Playoffs?

Ok so I haven't posted since October. Busy? Yes. My excuse? I'm lazy. I realize what you're about to read is simply my thoughts on the NHL playoffs and not much about my life. I'll get to that later. I also realize my life should be how I'm breaking my blogging silence, not the playoffs. I'm sorry. If you are a man and don't understand the humor in my blog title, we need to talk.

As you probably know, I'm an avid Flyers fan and have been since 4th grade. I scream like an idiot every time they score and I've been growing a playoff beard since before I could grow effective facial hair. The Flyers are currently squaring off against the Pittsburgh Penguins. I've always had a healthy disdain for the Pens. They're a rival. I have always had respect for Mario Lemieux. I used to like Sydney Crosby. He's a young player bringing young fans into the game. But my desire has taken a turn over the past few weeks.

Even before the playoffs, the Flyers and Penguins were angry at each other. After watching game 3 last night, I've lost any respect I had for the Pens and for Sydney. First, Sydney took some hacks at Ilya B, the Flyers' goalie. Not cool. Then Aaron Asham cross checked Brayden Schenn in the face and then punched him in the back of the head. James Neal crushed Sean Courturier when he was not near the puck and then hit Claude Giroux in the head late in the game. Both Asham and Neal have hearings with the commissioner for those. With 4:00 left in the game, Craig Adams instigated a fight (which got him suspended and his coach fined) with Flyers' Scott Hartnell that ended up in him pulling Scottie's hair. Girls pull hair. Really? Sydney cries about calls and then acts like he wants to fight and always backs away. It's hockey. If you don't want to fight, don't step up. Don't rely on all your goons to fight your fights for you. I love a good, hard fought, physical hockey game. It's awesome. That's why I liked the Flyers in the first place. But when you are losing (badly) and you resort to cheap shots and pulling hair, that's classless. If I were a Penguins fan (and by the grace of God I'm not) I would be ashamed of my team. Not only for their inability to put pucks in the net, but also for their poor sportsmanship.

Game 4 Wednesday. I'll have my broom in the living room as the Flyers go for the sweep. What a great time of year.

And that, my friends, is my return to the blogosphere. Good to be back.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2011030143&navid=DLNHLhome
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=628214&navid=DLNHLhome
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=628071

H-Town

Here I sit in Houston. One of Hannah's bridesmaids is getting married today. That means I have some time to kill in a city I know little about. So while Hannah does whatever women do prior to a wedding, I have been busy scouring this town for a little while. So thanks to the internet, I found some sweet things to do. I visited a predominately Mexican farmer's market, a few art galleries in a cool little neighborhood, and I'm about to take a brewery tour. Enjoy the pictures. I look forward to having fajitas and cake tonight at this wedding. And don't worry, I'll report on the cake.

Back in the groove

So September was crazy busy. I got married, went on a honeymoon to amazing Italy, got transferred at work, started up Homework Club for this year, I'm discipling 3 guys, joined a new hockey league, and spending time with Hannah. Life seems crazy at the moment. I love all these things, a ton. But life is busy. I apologize for the lack of pictures celebrating the above. Hannah reminded me that I haven't even posted engagement photos to facebook. That's not cool. You the reader deserve better. And better you will get. Soon. I hope.

I am certain that Italy can't be adequately put into words. I know I say that alot, but I really love that country. Mountains, beaches, villas, vineyards, farmland, food, sunsets, etc. take your breath away almost constantly. The quick story of the honeymoon was Positano, Capri, Bologna, Rome. Each were great, and I could write many stories of cool aspects of each. I will wait until I have my pictures together to capture that.

So I get back from Italy and I forgot how fast Hampton Roads can jolt you back to reality. Upon our return, Hannah's front driver's side tire went flat. I fix the tire and prepare to drive away and the car won't start. Come to find out the previous owner put a smaller than required battery in the car. Not cool. The battery was dead. Now I know that wasn't Hampton Roads' fault, it just seems that bad things happen here logistically. Often. I get back to work the next day and am told that I will be working up at the naval base, as opposed to the shipyard. So I am working with a few other shipyard guys doing small jobs on subs that don't require a shipyard to do them. It's both challenging and educational so I enjoy it, but overtime has kept me from doing things like blogging. And on that note, it's back to work.

