Bora Bora

We’ve decided to stay 1 night at the Intercontinental Resort Tahiti in Papeete, Tahiti soon after landing.

Intercontinental Resort Tahiti

Intercontinental Resort Tahiti - Panoramic View Room

After staying in Tahiti for the night, we plan to fly to Bora Bora and spend the rest of our honeymoon at the Four Seasons Bora Bora.  We reserved an Overwater Lagoon View Bungalow with a Honeymoon package for four days.  It will be simply awesome.  The website pretty much sold me the moment I saw it for the first time!

Four Seasons Bora Bora

A view of the Four Seasons Resort

Here are a few pictures of the Overwater Lagoon View Bungalow that we are staying in…

A view of the Overwater Lagoon View

A second view of the Overwater Lagoon View

A third view of the Overwater Lagoon View

The VIP Package

Last Wednesday,  I was lucky enough to be one of the select few across the country to hear Armistice at a listening party on MuteMath’s tour bus before it’s release.  I was able to meet Greg from MuteMath and their roadie Jordan (who is pretty darn hilarious in some of the video blogs).  I purchased two VIP packages for the Armistice concert tour for myself and Alison which included the following:

• Concert tickets to MuteMath’s concert at the Ogden theater in Denver on October 14
• VIP pass for advance entry into the concert before the general public.  The concert is general admission so there is no assigned seating.  This alone was worth the cost of purchasing our VIP packages.
• Lithograph of Armistice’s album cover
• T-shirt with the Armistice album cover and MuteMath logo
• An awesome MuteMath bag
• B-side digital downloads of The Nerve, Armistice (2nd Line Version) feat. Rebirth Brass Band, and Valium @320kbps
• Digital download of Armistice on August 18th, 2009 @320kbps
• Invitation to the MuteMath Mobile Listening Party (MMLP) in Denver on July 15th, 2009.
• Membership in MuteMath’s first fan club.  This isn’t advertised on MuteMath’s website in the description of the VIP package for the Armistice tour, but it is included as a perk.

Take note, this VIP package IS worth the price of admission if you are a fan of MuteMath and want to see them live in concert.

First Impressions of Armistice

The sound of the new album, Armistice, is for a lack of a better word, incredible.  It is completely different from their first record and self-titled release.  I can’t remember what every song sounded like as I have only heard it once, but it has a great mix of tempo, genres, and variety of different instruments.  I am by no means a musical expert, but here are my thoughts about some of the songs I do remember:

• Armistice (2nd Line Version) feat. Rebirth Brass Band – The version I have heard is from the B-sides download for Armistice but I believe it is also on the final LP with some changes. It has an incredible jazz feel to it that pays tribute to past decades.  If I knew how to swing dance, this would be a fun one to swing dance to!  This is another favorite of mine.
• Burden - starts out fast paced and switches to a slower tempo about halfway through.  I am not sure, but I think there may have been a secret track at the end of this when it switches to the slower tempo.  Either way, it sounds amazing.  I literally had goosebumps listening to this one.  It was THAT good.
• Lost Year – It reminded me of a story of a romance.  From the start of the song to the end of it, I couldn’t seem to get enough of it.  It had a somewhat slow tempo, but the tempo definitely suited the song.
• Spotlight - I didn’t like Spotlight at first, but it has definately grown on me immensely the more I’ve listened to it.  It’s pretty fast paced.  My favorite part is probably when the song stops halfway through and all hear is clapping.  It’s a nice pause that ties the song together.
• The Nerve – fast paced, pretty freaking awesome sounding.  If you like Typical, you will LOVE The Nerve.  The lyrics and instruments are perfectly put together.  It is probably one of my personal favorites so far.
• Valium (B-side digital download only) – Slow tempo.  One of those songs you can sit back, close your eyes, and relax to as you unwind from a long day.  I wish this song had made it to the final LP, but according to Greg from MuteMath, they just couldn’t seem to find a place for it.

