Coal Fired Perfection

Tonight, we tried a restaurant in Palm Beach Gardens called Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza. And I believe I can now say I've found my favorite pizza in West Palm Beach. The ingredients were fresh and you could taste each one and I loved the thin crispy crust. The picture above is a pizza with meatballs, sausage, sweet peppers, tomatoes, mozzarella, & ricotta cheese. There's not a ton of variety on the menu, but I don't care when you can make pizza the way they can. Can't wait to go back!
Last night, we spent the evening at Christ Fellowship for an event that celebrated our ministry partners. Having people who partner with you in ministry and volunteer their time to serve make it possible for us to do the things we do at Christ Fellowship. The support of the leaders of our congregation is invaluable and it was great to have a night where we could give them the red carpet treatment and let them know how much we appreciate them.

My God His Daughter

I haven't found many UGA fans since we've been living in South Florida. Most people here are Miami or Florida fans and it's just really not worth talking about sports with most of them because the ignorance and arrogance is overwhelming. But today, I had an experience that most Georgia fans would trade an arm for. I had the opportunity to spend some time with Herschel Walker's daughter! We go to the same church and we're a part of a group that spends some time meeting and praying for our campus on a weekly basis. I didn't realize Herschel was her dad until today and my heart rate actually increased when she told me. Funny thing about it is, she's a really cool person and someone I've really enjoyed talking to, regardless of who her dad is.

White Out

Today, and every other Wednesday, is White Shoes Wednesday, brought to you by Nike. Here are the shoes I celebrate every Wednesday with and I hope you'll consider breaking out your white shoes on future Wednesdays. Join the revolution!

Fat Tuesday

I'm all about finding some free food. Whether it's roaming through Sam's looking for free samples, walking past all the Chinese places in a mall food court, or signing up for all kinds of e-mails to receive coupons and specials from restaurants, I'm into all of that! So you'll understand my excitement when I heard the Chick-Fil-A by my office was giving away free chicken sandwiches today. All I had to do was go in and say something about being a raving facebook fan, or something like that (they weren't very picky.) As usual, the sandwich was delicious and it probably tasted even better since it was free. All this free food is great for the wallet, but probably not for the waistline.

My Sweet Spot

This probably looks a little strange so I'll give a little context for my picture today. That is Nicole's side of the bed. It has been unoccupied for almost a week now because she has been in Athens visiting her family. Even though I've been taking advantage of using her awesome Tempurpedic pillow, I've had a terrible time sleeping while she's been gone. I think I've gotten used to always having her sleeping beside me and I can't sleep through the night without her being here in her spot. Fortunately, she'll be home tomorrow and everything will be back to normal! Hooray!

Relaxing in HD

This past weekend has been rather busy with things going on at church. Because of that, I was looking forward to an afternoon of relaxing and watching football. It was awesome to watch the AFC & NFC Championship games on the new TV my grandfather bought a couple weeks ago. It's really quite an experience to be able to watch sports in HD. And lucky for me, my grandad seems to like having the volume high enough to where it feels like you're in the stadium! It was a good way to wind down the weekend and watch some great games.

Oatmeal Creamy Pie

I tried out a new restaurant with the grandparents tonight and had some great food at Mondo's in North Palm Beach. They had a ton of variety on the menu (I ordered fajitas while my grandparents ordered pasta) and the prices were reasonable for this area. But, the biggest thing I was looking forward to was trying out their famous Oatmeal Pie for dessert. I'd heard all about this dish, but I didn't realize it was served with cinnamon ice cream. The pie came out and it was warm and crunchy and it went great with the creamy ice cream. I tried to take some good pictures of it but the lighting was weird so I was forced to depend on the camera phone again.

Buon Appetito

With Nicole being out of town, I've been on my own for more of my meals. So for some comfort food, I decided to use some leftover Italian food to make a meatball and sausage sandwich. Is there anything better than meat covered with cheese on toasted bread? Tonight's version was meatballs and Italian sausage covered with shredded mozzarella cheese on toasted rye bread. Even if the picture isn't the best, doesn't mean it didn't taste great!

