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.

The last bit of winter

After a balmy February here in the 757, it would make sense that March would be equally as nice and spring-esque. False. It has been in the 30s and rainy recently which is my least favorite kind of weather. You may be wondering why it's midday on a weekday and I'm blogging. Well, not only is the weather lame, I'm feeling under it. So here I am sitting on the couch, telling you about life.

Allow me to shrug off the sick day blues to tell you about a great weekend. Hannah's parents live in Colorado, one of my favorite states. They also live about an hour from some of the best skiing on the planet. They were kind enough to allow Hannah and I and a few friends to stay there for a few days in order to get a chance to shred that gnar. And who can complain about awesome people fixing breakfast every morning? Thanks Hannah's parents. Ok back to skiing. According to the locals, conditions were terrible. I thought they were amazing. Getting into the mountains and looking at God's creation always makes me speechless. Just the drive to the slopes was awesome. Head to the top lift at 12,500 feet and just look around. It wasn't the lack of oxygen that took my breath away. Sorry, that was cheesy, but it was gorgeous. If it weren't for the great slopes I could have stood up there all day. I've never skied so hard that my legs were sore, but after 3 days of trying not to fall down a mountain and being only mildy successful, they were. In addition to skiing, I was able to do other fun things. We went to a bluegrass concert, walked around Telluride taking in the crazy locals (I think drugs are pretty popular there), and even getting to taste some microbrews. I met a guy on the ski lift who, after offering me a taste of Rum, sat down with my group. While we were eating sandwiches, he just rolled up a fatty and went to town, right there in public. Maybe I'm sheltered, but that caught me off guard. Anyway, it was a "mountaintop" experience, haha. Ok puns are over, enjoy the pictures.

Life Goes By Too Fast

I should probably just quit blogging. February 20? Really? That was my last post. That's pathetic. I apologize to all you out there in cyber space. I'm sure you are all torn up. Ok. On to my vain attempts to catch up on life. I have a good friend named Tyler. He has been my roomate since the spring of 2009. We had a good run. Amy finally tied him up and they got married in Nashville a.k.a. Nashvegas. He is no longer my roomate as he has moved to New Mexico. I'll miss you Tyler. I was fortunate enough to be a groomsman. Thanks Tyler. The wedding weekend was great, I got to experience some great Nashville culture (food and music). I am using facebook pictures not taken by me because all of my pictures are blurry and lame. Tyler, the photobooth was a great idea.

It's rare that I conquer a new state, but even rarer when I do it twice in the same season. This past weekend, I went back to Texas with Hannah to yet another wedding, this time for a high school friend. It was in Houston, the 4th largest in the U.S. I say that not for trivia purposes, but to prove that a country boy can visit a huge city and not get lost and/or overwhelmed. The wedding was at some garden place, it was dark and I didn't ask any questions. Food included gourmet mac n' cheese as well as a beef carving station. I almost forgot to mention the 4 types of wedding cake. And I know what you're thinking and the answer is yes. I had 2 pieces of wedding cake. The wedding was just the start of a great weekend. I had great bbq, Mexican food, enjoyed the world's largest rodeo, caught up with old friends and even got to meet some of Hannah's friends. Good weekend. Now it is time to do laundry and pack for this. That's right. It's time to shred some gnar.

Born country

Ok quick update before I go back in time. I love cutting and chopping wood. I miss chopping wood every year in college to heat Willard. Whenever I become an adult and buy a house I want to heat it with wood. There is something satisfying about heating my home without the help of an energy company while at the same time swinging an axe. I control that process from start to finish. So today at sunset, I decided to cut down a tree in the yard that has been dead for awhile. Now you're probly thinking to yourself, "Didn't Scott have a roomate that worked for Stihl and had free, unlimited access to the best chainsaws available? Why didn't he cut down that tree with a chainsaw?" I should have cut it down when I had access to chainsaws. But I cut that tree down with a 10" handsaw. So satisfying. Now all I have to do is cut it up with said handsaw. I'm about halfway done. What a good President's day activity, in addition to hiking here:

