Marriage Retreat

Saying "marriage is easy" would be the equivalent of saying "this booger tastes good" - neither hold much truth. If you're reading this and not married then I'm sorry to burst your bubble. It's not that we are terrible people (I have a wonderful wife) it's just that we're human beings. Let me be honest, there have been times when I'd rather have a flaming hot dog shoved up my nose than resolve a conflict. However, in my one year and nine month experience it has been nothing short of incredible - good, bad, and ugly.

This past weekend Allison and I had the privilege of attending a marriage retreat - put on by Young Life - at a Young Life camp property in Colorado (Trail West). We been to marriage conferences where you sit down and they tell you how to make everything right, but this was different. The speakers, music leader, and program team did an amazing job making sure this retreat wasn't just a fluffy three days in the mountains. Rather, they made it a time where a husband and wife could take an honest look at their marriage and take the steps necessary in creating/maintaining a marriage honoring God and each other. Walls were broken, feelings were expressed, and grace abounded. How grateful we are for the folks at Young Life for their effort in helping us in our journey.



We were not the only couple from the Houston area to attend. From left to right in the picture is Doug and Brooke Tigtig (my Area Director), Will and Tara Otto (staff in NW Houston), and Brian and Heather Reeder (staff in the Houston bay area). They've each been married much longer than Allison and are always a blast to hang around. One things YL does so well in is making sure staff do not feel like they're all alone in ministry. We have a terrific group of staff people in the Houston Region and I feel fortunate to be here.

I'll leave you with another picture taken at the retreat. Allison is currently 23 weeks prego and we're getting close on nailing down a name.

The Great Debate

Is it a boy or girl?

This past Wednesday Allison and I went to the doctor to find out the gender of the little human being inside her belly. For most parents-to-be this is a highly anticipated event. By knowing the gender we can eliminate calling the thing in her belly an "it", focus on gender specific names, and answer the always asked question "is it a boy or girl?". More importantly, as a father, it lets me know if I need to start buying footballs and fishing poles or ribbons and lace. So, without further ado, I present the pictures that were printed for us at the doctors office and decide yourself if it's a boy or girl.



This is just a profile shot of the face. You can't really tell too much of the gender, but for the next picture the baby turns bottom up and gives us a solid shot of his buttocks and what's between.



There's no arguing here! It's a boy! For the record, from the very first day we knew Allison was pregnant I thought it would be a boy. The reason: I trained my 'Y' chromosomes to swim faster than my 'X'. We're excited about HIM coming into the world and I know our family is as well. I was reminded by my uncle the other day that our baby will be the first boy born into my(Gary) side of the family in 14 years. We have six beautiful little girls and now they have a cousin who can protect them - or who they can dress up like a girl...

Allison is officially 20 weeks pregnant and pregnancy has been good to the both of us(directly her, indirectly me). She feels very fortunate to not have had any morning sickness, illness, or unpredictable hormonal swings - I'm most grateful for that. After watching the sonogram this past week we learned that he weighs approximately 12 ounces and seems to be a healthy, strapping young boy. Allison can feel him move around - which he does quite a bit - and I've been able to feel a kick here and there. I can already tell we'll have our hands full.

Our favorite name so far is a combination of my grandfather's and grandmother's:
Buford Clydine - what do you think?

just call me 'Pops'

It's a fetus! And it's ours...crazy, right? Allison is currently eight weeks prego and a few days ago we got to listen to the heartbeat. Crazy beautiful.

I know it's going to be a boy, because when the doc did a sonogram we saw him doing push-ups on the yolk sack (right above his head). He should come out of the womb as strong as an ox.

3,500 Miles

Back in the day a band called, The Proclaimers, wrote a song about walking 5,000 miles (titled, "I'm Gonna Be"). Last week we drove a little over 3,500 miles and there is no way I would walk that - Forest Gump, maybe, but not me. Just to clarify, I did not add an extra zero, I meant to write THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED miles in one week. The journey went like this:

Friday, 2p-4p Sugar Land to College Station (2 hours)

We went to visit some old Young Life guys of mine who were graduating high school. The graduation gift consisted of a box of Ramen noodles and Oatmeal Creme Pies wrapped in duck (or duct) tape. I called it "The College Survial Kit"

Friday, 6p-10:30p College Station to Paris, TX (4 1/2 hours)

We stayed the weekend with family. Went to Chloe's gymnastic recital and took some great videos.

Monday, 9a-10p Paris, TX to Kingsport, TN (13 hours)

Our destination is Lynchburg, but we stopped and stayed with Emily's (Allison's best friend from high school) mom. This was the second time we've stayed there and both visits have been a great break from the road. We woke up to fresh ground coffee and a home-made breakfast (aka. southern hospitality)

Tuesday, 11a-3:30p, Kingsport, TN to Lynchburg, VA (4 1/2 hours)

Our first day in Lynchburg. We wanted to stop at an antique/furniture/junk store on our way in town, but for whatever reason it doesn't open on Tuesdays. Seriously, what store doesn't open on Tuesdays? We met up with a friend of mine that I worked with/for while we live in Lynchburg and had a great visit with his family. That night we drove to Amherst (about 18 miles outside lynchburg) to stay with the Pelfrey's - a family from the church I worked at that we became very fond of.

Wednesday, In Lynchburg

After spending the day with old friends we were given the opportunity to stay in a cabin settled in the mountains. It was a much needed retreat and you couldn't beat the solitude we were able to experience. For dinner that night we met up with some of the kids from the youth group at CiCis. Afterwards we went to one of their houses and played basketball (I played basketball, Allison talked with one of their moms).

Thursday, still in Lynchburg

We spent the morning cooking breakfast and hiking a little over a mile on the mountain trails. This was not a relaxing hike, it was uphill and at times Allison had to carry me on her back. Ok, she didn't have to carry me on her back, but we did sweat. We had planned on staying in the cabin another night, but a storm blew in and we didn't want to get stuck in the mountains (although, it wouldn't have been a bad place to get stuck). We ended up staying with the same people we stayed with the first night and once again it was a good visit. Our two nights staying with the Pelfrey's made our trip much better. Friends we had originally seen the first day invited us back over to their house for dinner and cooked burgers.

Friday, 9:30a - 3:30a, Lynchburg, VA to Paris, TX (18 hours)

You read it right. We drove 18 hours without stopping except for food and gas and at one point got 40 mpg. Each time I've driven that amount I've felt exhausted, but for some reason if I needed to I could've driven another 10 hours.

Saturday, In Paris

Hung out with family

Sunday, 1p-6p, Paris, TX to Sugar Land, TX (5 hours)

It was really nice to be home, unpack, and rest. We actually drove a little over 3,600 miles, but before I could get the actual number off the dash Allison reset it. There was a lot of driving done while in College Station, Paris, and Lynchburg that isn't accounted for in this blog.

Highlights of the trip:

seeing old YL kids(and their family) before they graduate high school (C.S.)
visiting with family (Paris)
time with with Chloe (niece)
talking with my grandma
great surprise moments with the camera ("everyone say..."
staying with Emily's mom (TN)
dinner with kids at CiCis (VA)
dinner with the Fosters (VA)
visiting with Ryan and Ginny (VA)
staying with the Pelfreys (VA)
chuck and his cabin (VA)
basketball at the Conrads (VA)
getting our vacuum (VA)
driving 18 hours
40 mpg
the mountains (you know this isn't in TX)
getting a free cup of pickles at Subway (TX)
hiking (VA)
staying with the Johnsons (TX)
finding three boxes in my grandma's shed I though I had lost
my wife being there beside me