Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I’m horrible at updating it, but when I do, rest assured its good stuff! Also, be sure to swing by the /inthekitchen section for some great recipes. Leave comments if you try them and make some suggestions if you have your own good ones.

Wedding Bells and Finish Lines

Well, the secrets out and if you haven’t heard, I’ve recently gotten engaged to the most beautiful, perfect, godly woman, Alicia.

Alicia and I met a little over a year ago on the dating site, match.com. I had been in Tulsa not quite a year and still had very few friends, let alone any relationships. I was very weary of trying online dating, but on the recommendation of a few friends, I decided it wouldn’t hurt. After only a few days on the site, I was linked to Alicia. She was one of the first people I communicated with and the only one I ever went on a date with. While I think she first contacted me, she’ll argue it was me who first contacted her. We both must have liked what we saw, however, because after only a couple weeks into my 6 month subscription, I cancelled my membership. After a few weeks, I was introduced to her daughter and began to become a part of their family.

We dated for a little more than a year before I popped the question. We’ve had an amazing year since we’ve started dating and I look forward to an amazing life together. For more on our story and proposal, you can visit our new blog, http://waggonerfam.com.

One of the many reasons I love Alicia is that she pushes me to go far beyond what I’ve ever believed in myself to do. The most recent example of this is the Sprint Triathalon we both completed last Saturday. A few months ago she helped to encourage me to start going to the gym. Soon after that we got the crazy idea in our head that we should work toward something. And why not start big? We began training for the OCCC Super Sprint Triathalon about 3 months ago. It consisted of a 500 meter swim, followed by a 14 mile bike ride and finishing with a 5k run (3.1 miles).

With all the training we did, I still felt unprepared when the day of the race came. I still wasn’t comfortable with my breathing during the swim and the fastest time I had completed 500m was around 18 minutes. I still wasn’t too worried about the biking part, but for the past several weeks I had been dealing with shin splints while I ran so this made me nervous as well.

I jumped in the pool and began my race. All of our training had been in a 25m pool and this was a 50m pool so I wasn’t sure how that would affect me. I managed to finish in just over 15 minutes but was very tired already and only had one leg of the race completed. Alicia and I moved on to the transition area and began our biking. The wind seemed to be pretty strong so we took it slow for the first couple miles. Plus, we were still kind of recouperating from our swim. The 14 mile bike ride actually conisisted of two 7 mile loops so for half of the loop we were fighting the wind and the other half coasting on it. We weren’t allowed to ride side by side so I kept about 10 feet behind Alicia. We completed the first loop and stopped for a very quick water break. Soon after we got back to it though, I noticed my pedal wobbling a little. After a few more yards, it fell completely off. I tried calling out to Alicia but between the distance and the wind, she wasn’t able to hear me. I walked back a few blocks hoping to find my bolt that had come loose but had no success. I tried pounding it back on but that only lasted me about 15 feet. As I sat on the side of the road worried I wouldn’t be able to complete my race, I noticed a lady half a block off the course having a garage sale. I ran up to her garage and exclaimed my predicament. She replied that her husband wasn’t home but graciously allowed me to go through his tool boxes and take anything I needed. Thankfully, I was able to find a bolt that, while not quite large enough, was barely big enough to tighten onto the end and hold my pedal in place. It did end up falling off again, but it was as I was turning back in to the transition area.

I was disappointed of course, mainly because I knew the bike element was my strongest part of the race. I also knew I had a faster pace during the second half of that leg. When I was able to get back on the road, I was in last place, and while I was able to pass a couple people before I finished, it still didn’t make me feel good to know how far behind I finished.

I stayed positive though and finished out my race. I didn’t experience any shin splints, although the last mile of the run gave me a pretty bad cramp in my thigh. My goal was to finish under 2 hours and my official time was 2:21:20 which included my 30 minute “layover”. All in all I was pretty satisfied and if I can convince some loved ones to participate with me next year, I would consider doing it again!

Pictures coming soon!