Now I will veer into the past for something not quite as manly: weddings. Wedding season got a very early start this year. Wedding #1 was a friend of Hannah's and allowed me to cross another state off my list: Texas. It isn't my goal to visit all of the states in the US, but it is fun to go to a new one. My picture of Texas was what I've seen in No Country For Old Men. In fact, I was in eastern Texas which is more like the piedmont region of VA. It has gently rolling hills with large amounts of Loblolly Pine and a more mild climate. I enjoyed this wedding because before going, I new exactly 2 people: Hannah and the bride. That means I can do what I want and nobody will notice or care. That means I observed people the whole weekend. I learned alot about Texas.

Here is a quick list of things I find interesting about Texas:

1. In every men's bathroom, there are signs telling you not to drink if you are pregnant so your fetus doesn't have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome at birth. I'm not making light of that condition, it's serious. But in the men's bathroom? That seems odd.


2. Everywhere you look, there are taco joints. If you are in need of a taco, throw a stone and you are likely to find a taco place.


3. Being a redneck seems to take a little more effort than I'm used to. I wear my flannel, enjoy country music, hunt, want to live in the woods and have a dog, etc. Every Texas redneck seems to wear expensive cowboy boots, real tight jeans, a cowboy hat, and of course, a beltbuckle. Now I like all those things, I just don't want to spend lots of dough on pants that make me uncomfortable. I'm not sure my frugal nature would survive there.


4. Many farmers have horses. I know a little about farming and I don't know how raising horses works. Let me explain. Raise cattle, sell cattle for beef or milk cows for milk. Raise hogs, make awesome things like bacon, sausage, or ham and profit. Plant corn, sell corn. So with horses, you raise them and ...? After some thought I figured it out. Horses are like boats. A big money pit that are fun to ride around on.


5. Texas has a higher percentage of dudes with awesome facial hair.


6. There is road construction everywhere, like PA.


7. There was some dude who literally videotaped the entire weekend. I'm pretty sure that he videotaped his trips to the bathroom as well as his sleeping time. It was weird.

It was a great weekend. As for the wedding itself, a great ceremony and homemade 24 hour smoked pork and the best brisket I've ever had at the reception. Scott approved.

This is a long post. I will save Nashville for next time.

To the hills, part 2

A different set of hills this time. The shipyard shuts down for the week between Christmas and New Years, so I am forced to take time off. I have decided each year that I will hike for a few days over the shutdown. This year I made my first journey (but hopefully not my last) to Shenendoah National Park. I left my camera in Blacksburg like an idiot so all of the beauty that I witnessed is contained in my brain.

The first day was Whiteoak Canyon followed by a campout on the Cedar Run Trail. Fortunately the majority of the trail was not snowed over except for the 3 miles of fire road. Uphill in 3 inches of snow. I know I sound like an old man and I felt like one hiking through that. The cool part was how quiet the woods are when there is a blanket of snow. It might be the quietest environment i've ever been in, including those hearing booths in 4th grade. I'm getting ahead of myself. The first part of the hike takes you up through the canyon along a mountain stream. Most of the stream was frozen over, including part of the waterfalls. It was truly gorgeous. Words can't describe. I spent way too much time standing in awe of that. When you are hiking alone, you can stare at stuff as long as you want. The canyon is steep and offered many other frozen waterfalls that were not part of the main stream. This is where I stumbled upon a dream of mine: ice climbing. 3 guys from DC were decked out in crampons and icepicks climbing a 40 ft ice wall. Put that on my bucket list. After finishing the fireroad up along Skyline Drive, I literally ran down the backside of the mountain. I know what you're thinking, "Scott you're dumb. All alone on an icy trail and you're running?" Yes. It was a little warmer that day and the trail was slushy which allowed me a sort of Nordic Track type of stride: very long and sliding every step. I think I covered that last mile and a half in about 25 minutes. It was fun. I found myself in another canyon which meant the sun was setting fast. I set up camp and, since there are no open fires allowed in the park, went to sleep about 5:30 pm. I woke up at 8, ate dinner (granola, clementines, wasabi peas and trail mix), and read a little. Other than some mild foot coldness, I slept like a hibernating bear until 7 am. I opened my tent and stared at the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen. It spanned the entire canyon in a blaze of orange and pink. Awesome.

