For about a month now Allison and I have been trying to hit it hard in the fitness area of our lives. There are a couple of benefits of being fit, one of them being you look better. While I know that my Johnson genes have giving me a pretty good looking face, a high metabolism, and a small frame, these only go so far. My love of eating and sitting on the couch contribute much to the demise of my created figure.
Allison has been doing some kickboxing and pilates, while I have been doing push ups and riding my bike. I purchased The Perfect Pushup a little over a month ago as a suggestion from my friend Nick. I love it. It is only 6-8 minutes every other day and it works. I will soon be able to wear my Spartan Uniform with pride while screaming "THIS IS SPARTA!"
I woke up this morning to my normal routine - Life Journal, Rugby, then bike ride. When I got outside for my ride there was some overcast and some remnants of a night of rain. I proceeded to my bike and my ride, expecting to maybe get a little wet. While it did rain, the wetness wasn't the most noticeable effect of the morning ride. This was.
Unfortunately, bikes don't come with mud flaps. Good times though.
Allison has been doing some kickboxing and pilates, while I have been doing push ups and riding my bike. I purchased The Perfect Pushup a little over a month ago as a suggestion from my friend Nick. I love it. It is only 6-8 minutes every other day and it works. I will soon be able to wear my Spartan Uniform with pride while screaming "THIS IS SPARTA!"
I woke up this morning to my normal routine - Life Journal, Rugby, then bike ride. When I got outside for my ride there was some overcast and some remnants of a night of rain. I proceeded to my bike and my ride, expecting to maybe get a little wet. While it did rain, the wetness wasn't the most noticeable effect of the morning ride. This was.
Unfortunately, bikes don't come with mud flaps. Good times though.
Memorial Day Weekend marked our first family camping trip. We had a great time and can't wait to go back. Over the next few days I am going to post on each day of the trip and upload some pics.
Day One
We left Washington on Saturday at 4:30, car loaded, windows down, and no care in the world. Well almost no care... After I had picked up Allie from work the night before, our faithful car almost overheated. We made it home and I just hoped it was a fluke. It wasn't. So I made my call to our family mechanic, Ralph Johnson. He affirmed what I thought might be the problem - the thermostat. So I changed it, finished at 10:30, test drove it and no change. It got hot again. But I drove it some more and it cooled off some and stayed there. So Allison and I decided to take a risk with the car thinking if it got hot we would just take our time. So that was my worry. But it never got hot. We made it all the way to Raccoon Creek State Park with no stops. The park is located off of Highway 18, just west of the Pittsburgh National Airport.
We arrived at camp and noticed that it was very full. Luckily Allison had reserved us a spot a couple of weeks before. She is such a great wife. I would have never thought to do that. When we used to camp it was anywhere we could and nothing but some blankets. But Allie knew what she was doing. We got our site set up with no problems. I gathered some wood for the night and we cooked dinner. BBQ chicken and pineapple. It was delicious.
We cleaned up after dinner, had some smores, and put enough wood on the fire to last us the evening. It was shortly after that that I needed to get something out of our car. I asked Allison if it was locked and she told me that it wasn't. It was. I then asked her where the keys were and she answered "In the car." I said "No worries, we'll just call someone in the morning or something." Allison replied, "The phones are in the car." I thought, of corse they are - oh well we will figure it out tomorrow. Allison was a little upset, but I didn't worry. It will all work out. And it did. A few minutes later a camp ranger drove by. It took me a moment to think to ask him, so I had to chase him down. It must have been a funny sight. Most of the time people are running from the cops - I was running toward them. He was able to help us and we had our keys. I tucked them safely into a nice pocket inside our tent.
We got into our tent with Rugby and called it a night. The ground was hard though. That made for a long night of waking up. It was nice though, out in God's backyard, nothing but my wife and my dog. Good times.