Proof the world is about to end

Don't be scared. The world isn't actually going to end. But 2 pieces of evidence point that way. 1) I'm posting twice in 1 week and 2) I finished reading a book. More on that in a moment. First, I survived the hurricane with nothing more than a limb through my trash can. A 1" limb fell on the trash can, puncturing a hole. Hannah's house escaped unscathed. Cleanup took about 2 hours followed by enjoying a beautiful Sunday with not a cloud in the sky. I have begun moving my stuff to Hannah's house which might be the easiest move ever. 5 blocks away and spread out over 4 days? Yes please. I am so pumped for this weekend. I can't believe I'm getting married in 3 days. Whoa.


So I know you're jonesin' for the details on this book. Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. Hannah's dad got it for me for Christmas. Mark is a pastor up in DC. A tough job, I'm sure. I'm not strong enough to do that, but I really liked this book. A great book for Christian men, encouraging them that God didn't design us to be comfortable or to live a life of ease. Rather, to be vulnerable, put yourself out there and to pursue dreams, and all the while have the faith that God will direct you. This is true both in the physical and relational aspects. This is not to say that whatever you pursue, God will grant success in that. But the idea is that the Holy Spirit is a Wild Goose that is worthy of pursuit. Elusive, mysterious, and unpredictable, the Holy Spirit has an element of danger and God wants us to have an adventure. Batterson encourages us to leave the cage of assumptions, routine, fear, guilt and failure and follow the Goose. I understand that the term wild goose chase may seem cheesy, and perhaps it is. But Batterson cites the old Celtic Christians for coming up with the term, and it certainly has some merit. I don't know what God has for me today, tomorrow, or a year from now. But what I do know is this: pursuing God is not about playing defense and trying to avoid losing what you have (relationships, money, career, etc.) but going on the offensive and worrying more about missed oppurtunities than making mistakes. In America, it is so easy and tempting to be a sideline Christian where the mantra goes something like, "I go to church, I do this and that. That makes me a Christian." But the early church didn't operate like that. It was dangerous to be a Christian. In many areas of the world that is still true. What God wants is your heart, not your usefullness. God doesn't need you and that mental model undermines God's sovereignty. Ok I've written too much about a book. Go read it.

Every day's an adventure

2 natural disasters in one week? It looks that way. Ironically, I listened to CCR's "Bad Moon Risin" on Tuesday on the way to work. It got to the part about earthquakes and I laughed because earthquakes don't happen here. Whoops. I am happy to report that both reactors at North Anna power station were not damaged and shutdown appropriately. Backup diesel generators performed normally and it looks as if the reactors will be shutdown until all components are evaluated properly for earthquake damage.

There must be a bad moon risin because tomorrow night Ms. Irene is supposed to visit Norfolk. Fortunately, I am not afraid. I have a parking garage for my car (RIP Guinevere), I don't live in a category 1 storm surge area (10 ft higher in a category 2), all outdoor plants and things will be or have been moved inside to prevent them from taking flight, all wedding paraphanalia are safe, and batteries/water/nonperishable food have been purchased. I am hurricane ready. So don't worry about me. I leave you with this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxdmw4tJJ1Y&ob=av2e

Back at it

Silence. That's what you've been hearing from me via this blog for over 2 months. You had probably given up on me. Unless you have blog updates sent to your email, you may not even read this. I hope you haven't given up on me. I will post on facebook when I update this blog so you have a better chance of knowing about it.

As I predicted at the beginning of June, this has definitely been the busiest summer of my life. There was a 5 week stint of not even being in Norfolk on the weekends. Wedding, vacation, a beer festival, meeting new family members, etc. Now don't get me wrong, I loved doing all of these things dearly, but after they were over and I actually got to go to my church on a Sunday I felt great. Not just great, but rested.

