Football

A few weeks ago, I won 2 tickets from work to go see the Redskins/Cowboys game this weekend! I took Steve - a rabid Skins fan - and headed out for FedEx Stadium on the far side of DC. It took me nearly 3 hours to get there: over an hour driving down I-66 almost into DC, another hour on the Metro blazing underground, and another half hour to walk from the subway to the stadium. I met Steve there, and we headed in for our seats (only about 15 rows back!) The weather was pretty miserable: lower 40's and drizzling rain for the first half. Thankfully, we were ready and all bundled up for the wet stuff and cold. The game itself was pretty good - the Skins won and are now in the playoffs! The crowd was massive - nearly 91,000 in attendance. Normally, I'm not a big football fan, but despite the fact I got home at 11PM and have been tired all day, it was fun. I wouldn't want to do that on a regular basis, though. Photos are in Fotki.

I had to work today. Given that is was clear skies and 50 degrees, this was a problem. I did try out my Fivefingers outside after work - they work great!

Barefoot heresy?

My company had given me a little bit of extra spending cash at the annual Christmas Party, which I normally use to help pay for some nifty new gadget over the holidays. This year, I went to splurge down at the local backpacking store, and my choice was a bit... eccentric this year, or so I'm told. I found a new pair of shoes, but this particular style, as you can see below, is pretty interesting:

The brand name is called "Fivefingers". It's like going barefoot, only with a hard sole. I thought they looked awesome, they're small enough to easily pack with my hiking gear, and it's a good cross between going barefoot and protecting my feet.

Although I can hear the old-school barefoot MK's calling blasphemy from all the way out here...

In other news, I'll have more pictures tomorrow night when Steve & I get back from a rather...large sporting event. Steve's going nuts about it.

Richmond

I was out this past week at a 4-day training course in Richmond, VA. The course was on how to use the MicroStation CAD program, and it went very well, although I feel that I still need more training on the specific survey aspects of the program before I am truly competent with drafting in the program. Funny but true: our instructor's name was Robert Lee.

While I was in Richmond, I managed to get most of my Christmas shopping done in spite of the uncanny ability of the local arcade to siphon off my money (and I'm supposed to be 26... I am such a geek.) We were let out of class early yesterday, so I was also able to spend a little time down at the site of the old Tredegar Iron Works downtown by the James River. During the Civil War, Tredegar was one of the largest ironworks in the nation, and was the primary producer of artillery pieces for the Confederacy. Nowadays, the site is now home to the visitor's center of the Richmond Nat'l Battlefield. I took a few pictures before heading home.

Well, I've got a lot to try and get done before the lousy weather comes in tonight, so I'll end there for now.

Out of Town

I'll be away for the next week - I'll try to have something up on Saturday and catch up.

Check-in

I've been a little in the dumps this week. Fall is nearly over, and the temperatures are headed lower in a hurry here in VA. It's not that I don't have stuff to do - my schedule has been packed with cool stuff:

• I took some friends to an early Thanksgiving dinner this evening, put on by my parent's small church group. Great food. We watched the Redskins lose, too.
• I've got 'Flat Stanley' back from my cousins in Minnesota! I try to have a little fun with the geography dude - I took pictures of him at Harper's Ferry last week, and one at the hospital with Nathan (An explanation is in order. The younger of my 2 little brothers, Nate, is in training to be a radiology tech at the local hospital. They had an open house yesterday, so he showed me around the place. We took pictures of 'Flat Stanley' getting an X-ray taken by Nate.
• Sherando! My old high school won their District semifinal football playoff match against our cross-county rivals, James Wood, by 21-14. It was pretty cold (upper 30's,) but fun anyhow. You know, as much football as I've seen this weekend, I'm really not an excitable fan. My friends were hooting and hollering, and wanted me to 'get more into the game'; I just went 'wow' and raised my eyebrows.
  
• Speaking of working out, I'm now into my 4th week of exercise at the local gym. My arms aren't doing too well, but all that running and hiking I've done over the past few years has really helped on the cardio. I've lost a few pounds (I'm down to about 162,) but that's nothing special - I've always hovered around 165 since I left college.
• Corn maze-bring a flashlight! A dozen of us got lost after dark in a HUGE 8-acre corn maze a few weeks back. It was definitely...different. Josh and I wound up leading one group around-it took us 2 hours to finish! Steve-we still think you cheated :)
  

Color Codes

~Courtesy of http://xkcd.com/

Facebook is BIG

Oy. I didn't realize how many old friends are on that thing. Pretty cool.
~Gonna go get lost in a cornfield tonight.

