the story i find myself in

time to move

2006-11-12T19:00:00.000-06:00

yes - blogger has been so good to me - but now it is time to change. here is the new home: My Yearned-for Wholeness make the change : see ya on the other side!

deacons SHUT OUT seminoles

2006-11-12T07:25:00.000-06:00

GO DEACS!! we are on a roll. we haven't won in tallahasee since like the 50's and last night we CRUSHED the noles, 30 - 0. that's what i'm talking about...oh yeah - did UT win last night...NO! ha! thats what they get for not showing the wake game.

so lame!

2006-11-11T19:09:00.000-06:00

so because i live in texas and UT is playing at the same time as Wake i dont get to watch my boys play. so lame. UT sucks...

blogger vs wordpress

2006-11-11T11:19:00.000-06:00

so i am in the process of trying to decide to switch to wordpress or stay with blogger. anyone have any thoughts? pro's / con's ?

my wife is amazing!

2006-11-11T10:52:00.000-06:00

yep - this morning i was awakened to breakfast in bed! yum!! i was out late at my bass players bachelor party where we played poker til like 2am. the good news is i won 50 bucks! so needless to say i was tired this morning. and to have the first thing when i wake to be my wonderful wife bringing me coffee and waffles with peanut butter and chocolate chips. yes it was amazing. and she is amazing. here's to a great saturday!

isn't she beautiful?

2006-11-09T07:57:00.000-06:00

thanks to marlow for the heads up on this: rob bell is doing a 2 day seminar for pastors. oh yeah. i'm there...anyone else going? michigan is january - YES! here is the info: isn't she beautiful?

denison witmer

2006-11-05T15:25:00.000-06:00

so if you are a denison fan or if you have never heard him - you gotta go here: Happy Birthday Denison Witmer 33 songs. free. download the tunes. donate some cash to charity (if you desire). happy b day denison!!!

a new member to the blog family

2006-11-05T07:27:00.000-06:00

yes - your favorite little brother and mine - TIMMY is bloggin at: When You Thought You'd Never Stand Out. read with caution because he 'does what he wants'. glad to see you are bloggin bro...

8 - 1

2006-11-04T21:17:00.000-06:00

yep! my boys pulled it out and it is the first time we have been 8 - 1 since 1944. GO DEACS! the only bad thing is the upcoming schedule...hopefully they can keep the streak going! much love to gore for the football. GO DEACS!

a great finish to the bday extravaganza

2006-11-04T18:09:00.000-06:00

yes - my boys WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS on national tv tonight - GO DEACS!!! 8 and 1 - here we come!!

My Celebrity Look-Alikes

2006-11-04T17:18:00.000-06:00

My Celebrity Look-Alikes

2006-11-04T17:11:00.000-06:00

birthday surprises!

2006-11-03T21:39:00.000-06:00

so amanda planned a wonderful evening for me!! i am so blessed and so loved by the best person in the world! i had no idea what we were going to do this evening - but it has been incredible!! we ate dinner at this restuarant called bistro moderne and it was so great!! the funny thing is i ordered some wine that costs A LOT of money....oh well - its a birthday, right? after dinner the next surprise was that she got us a sweet room at Hotel Derek. so we headed up then and when we got here she had decorated the room in a football theme dedicated to the one and only TAMPA BAY BUCS! whoo hooo!! also, she got a pumpkin cheesecake and put together an amazing book for me of tons of friends letters to me. thanks to all for your words - they mean much more than you will ever know. thanks amanda for doing all this hard work and getting people to write to me. and to top it all off - tomorrow we have room service breakfast and 60 min massages in the massage suite! oh man. what an amazing bday. ok - time for the courvoisier...good night...

our house

2006-11-03T15:30:00.000-06:00

yes the rumors are true - for the full update here: our story begins...

time to change

2006-11-02T19:17:00.000-06:00

yes - we got a new look here at the story i find myself in. also - we are buying a house! more to come later...

oh snap

2006-10-31T11:31:00.000-06:00

damien rice - new album november 14th. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! click here for more info.

Rockharbor Podcast

2006-10-31T08:59:00.000-06:00

dont know if you are subscribed to these guys or not - but if you are interested in studying and discussing worship - they are in a 5 week study that began last sunday. go check em out here, subscribe and join the discussion. two nuggets from this week: 1 - worship isnt determined by what you say or sing. it's how you live. 2 - a worship series isnt designed to teach us how to sing better - it is designed to show us who God is and what are the ways he wants us to respond to him. man these seem so fundamental but they pack so much weight. God help me to worship you with my life and not just with my words and songs...

sunday morning and shoes

2006-10-30T09:10:00.000-06:00

this sunday was an amazing sunday. we are currently studying nehemiah and this week was on the topic of letting go. God was rebuilding the city through nehemiah and along the way there were some people who were trying to thwart his process - saying we want to live in the rubble and not change. hardened hearts to the process of renewal. a great message for our crowd. in our meetings in planning for the service we came up with the idea to go ask people on the street what is the hardest thing they have ever had to let go of. then after that we asked them if they would let go of their shoes and donate them to our homeless ministry at the church. something that people probably have abundance of and something simple that other people are in need of. the response was great. of about 14 people we asked, 4 people gave us their shoes. so great!! so yesterday morning we showed this video in the service and then our pastor taught on letting go and being a part of renewal and rebuilding and we gave our people a chance to respond...and it was amazing! at the end of the service we wheeled out 4 trash cans and asked people to donate their shoes and all 4 cans were filled! over 200 pairs of shoes. it was great because it all was genuine sacrifice. it didnt feel like people were guilted into responding. it was a celebratory time of sacrifice. as simple as we might think it is - for our people to give up stuff was so great! it makes me excited to see how we can continue to practically be a part of restoring and rebuilding God's kingdom here in houston.

sweet.