As a sophmore record, MuteMath has definitely outdone themselves.  Their first record was awesome, but Armistice is a completely different sound and represents a new direction for the band.  I cannot wait until August 18th, 2009 for its release.  Furthermore, I cannot wait to see them perform Armistice live in concert on October 14th, 2oo9 in Denver!

I just returned from spending a wonderful July 4th weekend with Alison.  On Friday, Alison and I spent the afternoon with my parents at the Children’s Museum in downtown Indianapolis. We acted like a bunch of twelve year olds at every opportunity that we could get in just to have fun.  The coolest thing we saw was a glass sculpture tower and a ceiling that had colorful sculptures spread everywhere.  You could look up at this ceiling from a rotating seat and see all kinds of neat things. That night, we had a wonderful dinner with her sister and her husband.

On Saturday, July 4th, it poured rain all day. Alison and I had hoped to go swimming in the afternoon but weren’t able to do so.  In the evening, we attended a wedding for two of Alison’s friends and I was finally able to meet some of her friends that she had told all about me.

The following is a soap box rant and reflects my thoughts on I witnessed today at church. This is just personal opinion, not fact.

On Sunday, Alison and I attended church and heard an extreme evangelist, John Muncy, speak.  I was rather disgusted with how this so-called preacher delivered a message that twisted the bible and took it’s words out of context in such a way that it fit his own desires.  He was completely offensive in his message by attacking homosexuals, adultery, pornography, and even used the term “whore” when he referenced to the South Carolina governor’s recent actions during his “message”.  He even attacked Michael Jackson, who died no less than two weeks ago!  This is completely WRONG and irrelevant teaching to the bible.  God did not intend his word to be twisted and attack his believers like the way that John Muncy did today.  Instead, Christianity is about God’s grace and forgiveness of us, not condemning someone because they’ve screwed up.  No one is perfect.  However, we are forgiven through the death of Jesus Christ. What I witnessed today is the sort of thing I was originally afraid of when exploring Christianity.  What John Muncy delivered today is the very sort of message that is likely to drive new Christians and those exploring faith away. I cannot believe the words I heard today from this man’s mouth. I wanted to smack John Muncy.  HARD.

Ok, stepping down from my soap box.

• Dining room table and chairs.  I’ve ordered the table, but I won’t have it until the end of October.  The chairs will be bought soon, hopefully on sale next month.
• Automotive and Renter’s Insurance.  I collected a few quotes today from the major players in the Insurance industry.  Automotive insurance is NOT cheap, especially if you are male and under the age of 25 like I am.  Stereotypes suck.  I am by no means a dangerous driver, but apparently being these two items is criteria for high insurance rates.
• Printer.  I could have bought this already but am waiting to get the above two big ticket items out of the way.
• Night stand.
• Coffee table.
• Various kitchen stuff, mainly cutlerly, extra pots and pans.

The search for a new church home has been completed as well.  I am attending a church that has 6,000 members combined with three services, and two locations.  I thought that Oakbrook was big with it’s 1900 capacity… This is much bigger.  Both locations are linked together via a live telecast.  The messages taught each week are incredibly thought provoking.  It has been a little hard to make friends in a church of this size, but hopefully the upcoming small group I will be joining will help to alleviate this problem.

This past weekend saw me home in Indiana visiting family for Labor Day weekend with Alison.  It was too short.  However, great strides were made because my parents are finally warming up to Alison.  This was incredibly apparent at dinner at the Half Moon Brewery on Saturday when they were completely enthralled in conversation with her.  I can tell that they really like her.  Sunday saw the two of us attending church together before heading to Seymour.  Worship was amazing… we heard Hillsong United’s Shout Unto God in her car on the way there and then got to sing it at church as well!

Next week will be interesting as I travel to Huntsville, Alabama for a business trip.  I have never been on a business trip where I have to stay overnight in a hotel.  Even still, 12 hours of my work week will be spent in airports and on planes.

The one thing I miss from Indiana is all of the amazing friendships I have made in the last two years of my collegiate career.  There are so many influential people that I met at the Light and Truth Bible Studies that I truly miss being able to converse and enjoy their company with.  I almost wish that I had never left Indiana.  It is so hard not being able to talk to these people in person much less on the phone.

