Lou's Pizza

Neighborhood Church's Community Groups invaded Lou's pizza again a couple of weeks ago for some pizza and Karaoke.

Some of the singers made Patrick want to drink:

But mostly we just rocked the joint...
And Lucy just looked cute:

Check out the air on that hair!

This video includes my premier Karaoke performance. I'm taking requests for next time so I can practice ahead of time (as if that might help)

2nd Anniversary

Two years ago, my day went from this:

to THIS:

Other than my birthday, today's date is one I will NEVER forget! Two years ago today I was studying abroad in Rome, Italy when I fell and broke both of my leg bones in my right ankle. I had surgery in Italy and spent a week in the hospital. Unfortunately my trip was cut short and I spent the entire summer on crutches and in physical therapy, but it paid off because my ankle is back to normal! (Proof is in the 4 miles I ran yesterday)

My Bracket Wasn't So Bad...

When I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago, I did not expect this to happen:

For the first time in my history of filling out NCAA March Madness brackets, I actually picked the tournament winner! And I picked Kentucky losing to West Virginia! These crucial picks made me the winner of our facebook bracket group(also for the first time ever!)

Tim went down. By 40 points. I expect much more respect when it comes time to smack talk next year.

One moment that I missed live, but have watched replayed many times culminated in this moment:

Robert, our pastor at Neighborhood Church describes the moment well on his blog:

Halfway through the second half West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler twisted his knee and went down in agony. The guy was in both physical and emotional pain, knowing this was his last college game and that he wasn't going to be able to help his team.

At that moment his coach, Bob Huggins, came out and, after yelling at the refs for a moment, knelt down, cradled him in his arms, and began whispering truth to him: that he loved him, his teammates loved him, and things were going to be ok. It was one of the most uncomfortable, yet powerful, moments I've ever witnessed in sports.

Last night Neighborhood Church came together with Cooper Church to celebrate the Resurrection. Bill Ganus and I taught on Luke 15, the story of the two lost sons. I closed with this story, as it gave me a picture of the Father who is in passionate pursuit of us because of His love for us. I am still quite uncomfortable with this kind of intimacy, yet I am extremely grateful for it!

Just another reason I love March Madness!

Rainmakers Faced a Drought

Our team was one-and-done, but we sure did have the most fun! Our first round opponents, Technical Sales only beat us by one point in the lowest scoring match of the tournament. All I contributed to the cause was style, too bad no style points were given.
Clayton (in the headband) scored most of our team's points and now proudly displays his headband on his rearview mirror. That is what I call team pride.

Skatelife Memphis

I will post the results of the Nerf Tournanment soon, but first I have a favor to ask:
Will you go to THIS website and vote for Skatelife Memphis to receive $250,000 from Pepsi to build a skatepark in a neighborhood that is just blocks away from where I am moving in May? You can can set up an account very easily or you can just sign-in using your facebook account, and you can vote once per day until April 30.

Here is an overview of their goals:
Our youth need more positive physical outlets to help learn focus, discipline and to develop a stron sense of self-esteem.

Close to one third of Memphis' children will be diagnosed with childhood obesity. Kids are not getting outside enough. between lack of access to healthy foods and easy access to video games, internet and TV, our youth simply are not being drawn to the outdoors for physical exercise.

To assure that we raise healthy kids, it is critical that our communities build recreational facilities that are a powerful draw for youth. A skate park is this facility and is appropriate for the inner city because equiptment costs are low and it does not require staff or coaches.

If we get this grant, we will be able to construct the first inner city skate park in Memphis. The skate park will make a major lasting impact in the Binghampton community because there are hundreds of children living there that will have walkable access to the park. Please vote!

If you live in Memphis or not, please vote for this project! Thanks!

Nerf Tournament Promo

This week at Kele, the company I work for, we are having a Nerf Tournament. My team, the Rainmakers, have been practicing hard to face our competition. Here is just a taste of our skillz:

Forecast says: Rain is coming

Ornamental Metal Museum

This weekend my parents skipped town, so Martha and I ventured to a place we had never been to see the sun set over the Mississippi and to learn more about making things from metal. Our destination was the Ornamental Metal Museum, which just happens to be run by the husband of the Spanish Teacher that has taught all three Boyd girls in high schoool.


Martha was a good sport and didn't get annoyed when I wanted to design my own aluminum tile. It was really cool to carve my own design in the form and then watch them pour the aluminum.

The aluminum was solid very quickly, but still very very hot as they broke the form off and dipped each tile into a bucket of water.
I am excited to add this tile to my cross collection that I will finally get to unpack and hang up when I move in May. The grounds of the Ornamental Metal Museum are beautiful. They would be perfect for a wedding reception.

After the sun had set and my tile had cooled enough to touch, we left for dinner at one of our favorite Mexican food places and watched West Virginia beat Kentucky to get into the Final Four. As a Memphis columnist posted on Twitter, the entire city of Memphis felt Schadenfreude: delighting at another's misfortune. Also known as doing the happy dance because Calipari's team LOST!