2006-10-28T14:07:00.000-05:00

oh yes.sweetness i just hope it is as good as the black album. we shall see...

new musical endeavors

2006-10-26T13:54:00.000-05:00

so yesterday i wrote / finished my first song using logic and the good ol oxygen 8. for a listen - click here. enjoy...

save the cheerleader, save the world

2006-10-23T19:40:00.000-05:00

yes - i am addicted. cant wait for tonights episode. holler.

(red) products

2006-10-23T14:36:00.000-05:00

i know this has been around for awhile - but i am just now discovering it. it is a beautiful thing. for more info - click here.

the album leaf (pictures)

2006-10-22T15:45:00.000-05:00

so yes - it was an amazing evening. the only bummer was the nasty smoke filled room + the delay for T A L to start due to computer/visual problems. but once that was fixed it was all good! they do some very sweet visuals with all their songs - all the visuals timed up perfectly to the songs. go see these guys on this tour if possible. so so great. here at the pics: these last two pics capture my two fav things of the evening: 1. the violin player. man he is amazing! he did a lot of looping and put some sweet effects on the violin. he is so tasteful too. what an incredible musician. 2. the suitcase rhodes. as you can see we got to stand right at the front of the stage next to jimmy and watch him work his magic. i think the rhodes is my new fav instrument. he looped it many time which was brilliant - and as you can see he had his hands full with two other keyboards as well. amazing.

the album leaf

2006-10-21T17:09:00.000-05:00

t minus 4 hours and counting....i think i should probably take a nap so i am all good to go for the late night...

new copeland record

2006-10-20T14:56:00.001-05:00

yep. these boys are at it again. new cd comes out oct 31st. for a free preview from the upcoming album click here and download away. enjoy.

a peaceful wednesday

2006-10-18T18:02:00.000-05:00

so because of saturdays craziness i took today off - and man it has been so refreshing! taking my time when getting up - yummy coffe in the am - just straight chillin. amanda is off today as well - off from school but not off from work. she is swamped...keep her in mind this week... also stumbled upon these guys today: Four Tet - really sweet electronica music. man - that is my favorite genre right now. and speaking of electronica music.... THE ALBUM LEAF IS COMING!! yes!!! this sat night we are heading to see them. i cannot wait. anyone wanna go? let me know.

weekend update : sunday

2006-10-16T18:01:00.000-05:00

so after two abnormaly late nights - i was draggin like a mug on sunday morning...but after a good practice and some kolache's i was ok...sunday morning went well - had to throw a curve ball at the band and they did great! we ended up doing a song that they didnt have a chart for (center) but the band followed like a champ! after church we headed out to cafe artiste with lindsay and monte. always a great time at cafe artiste...and i must say the eggs benedict there...wow...if you come and visit i will take ya there. after the grub it was back home to relax and chill!! the first time we really just got to sit around and catch up...crazy!! then around 6pm we went back to the church for recess. recess is the sunday night prayer service i am leading with the youth group. good stuff as well. then because of nikki's love of bakeries we had to take her to la madeline. oh yeah. breakfast for dinner. my favorite for sure. we closed the place down and crashed back at the apt around 11.30pm. it was great to have nikki here. man we miss her much already. and now it is time to see the bears go to 6 - 0! lets go bears!!!!!

weekend update : saturday

2006-10-16T17:25:00.000-05:00

so because of the late night we didnt get much sleep because we had to head back to houston to meet spur58 and get them all settled for the show that evening. but we did have time to eat some yummy food at austin java and head to waterloo records. man, that is the best record store ever. go there if you get a chance. they have everything. so after a see ya soon to the marlows (they were coming later for the concert) we hit the road back to houston. it was smooth sailing all the way back and we met up with the spur crew around 3pm. i opened for them and had my friends diedre and christina play cello and violin play with - so we rehearsed a little bit - got a sound check then it was time to open doors and rock and roll! the show went awesome! i did four songs: where i belong fall like the rain save me be still my soul i felt like i was received well from all the spur fans...all in all there were around 500 people there so it was a blast to play for them! amanda came up and sang be still with me so that was doubly amazing as well. here are a couple of pics: the head-less drummer is my dogg talley who plays on sunday morning. it was a great set and much fun. amanda took these pics and i had nikki take some on my slr. so if i ever get around to developing those - i will post some for ya. after us a band called how ironic played - then spur took the stage. wow - these guys are very talented and have a great sound. the show was wonderful. a long day but a great time as well. i am so glad nikki was here to hang! we didnt leave church til around 11pm - stopped at got taco bell (nothing like a late night meal) on the way home and headed to bed. another early morning on sunday...