Exercise & Vegetables

I went and joined a local fitness center yesterday. My arms are sore today. Actually, so are my legs. And my shoulders. As a result, I am pleased with myself.

Also, I need some advice. As a 26-year old, am I even allowed to still be interested in movies like this? Sometimes, I think that I never left college... but maybe that's a good thing!

I should listen to this song more often...

"Complexity haunts me, for I am two men,
Entrenched in a battle that I'll never win.
My discipline fails me, My knowledge it fools me,
But You are my shelter, Oh, the Strength that I need!

It's my will, and I'm not moving,
Cause if it's Your Will, than nothing can shake me,
And it's my will to bow and praise You,
And I'll have the will to praise my God."

My Will - DC Talk

Slowly going crazy

Some days, things are just rough. This is one of those times. My younger brother and my mom are in the middle of an all-out war. This is a first for me and frankly, I hate it. I'm on the outside of this whole conflict though, which is good. With Dad away on yet another work trip, I'm the only family member nearby, so I've been lending my ear and shoulder to mom as she struggles with what to do. As distant as Nate seems, I'm still trying to lend him bits of advice; just letting him know that I still care. I expect that he may yet need me before all this is over.
When I'm not occupied with family drama, I've been struggling with my own faith issues, particularly with work and relationships. Work in the land surveying field has gotten really thin lately, and if things get too much worse I might be commuting into the DC suburbs (traffic...shudder) or out of a job completely. As a 26 year-old bachelor, I'm dealing with the twin problems of loneliness and boredom. It's really tough to trust God with all this guff that's been going on. I started a regular daily devotional again this past week - 1st time since just after college. I'm using a copy of "My Utmost for His Highest" that Derek Fugate gave me right before graduation.

Two new photo albums of my old favorites have been opened: Shenandoah Nat'l Park and this year's Cedar Creek Reenactment.


And in case you're interested in VeggieTales randomness:


Good night!

Old Rag Redux & DC

I forgot to post my latest pictures of Old Rag and Washington DC in my Fotki. I'll get that done yet tonight. In the meantime...

The Realization

Hold onto your hat, folks - this one's a doozy.

I think that I finally realized something very important tonight. I started a new study course in the church a few weeks ago. Since we last met last Thursday, I have been:

1) Studying the course folder,
2) Completing a separate daily online Bible course,
3) Reading through a book on Christian Theology (One of the course leaders suggested it to me 2 weeks ago,)
4) E-mailing one of the men in my group daily for prayer and discussion,
5) Talking with Mr. Newlin as an additional prayer partner,
6) Sunday morning Church,
7) Wednesday night Young Adult meeting,
and 8) The Thursday night meetings, of course.

The reason: Last Thursday, I held a hope that all of this would lead to a change in my heart. That if I truly began to live the life of a Christian, that my heart would eventually follow suit. The sad truth however: I have done all of this in the past week in my own power.

Wanting salvation and eternal life from Jesus Christ was the easy part. Wanting a changed life is much harder. All this week, underneath all the things I have been putting myself through, I still often desire some of my old ways. I know that I CAN be free from old troubles, but in my heart I admit, I do not always WANT it.

This is my explanation. Just as I cannot earn salvation by my deeds, I understand now that I also cannot earn holiness by my deeds. Just as I need Christ to provide me salvation by His power alone, so I prayed tonight for Him to change my heart by His power alone. I do not know how God is going to bring this about, and frankly, it scares me terribly. But I know that it has to be Him, and not I. If God can use this to bring about change in me, so much the better. And Lord, I hope that it is soon.

Longtime

Sorry for the long wait without posting! I've had a ton going on in the past few weeks - and a lot to think about. Just wanted everyone to know I'm not dead yet, and if I can get my act together, I'll put together something this weekend.

Busch Gardens trip & more

Hoo... long time no talkie. New pictures are up - my brothers, my Dad, and myself got a chance to go down to Busch Gardens just before Labor Day weekend. Pretty fun; it's always nice to be able to get all of us together for a day or two. Although I still haven't forgiven Nate for getting me on the Log Flume. 4 fully grown men in 1 log makes for a VERY big splash.


Also, I decided to upload most of my old pictures I had collected from college, so take a look at the Fotki site to see them as well.

Next up on the to-do list: I get to revisit Old Rag in 2 weeks with the FBC young adult group. After Montana, how hard could it be?

