Thanksgiving

Even though we're no longer in school, Rebecca and I still get to take a similar style break for the holiday season. Since Samford shuts down and my business is in its seasonal slow, we got to take several days off.

My aunt and uncle from Minnesota were in town with my grandparents. They all came to Birmingham on Wednesday. So we had our family meal with them that evening. Rebecca and I then headed to Starkville to see her Dad's side of the family.

This was my 9th trip back to Starkville since we left at the end of July. This was my first time ever though to be in Starkville over Thanksgiving. The city was the calmest I've ever seen it with all the students and a lot of residents out of town for the Holiday. I went on my 'long' run before the actual half marathon next weekend. I did 12.5 miles in just under two hours. So I should be able to meet my goal of two hours for the actual race. We stayed at Mammie's house. Rebecca's parents were also there that first night. Thanksgiving day the rest of the family came to town. We had a great meal and I think I was the only one who went back for seconds. Maybe because I ran so much that morning. Soon after we ate it got very quiet as everyone found a corner to lie down and nap. That's one of my favorite parts of the holiday. A full stomach with nothing to do but relax. After everyone began to stir we decided to go to campus and take some family photos. The weather was still unusually warm that day so I'm in shorts. That evening everyone except Mammie, Rebecca, and me headed home. It was good to get some time with Mammie without all the action of the big crowd.

Friday was Mammie's birthday so we took her to Old Venice for lunch. When we got back they took a nap. Rebecca got in one of her 3 hours specials. I called up my friend Matthew so I would have someone to watch the Iron Bowl with. What and up and down heart break. Mammie had some extra tickets to MSU's basketball game so Rebecca and I went for the first half. Good to get to see the a little of the basketball team. Although I'd be surprised if we do very well in SEC play.

Our evening activity and reason for the extended stay was the MSU Egg Ball. The family we did the Bat Mitzvah for back in June asked up if we would shoot the event. Being a charity fund raiser they couldn't pay us, but it gives up the opportunity to sell the photos online and make a lot of good contacts. The event was to raise money for Kids Count. They had a live and silent auction, a band, and dancing. It took place on the club level of Davis Wade Stadium. It lasted four hours and we took a lot of pictures. It was a nice change from a wedding since we weren't in charge of anything and could just document the events of the evening. Hopefully we will get some orders. Even if we don't make a lot of money off the event, we were going to be in Starkville anyways for Thanksgiving and we got to spend some extra time with Mammie.

We headed out on Saturday around 1. We helped put up some of Mammie's Christmas decorations before we left. She had laid awake a good portion of the night with a fibulation in her heart. So she was thrilled when she saw her decorations up. It was a great trip and lots of fun with family. Rebecca was able to catch up on her rest and get away from editing for a while.  We are so fortunate to have such wonderful families that not only get along, but enjoy being with each other.

Looking in all the Wrong Places

I'm in the book of Luke right now and came to Chapter 2. I almost skipped over since it was the Christmas story and we're not to Thanksgiving yet. My personal policy is no Christmas 'til after Thanksgiving. But, I figured I could break my policy for the bible. The part that stuck with me that day was Jesus being left at the temple (Luke 2:41-52). I don't remember ever being left anywhere as a kid. The closest thing I can remember is Mom not being able to find me in a department store. We were with some other people, I think my Mom's side of the family, so I'm sure she thought I was with another adult. I remember wandering around having a good time when over the store intercom came something along the lines of "Brett Long your mother is waiting for you at the front of the store." I did as the voice commanded and was reunited with a worried mother.

So I can see how Mary and Joseph could lose Jesus. I'm sure they had other children at this point and they were not perfect like their savior brother. I bet when they were rounding up their kids, Jesus was always last on the roll call since he never caused any trouble and like the bible says they assumed he was with family. When they realized he was missing it took them 3 days to find him. My Mom got concerned when I was missing for a few minutes, so 3 days to Mary must have felt like a lifetime. They would be arrested for child neglect today. Anyways, when they finally found him he gave his famous response  "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" 


When I've read this in the past I usually think about how spiritual and smart Jesus was even at 12 years old. This time I started to think about when we are looking for Jesus in our lives. So many times I look in the wrong places or make it more difficult than it has to be. Jesus is not hiding from us. He has made it quite clear how to find him. We are the stubborn ones who continue to look on our own. Whether you are seeking for the first time or just trying to learn more, we have all we need in the bible. You may find hints in other places, but to truly know him you must go to his word. When we find Jesus I feel we will ask ourselves the same question: "Why was I looking (in all the wrong places) for Jesus?" The answer is this case is the most obvious, right where he told us he would be.


"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:13

Coast to Coast

The other night Rebecca and I were up at Samford past midnight for homecoming activities. I'm a big talk radio fan, but don't get to tune in much at that time of night. I've heard George Norry on Coast to Coast AM a couple times, but my interest got sparked again after hearing Greg from Rick and Bubba reference it a few times. I told Rebecca to tune in for comedic value for our drive home sine we were in separate cars. We picked a good time.

The guest for that particular segment was Dr. Roger Leir whose day job is to extract objects from humans that are not terrestrial in orgin. He believes they are some type of communication/monitoring device. Fascinating. He also introduced me to MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network, where you can find all the alien information your heart desires. What was so interesting to me is how the host and guest talked about it so casually, like its no big deal and no one out there would question their legitimacy. I don't really have a stance on aliens, mainly because I haven't given it much thought. Spiritually its hard for me to fit them into the plan of salvation, of God sending his only son to this Earth to die for our sins. However, I'm okay with saying I don't know. From an earthly standpoint, I find it interesting that the people who are into this stuff are either super weird or talk about it at 1 AM.