weekend update : friday

2006-10-16T16:48:00.000-05:00

so on fri morn amanda had to work til noon. then after that we got in the car and headed to AUSTIN!! we surprised nikki with ticketes to damien jurado and rosie thomas! we had a blast in austin - got into town and met up with chris. from there we headed down to the lake and ate at a great little place called the hula hut. necole met us at dinner and after a yummy meal we walked next door to mozarts cafe. what a great place! huge patio overlooking the lake. so so sweet!! from there we drove back down to 6th st and walked over to emo's where the concert was. the opening band went on at 10.30pm and played for an hour. oh, and THEY WERE HORRIBLE!!! so after enduring that ear pain it was good ol rosie's turn! man she is so funny and so good live. here are the pics: rosie had her brother sing and play on most of the songs and it was so great! he must be the one on the albums because it sounded exactly like it. after rosie finished damien jurado and his crew made the stage. by this time it was like 12.45am and we were beat...so we stayed til like 1.30am and then headed back to the marlows to crash. what a marvelous day!

now its overhead

2006-10-13T00:33:00.000-05:00

seriously. get this cd : Dark Light Daybreak. we headed out to walters on washington tonight and caught a great show. NOW IT'S OVERHEAD is freaking amazing. buy the album. nikki is here and it is great!! looking forward to more weekend fun...lots more planned but she doesnt know! hehehe

this weekend

2006-10-11T08:11:00.000-05:00

first - NIKKI IS COMING!! whooo hooo! should be a great time. also wanted to let everyone know i will be opening for Spur58 this sat night at 7pm at First Pres Church of Houston. if you are in the area come on out! cant wait to see all of you there...

my day today

2006-10-10T17:01:00.000-05:00

it was a torrential downpour day in good ol h-town. so ya know what i did... played around with this puppy...wow...what a program...so so much. anyone have any advice on some good tones/synths? i am currently going through each one to see what they sound like? and advice?

ragamuffin soul

2006-10-09T20:40:00.000-05:00

so confession time. i have been bloitering for a while now...over at Ragamuffin Soul. time to give the brotha some props. carlos is a fellow worship leader and has a great blog and podcast. go over and check it out. keep up the good work los!

figured it out...

2006-10-09T19:14:00.000-05:00

thanks to my dogg marlow we got the link. click here to download my album. enjoy!

SWEET!

2006-10-09T17:56:00.000-05:00

my album is on itunes!! whoo hoo!!!! happy downloading.... i dont know how to make a sweet link to the store but you can search my name and find me there! anyone know how to make a link to the music store? let me know... it'd be sweet if ya left a customer review or so...if ya like the album...

one more movie

2006-10-08T20:02:00.000-05:00

so i finally got around to seeing this flic (thanks ben for the reccomend) and it was heavy. wow. kinda wish i had a heads up with what the content was - but anyways it was good. bjork did a fantastic job in this film. she made it for me. anyone else seen this? thoughts?

movies, movies, movies

2006-10-07T22:04:00.000-05:00

our three we have watched this week: very interesting / disturbing movie...who's high school experience was like this? it is a mobster/drug dealer movie. the plot was a little confusing at times and there was much mumbling. but once it all came together it was a pretty good flic. what a beautfil movie! i know it has been around for a while - but we never got to see it, so thanks to good ol blockbuster online we watched it tonight. such a great film. it looks stunning and the story is so great. surprisingly a good film. an interesting commentary on american culture and what family life looks like and such. and cage did a great job in this film. many laughs.

sharpseven design

2006-10-06T23:14:00.000-05:00

so your fav graphic designers and mine - ryan and holly sharp have finished the new sharpseven website. do yourself a favor and check them out: SHARPSEVEN DESIGN :: CREATE SOMETHING NEW. and if you ever need anything done - use them. so so great.

oh happy day!

2006-10-06T22:41:00.000-05:00

yep. amazing. so so amazing. more to come later...

damien jurado

2006-09-29T10:07:00.000-05:00

so your fav songwriter and mine Damien Jurado is doing some audio blogging at and now that i'm in your shadow. here is what he says about it: "I've set up an audio blog in honor of my forthcoming record And Now That I'm In Your Shadow. I'll be posting new demos, and the occasional audio letter while on the road or at home." so be sure and add it to your rss feeder. also, be sure and download his cover of nick drake's pink moon. check out the story SPIN.com: Damien Jurado Covers Nick Drake for yourself. his new stuff is sounding great - he has a cellist that sings with him now and a guy doing some 'atmospheric' stuff. brillant. the new record comes out on oct 10th. sweet.

visio dei

2006-09-28T08:34:00.000-05:00

so if you live in the rdu area you need to be attending this church. here is there site visio dei. sign up on the email list and you will get all the info you need. secondly, download the podcasts. seriously. i am so stoked on their vision and the way they are following christ and dreaming church in their context. so inspiring. i just finished listening to their thoughts for discipleship and so vibe with it. and i guess that comes out of some of my own frustrations with where i am at (but that is either here nor there). so all that to say - do yourself a favor and listen. i am spurred on by listening.

on the topic of podcasts...