Vidcast 3.1 and Things I Would Have Tweeted

Wow, has it really been January since my last blog post? That can’t be right. I KNOW I’ve done some blogging since then. Ok, so maybe I’ve neglected it just a tad. I did shoot another vidcast but forgot to upload it. Here’s the link – since my video subscription expires in about a week, I’ll have to link to vids from now on. I forgot that you have to pay wordpress $60/year to be able to embed video. No Thanks.

Ok, so the title. Many of you may follow my twitter feed (as seen on the right) and if you don’t, you should. Especially since I apparently only blog every 4 months. I’ve had some cool stuff happening over the last several days that I most definitely would have tweeted about except for one thing… I can’t. I’m sworn to secrecy. That all should be lifted in the next week or so, so check back to this blog when I reveal my list of “Things I would have tweeted.”

I’m Never Dreaming of a White Christmas Again

I heard today that the average high across the country was 35 degrees. So I’m not the only one suffering from the cold. Last week many areas were slammed by one of the biggest blizzards in recent history. And it fell at a time when many people were trying to take to the roads. Us included.

Alicia, my sister, Kristen and I left Tulsa around 4pm on Christmas Eve and by that time, the roads had begun getting pretty glad. Thanks to a coworker of Alicia’s who overheard us worrying about the travel conditions, we were able to borrow a 4-wheel drive Jeep. Travel started pretty slow but picked up once we hit the Missouri border. Once we hit KC, we were traveling at near-normal speeds and then we hit St. Joseph. Going 65mph, we passed a sign that said the road was closed ahead. We were shocked. Things seemed to be getting better and we discover there’s a 30 mile stretch of Interstate preventing us from getting home on Christmas Eve.

We pulled off the road into a Days Inn an got a room for the night, hoping to get on the road early in the morning. We called the Missouri Department of Transportation and checked on the road conditions early the next morning and everything was still shut down. The interstate south of us was also closed so we were stuck. We kept checking MoDOT throughout the day but there was still no change. So that was my Christmas. Stuck in a Days Inn off the interstate. We had lunch at Denny’s, dinner at IHOP and were even able to find a Walgreens open to get some snacks and make-shift sleds!

We finally made it out Saturday morning and up to Omaha. Had some good time with the family and made it back safely. Despite the fact that it was Christmas, we really did make the most of it and it won’t be a Christmas we’ll soon forget.

Tis the Season

I went to lunch with my buddy Jason last week and wanted to blog about a small experience I had afterwards. As I was pulling back into work, there was a man who appeared to be homeless. I was toting my left-over Meatball Hero sandwich from Hideaway Pizza which I had been looking forward to getting all week. As I passed him, I thought, “You should give your leftovers to him.” And when I felt that gentle nagging in my heart to help someone in need, I did what most people would do. I ignored it. I passed him by, went through the parking gate and proceeded to find a spot. I couldn’t escape the feeling this time, however, and knew God was telling me to seize this opportunity, so despite my efforts to be selfish, I turned around and went back  out the gate.

I pulled up near him and saw he was digging through his backpack. With a beer in his hand, I could see he had food in his backpack. I tried to  use this as an excuse to just keep driving, but the tug at my heart did not let up. I hollared out and told him I had a sandwich. I don’t know what kind of response I was expecting; maybe cries of jubilation, maybe a firm handshake and overwhelming gratitude. But I can tell you the response I didn’t expect was this: “Where’s it from?” I just wanted to yell at him, “Does it matter!? It’s food!” and speed off, but I simply responded to his question and told him it was leftover from lunch and he would probably enjoy it more than I would. His cynicism quickly turned to gratitude and I began to get the response I had assumed from the beginning. He thanked me with a smile on his face and told me to have a merry Christmas and that was the end of our interaction.

As soon as I pulled away, a verse we’re all familiar with immediately came to mind. “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14) It’s a verse we always hear around this time of year, because its a part of the Christmas story, but how different would our lives be if we lived out that philosophy every day?

