Gettin' toasty in Miami

It's Wednesday afternoon, and we just arrived back from Miami at 6:30 this morning. We left at 2:30 (eastern) yesterday, so it made for about a 17 hour trip... but was it ever worth it! The sun really toasted me but all of us had a super time. The trip included three full days off of work (including a Sunday) and time well spent with my good friends Brooks, Jody, Luke, and Laura. If I can ever figure out how to post some pictures, I'll make sure I do so.

Having spring break people down there made it even way cooler... plus, I can't count the number of times we saw Porsches and Ferarris... it was a lot of fun. The waves were quite brutal as there was a constant rip tide, so the body boarding was held to a minimum... but hey, it was still a really cool trip. Saw Shaq's house, Al Capone's old house, and the house that Tony Montana lived and died in the movie Scarface.

Gettin' toasty in Miami

Wes' weekend update:

Well, it's Sunday night, and I'm back in the coffehouse, chillin and enjoying a nice Italian soda. My friend Jason has begged me to try one, and last week, I tried one with cherry, and quite honestly, it was a lot like cough syrup. So tonight, I tried blackberry with some vanilla, and yeah, it's better.

Just came back last night from St. Louis after taking some jr. high guys up there for a big jr. high conference. All the girls from the group were at a big school dance and some were in a big gymnastics meet this weekend too. It's pretty funny watching these guys, because they are the real athletic and totally sarcastic "I'm too cool to be here" sort of guys, but in reality, they actually had a lot of fun. I really appreciate what CIY does to partner with student ministers and helping make an impact on teenagers. It can be a super hard job sometimes, and yesterday, it was quite refreshing to be with people who show that they care and are partners in the same endeavor. Last year, the big insight I learned and adopted from my teenagers on this trip was the phrase "your mom" inserted prior or after each thing someone says. Yes, it was way funny. This year, they were real big on this phrase called "cooking." Instead of giving someone the bird, you cook them... basically, it's clinching your hands into an upward fist (yeah, it's real dorky but it's jr. high) and then you say, "dude, I just cooked you." That's all I heard all weekend long... that and, "dude, you deserve some major cookage."

The big news today is SIU winning the MVC tournament on national t.v. and getting an automatic bid to the big dance later this month. It was way cool and this whole town is totally excited... this will make their 5th straight season to the NCAA tournament. That's pretty big news for a school in a conference that's not one of the 6 bigger/powerful conferences. Oh, and what happened to OU today against texas? Man, I HATE it when that happens... those longhorns make me want to puke.

If you ever get a chance to stay in an Embassy Suites, I highly recommend it. That's where we stayed this weekend for this conference... a really nice one in St. Charles, MO. It was very spiffy.

This week is the countdown to Miami... we leave on Friday evening, drive all night and head to the beach on Saturday afternoon. I have this body board that I bought last spring break down in Cocoa Beach, and I'm way excited to break it in. The water may be a little on the chilly side, but hopefully it will be bearable. I'll be there on a quick spring break vacation with my wacky friends Brooks, Jody, Luke, and Laura. We did this last year, and so we're eager to go again.

Let me give a few shout outs for some highlights from this past weekend:
- Emily and Ryan and their wedding down in the DR - congratulations you two!
- Mark Moore and CIY and their partnership with student ministers
- SIU winning the MVC tournament - Falker, you deserve the MVP
- The teachers and volunteers within my ministry - it's imperative for a funtioning ministry to teenagers
- My friend Jason who owns Common Grounds - man dude, you know how to make for a cool place to chill
- Thai Taste - the best restaurant in town that puts up with Jeff, Jason, Greg, and myself every Tuesday at noon. I could live there... the food is soooo tasty. I highly recommend the Pad Kad Krao, spice level 6
- Justin Cook - for finding me in the middle of the crowd this weekend and giving me some humorous insights to our annointing by CIY - and also for stumbling upon my blog in the past few weeks.

Have a great week everyone....