2006-09-27T08:27:00.000-05:00

also, some very close friends of mine - jason and jeff are planting a church called visio dei. they have a podcast of their pre-services...listen and journey along with them.

is there a hell?

2006-09-27T08:24:00.000-05:00

so as soon as i saw this topic under the mosaic podcasts i had to listen this morning. what a tough topic that i have thought of much...i am listening to it right now - do yourself a favor and listen with me...

back in the game

2006-09-25T20:34:00.000-05:00

yes - you heard it right - the one the only matt shilling is back blogging again. keep up with him at a new mission in Boston.

derek + sandra + taft = sweet show

2006-09-25T20:07:00.000-05:00

yep. amanda and i headed out last night to see some good, good music last night. first of all - it was at 2115 Taft which is a sweet, small venue. and it was sold out - but didnt feel like many people were there. so great. first - Sandra McCracken played and derek and a bass player played with her. the bass player was incredible - he played bass and keys at the same time. i am telling you this guys was a freak of nature he was so good...so sandra has a new album (of course we scored it) and she played like 5 tunes from it as an opener. she has a great voice and is a great songwriter. after sandra finished her set there was a short break - then derek came back up by himself. he opened with 'i want a broken heart' - which was great because that morning we led that song for the 11o5 crowd. then after that song he said he was going to take a couple of requests from the audience and then he would bring the band back up and play through mockingbird in its entirity - because he said it makes more sense a whole - and not individual songs. sweet!! so i yell out as loud as i can 'SOMEWHERE NORTH'. and saw the head nod...sweet!! the songs he played from the requests were: i repent dance somewhere north the rich song wedding dress oh yeah. what a set. then after that he brought up sandra and the bass player and they played through mockingbird. he is such a gifted songwriter. so great. and if you havent heard, you can download his album for free - just click the mockingbird link above and enjoy the free music.

a refreshing friday

2006-09-23T09:03:00.000-05:00

so yesterday was great. i woke up early - spent some time in my Sacred Space here at the house. then cleaned the whole place. dusted, vaccumed - took it down! then as i was finishing cleaning radkey called and asked if i wanted to go play some disc golf. yesssssssss!! there is a course right by his house - so we played 9 holes there - i ended up 3 over. then we drove out to another park downtown and played 9 holes there. so great! all in all i finished 4 over for the day. not too shabby for not playing these courses and being out of the rhythm. needless to say i am looking forward to more days like this! after amanda got home from school we headed out to see the astros game. got some free tix from work again and had a blast! the astros stormed back in the 8th and won with a walk off single in the 9th. probably the most exciting game we have been to yet! and now it is my fav day of the week. saturday. day of rest, hang time with the wifey and grrrrrrrreat breakfast!! enjoy your sat...

conversations

2006-09-21T20:10:00.000-05:00

so today i got to hang with corey - a church planter here in houston. what a great connection to make! he is leading Missio Dei, a church here in town and its structure is very similar to that of scu. community groups, comm pastors and such - i love their vision and their heart for this city. i am excited to see where this will lead...

finally!!

2006-09-18T21:16:00.000-05:00

my boys THE ALBUM LEAF are coming to town. yessssssss!! picked up the new album as well - a definate must have for your complete collection.

austin, tx

2006-09-18T15:33:00.000-05:00

full update located here : our story begins.

una

2006-09-16T21:34:00.000-05:00

check these guys out: una. a buddy of mine brandon burch (formerly everyday collision) has been busy at work these past few years. man. great tunes and looks like they are doing some great things. check em out... btw - I LOVE AUSTIN! (aside) 2 fav things about austin: 1. the marlows 2. waterloo records more to come later... sufjan was incredible. see him on this tour if you can. wow.

music, music and more music

2006-09-15T09:46:00.000-05:00

yes it is going to be an amazing couple of months of good music for the ashdowns. first we begin with Sufjan Stevens tonight - in AUSTIN!! amanda and i are headed to hang with the marlows after school today - eat some dinner at WAHOOS FISH TACOS!! chill with the marlow clan - oh yeah, cant wait. concert number 2 is derek webb on sept 24th. he is playing at 2115 Taft. should be freaking amazing. and last but not least... yes you read it correctly. DEATH CAB!! and ok go is opening - that sweet band that does the dancing on the treadmills. hopefully they will do it live. much much to look forward to. updates tomorrow on sufjan and austin. live alive.

seattle day 3

2006-09-14T18:20:00.000-05:00

so our last day in seattle - sad but true...we were able to sleep in and then met jeff, stacey, ken and brenda for some amazing breakfast at 3 sisters at pike's place. it was a relaxing morning walking around and hangin with friends. seattle was so great...we cant wait to get back... last round of photos: our last view of a great city...

seattle day 2 : dinner

2006-09-14T18:06:00.000-05:00

so here was our dinner destination: THE SPACE NEEDLE!! it was such a great atmosphere and hanging with jeff and stacey was great. the food was kinda eh - but other than that it was great. here are the pics: day 3 here we come...

