the story i find myself in

so it is the last day of this year - i hope it has been fruitful for all of you - it has been an amazing year in the ashdown camp...we have been resting for the past few days and after church tomorrow we are headed to nashville for passion 06. last year it was amazing to be at this conference, i am really excited to get away from it all and just be and listen to God and also be with some of my favorite worship leaders...hopefully i will be able to update from tn, if not...you will just have to wait...happy new year!

Posted by ashdown at 12/31/2005 08:51:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

so after an early morning and a couple of flights, we are back in houston. its amazing how you can go from 30 degree weather to 70 degree weather...crazy...hope you all are well...time for a nap...

Posted by ashdown at 12/30/2005 04:12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

so this was our first day to 'sleep in' and not have to be anywhere early in the morning...so we did!! the hotel where we stayed, the palmer house was great!! in the morning we shopped and walked around state street - taking in some good ol H&M...after a morning of shopping we headed over to bucktown, an area that my uncle said we should check out. it was a great area - lots of thrift shops and cool botiques and restaurants. one store we walked into was called fluevog shoes, here are some photos: you can see the word 'peacemakers' on the door...here is a paragraph from a holiday card from them: "the entire world is crying for peace. rather than wait for someone else to deliever it, i decided to make shoes that would encourage people to become peacemakers themselves by walking the walk. the peace and goodwilll starts from within and flows outward to the world. season's blessings." wow..simply beautiful...so beautiful that my dad got a pair!! ha! after walking around bucktown we hoped back on the subway back to the city, to shop around rush st. and meet amanda's aunt for dinner. here are some photos from our last day: farewell chicago...

Posted by ashdown at 12/29/2005 07:53:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

so after two full days in michigan - we headed back in the car for chicago. on the way, we decided to stop in douglas mi to see my aunt and uncle. they just bought a vacation home on lake michigan: it was cold, rainy and very foggy so we were able to climb the dunes and see out over the lake like we wanted...but we did get out and walk a bit downtown. it was a very quaint place id love to go back and visit again, maybe in the summer! here are some photos of our morning in douglas: after our morning stop we made our way back to chicago. on our way there we watched the snl best of jimmy fallon dvd - hilarious!! anyways, we made it back to chicago then my dad and i dropped off the girls at the hotel to go shop and we returned the rental car. we ended up at giordano's for some famous chicago style deep dish pizza for dinner with my aunt and uncle again. here are my mom and uncle giving their best hip-hop 'im tough' look: and now chicago under the lights: after dinner we walked around millennium park again and there are some huge statues of faces of chicago. here are some photos, the faces sometimes blink, smile and the like, they are really cool. and the craziest thing is that up close you can see that the colors are all RGB...crazy...enjoy:

Posted by ashdown at 12/28/2005 05:42:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

so after a quick nights rest we woke early and headed out for breakfast at ihop. harvest grain and nut pancakes...yum...after that we headed for my grandma's house, the house where my mom grew up in. crazy to think that they have been in that house for 50+ years...anyways we helped around the house then at lunch my gpa came from the assisted living place to eat with us. here is a photo of me and him (he will be 92 in feb!): after lunch we were all a little tired so it was nap time for some of us...and ya know what happens when you fall asleep at christmas... you get decorated! ha! at my gma's house she has a piano...it was hidiously out of tune, but made for some cool photos: here are some other pics from the afternoon as well: after lunch we headed out to grand ledge, mi (about 45 min away) to visit my uncle thor, aunt becky and my cousin meri...we had a great time there, meri is sooo funny! more pics to come from the evening later...hope all is well where you are, tomorrow we are headed back to chicago for 2 more days of city livin'!!!

Posted by ashdown at 12/27/2005 09:40:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

but i am proud of my self...ya see i have never played fantasy football before and my buddy radkey talked me into joining 2 leagues at the beginning of the season. and last night was the last game of the season and the verdict is...I WON BOTH LEAGUES!! woo hoo for school!! anyways...tiny update - id like to thank sean alexander for having the season of his life along with cadillac willams and the entire bucs defense. cheers darlin.