Wes' weekend update:

Wes' weekend update:

Thursday - 02.16.06
Left in style at 5:45 for the big roadtrip up to Chicago (2006 Auto Show) with my buds Greg and Jeff. We took Greg's mother-in-law's suburban all the way up and it rocked. DVD, XM radio, and leather seats.... ahhhh yeah. The weather was totally extreme... left Carbodale with 60 degrees, tornado watches, 45 m.p.h. winds, and really wicked weather. Had din din in Mattoon with a friend of Jeff's, temperature was about 29 degrees. By the time we reached Champaign, it was about 22 degrees. When we arrived in Chicago, it was about 17 degrees. We stayed at our friend Chad's place... very nice townhouse.

Friday - 02.17.06
Slept in until about 9:00 or so. Noticed that Jeff and Greg were still sleeping and passing gas, saw Chad right before he headed to work. Took a shower and made the 20 minute walk to Dunkin Donuts. (For all of you wondering why I'd walk in the frigid ice cold weather for D.D., well, let's just say that I really miss their coffee and their Boston creme pie donuts. It was well worth the walk). Came back and waited on the other dudes to get ready, and then we headed out.

Dropped by Chad's work (a really nice bank) to chit chat but he was in some senior v.p. meeting. So, we made our way out of the suburbs and over to Lake Shore. Could not figure out where to park for the Shedd (?) Aquarium. Finally, parked right next to Solider Field and walked our frozen butts over to the aquarium. Found out it cost $24 per person. So I took a leak and we headed out. Went over to the Field Museum. Found out it cost $19 per person, and that was just for one exhibition hall. So, we got back in the burban and made our way over to the WaterTower Mall. Yeah, we three had all been in downtown numerous times before, but we still felt like tourists. Had lunch at California Pizza (or something like that) and then took the elevator up to the restaurant on top of the John Hancock. It's free, but they want you to at least grab a drink. So we chilled up there and then took off for Ogden (?) and Hinsley to check out the Ferrari dealership. Jeff was the navigator and we totally got lost and stuck in Friday evening traffic. Finally made it to the dealership and went on down to Downer's Grove to the Bentley and Mazaratti dealership. Whoa.... some cars were $250,000. Checked them out, acted like we were interested so we could warm up in their offices, and then went back to the Ferrari dealership. After the dude found out we weren't buying anything, he let us wonder around as we drooled over all the cars.

Made it back to Chad's place, met our friend Mark, and we five headed out to Portabelli's hot dogs. It's a pretty good place. Then, Jeff had to take a monumentous dookie, so he went off to a secluded place while the other four of us played some good ole fashioned pool. Then, we met up at a comedy club (called Riddles) with Chad's girlfriend. This stuff was way beyond dirty, enough to make a sailor blush. So, I wasn't really into it and was quite disgusted, not to mention the smoke. Afterwards, everyone wanted to grab a late-night White Castle. Since I value my life and my breath, I didn't even come close to buying anything. Got home about 2:00 and off to sleepy I went.

Saturday - 02.19.06
Got up around 10:00 and dinked around until all five of us were ready to head back into downtown for the auto show. Got to the McCormick Place right next to Soldier Field at around 1:00, and holy crap, was it ever cold. The temperature alone was 4 degrees, not to mention the wind coming off the lake. So we ran the almost half mile to the first main entrance. Engaged in the show with 20,000 other people and it was awesome. Every car company (foreign and domestic) was there to highlight their 2006 and 2007 models and show off any concepts/prototypes. Here are my top five favorite:

1.) Cadillac STS - black - (this isn't the Caddy our grandmas drive... it comes with a 'vette engine and 6 speed manual transmission.)

2.) Corvette ZO6 - yellow - (this thing is a 'vette lovers dream come true... ahhh so nice!)

3.) Audi RS 4 - deep blue - (its looks and specs are enough to demand respect)

4.) Aston-Martin DB9 - silver - (class and speed all rolled into one smooth ride)

5.) Porshe Cayman S - silver - (very classy and stylish with nothing but speed, extreme looks, and handling)

The big news and display was Chevy's new Camaro, coming out in a couple more years. It is a mean looking machine. Infiniti and Ford and a few others had some concept cars... Infiniti's was way cool, not to mention the hot babe who was presenting the audience with all the specs and concepts that's loaded on the car.

