Waiting on Kirk and Spock...

So watching the new season of Heroes-which is amazing of course, I have noticed that it seems that there is an abundance of appearances by the original members of Star Trek. First it was Sulu as Hiro's father, now Ohura as the aunt/grandmother of the Nikki's son, I half expect Denny Crane (boston legal-william shatner) to show up defending some unknown Hero character played by Leornard Nimoy. Any idea why they are showing up on the show?

Meet Gizmo...

Here is the new addition to our family (at least for now). We are calling him Gizmo because of the size of his ears...Here are a few pics of the little guy (who is really cute and up for sale):

Can you believe the size of these ears?

Tuckered out after playing...

Hiding in the closet during a storm...


I am trying really hard not to get attached. He sure is cute, and my fear is that if we don't sell him soon he will be a permanent addition to our family.

Tornado...

I have received several calls, so let me fill you all in. Yes, a tornado did touch down in Pensacola today, but we are just fine. It hit the southern part of the town in the downtown area and while there is some damage all is okay on our end. I did happen to be at the station when all this went down and so I got to see us in emergency mode and also did some "on site" stuff, but we are all just fine here in Pcola, thanks for asking about us!

-Matt

Did you catch it?

So I am still working on my thoughts on the new TV shows this fall, but did anyone catch the quick reference in tonight's episode of "Chuck" to Oceanic Flight 815 (LOST in case you didn't know what it was from)? I thought that was kind of cute-especially coming from an NBC show. Anyone know why they might throw that in there?

just curious and amused...LOVE "Chuck" by the way, definitely one of this seasons best new shows!

Fall Sweeps...

Fall sweeps begins this week with all the new shows and season premieres happening over the next couple of weeks so keep tuned to hear what I have to say about the new seasons and new shows...

2 things I am excited about...
Another new season of Survivor (with a return to the more traditional format)
FINALLY a new season of Heroes!

-Matt

Go Big Blue...

Well this is a couple days late since I have had limited access to the net, but I just have one quick statement...

HOW BOUT THEM WOLVERINES!!!

They're playing the kind of football I like to see! GO BUCKS!

More new puppy pics...

Here are a few updated pictures of the new puppies...ours is the one on the right... They are starting to get the little fuzzball Yorkie puppy look...

Brothers playing with each other...

Wanting Meg to put them down so they can play...

Snuggling and giving Meg a kiss...

We're still not sure if we're going to keep him or not. Meg is getting attached. I told her if we keep him, I'm naming him "Cash Money" to remind us of what we would have had if we had sold him...he is cute though!

You never know who you'll meet on the street...

So last weekend when I was working with the radio station on a remote at the Wharf in Orange Beach, I see this guy who looks familiar. I sort of pass him off as "just one of those guys" but then I heard someone confirm who it was and I was right-sure enough it was Cledus T. Judd from country music and Celebrity Fit Club fame. He spent some time looking through the store we were promoting and also visited with anyone who wanted pictures. He was in town opening up for Gretchen Wilson that night. He was VERY nice, approachable and was just all around a good guy. He has kept the weight off as well. Here is a pic...

I guess you never know who you'll run into some times!

Here's the skinny...

Okay sorry for the lack of posting of late...truth be told I have just been running ragged and have not had the chance to blog. I've been hinting at a few things recently and I can finally talk about them so here is the skinny on our lives right now...

• The biggest change is that I am going "part time" at the church. This is on a month by month basis, but given the financial situation of the church it was necessary. Since a large portion of our salary is the house, it was easiest to work with my salary to balance the budget. I have a perfect peace about this and the church has made it very clear that they are going to take care of us and I believe that with my whole heart. It is obvious that God is working through this situation as we have had some amazing services since I agreed to this and He also provided the radio job at the perfect time. It seems like every time I looked away from here God pointed us right back in this direction. As it relates to "part time" we all know that really doesn't exist in ministry and I am as dedicated as I always have been to the church and teens and am keeping VERY busy.
• Speaking of radio, I am still loving it. I go into the station every weekday morning to run the morning show which means I am up at 4:30 every morning. This has been a rough adjustment, but I find that I have a lot more energy since I don't lay around in the morning anymore and when I go to bed I am finally sleeping good! I am not on the air yet, but will hopefully soon be doing news and weather during the morning show. I have done two remotes live and recently cut my first spot (commercial) so my voice has been out there, just not regularly yet. Also this weekend, I'll be heading to see Taylor Hicks in concert for the station and get the chance to take listeners backstage for a meet and greet session. I was a huge fan of his on Idol and so this member of the "soul patrol" is going to have a great time (even if he can't dance). Needless to say, it's a lot of fun!
• On top of everything else I was recently told that I am now the "interim" (but looks like it's official) district youth president, which means I am the point person for all the district activities relating to teens in the North Florida district. This was also a goal of mine, so I'm excited about it as well.

So life is crazy busy, but needless to say, I am happier than I have been for a long time and with the Lord's help I am managing it all. Thanks for your prayers over these last few months, there have been several times when I wanted to give up, but with your prayers and the Lord I was able to make it through-so if times are tough...HANG IN THERE! I'm praying for ya'll!