seattle day 2

2006-09-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

so after some awesome room service breakfast we had a special treat - some in-room massages...wow. so so so great!!! after that we headed to walk around town and see the city. jeff and stacey bought some tickets to the mariners game so they were in some sweet seats while we were tearin up the town. we eventually hooked up with them for dinner later on (see pics below). we headed out from our hotel down to pike st and walked about 5-6 blocks down to pike's place market. pike's place was so cool. seeing the fish thrown, smelling all the fresh fruit and flowers, all the people around...what a great place. we walked all the way down to belltown area, then walked back to the hotel for a little break, then past the library down to pioneer's square. very cool area as well. we had lunch at this sweet cafe underneath the elliot bay bookstore. here are the pics: after doing all of that walking we were ready for a break. and it was perfect timing because jeff and stacey were done with the game, so they picked us up and we headed out to Vivace next to rei and then out to freemont. vivace was just as amazing as marlow had described - and they did some sweet latte art with our drinks!! there was some traffic heading over to freemont so we couldnt stay long because we had dinner reservations - but it was a cool stop. the drive along the lake was so great. we took the infamous troll photo, browsed a used cd store, walked by the stalin statue and then headed back to the hotel to get changed and head to dinner. ok - dinner events and pics on the next post.

seattle

2006-09-14T16:24:00.000-05:00

wow...where do i begin...it was soooo great. seriously, so great. day 1 ------ we left houston on sat am around 9 and got into seattle at like 1pm. while we were heading to the airport amanda was asking about how we were getting to the hotel from the airport and such...what she didnt know was that this was waiting for here at the airport: YES!! jeff and stacey meet us in seattle and we hung out the entire weekend!! amanda was floored - totally surprised. what a great start. it was so amaaaaazing to see them and have the celebrate with us. after waiting forever for our bag we hopped in the car and headed to the city...there was hardly any traffic and i couldnt believe how close the airport was to downtown. sooo great!! into the city we headed for our first destination: the seattle center and the experience music project. it was very cool. it was a lot like the rock and roll hall of fame in ohio - but with a more artistic flair. a way cool exhibit on jimi hendrix, a huge led wall and a giant recording studio where you could demo just about anything. some photos for ya: after getting some food and hanging at the seattle center we headed to check in to our hotel, the W Seattle!! it was an amazing hotel. my fav part is the 32" flat screen HD tv...wow...pics: after checking in we headed up the capitol hill - walked around for a bit, visited a great used cd store then ended up eating some dinner at the broadway grill. yuum. after dinner we headed pack to the hotel and played a little texas holdem with jeff and stacey - then it was time to crash. i was a great day but long with the time change and all. thus concludes day 1. day 2 here we come...

ollabelle

2006-09-08T11:15:00.000-05:00

do your self a favor and go subscribe to KCRW's Today's Top Tune podcast in the itunes music store and listen to the track from yesterday from americana roots band Ollabelle. wow. beautiful.

and away we go...

2006-09-08T10:54:00.000-05:00

so our 1st anniv is in 2 days and for our special day we are heading to SEATTLE!!! i cannot wait. it is a surprise for amanda, she will find out today after school. it is going to be spectacular. many thanks to everyone and their input on where to go while we are there. will be in the city from sat - mon. ah life is beautiful.

fall tour dates announced

2006-09-05T20:17:00.000-05:00

:: Death Cab For Cutie :: you know we will be there on the 30th of november...anyone else wanna join us?

nov 21st

2006-09-05T19:21:00.000-05:00

i cannot wait!!! but until then these will have to do...our 2 new pickups from today!!!

why dont we live in london?

2006-09-05T14:31:00.000-05:00

cause if we were, then i could go to this.

great resource

2006-09-05T14:20:00.000-05:00

i happened upon this today worshipcentral, a site run by tim hughes. they have a great podcast and you can read along with tim on his blog. tim hughes is an amazing worship leader and is a great songwriter. if you dont have his latest when silence falls pick it up. now.

holy crap - this is hilarious

2006-09-05T08:29:00.000-05:00

i cannot stop laughing when i watch this clip. it is simply amazing!! check it out here. it is a video of one of the erre kids going ape on a drum set. amazing. i think my fav part is the beginning when he says "hi camera!". enough said. check it out.

pictures from astors vs mets

2006-09-04T14:09:00.000-05:00

these were the closest seats we have had this season - but not the best - it is harder to see everything happening at this angle. i think i like to sit a little higher. but hey - i not complaining!!! enjoy the pics - we went with our good friends radkey and christine - it was a blast!

free wine

2006-09-01T23:18:00.000-05:00

thanks to ry for this sweet link. check it out... 2004 Amelie for Bloggers can't wait to taste and see.

tonight

2006-09-01T16:36:00.000-05:00

and i guess one of the pros about living in a town with lots of pro sports is that... we are going to see the astros tonight!!! should be great...

tampa bay bucs

2006-09-01T16:21:00.000-05:00

here are some photos from the night. we had some great seats - up off the corner of one of the endzones. we could see everything develop. sooo great!! before the game i walked down to field level and took some pics - now i only have to see if can get those tix...hahah - we shall see. enjoy the pics... lots of field goals kicked - here is the texans first attempt - and we blocked it!! and here is a sequence of 1 of our 3 fg's...