Left the show at 5:30, got back to Chad's, took another leak and Greg and Jeff and I headed out. But not witout stopping one last time at D.D. and Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits. Found out as we were leaving town that SIU lost it's braket buster homegame against Louisana Tech... a nail-biting clincher! Got home at 12:30 and found out it had snowed a few inches. The doors to the truck were frozen. Made it to the apartment and after Maximus calmed down from all the excitement, was in bed by 1:00.

Sunday - 0.19.06
Got up, walked to work (not worth starting the truck for a 300 yard trek) and arrived at 8:10 and got everything ready. Found out one of my seniors won 4th place in the state speech tournament (out of 80 teams)... she's way stoked. Had a super children's church with some fun times and memories. Came back and made lunch, slept, took a hot long shower, slept some more, talked to my parents, and now I'm over at the coffee house, just chillin and relaxin.

Wes' weekend update:

Wes' weekend update:

Friday - Made a super quick trip to St. Louis (left at 5:00 p.m. and came got back at 10:00). Just had to finally go and check out this indoor rock gym. It's definitely way cool. Right next to Union Station inside an old mill or warehouse. The dudes who work there definitely have their own vocabulary and are good at giving rock climbers that stereotypical "we're trashed" mindset. It was quite fun and entertaining... i.e. "Sup man, wanna do some climbing?" "Dude, I have this nano iPod and like, I have no idea who I was trying to download.... oh wait, yeah, Queens of the Stoneage, right on man, right on." Also while in St. Louis, I had to go to Krispy Kreme... ahhhhhhh. Came back and met my friend Jeff and we chilled with our friends Greg and Kelly, who just had their third baby, a baby girl. We all stayed up unitl midnight, planning our upcoming trip to Chicago for the 2006 Auto Show.

Saturday - Slept in, somwhat, even though Maximus had to go dookie early in the morn. His morning glory comes around at the most inconvienent of times... like when it's super cold outside. Dinked around on the intenet, watched it snow, watched some college games on ESPN, and got ready to soak in some Olympic moments. At 1:00, the Salukis played Creighton, and won, breaking Creighton's 16 game home winning streak. We're the only team in the valley (MVC) to have won a game in their new joint. After living here for almost three years, I finally know what they mean and how serious the locals are when they chant: "We hate the Creigh8" and "BlueJays are for fairies." We're now in a four way tie for conference first place with Creighton, Northern Iowa, and Wichita St. Oh yeah, the Sooners won like their 15th straight game against Baylor - ha! Went into the office that afternoon to set up for Sunday morning. That night, had some gift certificates and went out with a friend to Lone Star Steakhouse. My buddy knew one of the waitresses, she must have been Jennifer Garner's twin sister... yeah, I'll be going back there sooner than later.

Sunday - Did the Sunday morning ministry tour for 6 hours, making a plug during the worship hour for our booming children's ministry and our need for some more volunteers. Also, played the drums during worship and totally loved it. Rocking out with the big boom and sound is really cool. Came back home, watched it snow some more, took Maximus for a walk in the snow, and then tried to jumpstart the church van. That was a waste of time, as the battery was way low and it was butt cold outside. So, I crammed 4 high school students in my truck and we went out to din din. These four are kind of like my "core leadership" of high school students. They're cool. One of our college students, Tim, came with us to hang out and get to know the students. Talked to my sister that night and did some planning on our big Wilson/Sanders Colorado Tour 2006.

Highlights: Rock wall, Krispy Kreme, dining experience, playing the drums, and SIU winning against the Creigh8.
Lowlights: Hearing nothing but the Cheney shooting incident on the news, disappointing news coming from different elements of the Olympics, not-so-good stuff going on with one of my nephews, all the V-day stuff is about to make me go crazy (not that it's a bad holiday, just too commercialized and fantasized sometimes).

Wes' weekend update:

I'll try it out too...

Although I have yet to really cross into the next level of intense and committed blogging, I did stumble upon the following profile format from other blogs and thought I'd give it a try. So, for all one and a half of you out there who read this, this is for you...