My two big ticket items this summer were my oral board and helping Hannah to plan for our wedding. The good news is that I passed my oral board this past Tuesday! I'm pretty excited about that. I no longer have to put in extra hours studying for this thing. The oral board is the final step in becoming a qualified Shift Test Engineer. I went in front of some big wigs here at the shipyard and they grill me with questions for a little over an hour to ascertain whether I'm competent enough to keep their submarine engine room safe and productive.

As for the wedding, Hannah and I are 23 days away. To say that I'm excited is an understatement. Our engagement has been short compared to most and I'm not sure how people do long engagements. I'm so glad we've had a short one. I can't wait to see friends I now see only on rare occasions and celebrate what God is doing in both Hannah and I's lives. I used to picture wedding planning as something that the man tries to stay away from. And while there are things I'm not concerned with such as flowers, colors, table stuff, etc., I have enjoyed picking out other things such as food, beer, suits, music, scripture, etc. with Hannah.

I haven't put any pictures up in awhile, so here are a few from the summer:

Two old mustangs convoying together. Awesome.

Memorial Day Whoppa Reunion skeet shoot.

Hannah participated, and even bagged a clay pigeon!

I even visited my metropolitan nemisis: DC.

Floyd County Beer and Wine Festival. Man I love mountains.

It's been a long time coming

I know that's an Usher quote, but the title fits, so I'm going with it. This will highlight 2 things I have been meaning to mention for quite sometime, but have been too busy and lazy to do it. First, as a reader of this blog, I know you're asking yourself, "What blogs does Scott read?" I'm sure there are other questions raised while reading this blog such as, "Why does Scott write like a 3rd grader?" "Why am I not doing something productive?" "Why is Scott wearing jorts on the left side of this webpage?" or "Why does he post over awkwardly long time periods, I'm always on the brink of not following this blog anymore?" I probably should read more blogs about deeper life issues/current events/academic things. But here are some blogs I read:
Hannah's blog: smallbutvaluable.wordpress.com
The old people's Willard house blog: willardhouse.wordpress.com
The new people's Willard house blog: willardhouse.blogspot.com
My friend Ryan's blog: backinblacksburg.blogspot.com
The whoppahead blog: whoppaheads.blogspot.com
My friend Johanna's blog: my-end-of-the-bargain.blogspot.com
Amanda's blog: amccrowell.blogspot.com
My friend Doug who is hiking the AT: theroadgoeseveronandon-dmc.blogspot.com
Other ones I read are for laughter:
peopleofwalmart.com
awkwardfamilyphotos.com

Second, I have seen two cars around the 757 that bear mentioning. Now I'm not talking about the Ford GT that I saw yesterday or the occasional Ferrari, although those 2 options make me excited. Lots of cars around here are sitting on 24" or 26" rims and look hideous. Not those either. I'm talking about custom paint jobs. First, is the Energizer bunny car. It's a Dodge Charger with a black background. All over it is the Energizer Bunny, various batteries, and excessive logos. You'd think that its owner works for Energizer but not true. Second, is my favorite, the Cinnamon Toast Crunch car. It literally looks like a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. This Ford Expedition has everything: Elves, logos, even bar codes. This guy went to the trouble to paint a legitimate bar code on the back of his vehicle. I wish the internet had a picture of this guy's car. It's awesome.

Best day ever

Is anybody there? Does anybody still read this? I haven't updated in 6 weeks. That's pitiful. I apologize to all you who are at work and have nothing to read on my account. I apologize for all the breaks you have not been able to justify in order to read this. But, just like always, I have an excuse. I've been busy.

Stop rolling those eyes. I know what you're thinking, "Scott, that's bull. You work for the government and are still in training. There is nothing you could be doing that would prevent you from blogging." That's partially true. I have a backlog of things I want to blog about but this is time relevant. I promise in a more reasonable period of time you will read about mundane things like which blogs I read and funny things I notice in the 757.