Day One
We left Washington on Saturday at 4:30, car loaded, windows down, and no care in the world. Well almost no care... After I had picked up Allie from work the night before, our faithful car almost overheated. We made it home and I just hoped it was a fluke. It wasn't. So I made my call to our family mechanic, Ralph Johnson. He affirmed what I thought might be the problem - the thermostat. So I changed it, finished at 10:30, test drove it and no change. It got hot again. But I drove it some more and it cooled off some and stayed there. So Allison and I decided to take a risk with the car thinking if it got hot we would just take our time. So that was my worry. But it never got hot. We made it all the way to Raccoon Creek State Park with no stops. The park is located off of Highway 18, just west of the Pittsburgh National Airport.
We arrived at camp and noticed that it was very full. Luckily Allison had reserved us a spot a couple of weeks before. She is such a great wife. I would have never thought to do that. When we used to camp it was anywhere we could and nothing but some blankets. But Allie knew what she was doing. We got our site set up with no problems. I gathered some wood for the night and we cooked dinner. BBQ chicken and pineapple. It was delicious.
We cleaned up after dinner, had some smores, and put enough wood on the fire to last us the evening. It was shortly after that that I needed to get something out of our car. I asked Allison if it was locked and she told me that it wasn't. It was. I then asked her where the keys were and she answered "In the car." I said "No worries, we'll just call someone in the morning or something." Allison replied, "The phones are in the car." I thought, of corse they are - oh well we will figure it out tomorrow. Allison was a little upset, but I didn't worry. It will all work out. And it did. A few minutes later a camp ranger drove by. It took me a moment to think to ask him, so I had to chase him down. It must have been a funny sight. Most of the time people are running from the cops - I was running toward them. He was able to help us and we had our keys. I tucked them safely into a nice pocket inside our tent.
We got into our tent with Rugby and called it a night. The ground was hard though. That made for a long night of waking up. It was nice though, out in God's backyard, nothing but my wife and my dog. Good times.
Very pumped about this weekend. My family and I are heading about 1 hour north of Washington to Raccoon Creek State Park for 2 nights of tent camping. Allison and I have been wanting to go for so long, so we finally put it on the calender and started planning.
Allison's parents had given us a tent with the works as a gift some time ago, but now it is gone. I don't know if it got stolen, I loaned it to someone, or maybe it didn't make the move. Nonetheless, it gave us an opportunity to buy a new one. However, I know nothing about tents. When we camped back home, we slept on a tarp under the stars. But I did not worry. Everyone knows that there is only one person you need to call when you are faced with a decision about anything in the great outdoors - Russell Knight. So I made the call. And I became somewhat educated. We got a great tent made by Eureka!. It is easy to set up (it only took me 8.5 minutes by myself), sleeps four, and has a huge rain guard. To top it off it was $40 off its original price. Can't beat that.
We are leaving after I get off of work on Saturday and coming home sometime Monday afternoon. It is going to be an exciting time with my wife, my dog, and God's great outdoors. There are a few advantages that I have since I am not on staff at a church, and this trip is one of them. Thanks God for having me where I am. Thanks Allie for being a great wife willing to camp in a tent.
Saturday can't come soon enough.
Allison's parents had given us a tent with the works as a gift some time ago, but now it is gone. I don't know if it got stolen, I loaned it to someone, or maybe it didn't make the move. Nonetheless, it gave us an opportunity to buy a new one. However, I know nothing about tents. When we camped back home, we slept on a tarp under the stars. But I did not worry. Everyone knows that there is only one person you need to call when you are faced with a decision about anything in the great outdoors - Russell Knight. So I made the call. And I became somewhat educated. We got a great tent made by Eureka!. It is easy to set up (it only took me 8.5 minutes by myself), sleeps four, and has a huge rain guard. To top it off it was $40 off its original price. Can't beat that.
We are leaving after I get off of work on Saturday and coming home sometime Monday afternoon. It is going to be an exciting time with my wife, my dog, and God's great outdoors. There are a few advantages that I have since I am not on staff at a church, and this trip is one of them. Thanks God for having me where I am. Thanks Allie for being a great wife willing to camp in a tent.
Saturday can't come soon enough.
Headed to watch the Bucs play the Cardinals tonight. We are going with our good friends Mike and Robin and some of their family. It is going to be a blast. PNC park is a beautiful park with an awesome view of downtown Pittsburgh. It has been a while since we took a trip into the city.