free derek webb cd

2006-09-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

yes - you heard it right. derek webb's newest cd mockingbird FOR FREE!! for more info on how to download it and why derek is doing this click here. also, be sure to check out his tour and see if he is coming your way - you know i will be there on the 24th when he is here. in other news, the texans 3rd string team is better than the bucs 3rd team. only starter for the bucs that played last night was sims and he only played the first series. we had a great time though. pics to come soon!

our plans for tonight

2006-08-31T16:24:00.000-05:00

yep - texans vs BUCS!!! 7pm CST. see you there...

something to chew on for today

2006-08-30T10:10:00.000-05:00

from everything belongs - rohr "the following of Jesus is not a 'salvation scheme' or a means of creating social order, as much as it is a vocation to share the fate of God for the life of the world.' mmmmm. yummy.

this morning

2006-08-27T16:20:00.000-05:00

so today we had a cellist play with us (diedre von emerson) at the 11o5 service. so great!! i am glad we have a cellist in our mix now. and we finally added an electric guitar player on a regular basis as well. needless to say - the band is growing!! now more pressure on me for arranging and such - i am excited to hear the recording of this morning to get some ideas. also, i was asked back to lead at the venue on sept 22nd. should be cool - i am going to see if i can get the cellist and my violinist to come out for the event. should be great... if you are in houston - mark your calendar.

God is not 'out there'

2006-08-26T13:44:00.000-05:00

so today i am reading more of rohr's Everything Belongs and he began talking about something that mr john at robinson talks about in Honest to God as well. as westerners we have developed this poor understanding that God is 'out there'. when in fact he is not. God is all and is in all. rohr goes on to say that because we think God is 'out there' - that is why we have "raped the earth, why we have such poor understanding of our bodies, our economy, and our health. That's why we live such distraught and divided lives. What is worse is that Jesus came precisely to put it all together." (p.118) wow. great thoughts. that jesus came to put it all together. i love that phrase...it reminds me of ephesians 1:9-10 where paul writes that jesus is bringing all things together. great great stuff. if only we communicated this more and could grasp that God is all and is in all. we might be living in a very different place...any thoughts?

everything is illuminated (movie)

2006-08-22T21:35:00.000-05:00

so as expected - the movie was good - but no where near the book. do yourself a favor and read the book. spectacular stuff.

jonathan safran foer

2006-08-21T16:32:00.000-05:00

so i am a dork, i know. since i loved extremely loud and incredibly close so much - i picked up Everything Is Illuminated on sat and just finished it today. seriously foer is a spectacular writer - if you are looking for a good read these books are so great. and we rented the movie that was made from everything is illuminated and will watch it tonight. i will let ya know how it stacks up to the book.

off to a great start this morning

2006-08-19T11:22:00.000-05:00

so we were awakened by some huge thuder and mad rain this morning. i love rain in the morning. esp when it has been like 145 degrees out...then we headed to amanda's school for a pancake bfast!! yum!!! now she is working on stuff for next week and i am chillin at taft - enjoying a smooth hazelnut lattle and chillin. life is beautiful.

extremely loud and incredibly close

2006-08-18T13:22:00.000-05:00

so i just now finished it. what an amazing read. i think this is the only book i have read in two sittings. i dont think i have felt so alive reading something i a long time. my soul resonated with so much in this book. the emotions are so real you can touch them and the way the story is written is so beautiful. seriously read this book. seriously.

the most beautiful piece of music

2006-08-18T10:04:00.000-05:00

so thanks to our piano player, melanie lux, from the 11o5 service and the movie amadeus my new fav genre of music is classical. and melanie gave me this piece by samuel barber called - adagio for strings. oh my. you must hear this piece. it moves me everytime i hear it. so do yourself a favor and download it form itunes or go to your local library and listen to it. you will be better off.

a breath of fresh air

2006-08-17T09:56:00.000-05:00

so i just started reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and it is wonderful. our good friend nikki reccomended it so i went and picked it up and i can't put it down. my first sitting with it i read over 100 pages. seriously - an amazing story that anyone can relate to. man i love a good story...pick it up if you are looking for something or even if you aren't...

bummed

2006-08-15T15:20:00.000-05:00

so ya know that camp that was coming up this weekend...well it got cancelled. kinda crazy that i just found out today - but oh well. i was really looking forward to it. hopefully they will call back for another day. we shall see.

an educational weekend

2006-08-12T20:36:00.000-05:00

we have watched two films this weekend that i highly recommed all of you see. they are: and wow. please watch these fims. so very good. i think the most impactful thing of these two films was the conclusion of the corporation - michael moore is talking and poses the question "why would the big corporations even let me make these films that so blatenly bash them?" and he believes their answer is that no one will do anything about it. they will see the film and not change a thing. they (corporations) are doing a good enough job to make you believe your part wont count and your contribution will not matter. and then mr. moore ends with a charge to all of us to go and do something. and he believes people will be changed and act changed after seeing this film. i know i will. and to take it a step further - dont we do the same thing with our belief systems? we see pain, poor and marginalized people - and our faith calls - no demands that we do something about it, yet we turn a deaf ear - blame it on something else. interesting. it's like bono said this weekend at the summit - "if you are a christian you have no option in reaching out and helping the poor and needy." lord give us the strength and courage to uphold all that is true and beautiful in this world and to stand up to the call of christ.