Comment.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.  It’d let me know that someone is actually reading these things!

The next day, June 29th 2008, we headed toward Colorado Springs from Topeka.  This day decided to be a little hectic for some reason.  That reason was the fact that I was effectively purchasing gasoline for two vehicles on a single credit card during the course of the trip.  Needless to say, my credit card company decided to lock me out of my credit card at a gas station some where in Kansas and then again at a gas station just off of US 24 outside of Limon, CO.  The first time it happened I expected it but the second time it happened I wasted almost 20 minutes calling my credit card company to clear up the situation.  They blamed the gas station’s “modems” and said that “sometimes these things just don’t connect up to our network correctly.”  Yeah right, I didn’t buy that excuse for a minute.  I was a bit annoyed, but I understood why they locked me out of my credit card both times.  They were only taking precautions so that someone other than me was not making erroneous transactions.

We arrived in Colorado Springs, CO from the South via US 24 on June 29th, 2008 around 5pm Mountain time and took a few streets that I can’t really recall the names of on the way to find my apartment before heading to our hotel for the night.  June 30th was spent unloading my truck and unpacking the master bedroom and bath.  This proved to be interesting because I had a hard time finding a shower curtain I liked and had help from Alison on that one.   Having picked this apartment from the internet I think I did okay.  About the only major things that bug me about the complex are the poor grounds maintenance, noisy upstairs neighbors, and lack of free parking where my apartment is located.  However, within a few days of moving in I opted for a covered parking space in order to avoid having to fight for a parking space every day.  Other than those items mentioned, I love my apartment thus far.

Garden of the Gods

July 1st, 2008.  Apparently this day was dedicated to getting out and seeing some of the sights of Colorado.  I had a feeling that I would fall in love with this state before moving here.  I was right.  The first thing on the itinerary was a visit to the Garden of the Gods.  Words cannot describe how amazing this was.  I was surrounded by huge red formations of rock that stood hundreds of feet into the air with the Rocky Mountains in the background.  We also visited the Cave of the Winds and a park with cliff dwellings as well.

July 2nd, 2008 was spent doing a major amount of shopping for my apartment.  I had to find a better shower rod because the ones that were supplied by the apartment complex had to sit way above the shower’s tiling because of their length and were rather poor in quality.  I found a dual curtain rod at Bed Bath and Beyond that fit my needs perfectly.

July 3rd, 2008.  Yet another day of sight-seeing.  This one simply blew me away because we went to Pike’s Peak via the Manitou Cog Railway.  If you ever visit Colorado, you simply must make a stop at Pike’s Peak.  14,110 feet of pure amazing beauty.

You could see for miles in all different directions.  The coolest thing was seeing the clouds coming around the mountain.  It was a little bit chilly since I was so high up, but it was manageable.  I forgot to dress warmly because of the altitude but had a jacket that I borrowed from a family member.  I would have froze without it because it was only about 47 degrees Farenheit up there.  I think I also got a bit of altitude sickness as well, because I had a pretty bad migraine for the rest of the afternoon due to thinner air at 14K.  The one thing I want to do is experience Pike’s Peak in the winter to compare it to what it is like in the summer.

I’ve been pretty much spending tons of money setting up my apartment since moving in.  I’ve sunk a sizeable chunk of money into my kitchen buying dinnerware, cookware, flatware, groceries, etc. all in an attempt to be able to eat.  I have my cookware and flatware already, but am waiting for my dinnerware to arrive via UPS from Amazon and Pfaltzgraff.  My next big ticket item to purchase would be a couch because I need something in my living room to sit on.  That would be really nice because I’ve been sitting on the floor whenever I want to watch television.  Not fun!

