm going to have projects soon and I'm really looking forward to them. I've met some awesome people and I have a large opprotunity and adventure ahead of me. I guess I'll see what lies ahead. I really miss Danielle. Thankfully she'll be visiting in February. We have to figure out where to put her and how she'll get around. I know she doesn't like the idea of staying with someone she knows, so we have the option of a hotel or with me. If she stays with me we'll need someone around to keep us accountable. I know we won't do anything innapropriate but it's always good to be above reproach. One way or another, we'll figure it out and I can't wait to see her.

There will be no post for tonight because Dad only has around 20 hours a month on dial-up. I'll hopefully post tomorrow if I'm no so tired from driving to Houston. Lots to talk about!

Today Dad and I drove around 350 miles. We left from Palm Desert in California and have landed gracefully (yet manly) in Tuscon, Arizona. We made some excellent time once I-10 left the city and we got into some open road. The speed limit was around 75 mph, which was excellent. When we arrived in Tuscon we unloaded then quickly found the nearest steak house. We went to a great place called "Pinnacle Peak". Dad and I both ordered the "Cowboy Steak". I finished everything off with a nice cherry cobbler with ice cream. Tasty! The idea that I'll be working at my new job in four days is slowly seeping into my skin. It hasn't really "hit" me like a 2x4 or anything like that yet. The idea has been kind and gentle. I have a feeling that eventually someone will find me face down with "You're here" temporarly planted into my forehead with a giggling reality skipping away. I talked with Dad tonight in the hot tub about how I never went to college for what I am about to do. It's pretty amazing that I spent around 2 years at Action House and have been able to work at the largest church in the United States. I also talked with him about what interns have done with their training at Action House . Some choose to make a life out of their training, some choose to throw it all away. Tomorrow we'll be driving around 500 miles. We'll end up in Fort Stockton, Texas!! Yes, TEXAS! When we arrive there we'll only be half way to our location. Crazy! Then the day after that I arrive in Houston. I'll meet up with Wendell (my future supervisor) at the "Kirby Luxury Apartments". The next day I'll be working at Lakewood church! Until then, I'm going to get some sleep because we have a long drive tomorrow. I miss Danielle.

Dad took this pic of me in the room we are currently staying in at the Residence Inn in Tuscon. We just got back from a great meal at a steak house then the spa. I look like a DORK in this picture! 

We drove by a truck carrying about six semi trucks without the backs on them. When we were driving behind them it looked like there was only one and that it was going to fall off and fly through the windshield. Scary stuff! 

This mountain was jetting into the cloads. It looked like a castle in the clouds 

We had some beautiful mountains to look at on our drive. 

This is the Arizona state line. Without us. How sad. 

Dad and I at the Arizona state line. Lookin' GOOD! 

Today we woke up around 7 am. Dad and I were pretty tired because we spent our New Years totally sleeping! WOOO! After a quick shower, we'll head down for breakfast then take off. Today we drive to Tuscon Arizona from Palm Desert California. It's approxmiatley 378 miles and should take about six or seven hours. Watch out I-10, here we come!