Anyways, I thought the whole exchange was unique and if you're ever driving late and need help staying awake tune into Coast to Coast. It will do the trick.

Old Times

I'm going to back track a little. We had our first overnight visitors this past weekend. David and Emily came to spend a jam packed weekend with us.

As soon as they got here on Friday, we headed to Samford for a volleyball game. Rebecca had to shoot the final home game of the season. It was David's first volleyball game to see in person. The girls lost unfortunately. We then headed to Jim and Nick's. This has by far been the restaurant we've frequented the most. Partly because its so good, but also because we can walk to it. After stuffing ourselves with cheese biscuits we came back and settled in for the night. We ended up watching our wedding video since it was the only DVD we've unpacked and it was sitting by the TV.

We had to get off to an early start Saturday because Rebecca had to shoot the NCAA Southeast Regional Cross Country Championship at Spain Park. We got Panera Bread for breakfast. While their bagels are good, I don't get the "desiring of them" quite like the females in our group. Anyways, it was a beautiful day so I didn't mind going out there. David and Emily got their long run of the week in while we took pictures of people running. Also we got to see Matt, Mom, and Nathan and Ashley Taylor as they came to watch Matt's girlfriend, Loren, run for MSU. She did very well setting a new personal record and the MSU girls came in 5th overall. The Samford girls came in 10th. It lasted til about noon. After lunch and showers we headed to some furniture stores for the Franci to look at bedroom suits. Our evening activity took place at my parents house to watch MSU vs. Alabama, since they have cable. To make us feel like we were at the tailgate we took the TV on the back patio and watched the game as we sat around the fire. I had a blast combining the two settings. However, I did catch lots of flack for my split allegiance between the two teams. It is something I have dealt with since my freshman year and shows its head every November. I know in my mind it should be an easy decision to ditch the Tide for the Dawgs, since I spent 7 years at MSU and met my wife there, but in my heart the struggle is still there. My loving wife did not let my struggles go unnoticed all weekend. My determination to cheer for the Dawgs did not last long as the game got one sided pretty quick. Another year to work out my issue.

Some are cold than others

Rebecca's usual reaction to football.

We continued to put a dent in our bagel supply then headed to church. David Platt spoke on missions and evangelizing and how we are all called as Christians. Not just the gifted and not at some date in the future, but right now. Afterwards we tried a restaurant other than Jim and Nicks. Our final stop was Red Mango for frozen yogurt.

The fun and busy weekend quickly came to a close. It was like old times having them over for the weekend and I'm sure there will be more to come.

Rainy Day

It rained all day here yesterday, so that means no working outside for me. It also gives one time to go buy things. We've been debating what our next purchase for our home should be. October we did washer/dryer and for November we decided to go with a TV. We've been using a TV I got for high school graduation. Its about 19" and as deep as it is wide and tall. Our new living room layout is limited in set-up options and the best choice seems to be the TV mounted on the wall above the fireplace.

I've been wanting a new TV for a while, but have held back. Rebecca and I went around to several store on Sunday evening and found a model we liked. I came home and looked at them online and found one a little cheaper. Yesterday I printed off the online quote and took it with me to HHGregg. I asked the salesman is he could match it and he took it to his manager. The difference came down to a matter of tax rate. So they matched the price and met me halfway on the tax. The small difference was worth it for not having to deal with delivery, what if problems if something happened, and I got it right then.

We went with a 40" Samsung. I have been asked what we need a nice TV for, if all you have is rabbit ears. While it may be a little overkill, the over the air signals are quite good and we have no trouble seeing the screen now. I thought it appropriate that the first thing I watched was Seinfeld.

Scary warning labels

Comparison with the old.

Coincidentally it was the episode where they buy a big screen for 'The Drake'

Thesis Defense

The thesis was successfully defended, but it took quite a beating. There was very little offense by my side. It started at 1 PM and lasted 2.5 hours. I gave a presentation for 30 or so minutes and then answered questions for the next two hours. There were only a couple of questions I had a definite answer. They were all familiar with the research, so there were no softball questions. All of the rest of the questions were geared to take me down a road to see how much I know. The problem is if I start out incorrectly then they just let me keep going down the wrong path until it becomes obvious my mistakes.

It went by rather quickly and in the end they told me I passed. I didn't really fear not passing, but its still intimidating. I've never heard of anyone not passing and I've never heard of anyone feeling they did really well in their defense. I now have a week to fix all of their final corrections and get it submitted to the library.

A three year saga is about to come to an end and I'm very much ready for it.

Thesis Defense

I'm reaching the end of my thesis work (finally) and its kind of a weird feeling. I'm been so ready for it to be over for so long but to reach the end you have to go through the defense. Something I'm not looking forward to. From what I know, its basically a 3 hour questioning of all your knowledge on your topic. Its sort of an academic hazing. The professors like to find out how much you know and exploit what you don't know. The other side of it is, I've only heard of one guy not passing his defense in our department. So, my motivation to really prepare is lacking. I've scheduled my work load to be light this week so I can have some time to prepare. 

I've had this hanging over my head for a year and the end is finally in sight. My professors and I have gone through 9 revisions, most of them major. Towards the end it started to get frustrating because it got to be "picky" things for a paper that no one will probably ever read again. Oh well, after this week it won't be a big deal.