Four jobs I have had:
1.) Pie factory employee (we made the all the pies for every McDonald's in the entire country. We also made the dough for Pizza Hut, Red Lobster, and even Chips Ahoy cookies. My friend Jeremy and I worked the seceond shift of 4:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. and we survived this summer job for 2 weeks... it was insane.)
2.) Courtesy clerk (PC for bag boy in a local grocery store. This was my first official job where I was on a payroll. It lasted for three years in high school. It was actually a lot of fun and I was able to work with some good friends of mine from school.)
3.) Health club cafe attendant (This was a really fun job as I felt like a bartender, serving the faithful members their daily dose of coffee, toast, and bagels. I learned a lot about health food, ran into some hot chicks, and had free membership to a very pristine health club.)
4.) Nuclear lab courier (This was by far the coolest and most unique job I've had. My sister was the office manager in this medical radiopharmacuetical lab. I worked with a small group of guys whose only job was to transport radioactive medicine from the lab to various hospitals. 75% of the time, it was fairly low stressed. However, I can recount a few instances of when some spills and leaks were made, and that made for some special memories.)

Four movies I can watch a lot:
1.) Braveheart
2.) The Replacements
3.) Black Hawk Down
4.) the Jack Ryan series (Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger)

Four places I have lived:
1.) Tulsa, Oklahoma
2.) Lincoln, Illinois
3.) Manchester, New Hampshire
4.) Carbondale, Illinois

Four t.v. shows I love:
1.) ER
2.) Lost
3.) Family Guy
4.) Survivor (yeah, say what you want, but it never gets old and I still plan on being on it one day)

Four places I've vacationed:
1.) Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado)
2.) Acadia National Park (Maine)
3.) Jacksonville, Florida
4.) Martha's Vineyard (Mass.)

Four dishes I really enjoy:
1.) Pulled pork and turkey slices at Smokey Bones
2.) Pa Nang curry at Taste of Thai (spice level 8)
3.) Babyback ribs at Rib Crib
3.) Shrimp scampi at Tinker's

Four sites I go to daily:
1.) yahoo.com
2.) espn.com
3.) soonersports.com
4.) the ever-evolving blogger world

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1.) Snow skiing in the Rockies
2.) Rock climbing at Upper Limits or Vertical Dreams
3.) Helping my mom and dad do stuff in our backyard
4.) Hanging out with my nephews and my sister and brother-in-law

I'll try it out too...

your mom makes me laugh

I don't know if this is because I hang out with Jr. high students, or perhaps I'm still living in my own little Jr. high world, but for me and some of my friends, we can guarantee an instant laugh with "your mom" jokes. If any of my friends on staff or elsewhere say something random or even just something normal, I usually follow up their statement with a "your mom blah blah blah." In fact, I believe I could be having the most crappy of all days, and if someone takes a comment and precedes it with "your mom," I'm guaranteed to laugh. Just when you thought it would get old or dumb, it actually gets even better and funnier. Yes, I highly recommend it.

This post is a shout out to my friend Luke (and one of my Jr. high students, Jeremy) who taught me the art and appreciation of "your mom" jokes... thanks guys.

your mom makes me laugh

I hope the snow is on it's way

On Sunday afternoon, some friends and I are taking the Jr. high and Sr. high students in a multi-car convoy to Paoli Peaks, Indiana for some midwest skiing. As a guy who loves to snow ski and used to go for winter and spring breaks to Rockies back in high school and the White Mountains of NH back east, Paoli Peaks is little smaller. But I won't complain, it's still skiing.

More and more of the students keep calling, saying they're going, which is super. I just hope we have snow waiting for us when we get there. About 6 weeks ago, the weather was absolutely freezing cold, very very cold. We had snow on the ground, lots of super chilly days. But since, and even today, it's not really all that cold, especially for Illinois in January... my homestate farther south received snow today when it just rained here. Anyways, I just hope the weather gives all these teenagers, and myself, a blissful weekend with lots of snow. Since they don't have school on Monday, we're skiing all night on lit-up slopes, most of the day Monday, and then driving the 3 hours back to Carbondale. It's always a lot of fun!

I hope the snow is on it's way