It’s really true that your first apartment is the most expensive.  You’re basically buying everything that you need to live on a daily basis.  I thought I had a decent amount of my needs covered before I moved.  I thought wrong!  Let me tell you, it sure isn’t very fun eating on paper plates and sitting on the floor to watch tv.  I can’t wait for my dinnerware to arrive so I can eat from a real plate again.  Living on my own for the first time is definitely an adjustment, but it has been manageable so far.  I just have to be responsible with my spending and buying necessities so that I do not fall into debt.

I simply love Colorado.  I cannot wait to start my new job next week and discover all of the possibilities for sightseeing out here.

This moving experience has taught me a great deal.  I’ve learned that I apparently did not order enough boxes or bubble wrap to pack my possessions.  I used every single box that we had in my house plus three extra that I had to go buy from Staples.  I probably bought $40.00 dollars worth of bubble wrap (260 feet worth) in addition to what bubble wrap came with my packing boxes.  The most interesting part of packing my truck was when my friend Luke and I tried to take my desk apart only for my father and I to realize later that the stupid thing was glued together.

The next few weeks will be spent unpacking, purchasing new furniture, appliances, and other apartment related items.  In this same time frame, I have to get acclaimated to my new employer.  It is hard to believe that I finished school in four solid years and landed an awesome job opportunity.  I am so excited to be finally living on my own for the first time.  It means accepting a lot of new responsibilities, but I know that I will be able to handle it.

I can see myself changing a great deal in Colorado.  I’ve already changed so much within the last month, but I think that Colorado will irrevocably change me for the rest of my life.

I basically have several rooms to pack for:

1. Bathroom
2. Bedroom
3. Kitchen/Laundry
4. Living Room
5. Office

In the last three days I have spent time basically trying to figure out what needs to go where.  I guess I’m kind of figuring it out as I go…  which probably isn’t good, but I don’t really feel like trying to take the time to organize it all before packing.  That would just slow me down.  All in all, it’s probably a good thing I started packing a week early.  I have maybe 40% of my stuff packed but need to pack a ton more.

It’s amazing how much junk you can accumulate over the years… I spent last night going through my electronics for my office and separated what was mine, my fathers, and what was junk.  Needless to say, I cut the pile down in half.  My goal is to only take items that I absolutely want to take.

1 week.  I can’t believe I’m moving in 1 week.  Wow.

Yesterday in church I realized just how much God has been guiding me on my path of life. I connected with him in such a way during worship that brought tears of joy to my eyes. I actually cried in church. Yea, it was that powerful. It’s almost as if God set me up for the failures that I have been through in the past, especially with relationships and dating, so that I would eventually discover Alison. We’d been friends for over a year and a half, and it was only recently after the Skillet concert and throughout the month of May that we both realized that there was a connection between us. “His timing is never early or late but exactly on time.” These words are so true. Even though I am moving to Colorado, I know that God intended both of these things to happen within a matter of months of each other. Moving to Colorado may have came first, but equally important is God directing me toward that something I’ve been looking for a very long time. For the first time in my life, I am truly happy and it is all because of the lord.

Side note: I’m looking for help on June 27th, 2008 to load my moving truck. Help is greatly appreciated. Let me know if you’re interested, please.

Change is good. God is good.

I’ve been reading Wild at Heart by John Eldridge lately for the small group that I am a member of. Prior to starting to read it, I’d heard so much about it that intrigued my interest as to why a man (or woman…) needed to read a book about masculinity. Now I understand why… We each have some sort of wound that hinders us from moving forward in our lives that we must let go of in order to grow so much stronger in the lord. I’m not even halfway through the book and it has helped me to realize that holding on to past wounds only leads us creating a “false self” that we hide behind. For me this is definitely true, because I found myself hiding my true self behind that of an individual who wanted to please everyone and be considered “cool”. Wild at Heart definitely has been a positive influence on my life. I seriously needed to read this book when I started to read it because reading this book has lead to a lot of changes within me that I can’t even begin to describe with mere words.