Last night Allison and I attended our first small group meeting since we have been going to the Chapel. We had a great time! The group is full of young families. We are the only ones without any children, which is great. It is going to be so great for us to be around thus group as we start planning to have kids ourselves. I know each couple has so much experience we can learn from and so much great advice and help to give. God has truly blessed us. I know this is something that has been missing in our lives. Community is so important for our lives. It has been nearly nine months since we were involved in a group like this. It is long over-do. Thanks for the invite Kirk.
For a great article on thankfulness click here.
This weekend was an uneventful weekend.
I worked all day Saturday. The holiday season is here. Sales are up at Starbucks and people flow into the store like milk and honey flows in the Promise Land. Church this weekend was awesome! Pastor Ron did an amazing job as he continued through 1 Corinthians. This week he reached the controversial Chapter 11 - the order of God, man, and woman and each one's role in the church. I really enjoy just going to church and being a pew sitter right now. God is really using this time in my life to mold me and show me who I can be in him.
Sunday was a nice lazy day spent at home with my darling Allison. She got to sleep in and I love it when this happens - it makes her so happy. The snow fell all day and it is nice to see white stuff falling from the sky.
It always reminds me of my pure life because of my Messiah.
Today wasn't exactly a typical Monday. Something happened at work that caused me to get really angry. I had no reason to get angry. I just lost my cool. I didn't hit anybody. I didn't even say anything mean or out of place. I just lost my cool. You know that feeling of anger that rushes through your body when you lose it. That adrenaline that flows and makes you tingle all over. That juice that has fueled most of the mean things you have said or done in your life. That almost caffeine like drug behind a lot of "I'm sorries" or "I didn't mean to say that." This isn't a drug I use very much. It's not typical of me.
And the fact that this happened tells me that something is going on in my heart.
I am not aware of what it is yet. But I am definitely going to do some soul searching and try to figure out why I took this "hit".
Like I said I didn't react in any way that I regret or had to apologize for, other than the fact that it happened. I just regret letting something cause this in me. And this will be what I try to figure out over the next few days.
The bible says that it is impossible to know the depths of your own heart. It also says blessed are the pure in heart. I guess I want to have a pure heart. And I don't think a pure heart loses itself over something as ignorant as mine did today.
So onward to a pure heart.
I worked all day Saturday. The holiday season is here. Sales are up at Starbucks and people flow into the store like milk and honey flows in the Promise Land. Church this weekend was awesome! Pastor Ron did an amazing job as he continued through 1 Corinthians. This week he reached the controversial Chapter 11 - the order of God, man, and woman and each one's role in the church. I really enjoy just going to church and being a pew sitter right now. God is really using this time in my life to mold me and show me who I can be in him.
Sunday was a nice lazy day spent at home with my darling Allison. She got to sleep in and I love it when this happens - it makes her so happy. The snow fell all day and it is nice to see white stuff falling from the sky.
It always reminds me of my pure life because of my Messiah.
Today wasn't exactly a typical Monday. Something happened at work that caused me to get really angry. I had no reason to get angry. I just lost my cool. I didn't hit anybody. I didn't even say anything mean or out of place. I just lost my cool. You know that feeling of anger that rushes through your body when you lose it. That adrenaline that flows and makes you tingle all over. That juice that has fueled most of the mean things you have said or done in your life. That almost caffeine like drug behind a lot of "I'm sorries" or "I didn't mean to say that." This isn't a drug I use very much. It's not typical of me.
And the fact that this happened tells me that something is going on in my heart.
I am not aware of what it is yet. But I am definitely going to do some soul searching and try to figure out why I took this "hit".
Like I said I didn't react in any way that I regret or had to apologize for, other than the fact that it happened. I just regret letting something cause this in me. And this will be what I try to figure out over the next few days.
The bible says that it is impossible to know the depths of your own heart. It also says blessed are the pure in heart. I guess I want to have a pure heart. And I don't think a pure heart loses itself over something as ignorant as mine did today.
So onward to a pure heart.
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