Posted by ashdown at 12/27/2005 07:51:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

man i love this city! it is bringing back some great memories from the last time i was here - soothing for my soul....and that i get to share all of this with amanda now...brilliant! someday maybe we will be here....we love this town...anyways... this morning we woke up, got some bfast and headed out to cruise down michigan ave. at 1pm today we left for michigan - so we only had a couple of hours this morning. it was a brisk, cold today and we walked almost the length of michigan ave. we started a millenium park which was really cool. there is this 'bean' architecture thing (see pics below) that is awesome. the reflection in the art piece of the skyline is sweet. so after cruising around millenium park we continued on - crossing over the river, seeing the wrigley building, chicago tribune, the water tower and such. we didnt do too much shopping today because we had to head out for michigan at 1 - but we are excited to head back!! after a 4 and a half hour drive to michigan, we arrived in east lansing, checked into the hotel and had some dinner at the coral gables - a place where my mom and dad used to hang when they were in college at msu. after dinner we went to visit my grandpa in the assisted living place and it was great! his humor is hilarious...he calls the lady that runs the place 'god' - makes fun of the other guys who dont talk to him and such...he is soo great! after an hour with him we headed to my dad's brothers place for dessert. it was great to see the other half of the family and enjoy a great time in their mansion. so all in all - it was a long day but a great one. we are still in michigan tomorrow - we are having lunch with my gma and gpa and then dinner with another aunt and uncle. after tomorrow in michigan we are heading back to chicago - cant wait!! here are some photos from this morning:

Posted by ashdown at 12/26/2005 11:36:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

so we arrived about an hour late into chicago's midway airport (surprise, surprise) and my uncle sig met us and we took the L to our hotel, the palmer hotel, in the heart of the loop in downtown. it rocks!! after checkin in and dropping off our luggage we took a cab to my uncle's place to hang with him and his wife while we were waiting for the rest of my famliy to arrive. we had a great dinner with them and about around 8pm my mom, dad, and sis arrived and we celebrated christmas! here are some photos from the night - it was a late one but a great, memorable christmas!!

Posted by ashdown at 12/26/2005 11:30:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

amanda and i are getting ready to head out to the airport for our christmas travels!! we are excited to see some snow! we will be there until friday so i will definately try and keep ya posted on our journeys in the windy city...MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Posted by ashdown at 12/25/2005 11:37:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

so i have been waiting a while to post about this because i couldnt figure out if id actually use podcasts. but after about a month of using them now i love em!! what a great resource...some of my favorites include: KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic Emergent UK Podcasts (check this one out...Dallas Willard, NT Wright, Michael Polanyi) St. Anne's Pub (topics like: deconstructing Aslan, the importance of storytelling, why God speaks in myths) Out of Fellowship (Christianity outside the church) Theohacks Stupidchurchpeople (listen to Tony Jones part 2 and listen for our very own Ryan Sharp's influence) KEXP Live Performances there are plenty more out there, churches like mosaic, imago dei, rockharbor etc have them as well. anyways, very cool resource. thanks steve jobs.

Posted by ashdown at 12/24/2005 12:40:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

for christmas this year amanda and i are heading to chicago with my family...whoo hooo!! here is a pic of what's to come for us...it is my aunt's building where she works....we cant wait!!!

Posted by ashdown at 12/24/2005 10:09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

wow...amanda and i saw this film tonight and i highly suggest it. very powerful, heavy and needs a discussion afterwards. anyone else see it yet? seriously, go see this film.

Posted by ashdown at 12/23/2005 08:45:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

so my buddy chase got tickets to see david gray in november, but that date was cancelled and post-poned to march. so now that the show is in march - he has invited me to go!! woo hoo!! and now i just got an email from aqualung and guess who is on tour with david gray in march.....yep... AQUALUNG!!! great news this evening for the stomach flu man......cant wait for march 9!

Posted by ashdown at 12/21/2005 07:29:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

yep - you heard it right, Sufjan Stevens Christmas Album. i just download it now and cant wait to hear it!! check it out.... via wess

Posted by ashdown at 12/09/2005 09:00:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

"At this season in Germany and other parts of Europe, they sell Advent calendars, which count off the days of waiting and praying for Jesus’ Coming –- which is what Advent means. In most of the West, every evening’s television reminds us how many shopping days are left. Suppose we take these advertisements as a call to pray rather than to purchase. I’ll put myself in the mind of Mary and Joseph, focussed on the expected baby, wondering what he will be like and how he will affect my life." from sacred space

Posted by ashdown at 12/02/2005 09:55:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

so i started reading nothing sacred this morning and here is some goodness that got me thinking this morning... "judaism has always seemed less like a religion than the process by which we get over religion. it was intended as a path not to complacency or self-satisfaction, but to questions and action." "religions aren't necessarily functioning at their best when they provide pat answers to life's biggest questions." i believe this can and should be said about christianity. it isnt a religion - it was to fly in the face of the religious and be a path to action. i love that. jesus was all about not being like the pharisees and the religion of the day. he was all about quesitons and action. how many people today have been told that christianity is all about your self-satisfaction (ie going to heaven when i die) and have been givin simple "pat" answers to our questions... God help me be a change agent in your world, open my eyes to the reality of you and your hopes, dreams, and plans for your creation. i am excited about this book!

Posted by ashdown at 12/01/2005 09:28:00 AM | Permalink | Comments