Time Away

Lance and I leave early tomorrow morning for Refuge.

August 10, 1991

Today is my 17th wedding anniversary!

Some day I'll scan in a few wedding pictures for you all to enjoy. Our hair styles alone will be quite entertaining. I love my husband, and I love the 17 years of married life we have had together. I'm looking forward to many more.

We're leaving right now for a few days of camping. The family is loading up the car, so I've got to run!

Back from Barnabas

Lance returned home today from 9 days at Camp Barnabas. He is tired, and sick. We are glad he's home. We missed him tons!

April 1, 1988

Twenty years ago today, Lance and I went out on our first date. I was 16 and a junior in high school. He was 20. I met him in January at a youth event at my church. I was attending the event, Lance was leading one of the middle school groups. When he called a couple of months later to ask me out I said, "I'll ask my Mom." Mom said yes, and the rest is history.

The night we went out was not only April Fool's Day, but also Good Friday. I spent the night before the date with Ericka (my best high school friend) and tried on just about everything in both of our closets as she helped me decide what I would wear. It was an hour drive (from Longview, TX to Bossier City, LA) for Lance to get to my house. He showed up for the date with roses for me and also flowers for my mom - very smart! The weather was terrible that night, the area was under a tornado warning. We had dinner at Ralph and Kacoos, then rented Roxanne and went back to my house to watch it.

It was a great first date. In fact, he called me the next day and drove back over that afternoon for our second date!

Last Comedy Update

Lance didn't get a call back, but he had a great time yesterday. I now have a little more info on how NBC did the auditions.

The "known comics," (those who have performed at Gotham or other big clubs) were given a time to audition, they didn't have to wait in line to try to make it through the first cut. These are the people that will most likely go right on to the next phase of the competition. By the time Lance's group got in, there wasn't even much serious consideration going on, if any. They had already met their quota from the day's auditions. Lance went on in a group of 6, and they waited to be pointed at in random order to speak. He says that a production assistant was doing the pointing and he didn't even let them finish a joke before he pointed at someone else.

Lance did get to meet a few stars like Bill Bellamy and a guy from The Sopranos, and another one or two that I don't remember. He also met a professional comic who is blind and Lance helped him get around during his audition. He got to hang out in Time's Square for the day. He got to see how shows like this are made. And, he may be seen on tv for a few seconds when the New York audition episode is aired. All in all a great experience. I'm glad he tried it.

Comedy Update

Lance is now headed home, and should be here in a few hours [see previous post]. I have a million questions about how this whole audition process works and what his day was like. He is not much of a phone talker and is exhausted, so my curiosity will have to wait. For now I'll give you the condensed version I got during our last conversation.

Over 300 people showed up to the audition today. It was a very long day of waiting around to get your time before the "judges" (I don't know what these people are called). He thinks he did well, but does not expect a call back. They were told that those called back would need to be there tomorrow for a 2nd audition.

Comedy

Right now Lance is waiting in line at Gotham Comedy Club in New York City to try out for Last Comic Standing. He is number 208. And, he just told a joke on a radio show doing a broadcast there.

I'll update more later.

Super Bowl

We enjoyed watching the Super Bowl at our house this year with a few friends. This may seem like a lame party to you, but for me it was a first, and it was perfect.

Lance has worked in student ministry for 20 years now. He has spent the last 17 years hosting Super Bowl parties at churches for students.

These parties have been great fun, and I have attended almost every one. But, this year I actually got to sit on my couch next to Lance and watch the game. It was a great game and a great, relaxing time for both of us.

Just Another Sunday Together at LifePoint

Here it is. The finale from Children's/Student Ministry Weekend Services at Lifepoint, May 2007.

Game Day

Another win for the Cowboys today! 8-1, what a season so far.

Lance spent the day at the game in New York with friends tailgating and watching the Cowboys win again. He's on his way home now, and has had a great day.

Happy Birthday to You

Lance's 40th birthday was Monday, October 29. He was home all day, so that made the surprise gathering I had planned for that night a little bit difficult. He was able to get some much needed rest all morning (after a couple of busy work weeks, including an ALG retreat and The Hunt). That afternoon the girls and I gave him our presents and later we went out to dinner.