The BIG mountains

I completed uploading all my vacation photos to Fotki a few days ago. Ever since getting back home at 6AM Monday, I sill haven't completely caught back up on sleep, but this weekend should fix that.


Wow... I'm 26 now. It's kind of funny - I always thought that by this point, I would be a serious, mature adult, set in life and ready to take on the world. But here I am, still shy and single in my little apartment, having to wait yet another year to take my Surveyor-in-training exam (my year of field crew experience didn't count, so I have to make it up as I am in the office.) Still playing video games too - that's gotta be a sure sign of terminal geekiness at 26 years old. I guess that there's no hope for me... :)
I'm only halfway serious. It IS beginning to bug me. Guess all I can do is keep faith and press on...

Anyhow, enjoy all the pictures. I'd love to backpack through the Rockies again someday. Montana is awesome.

And now for something completely different:

Hey, I found a computer here in our hotel in Billings! Tomorrow, I fly back home after spending the past week hiking through the East Rosebud Trail in the Abaroska-Beartooth Wilderness in Montana. I'll upload all the photos after I jet home and clean them up; in the meantime, enjoy!

Sharp Top

I suppose I should update sometime soon. I just got back from a week-long survey seminar in Roanoke. It was interesting, but those 8-hour sessions were brutal. 2 days of survey geometry very nearly drove all of us there crazy. Anyhow, I left on Thursday and camped by the Peaks of Otter, along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It rained all evening - I managed to get my tent up during a break in the rain, then hunkered down inside during the thunderstorm. (Note to self: I had better dry my stuff off before next week.) The rain stopped around midnight, and I went to hike Sharp Top first thing in the morning. Still cloudy and hazy, but beautiful nonetheless. The rest of my pictures are, as always, on my Fotki site.
One week until Montana!

Dolly Sods

I had a lot of fun this weekend out with the Montana-bound group on our second trial hike in the Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia. The Sods is a high-elevation plateau just on the western side of the eastern continental divide, with a general elevation of about 4000 feet (which is WAY up there for those of us in the east.) The big draw is the climate and scenery - the weather is generally 10° cooler on top the plateau, and the open, rolling hillsides make for some great views that you don't normally find in the tree-heavy Appalachians. 4 weeks until the Beartooth Mountains!

Video Update

I finally managed to clip the video files together on another computer, but the trial version video editor I was working with left a nice advertisement for itself across the top of the completed file. Should I buy the editor, or not worry about it...

Old Rag

I didn't have any major plans for this weekend, so I took off Saturday morning for Shenandoah NP once again. I soloed Old Rag Mountain - one of the best day hikes, if not THE best, in the entire national park. The trail was crowded, but the weather was great. The final 1.5 miles to the summit is a classic, involving a rock scramble along most of the ridge line. I took several short videos on the ascent, but I haven't been able to edit them together on account of my computer having a conniption fit. It doesn't get along with video editors well. Anyhow, the pics are up at Fotki, and I'll get the video done in a few days, hopefully.

Axel-deep in the spiritual swamps

...Heh, it's been nearly 2 years on this blog now, and I'm still griping about the same old stuff. Figures.

I'm still struggling with putting more trust in God. For certain, I do not doubt His existence. What I do doubt is His active participation in my life. He is God, to be sure, but I often doubt that he is a personal God. I want evidence before faith, while it seems like God wants my faith before He gives me any evidence. It's as if God has left me to struggle with my sins and shortcomings by myself.

I have thought a lot about my faith lately. It has been a very difficult thing for me to do - trusting more in God, I mean. Every fiber of my geeky self screams out that I must have evidence first. Not just evidence from a 2000-year old Bible, but evidence that I can see, and measure, and use to confirm that God is there and is helping me.

My hope is still in God, but I have few expectations that God will help me anymore. What am I missing?

I am such a Geek, or Star Trek/Catan

I was browsing through loltrek tonight. It was funny, but nothing outstanding... until I nearly died laughing when I saw this:

My Parents are mean to me

Yes, I know I brought this one upon myself. I even told my parents to go visit Great Smoky National Park. Still, the fact that I wasn't there... *sniff* I mean, it was only 4 MILES to Charlie's Bunion! So close, yet so far...

Of airshows and old Friends

I met Aaron at the World War II weekend in Reading, PA this past weekend. Despite it being hotter than sin on the tarmac that day (my sun-burnt neck is still painful, by the way,) we had a lot of fun! Both Aaron's and my own pictures are now up on my Fotki site!