The Place

I had a great time today hanging out with a bunch of different people from the Christ Fellowship CityPlace campus. We had a really good discussion on Malcolm Gladwell's message from Catalyst this past year and then went and ate some delicious pizza together. Then, I had the opportunity to attend a men's bible study tonight with a lot of guys who attend the CityPlace campus. It was awesome to see them dive in to the word of God together and encourage each other to grow in the faith. It was a great day of seeing what God is doing through our campus.

Cookie Monster

We had our life group tonight at the condo and I was responsible for the baking. Nicole and I usually bake something together, but I was on my own as she flew back to Georgia today. I decided to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and they came out pretty well. It wasn't as easy to stir the cookie mix, eggs, & butter together because oatmeal doesn't hold together as well but everyone in the group seemed to like them. And the condo security guard always appreciates us bringing her some of our extras.

Coming Attractions

Nicole is going to be out of town for the next week and I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my time. I'm planning on catching up on some work, exercising, & reading but I also wanted to watch some movies. Where does one go when they're looking for free movies? The public library! I rented 9 movies that I haven't seen and 1 that I've seen once (The Dark Knight is worth seeing again.) Good thing I've got plenty of popcorn because that's a lot of movies over the next few days.

Short Stuff

It's not the best of pictures, but it does show my shorter hair. I went to a "Haircutting Party" tonight and got my haircut by a friend of Nicole's that she used to work with. She does a great job cutting hair and she's always really friendly and welcoming. Where else can you go and get your haircut by someone and they also host you for Taco Night with a bunch of their friends?

iDrive

I feel like I spent most of the day driving, as we made our way back to Jupiter after spending the weekend in Orlando. One of the things that made being in the car easier was having my iPod hooked up through the car speakers. The hours went by quicker as we put the music on shuffle and played Name that Tune.

Sweet Weekend

I've fallen behind a day because Nicole and I are spending the weekend in Orlando, so I haven't had as much time to sit in front of my computer. However, I have been taking plenty of pictures and had one in mind for yesterday. The following picture was taken at The BoardWalk at Disney and this is the candy shop where Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow shot their corny skit for the ESPN College Football Awards Show.

The next shot is my official picture of the day and it's from the Magic Kingdom. I told Nicole there would be tons of great pictures as we walked down Main Street USA but I only had time to stop and get one, which is what you see below.

And since I've taken so many pictures over the past couple days, I figured I'd add a few more for fun!

We Meet Again!

We're in Orlando for the weekend, which means getting to go to some restaurants that aren't in West Palm Beach. First on the list: Zaxbys! It's just impossible to find anything like Zaxby's Sweet Tea in Jupiter.

(Forgive the poor quality picture - it was taken on my cell phone.)

Prime Time!

It's only been a few weeks since I last mentioned this book, but I am now reading it for the second time with my small group. We went through Chapter 1 tonight and had a great discussion about our experiences and how we can relate them to what Mark Batterson is talking about. I just wanted to jot down a couple quotes that really stuck out to me from the first chapter:

"Some of the sacrifices you've made for the cause of Christ might not even qualify under a second century definition."

"The simple fact that Christians are more known for what we're against than what we're for."

"Does your heart break for the things that break the heart of God?"

"We can't afford to be merely good at the Great Commandment. We've got to be great at the Great Commandment."

The Gingerbread Man

Nicole surprised me today with an awesome gift that I was not expecting. I've been on a big Starbucks kick lately because I've finally figured out things I can order that don't have coffee or espresso in them. I've been trying all different kinds of "cremes" - I think that's the right term but I'm really not sure. It's basically a flavored latte but it doesn't have the espresso. My favorite kind to order is the Gingerbread Creme. And as I've tried the different kinds they have, I was wondering if it'd be possible to make my own at home by heating up milk and frothing it and adding the flavored syrup, spices, and whipped cream. Well, I now have all the ingredients I need to try to make my own as Nicole got me the Gingerbread Syrup from Starbucks today! Time to try it out!