1 year ago today...

2006-08-11T07:14:00.000-05:00

was my first day of work here at fpc. crazy...time has flown by. i am backstage working as a stage manager today for the willow leadership summit. today shouldnt be all that bad - we have bono, jim collins and patrick lencioni - should be some good stuff. if only it werent 7.15am right now...

happy us day!

2006-08-10T17:43:00.001-05:00

yep - 11 months today!! i am married to the most wonderful person in the world...

be still my soul (live)

2006-08-09T14:39:00.000-05:00

yes it is almost done. after our little fiasco with the hard drive on friday, i am back at andrew's place finishing up the live mix. we are currently bouncing everything to disc right now - so in a few hours i should have it up. let me know if you'd be interested in a copy - i will hook you up.

check it out...

2006-08-07T17:20:00.000-05:00

yep it's that time again.... Apple - Mac OS X - Leopard Sneak Peek cant wait to see what else comes out of this!!!

and we're back

2006-08-05T20:07:00.000-05:00

yep - got my new hard drive in today and now i am begining the process of seeing what i forgot to backup. ha! already seems to be running smoother. sweet.

yes - it is 5 am

2006-08-05T05:04:00.000-05:00

and i am finally going to bed. still have about 700mb of pics to back up in the morning. or afternoon - we shall see. my genuis bar appt is at 1pm - so i guess i will have to be up by then. good night / good morning...i think i can see the sun coming up. awesome...

it's official

2006-08-04T20:43:00.000-05:00

my hard drive is dead. yep. got the guys at the genius bar to finally diagnose the problem. my first clue was this error message: The volume ash needs to be repaired. volume needs repair. never good. so tonight i am desperatly trying to back-up the hard drive of everything important. say a prayer for me. oh yea - and tomorrow when i take my cpu back to the mall - it is tax free weekend. awesome. hope i find a parking spot...

it's camp time!

2006-08-03T18:58:00.000-05:00

yep - it will be my first time leading at a camp in the houston area. should be great! when i lead at The Venue on monday a guy came up to me and asked if i'd be interested in leading at their camp - of course i said yes - and now it is official: for more info go here. i wonder if they called dan and got my band name...

parables

2006-08-02T09:18:00.000-05:00

so i am reading everything belongs this morning and mr rohr gives us this sweet little tid bit about jesus' parables - read along (from p.43): "ultimatley, all Jesus' parables are of the kingdom. the kingdom he describes is an alternative to sleepwalking. he points to a way of seeing beyond cultural hypnosis. we have to really hear a parable so our false and ordinary view of reality is undermined, or at least relativized and called into question. the parables of the kingdom are almost always subversive with regard to conventional thinking and so-called common sense." man i love this imagery. the kingdom being an alternative to sleepwalking. my buddy mike has been all up in this 'awakening' imagery for a while - so props to him - but reading this now for some reason just resonated deep within me. and seeing beyond cultural hypnosis and having our ordinary view of life undermined. wow - we need to be calling our people to this. really opening their eyes to the words of Jesus and what they truely mean... ok - back to the book - probably more to come...

kinda a bust

2006-08-01T21:59:00.000-05:00

so last night was a little bit of a bummer. the sound system wasnt working all that well - my guitar kept cutting in and out - lame. and nobody was really paying attention - oh well. better luck next time. the worship time went well - it was a great venue and cool people.

i'm playing tonight

2006-07-31T13:47:00.000-05:00

yep - if you are the houston area, come on out to The Venue at Grace Community Church. You can go here for directions. i will be leading a song with their band during the service and i will be playing at their coffee shop afterwards. the service starts at 7pm so come one, come all...hope to see you there!

the great omission

2006-07-30T16:44:00.000-05:00

just picked up a new read today and joined a new book club. sweet! if you are interested - come on!! we will be discussing the book here. come on by to join in or just read along.

spur 58

2006-07-25T17:59:00.000-05:00

so this weekend at church we had the guys from Spur58 in to lead on sunday am and it was great. this is the second time they have come through fpc since i have been here and it was a blast to be with them again. check these guys out - there music is great and i am excited to see where they are headed. their new album comes out in october and from what i have heard it is so great. they did 2 new songs live on sunday and they were rockin. we are hosting a release party oct 14th for them, so if you are in the area - come on!! and also i will be opening for them (a great honor). will be a great time. also, we are in the process of developing an artist in residence program with these guys which will be awesome as well. other than that smooth sailing here at team ashdown - we miss everyone greatly. come and visit if ya like!!!