The nature of salvation

Romans 6 is really starting to unnerve me. "Died to sin," "Baptized into Christ," "no longer slaves to sin,"... I do not understand these metaphors. All of these things, at first glance, make it sound like a Christian ought to be free of sin - a notion that any honest Christian quickly dismisses. Of course we all still struggle with our sinful shortcomings, even well after salvation!

Romans 7:15-25 details my own struggle to a tee. I know what is right, yet I struggle to accomplish it. What did Paul mean when he said that we are "dead to sin" in Rom.6? Did he mean dead to the consequences of sin only? Or did salvation somehow deaden sin's influence over us as well?

You know your blog has jumped the shark when you start posting other people's stuff.

...I couldn't help it, though. Really. I'm still such a geek.

Parades and Graduations

Photo update: Apple Blossom Festival and Hersheypark photos are now up at my Fotki site!

Update: I've also been uploading older photos from last summer now. Several more hikes, and a number of family events too!

of Weddings and Baseball

Benjamin & Elizabeth Lloyd's wedding pictures from Saturday -and- my brothers and I at the Washington Nationals/New York Mets game on Sunday are up at http://rjedwards.fotki.com/

...3 busy weekends in a row, and the Apple Blossom festival is this coming weekend to boot!

Wilson's Cove Pictures

...Are now up at http://rjedwards.fotki.com/

Backpacking - Camera Movie

I just got back from that weekend backpacking trip! I'll upload the photos yet today to Fotki, but for now I'm ravenously hungry... Here's a test recording I made, however!

Keeping Busy -and- My Finger Hurts

I guess that I'd better post something, if for no other reason than to get the Veggietales stuff off the top of the blog. It's been a hectic past few weeks.

Very happily, my parents spent the past week and a half in Honolulu. My Dad was sent out for job stuff, and my Mom headed out to Hawaii to meet him a week later. They just got back late last night. My younger brother was also in Virginia Beach for several days, which meant I got to take care of the house and our Cocker Spaniel while everyone was out. Over this past weekend, I left home too for a men's retreat out near the VA/WV border that was done by my church. A handful of us braved the 40-degree weather and near-constant rain from the recent nor'easter and slept in an open-air wood cabin for 2 nights (note: you learn how to keep warm FAST.) The speaker was awesome - he spoke on discipleship, and I really need to go back over the notes I took.

In other news, I smashed my right index finger in a door this Monday and put a quarter-inch crack across my fingernail. Ow. This weekend, I'm headed back out backpacking with Dale Zilke and his Boy Scout group (Dale was my small group leader at last week's retreat, and he's also heading up the Montana backpacking trip for later this coming summer.) And... next weekend is Ben Lloyd's wedding! I should have plenty of photos coming up in the next several weeks!

Silly Songs

Happy Easter! I got bored tonight, so I hope this works...

Fotki.com Photos -or- My knee REALLY hurts

Hoo boy. I really did push myself too hard today, and now my left knee aches like crazy. The worst spot is just behind the kneecap, to the outside of the leg. I have an icepack on it now, but it looks like I'm back to cycling for the next few weeks. It'd be terrible if it still hurt when I go backpacking in 3 weeks.

In other news: I really enjoyed taking a look through Nate Graves' photo album, so I decided to create my own album on the site:

http://public.fotki.com/rjedwards/

Take a look! I've already uploaded photos from a trip I took this past weekend to Great Falls, and I plan to upload all my other, older pictures once I clean them up. Check in regularly this week! So far, my new albums include:

Great Falls, MD
Harpers Ferry, WV
Handley High School, Winchester, VA
Gettysburg, PA with Sullivan, and
Arlington National Cemetary

My back hurts

...And this morning I managed to bottom out the survey truck on top of a berm. Took half an hour of jacking the front wheels up to stack wood stakes high enough to get the truck un-beached. Don't get me wrong, though - today was beautiful. Clear skies, mid-60's, and some of the easiest survey work I've done in a long time!

My knee hurts

After the past 2 years of shin splints and knee aches, you'd think that I would've learned to listen to my body when it starts telling me to take it easy. I've only been running for 4 weeks this Spring, and I've already managed to hurt my left knee again, probably just through overuse - same as the past years. Guess I'd better fix up my bicycle again...

My head hurts

I bought Francis Schaeffer's "Escape From Reason" a few days ago. Good stuff - it's hard to wrap my head around it all.