I started a new Bible reading plan today that is going to really challenge me over the next month. It's called NewThru30 and it involves reading the entire new testament in thirty days. I got up at 6:30 this morning and read Matthew 1-Matthew 12 and my body was definitely not ready to get up before the sunrise. I'm excited about taking on this challenge over the next few weeks and I look forward to what God is going to reveal to me as I go through his word.

Rise & Don't Shine

On our way home from church today, we stopped by a Guatemalan bakery where they didn't speak English. The man gave us two different things to try for a dollar, and I'm not sure what he gave us. I do know that neither of them were very good though. At least we gave it a try.

The Best Season

I've written about Seasons 52 on this blog before, but they deserve another plug! We just got back from having dinner there with my grandparents, and it was another excellent experience. The service was great, the atmosphere is classy, and the food is delicious. Every time I've been, the food is fresh and tastes great and I always have a tough time choosing from all the different options. I'm able to eat plenty of food and leave feeling full without feeling disgusting. The picture above is my official picture of the day, but I added a few below because we were adventurous with the camera and took a few different shots. By the way, Nicole is getting really good with her camera.

The Deli of my Dreams

When it comes to restaurants, Jason's Deli holds a special place in my heart. It became one of my favorite places to eat when I was living in Athens and I miss living within 10 minutes of one. However, we made the drive down to the Wellington Mall today and had lunch at the Jason's Deli by the mall. As always, it was delicious and relatively healthy and makes me look forward to getting down to Wellington again sometime soon.

High Tide

We went over to Duffy's tonight and watched the National Championship game with some friends from our life group. We had a great time hanging out with them and watching the game on a TV that hung across an entire wall. As you can see, they're decked out in Alabama gear and they're flying high after the Crimson Tide rolled to a National Championship tonight over Texas.

The Office

Say hello to my new friends at my desk. I don't have to worry about getting up to get things from the printer now.

My Backyard

It's Day 4 of Project 365 and I'm really enjoying taking different pictures and looking at things in a different way. I'm sure I look ridiculous when I'm taking random pictures all over the place, but it's still a fun project! Today's picture features the view from our patio here at the condo in Jupiter. Another amazing sunset by the water and another reminder of God's amazing creation. We are extremely blessed to be in such a fortunate situation and have an opportunity to live in a place where this is the view out our window.

A Vast Canvas

As I was driving home tonight, I had to pull over and take some pictures of the beautiful sunset. I was reminded that I serve a God who is infinitely creative. All of his creation is reflecting his glory and sometimes we get too caught up in life to appreciate it. I was thinking about how no sunset is ever the same as a previous one and God paints the sky in a different way every night. Every time, it's a reflection of his beauty and his creativity. It's humbling to know that same God is the one who created and loves me.

Fill Up

In my second day of project 365, I seemed to be taking random pictures all over the place. I had a few worthy candidates for being the shot of the day, but I decided to go with this one. It was taken at the Mobile station here in Jupiter when I filled up Nicole's car after driving it around all day. It's a random picture, but it actually sums up where I'm at right now with my job and coming back from the holidays. I've been away from working at Christ Fellowship for the past couple weeks and it's been great to take some time off and enjoy the holidays with my family and get ready for the new year. I feel like this break has given me time to refuel and get recharged for what God is going to do in 2010!

A Project Board

Nicole told me about a cool idea called Project 365 and I figured I'd give it a shot. She's also going to be going through the project on her blog, which you can check out here (and hers is definitely going to be better than mine). The project focuses on taking a picture every day for a year and then documenting the pictures on a blog or in a journal and giving a description about what it is. I'm looking forward to trying this out as a way to improve my photography skills, and as a way to keep track of some of the things I do in the next year. So I present, Day One:

My family has been in town this week and we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner tonight to celebrate Nicole's birthday, a rather belated birthday. I didn't get any pictures of the food but I did manage to snap a shot of the napkin before we left.