fridays

2006-07-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

man it seems like forever since i have been in my rhythm of fridays. with all the travel and such i have missed my time to be alone and quiet - my 'yearned-for wholeness' time - as i call it. and today i headed out to my fav coffee shop to hang and they are not there any more! suck! it is now an italian cafe. so now i've got to find a new quaint place to hang that has good fair-trade organic coffee. so for now i am back and greenberry's - but they have no power outlets (lame) and not so good coffee. so i guess i wont be here for long. at any rate in cali i picked up some wonderful tunes and thought i'd throw some out there for any interested. in the freaky-mellow ambient chill genre i am really digging mum (they have a cool website), eberg, and the new thom yorke disc the eraser. and big ups to wess for the book reccomendation. just finished the first chapter of Everything Belongs and i am lovin it. ok, back to the solitude...peace

great flick

2006-07-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

amanda and i got to see pirates tonight - so great! i have heard many complain about how long it was - but i though the movie flowed very well. great scenes and some great characters. make sure ya see it on the big screen if ya can!

back to houston

2006-07-15T03:02:00.000-05:00

so this trip has been so great. yesterday we got back to costa mesa around 5pm after leaving camp from the past few days. much love to pondo and everyone up there - we love you much! we got a little panda express for dinner and attempted to see pirates - but it was way too crowded so we got some coldstone and had a wonderful night connecting with matt and allie over some poker chips! today we slept in like crazy - didnt get up til 11am - yeah!! grabbed one last lunch at the wonderful wahoo's fish tacos with devries - i am so excited to see where sacred is going to go and how God is going to use them. sounds like some wonderful soil to be nourished. after lunch it took about 2 hours to figure out how to pack and ship nikki's wonderful art piece b/c it was too big to check. finally got a box made for it and it is off to houston. around 6pm we headed to downtown disney for dinner with mr shilling, sonjia, zack, allie and timmy. so great to be with fam!! and now we are up in the high desert - crashing at amanda's house and heading back to houston. sad to leave - but it was an amazing trip. thanks to all of you for taking time to hang with us! hope to see you all soon.

the trip so far...

2006-07-12T11:19:00.000-05:00

has been amazing. it was great to be at rockharbor on sunday - they are just doing something right and it is very inspiring to be there. so great. then sunday evening we all headed up to huntington beach and i lead worship with steve at his church. it was very cool to see everyone there. i used to work at this church - so being able to hang and catch up with the others on staff there was great. and BJ's for dinner - yum. man ive missed that fine establishment. on monday i got a chance to hang with todd and wakeling - so great to catch up with them. amanda and i then headed to the airport to pick up matt and allie. of course we headed to red robin for some wonderful dinner after picking them up - it has been great hangin with them. yesterday matt and allie had to work all day so amanda and i got to work out for a while at their apt's sweet facility - probably the best gym i have ever been to - they have tv's in each treadmil and eliptical!!! yeah! after that we headed out to the spectrum and were able to partake in one of our fav california eateries - GOLDEN SPOON! when matt and allie got back from work we hit up in and out on the way to fullerton to see an acoustic show with deccatree. so so great. of course we got to hang with jesse and wendy - also mike barnet was there too - so cool to see all of them and catch up. deccatree put out a live album with i snagged last night and they will be putting out a new studio record in october. cant wait!! today we are getting ready to head back up to camp for one more night - man we love being back here in cali...

post number 250

2006-07-09T11:03:00.000-05:00

yep - 250 posts. cool. so this weekend has been great. on our drive from camp to la jolla for kelly's wedding we spoted COLIMAS - praise the LORD!! sooo great!! here's to orange bang and the california burrito! so we arrived in la jolla right about time to head out to the rehearsal and dinner. a big thanks to kelly and kristin for the room - so great. here are photos from their spectacular and beautiful wedding: after the wedding we headed up to costa mesa to hang with nikki, daniel and timmy at the wonderful claim jumper. yum. this morning we are headed to rockharbor - should be great! man we love being here...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2006-07-07T01:53:00.000-05:00

to the most amazing woman on this planet: AMANDA ASHDOWN!! today was awesome - we are up and camp and we got to celebrate amanda's bday in style. we totally surprised her at lunch with an ice cream cake from coldstone. she had no clue it was coming. so great! here are some photos from this wonderful day: after a relaxing afternoon with some volleyball and dinner we had round 2 of the surprise. becky got a bunch of donut holes and put candles in them and we had cake again after dinner - before some late night pizza. here are some pics: so here's to the most beautiful and amazing woman in the world, my wife - amanda ashdown!! raise those glasses high!

be still my soul - in stores now!!

2006-07-05T12:48:00.000-05:00

yep - finally moving ahead with the cd sales. first step - cdbaby.com. it is now official!! you can head to cdbaby.com/ashdown to order it online!! you can listen to some clips and order away. and if anyone so desires i would totally appreciate some reviews of the cd. you can add reviews at the bottom of the page on cdbaby - post away if you so please! we will be on itunes and various other online music stores soon - stay tuned for more! in other news, we are up at camp and LOVING IT!! so so great.

heading back to cali

2006-07-03T09:25:00.000-05:00

tomorrow we are off!! my dogg kelly is getting married this coming weekend and i am playing in it - so we made a little vacation around it! should be great. if you are in cali we want to see you! give me a call and we will hang fo sho! or tentative schedule is this: july 4-7 :Ponderosa Pines july 7-8 :La Jolla, San Diego july 9-15 : Costa Mesa the second week we are out there we are calling matt and allie's place home - much thanks to them! look forward to seeing you all soon!! p.s. tonight - cubs vs astros + fireworks = a good time in houston before we head out to cali!