The second day I joined my friend Josh at the bottom of the mountain. I had a grand plan to traverse the last mile and a half down quickly until I realized all that slush froze during the night. After falling 8 times and stepping knee-deep into a stream, I reached the bottom. Josh watched as I dried out my boot and we proceded to climb Old Rag. I'm sure you've heard of this magnificent mountain. It is a hard climb from one side, but the Whiteoak Canyon side is only 2.5 miles. A nice hike with Josh allowed some great catching up as well as some breathtaking views. Thank goodness he had a camera to capture that. Following the hike we went to another college friend's farmhouse to shower before the New Year's Eve party at the Glass House Winery. I bet you didn't know I was proper enough for a winery right? It was great. Lots of friends from college and fireworks. I love catching up with people face to face. With great friends it's like you never left off. You still make similar jokes and share new and old stories alike. I wish I could do that more often.

I promise after the next post about my trips to Texas and Tennessee, I will blog about current events and the mindless stuff you've come to appreciate on ye' old blog.

To the hills, part 1

Unlike other blogs you may read, I am unable to keep up with time. I am slowly catching up on my own life since Thanksgiving. So here we go.

The weekend after shooting stuff was man weekend #2. A buddy of mine from college has a family house on the river in the Northern Neck of VA. So from time to time we have reunions up there. This was one of those weekends. It was the first of a few snowy weekends in the 757 and the river was frozen over. I'm dumb and didn't take any pictures. Sorry. We did what men do: ate too much, watched The Other Guys, and caught up on life. I don't get to see those guys very often, so this was a treat.

Next was Christmas. Again, Hannah decided to join me for another trip to Blacksburg, which was great. She learned about how my family does Christmas presents in a nice, orderly fashion as opposed to the normal free-for-all and how awesome Blacksburg is when it snows. Well, almost. Dad called me up a few days before break and told me the starter on Big Red was busted and that I would replace that over break. I tried and failed and therefore missed out on doing donuts in every snowy parking lot in Blacksburg. But what I did do was skate on natural pond (one of my favorite activites), ate some of Mom's best home-cookin, kicked everyone's butt in a snowball fight, played with my niece and nephew, and caught up with some friends I don't see enough, as shown above.

So I remember Christmas being amazing, but since I've waited so long to talk with you about it, I've forgotten things. If I saw you over Christmas and we did something cool together, please comment about it instead of being angry with me. That would remind me of why it was great instead of laying a large guilt trip.

Enjoy the video. I hope you like meat:
http://thedailywh.at/post/2403467852/epic-meal-of-the-day-the-epic-meal-time-gourmands

retroactive

So I'm behind on informing you of things. So this post is about what happened mid December. I took my exam and although I don't get the results until late January, but I feel pretty confident about my chances. I am glad to be over the preparation period for that test. I am now preparing for the next phase of my job, which is an oral exam. That is more relaxed and doesn't require extra hours for quite awhile so I am enjoying work. The best part is I shaved my mustache off. I grew one for the upcoming test.

My roomate Tyler is getting married next weekend, which is nuts. We've been great friends for over 2 years and roomates for almost that long. He is getting married and moving to New Mexico to pursue his career with Stihl and his wife. Not necessarilly in that order. So to mourn, rather celebrate, his upcoming nuptuals, Tyler, myself, and our other roomate, Weber, went to my farm to hunt. Man stuff. We camped out, burned things, tried to find deer, and then shot cans.

The next post is about Christmas. Get excited. Time for me to go to Texas. It's wedding season!