One of the greatest experiences I’ve ever been privileged to be a part of was traveling down to New Orleans after Katrina to help a few families restart. While I haven’t been on any  missions trips since, it’s definitely something I want to do again. But one thing many of us forget is its not just third world nations that need help or natural disaster survivors that need rebuilding.

Franklin D Roosevelt put it great when he said “Peace, like charity, begins at home.” Jesus put it better, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” I’ve always said it this way; “‘Go into all the world’ sometimes means goign to our own back yards.”

Just a reminder this Christmas season as you hustle around to out-do each other in gifts. And a helpful reminder of what Christmas is all about from Linus: the blanket-toting evangelist.

Another Check Mark

Lifelist item #31 – See U2 in concert.

- Check

Wow. So hard to describe the experience other than wow. It was one I won’t ever forget and I’ll be able to share years down the road. I’m not going to babble on and on about it, but I’ll say a few things. First off, I’ll get pictures up soon. I really didn’t take a whole lot since we weren’t super close and all I had was my phone. Once Alicia uploads them, I’ll add them to my page so just look to the right and click on the facebook logo.

So first off, we were at Memorial Stadium in Norman, OK (OU Sooners) which seats 80,000+. There were some areas blocked off, but the field was also full, so I’m going to say 80,000 is probably pretty close. It was pure insanity! But awesome. I’m including a couple of youtube clips because my words won’t do it justice. The first was my favorite moment of the show. The band played One a song that has inspired the “ONE Campaign” – a humanitarian and advocasy group. Its one of my favorite U2 songs, but what made it so incredible is Bono ending it with a solo of just he and his famous Irish Falcon Guitar of Amazing Grace. The second video is the Edge and Bono doing an acoustic version of Stuck in a Moment and You Can’t Get Out of It. Just amazing. And since you’ll notice both of these songs are a little bit more simple, I also threw in a video of them performing a dance club remix to the song I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight. This will give you an idea of the production I experienced with this show.

And here’s a link to the setlist of the evening. Each song has a video (not of the Norman concert) of the songs being played.

Octobery fun!

Click here for the recipe

First off, I made this last night for Alicia’s birthday. It’s Chicken Parmesean and it was a success! Check out my “In The Kitchen” section for the recipe.

Well, October is off to a busy, but great start. We started by going down to Dallas for the weekend to visit Six Flags Over Texas. I’d never been, and it was a blast! We got there when the park opened at 10am Saturday morning and stayed for about 4 hours. We left and grabbed lunch, then went to see downtown and visit the JKF assassination site. After a riveting explanation of the conspiracy theories by the nearby hotdog vendor, we left to head back.

Click the photo for more pics from the trip!

After a brief nap, we returned to the park in the rain around 6pm. Apparently, unless it is a downpour or there is lightening, they don’t shut down the rides. It was apparently just short of a downpour and if you can imagine going on an 85mph roller coaster and having the rain hit you in the face, it was a bit stinging. But fun nonetheless. And we decided Six Flags in the rain is waaay better! It was a long day and we finally left just before they closed the park at 10pm.

The next day, on our way back to Tulsa we stopped by IKEA. I’d never been there, and the place was HUGE! Also, it provided for some birthday gift inspiration. After 3 hours of walking, we were finally on our way back home!

Monday, MercyMe was performing at the Tulsa State Fair and my station was hosting it. It ended up being a pretty nice evening despite some early worries of rain. We were told by many fair staff members that it was the best crowd they had seen so far! I also reached my goal of trying chocolate covered bacon on a stick. My expectations were destroyed. It was bad. In my 3 visits to the fair, I made it a goal to try as many fair foods as I could [afford]. Here’s the list!

• 

  Click photo for more pics from the fair!

  fried pickles

• fried snickers bar on a stick
• fried manicotti on a stick
• chocolate covered bacon on a stick
• carmel apple
• giant turkey leg
• amish moon pie (much like a regular moon pie but made by the Amish)
• roasted corn
• kettle corn
• corndog

I’ve still got a busy month left with, believe it or not, FIVE more concerts, not to mention church fall carnival, a few more remotes, and possibly a trip to Omaha for my nieces birthday!

