One Little Piggy

We really never post anything on this blog, but I just had to share these pictures...

An Interview with Dad

I was mindlessly going through several boxes of old stuff from my childhood the other day. It was a very mundane chore that was on the "to-do" list. I didn't expect anything special.

As I was choosing what to keep and what to throw away, I came across an old assignment from middle school. It was an interview of 8 questions that I had conducted with my dad about his travels across the world with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).

My dad died in 2000 after battling a lung disease for nearly 10 years, so my curiosity was especially peaked. What would a conversation with my dad have been like that many years ago? I was pretty sure it was going to be filled with silly childish questions and that it would have little substance and even less meaning. To my surprise, the conversation proved to be more significant than I could have expected.

I can see now, all these years later, that my dad was taking the opportunity to teach me a valuable lesson.

Allow me to share the part of the interview that spoke to me the most:

Q. "What is the most memorable time in your traveling?"
A. "It was not visiting presidents, or kings, or queens, which I have done. But it was when I visited a very poor man in Africa who spent 1 month's salary to buy food for a meal that he thought I would enjoy. This meal included only a bottle of coke, bread cut American style, and peanut butter."
Q. "What is the poorest place you have ever been to? What was it like there?
A. "India. It was very dirty with very few roads. The living conditions are very horrible. Very few people have water or electricity. They don't name their babies until they are at least one year old. This is because most of them die before that age. They pick up dead bodies on a regular basis, just like they do garbage here. They drive trucks around and the people stack up dead bodies by the path for the truck and the truck takes the bodies away."

Since my dad died several years before I was an 'adult' (I was 15), I have often wondered what he would think of who I have grown up to be. I have changed a lot since I was 15. Would he approve of my faith and values as they are today? I don't necessarily fit into the box of the typical American Evangelical Christian. I find myself caring more about those who are poor and suffering in our world than the political hot topics that many Evangelicals tend to focus on.

Would Dad be proud of that?

So now, on Father's Day, 9 years after my dad died, I read over his words from this interview. I can't remember if I, as a middle-schooler, fully grasped the message that my dad was trying to convey that day. But as I catch the lesson now, at 24, I feel more confident that maybe I am becoming the man that he was hoping to raise me up to be.

Singleton, Yellow Snow and 1 Year

The below video is a little update from the Williams'. We filmed it the day after our 1 year anniversary! We'll try to put up some pictures of our anniversary soon, but for now enjoy the video!

Pumpkin Carvin' Party

Claire and I decided to go all-in to the fall weather (there are snow flurries outside right now, so we are actually now in winter weather) and host a Pumpkin Carving Party at our little red home.

Our friends came over and we had cider, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pie, and peanut butter and chocolate brownies (all of which were delicious). Now, if that's not a recipe for a fantastic night, what is? And to top off the night, we gathered in the garage for pumpkin carving! Below are some pictures of the event. Please enjoy.

The gang on a carving frenzy.
Here we are, posing with our creations.
They look much better with the lights off.
Claire's and my creations. Mine's on the left, Claire's is on the right.

Bad dog. Very bad dog.

So....Rob and I left Baby at home for a few hours yesterday afternoon while we went out with some friends. Upon our return, Rob entered the house while I lagged behind in the garage. Tipped off by Rob's repeated refrain of, "Oh, no. OH, no. OH, NO!", I knew SOMETHING very bad must have transpired in our absence. Here is the scene we were greeted with:

And here's the culprit...

Turns out, yours truly left the baking goods cabinet open before leaving the house, and Baby...well, I guess she just could resist. I don't even want to think about how much sugar and flour she ate, but I know for a fact that she ate almost an entire bag of chocolate chips. (I frantically called the vet to make sure she didn't need to have her stomach pumped or something - large amounts of chocolate can be toxic to a dog). Turns out she was just fine - she got most of it out of her system by leaving us a giant pile of barf to clean up along with everything else.

I was LIVID when I saw the mess and calculated how long it would take to clean it all up. I was a few minutes into sweeping, though, when I just gave in started to laugh. How could I not, after looking into these adorable guilty eyes?

Fallicious!

After a busy September and a break from blogging, we thought we'd get everyone back in the loop! We spent Labor Day weekend in Memphis with the Singletons, which was both fun and relaxing - especially with the lovely new guest room furniture that now fills what used to be "my" room. Unfortunately, we don't have any proof that we were ever there, because we failed to take any pictures. :(

Even more unfortunate is the fact that we failed to take pictures of the next two events as well.... You'll just have to believe us when we tell you that we took a week-long beach vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC, which was deee-lightful. Many thanks to Mom W for letting us use her time-share, which made vacation affordable and therefore possible. :)

Another highlight was a visit in early October from Mom Singleton - she flew solo to come visit us! We spent lots of time enjoying the first days of fall and planning her redecorating projects together. She was almost as excited to see us as she was to see Baby, who followed her around the house the whole time she was here.

I'm convinced that Boone has to be about the prettiest place on earth this time of year. Autumn has come in full force, painting the mountains in the most vivid array of colors I've ever seen. We've included some pics for your viewing pleasure! Some are from our street, some are from a rollerblading excursion Baby and I went on while Rob was out of town, and others are from a hike Rob and I went on yesterday up some giant rocks in a mountain stream. INCREDIBLE!!

This is the view coming down our driveway...


Here's the view across the street...

I stumbled upon some wrestling, writhing snakes while rollerblading!!!

We'll try to post again soon - thanks for reading!!

Little things to make me miss home

I am exhibiting for OCC at a conference at the Billy Graham Training Center in Asheville, NC. I got down here Monday afternoon and will be here until Friday morning.

Although I jump at the chance to get out of the cube, when I get sent away from home I do tend to miss it. Well, I miss my Claire more than 'home' itself. Little things end up making me miss her, like what I saw tonight at 8:40pm when my work day (up at 5:30 and to the hotel by around 9:30) was drawing to an end.

Those who know Claire well (or have ever been in a conversation with her about where to eat out) will understand.