The Waiting Game

My younger brother is engaged! I found out about a week ago - the idea of one of my brothers getting married... woah. I'm heading out on Saturday to see Dan and Jahara (I just realized that I don't know how to spell her name. Better fix that this weekend.) Hopefully I can take some pictures out at the Great Falls Park on the Potomac while I'm there.

Just checking in to say I'm still alive. Got big plans for this summer now - I'm headed with a group from my church to the Beartooth Mountains in Montana around my birthday in early August. I've still got a lot of details to hammer out (tickets from DC to Billings, mostly), but I haven't been so pumped for a backpacking trip since the Grand Canyon back in '02.

Also, Nate and I are going to see the new TMNT movie tomorrow night. I am such a geek :)

I'm back!

Well, I just got my internet connection installed at the new place. It's been a while, hasn't it? The move went pretty smoothly - the new apartment was only on the other side of downtown, and I don't have much heavy stuff anyway. I really do need to sort through all that old college stuff.

Anyhow, I moved in back on the 19th of last month, and after 2 days, I was already dead bored. Thank goodness the weather's warmed up; I've already slaughtered my legs running along the much larger hills on this side of town. I took a few pictures of Handley High School this evening, which is only a few blocks up the street from my new place. The school was built back in the 1920's (I think...) by a donation in the will of Mr. Handley - a prominent Pennsylvania judge who loved the area. But since I'm a Sherando grad, I'll jeer Handley every chance I get.

Expect more frequent updates now that I'm back online!

Moving On

I've finished signing up to move into a new apartment by the end of this month. It's a small place on the other side of town, but still close enough to work for me to walk (it's only about 4-5 blocks further away.) If all goes well, I'll start moving in over the long weekend coming up. Everything seems like it's moving too fast, but I'll manage prayerfully - I'll keep everyone informed as to how it goes! Pictures, even!

Surveyor's Nightmare

Um, WOW. I knew that the Europeans were train-happy, but this is amazing. I thought that there were a lot of parallel tracks heading into Union Station in DC, but Washington doesn't compare to this picture somewhere in London.

URL: http://preview.msnbc.msn.com/id/17043112/displaymode/1176/rstry/17042957/

Anyhow, I only had half a day at work today since I'm still pretty sick. Juice, chicken noodle soup, and old "Firefly" episodes were the lunchtime fare.

Switching gears, I feel like I am quickly coming to the end of my run with apologetics. I took my lunch break with a friend earlier this week, and I realized something as we talked. I've begun to increasingly dislike when I hear someone say about Christianity: "You've got to take it on faith". I fear being unable to explain Christianity to others, and I've been looking at "faith" like it's a cop-out. When you don't understand something, "You've got to have faith" doesn't automatically make it the truth. Either the speaker hasn't studied enough to be able to explain it, or else they are lying.

Problem is, I've begun to make apologetics the "end-all, be-all" of my belief. As a result, my walk with the Lord has become very tedious. There is no emotion, no praise, just tedious belief. I accept Christ, but I do not love Him. I'm going to talk with one of the apologetics teachers about this sometime in the coming week

Ugh, part 2

Looks like I caught yet another cold. That's what I get for walking to work in the mornings, I suppose.

Checking In

The pictures I took from the Keidel's wedding didn't turn out well at all.

It bothers me, having to find my own apartment for the first time. I hate the idea of living by myself. I think that being so quiet is finally taking a toll on me.

Ugh.

Sick tonight - headache and runny nose. Hope this blows over before I board that airplane Thursday morning.

Chicken Random

~ Chicken Random ~

Serves: 1 hungry bachelor
Ingredients:
1 medium chicken breast
barbeque sauce
tomato slice
scallions
parmesan cheese

Grill chicken breast, adding spices and/or marinade as desired (chicken shown plain). While the chicken is cooking, chop the tomato slice and scallions (and whatever other vegitables fit your fancy). Move the chicken breast to a frying pan on medium high heat, and spread barbeque sauce on top. Place the chopped vegetables onto the barbeque, and top off with a liberal helping of grated parmesan cheese. Let sit in the frying pan until cheese is partially melted.

It doesn't look like much, but boy did it ever smell and taste good! 

The view from the top of Cacapon Montain, looking eastward. The reddish building was where I had parked; the lake on the right side was where the previous picture was taken. 

Cacapon State Park - WV

A beautiful day last week - mid 60's and partly cloudy. I took a walk to the top of the ridge in the distance and back - about 7 miles total. The scenery was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was nice to get away for a few hours. This picture was taken near the end of my hike, looking back the way I had come.