Introducing Jesus

I have no real direction with this blog, so look out!

First of all, check out the life list! Number 29 – CHECK. I also threw up a recipe In the Kitchen for some delicious meatballs you might want to check out.

Secondly, I found out that Oklahoma is opening Black Bear Hunting Season on Thursday. I’ve never really been a big game hunter (other than the Big Game Hunter game at Old Chicago) but I think it’d be fun. So if anyone wants to come down to Oklahoma we could go bear-hunting! The season starts on October 1st and ends when the number of bears killed reaches 20 state-wide. I’ve got a 20-gauge shotgun at home, but assuming that wouldn’t be enough, I’d need to borrow a weapon.

So I found a great video by comedian, Steve Harvey. It really makes you think; How would we introduce Jesus to our friends? Would we shyly introduce him as an afterthought like the pesky little sibling who follows us around, or would we give him a proper introduction he deserves? Steve Harvey who has never made a name for himself as a Christian, makes some suggestions on how HE would introduce Jesus. And the crowd seems to give their opinion.

My Business Plan

Fig 1-1

I’m going to start a company that specializes in naps. If you live too far away from home to catch a quick nap over your lunch hour, you can just go to my store and sleep. There will be multiple sleeping options including hammocks, recliners, or the couch (see Figure 1-1 I drew at lunch). Obviously, your lunch hour is meant for lunch, so we’ll also offer soup and salad. Afterall, who doesn’t want to go to sleep with “warm soup-belly”.

As to not disturb other sleepers, no TVs would be allowed, but knowing different people fall asleep differently, every sleep station comes with the Pillowsonic Digital Stereo Pillow Speakers with a large sound library to choose from including; fan, hotel air-conditioner, muffled conversation, or your favorite TV program audio.

My staff will consist of motherly figures who will make you lie down, serve you your soup, and even tuck you in

My goal for old-age

I went to a CD release party for Josh Wilson last night and wanted to share a cool experience. If you haven’t heard of Josh, he is an artist on EMI-CMG Records who just released his second album. His first album Trying to Fit the Ocean in a Cup had the hit releases “3 Minute Song” and “Savior, Please”. We had him out in August of ’08 for our Free Summer Concert Series at the Riverwalk, which is where he met his new wife, Becca. Her dad is the pastor of a church in town, which is why he had a release party in Tulsa. Josh is a great singer and songwriter but in my opinion, what sets him apart and has allowed for his climb in popularity is his ability to play the guitar and his skills with a loop-pedal are truly artistic. [A loop pedal records a sample of whatever is plugged into it, then plays it back and allows for layers to be recorded on top of it.]

So, I ended up going by myself to this concert and chose to sit near the outside edge in case I decided to leave early. It was, for the most part, a young crowd with the exception of some elderly, who my gut tells me, thought were just coming for a normal Wednesday night church service.

In front of me sat an elderly, very frail man, probably around 85 years old. He had great difficulty getting to his seat and as he shuffled down the pew, I thought, “boy is he in for a surprise.” It turned out I was the surprised one. Josh started his show with his own rendition of “Amazing Grace” (see below). Soon after he gets going the old man begins bobbing his head, then his foot begins tapping. Next come the claps, although his fraility made it difficult to clap on the beat, so he quickly switched to the air-keyboard. The smile on his face made it seem as though he was hearing this song for the first time.

So my goal for old age? I want to be like that guy! I want my love of music to continue to transform the way music continues to transform. You can get his newest album, Life is Not a Snapshot in stores now, or on iTunes.

More Meals In the Kitchen

I know this hardly counts as a post, but I put a few new recipes In the Kitchen. Best of all, most are semi-healthy. I’m also going to try to start organizing the recipes so they’re easier to find.

And expect a real post soon!

Thanks friends!