On the moving front, things are somewhat starting to come together. I was panicking there for while, but I think I’m managing to figure things out finally. Tomorrow I plan to hopefully reserve an apartment on the upper northeast side of Colorado Springs. This was an extremely tough decision for me because I’ve had to weigh many different criteria as outlined in my Looking for An Apartment Blog entry as well as a few new considerations such as crime rate, renovation, and personal opinions of previous tenets. I’ve gone back and forth between the two complexes I am looking at numerous times… and the deciding factor apparently was living in an area with virtually no crime vs. one that had the national average for crime rate. I think you can figure out which one I chose. Unfortunately, this means somewhat higher monthly expenses, but I should be able to manage it.

Finally, it seems to be that I might be moving anywhere within the week of June 22nd… with the actual drive happening during the weekend possibly. Yikes. I better get to planning on this rather quickly! I need to find a rental truck, airline tickets for family involved in my move, hotel rooms, plan the actual route to Colorado Springs, and get packed.

All things come true in him. He is what leads us to those unexpected treasures in life.

Academically, my grades were ok in high school. I wasn’t a high achieving honors student or a complete failure, but I did get decent enough grades. Still though, my grades were rather average in my eyes. High School felt like the material being learned was forced and I didn’t particularly care for the majority of it. College is a different story though. I managed to maintain a very respectable GPA throughout my college career and enjoyed most of what I’ve learned.

I don’t know about you, but I simply hated high school because I was constantly teased by many people about all sorts of stupid things. This teasing really played a huge role in me being really lonely throughout high school up until finding Christ in 2007 (more on this later). Socializing with people was pretty much nonexistent to me because I didn’t fit the in-crowd or wasn’t doing the “cool” thing like underage drinking or partying. Why is it that kids feel that drinking and partying is the only way to be cool? I really don’t get it. Being wasted all the time is not my idea of fun. I’d rather enjoy a solid conversation with a friend over being inebriated any day.

Even worse, I was afraid of this thing called “dating” because I thought things like “what if she doesn’t like me??” or “What if she says no to going on a date with me?”. I constantly thought “I don’t know if I could handle that sort of rejection”. Past experiences with dating had only ended in complete failure, which was why I was so fearful of taking a risk. That fear took a really long time to get over… and probably didn’t happen until late last year when I met my girlfriend of the time. This was a huge step for me and I’m still amazed that I got over my fear. Even though that relationship has since ended, I am still glad that it happened. If she’s reading this, thank you for that wonderful experience that we shared together.

Throughout last year, I went from a kid who felt like no one in the world cared that he existed to having formed a relationship with the almighty above. This was bigger than anything that has happened to me over the past four years. If it were not for my discovery of Christ, I probably would still be as unhappy as I was beforehand. I have been so much more joyful in my walk with the lord than I have ever been in the previous 21 years of my life. I distinctly remember completely accepting Christ into my heart in church one day this past September at the end of a service where the sinner’s prayer was being incorporated. In that moment, I remember reciting the sinner’s prayer and being overcome with an immense feeling of instant connection with him and forgiveness of all of my past mistakes. He gave me strength and the will to get over that fear of rejection, got me through those 16 weeks of hell that is CIT 405 Software Engineering Methodologies, and even helped me come out of my social shell back in the end of 2006/beginning of 2007 when I started to realize that I need relationships to function as a person. Looking back on my discovery of Christ, I know that he was acting through others in leading this black sheep to him. This is powerful. It makes me hope that I can do the same for others who have yet to find Christ like I did.

I won’t lie when I say this, sometimes I feel like I have friends, yet still don’t. When I say this, I mean that it sometimes feels like I have all these friends but have not gotten a chance to know any of them on a deeper level. I also don’t get interaction with many of these friends because frankly, most of them don’t actually call or I don’t call to talk or simply hang out. I really wish it wasn’t like this. Also, I feel that I have lost touch with a few of them because of various circumstances that are beyond my control. I want to change all of this before it’s too late.

Now, here I am four years later, finished with college and about to start writing another chapter of life’s journey. Apparently that journey involves Colorado Springs, CO. I’ve got a little less than two months to prepare for the move and so much to do.

Next stop, Colorado.