PS-Meg is doing great as well, she just started back teaching music again full time and loves it, but could use your prayer as it is at an inner city school and it is tough on her at times.

weight loss battle 07-? weeks in

So not much is really happening in the weight loss realm right now. I have gained a few pounds currently weighing in at 338. I am not too discouraged though as I am wearing pants that are a size smaller than when I started the year so that is good.
I'm still trying to get into the gym, although it really is a struggle to go most of the time since it is a circuit workout and I just don't find joy in it anymore. I just wish I could find some type of exercise that I love.
On the good side of things though, I have more energy than I have for a long time, my blood pressure is down and hopefully when I get my labs back next week I'll see good numbers there as well.

The battle continues!
-Matt

I knew it!

I knew it wasn't all my fault that I was fat! Now, here is all the proof I need that my weight is caused by a virus....

http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100168200&GT1=10316

Now can someone just give me the antibiotic to fix it...and it better not be "Alli" because I don't know about you, but I don't want the "intestinal discomfort" and "potentially embarrassing situations" that are warned about on the label!

Hope ya laughed!

-Matt

4 years!

On a more serious note, today marks four years of being married to the most wonderful woman in the world...my lovely wife Megan. She makes my life so much more wonderful, I don't know what I would do without her! She is always there when I need to laugh, cry, or simply just be quiet, and she is AMAZING! I love her with all my heart!

Long live the King...

In honor of the remembrance of the passing of Elvis, the "King of Rock-n-Roll," I thought I would post this picture...may his legacy live on forever in the lives of people like this guy:

Long live the king!

Desire...

God is good. He always has been to me, and although I've known it for a long time, I sometimes too easily forget. One of my life verses has always been Psalm 37:4 which states that God will grant you the desires of your heart. That verse means more to me today than it has for some time.

I have now been in ministry for 11 years. I love every minute of it. You may or may not know this, but my other major is in broadcast communications. I am so glad to be working in radio again part time. It has always been a love of mine. I was lucky enough to get into it when I was in high school and continued with it through college. However, when God called me into ministry I sensed the Lord asking if I would give up radio for Him. I was hesitant at first because it was such a love. However, I knew that I simply needed to trust God and He would take care of the rest. Who would have imagined that 11 years later I would be doing BOTH things I love, radio AND ministry. God is good! I do not know what the future holds for me, but for the time being God is granting my desire to do both.

So with all that said, if you are struggling with offering something to the Lord, know that He has your best interest in mind and He will always give you what is best if you trust Him!

Stay strong!

GGD concert...

Here it is...our pic from the meet and greet w/ the Goo Goo Dolls. Great show along with Colby Caillat and Lifehouse who did a great job as well. If it comes to your town, it is worth checking it out if you are fan of any of the bands. Here's the pic...thanks guys for taking the time!

The New Puppy...

Here ya go...he sure is cute. Anyone interested?

Here he is making his first appearance while we were looking at the other puppy. We did not set this up, he did it on his own.

Here's a close up of his cute little face

You can see just how little he is...

No bigger than the palm of my hand...but still so cute.

Finally a good shot of mom and pups-once we got her to settle down a little bit. We'll have more pictures as he grows so keep watching.

Jack's a daddy!

We received word tonight that Jackson is officially a daddy. Heather (the girl Yorkie we mated Jack with) had her first pup this evening. We don't know yet if they'll be more or if it is a boy or girl and it seems a bit early to me (we're still under 8 weeks) but so far it seems like mom and baby are doing just fine. I'll post pics and more news as I have it.

200 and counting...

Well not much more to say, I just wanted to get this post in so I officially had 200 posts. With that in mind, I am just curious who all reads this thing. I know who some of you are, but I am curious who else reads what I occasionally have to say. Just leave me your name and social (okay no social) and how (if) we know each other. Thanks for taking the time to read occasionally. Ya'll are awesome!

-Matt

This is gonna be cool...

You have heard me talk about Dave Ramsey before. One of the main things he suggests doing as a way of helping to get out of debt quicker is to pick up some extra part time work that doesn't interfere with your job or family life. After much talking, I decided to do that and the result was getting hired on at Cumulus Media here in town. I will be working with them doing some part time radio work. This is awesome as I have been wanting to get back into the broadcasting realm for some time now.

So it looks like I am going to be working mainly with Q100, the modern rock/mix station as well as possibly doing some with the AM news station and perhaps even the soul station (guess I better get in touch with my inner Stevie Wonder). I start tomorrow helping with a remote (man-on-the street at a local business) but the coolest part is that I am helping next Wednesday night with the "VIP Sound check party" (private sound check) for the Goo Goo Dolls concert which will be in town...man this is gonna be cool!

We're going to be grandparents...

Okay before you freak out and want to know how in the heck this is possible, let me explain. Obviously we have no children yet, but we found out last night that Jackson is going to be a daddy which makes us grandparents. So if you know of anyone who is looking for a pure breed Yorkie, we'll have one for sale this fall. He/She should be ready the first part of October since the litter is due mid-August. Pray the litter is healthy and the mommy does well since it is risky for the female giving birth. I'll post pictures when I have them.