Now you are thinking, "So what could possibly be your awful excuse?" I've been planning. If you know me at all, you know that I am not a planner. I'm awful at it. I'm never on time for anything, I'm not good at ironing out all of the details, and I only go over things once which causes me to miss stuff. I'm assuming by now you have rolled your eyes a few more times thinking, "What did Scott plan and how did it go wrong?" I decided awhile back that I wanted to ask my girlfriend, Hannah, to marry me. We have known each other for 2 years and dated for 7 months and she is the coolest girl on the planet. I will not blog any more about why I made this decision. You can simply ask me. Important life details such as this require a more personal conversation, not you reading a blog while drugged up on coffee at 9 am in front of your coworkers.*

After some pondering, I came up with a rough plan: hike and then go eat. Pure genius I know. So refining that plan meant hiking Tinker's Cliffs, a hike we had talked about, and eating at a restaurant nearby called The Homeplace. I asked a buddy of mine what he thought of that plan and he said, "Scott, that's an awesome plan, but you aren't marrying me. You're marrying Hannah." Mmmm, good point. So I thought some more, talked to her friends and made sure that my idea would be something that would honor her and make her feel loved.

So I used the smokescreen of her birthday and a belated Mother's Day celebration to convince her to go to Blacksburg. The "plan" was to go home and celebrate my sister and my mom (both moms) and then hike on Sunday on the way back to the 757. I had my sister call me on our way and say that she would be late to Blacksburg, which meant we had time to hike that day. After some tasty Bojangles, the hike commenced. It was perfect weather. The weatherman the whole week had predicted 70% chance of rain. Thank God (seriously)that the rain held off. About 1/4 mile from the top, I had my sherpa attach pictures of Hannah and I from different points in our relationship to trees. A letter towards the end and me asking a specific question at the top, and we were joyfully moving down the mountain and eating delicious family style food at The Homeplace. This is a brief synopsis and a better story can be read at Hannah's blog, one of the ones I read. Or you could ask me. Pictures will come later, I haven't gotten them yet.

*Also, I don't know who I'm supposed to tell about these things. If this is news to you, I'm sorry. The internet is such an impersonal place to learn of such great news. Thanks for reading.

Fast lane

I'm not real sure where April went. I can't believe it's halfway done. This has been an interesting week for sure. Mom was here this past weekend which was great. I always enjoy her coming down to visit. This trip she even got to see me play hockey, which I think is a good thing. My team isn't very good. We lost 7-0, but nowadays we look good when we lose. Our team captain decided we should get matching jerseys and despite their similarity to UVA colors, they look good. I wish our team looked that good actually playing. Back to the past week. Sorry about that. The government views me as non-essential, which might hurt alot of people's feelings. Not mine. I understand that while I'm in training I am of little value at work. I was looking forward to saving you, the taxpayer, a little bit of money and having a few days to myself. I understand that would have been hard for those with a family and those who live paycheck to paycheck, but sleeping in and getting stuff done at home is a fine idea. Well, Uncle Sam got his stuff together and I returned to work on Monday. I even got to do some actual work down on the sub this week. Giving the Navy guys training is required since once trained, that is one of my duties. After training, we performed the procedure that had been trained. Makes sense. My favorite part of the procedure was the fact that a shipyard worker was implemented to read a gage for us, so I had to train him as well. Now training is a fairly formal process and I was under some pressure not to screw up or look like a fool. There was a group of shipyard workers present and I wasn't sure who had been chosen as the gage reader, so I asked. A slightly husky, 55 year old gentleman with an awesome handlebar mustache raises his hand. I say, "Sir, what is your name?" His answer: "Jimbo." So for the rest of this formal meeting I had to address this man as Jimbo. That story reads alot less humorous than it was in my head. Sorry. In other news, the NHL playoffs have begun. I'm sure you know what that means. The playoff beard has sprung, although shouldn't hit full bloom until the end of the first round. I'm glad I work at a place that doesn't require professional looking haircuts. A quick walk around the waterfront reveals handlebar mustaches like Jimbo, mullets (straight, short, long, curly, reflective), ponytails, rattails, etc.