By the time we got back to our house, he had an idea that something might be going on. But, he says he wasn't sure. Anyway, there was no way to tell that our house was filled with about 25 friends until the door was opened. We ended the day with some great people, Lance's favorite party foods (these include: poppy seed cake, Little Smokies, salsa, queso, Tostitos, and Fritos) and an incredible birthday cake.

Here It Goes Again . . . and Again

This is the first video I have posted on my blog. And, what better to start with than this one? Lance, Jason, Jeff, and Ben did an incredible job on the treadmills. You may have seen it on Lance's blog, but this is a better quality version. Enjoy!

The 2nd Century

My husband is amazing! Yesterday he finished his second century. 105 miles on his road bike over hills and mountains in about 8 hours. The Civil War Century is not an easy ride. High temperatures made it tougher this year. But, he did it again!

Barnabas Bound

Instead of going back to Student Life Camp this year, Underground Student Movement went to Shippensburg University, Pennsylvania for the first ever Reality Week. This was the first time for Lance and Jason to "do" their own summer camp. It was a lot of work, but it seems to have been an incredible week for everyone involved. Over 90 students and about 20 adults attended. Scott Murrill was the speaker, and Billy and Cindy Foote and band led worship.

While Lance was at camp, I enjoyed having my mom here with me and the girls and Chad flew up to spend a few days with us, too. It was good to have Lance home for a week after camp, but now he is off again.

Today Lance and a group of high school and college students are headed to Camp Barnabas in Purdy, Missouri. He just called to let me know they are in Atlanta. After a two hour layover they will depart for Missouri.

The group will go through training for a day, then for the next seven days of camp each one will be assigned to a special needs camper. This week at Barnabas is set aside for blind campers, so all attending camp will be visually impaired. Once assigned to their camper, they will be "on duty" day and night, with the exception of about an hour rest time each afternoon.

Lance took a group to Barnabas two years ago and it was one of the most tiring but rewarding trips he has ever made. After Lance was there in summer 2005, Barnabas was featured on Extreme Home Makeover and received lots of publicity. It should be neat for them to see the improvements that show made possible for the camp. I can't wait to hear all about this year's trip.

Ride

Underground Student Movement's first annual Ride of Passage begins today. Lance and Jason left this morning to bike about 140 miles of the C&O Trail with a group of high school guys. Today they are driving to Cumberland, Maryland, where they'll begin their ride at the far western end of the trail. From there they will ride about 40 miles each morning then set up camp for that night. They will be riding through a really interesting historic area and will see some beautiful scenery along the canal and the Potomac River.

13

Chloe and I dropped Lance off at the airport this morning. He'll be in Houston until Monday. He's flying down on Friday the 13th. His flight number is 113. His plan was to try to sit on row 13 (Southwest - no assigned seats). Wonder if that worked out?

We'll kick off the weekend here with pizza and movies with some friends tonight. I may spend tomorrow painting Chloe's room. I've been wanting to get that done for a while, and some friends offered to help. Now I just need to get motivated, and make a final decision on the color. Why is that always so hard?

Winter

This week we've seen snow, then ice, then more snow. Schools have been closed for three days now. The sledding was great yesterday and today. Here are some pics from our neighborhood.

DC

Photos from our day in DC with Mom and Chad last week.

National Christmas Tree

White House

Lincoln Memorial

Girls looking at the Reflecting Pool

Lincoln Memorial at Sunset

Dinner in China Town

Holiday Highlights

We did not travel at Christmas this year as we have for the last two. This was our first Christmas spent in Maryland. We missed seeing all the Burches in East Texas, but enjoyed having Mom and Chad here with us for the week. It was also great to be a part of the Christmas Eve services at LifePoint. The music, testimonies, and message were amazing.

The girls had a blast and got lots of nice gifts. We spent time visiting and playing games with family and friends, shopping, and visiting Washington DC. School started back today, and as usual I was not ready for the holiday to end. Back to the grind!

Trick or Treat?

We had fun last night in our neighborhood. The girls collected so much candy that they could barely carry their bags home.