For Janet

Meka Elfed


Nate

Festival of Trees Videos

Instead of reposting here, just jump over to my other blog if you're interested...I believe Frank, Agnes and Don all make an appearance in one of the videos.

Festival of Trees Videos

Nate

Getting into the Spirit of Christmas

Meka Claus

Nate

Festival of Trees, Outer Banks: Tomorrow!

the MilePost13 Band (our church worship team) is playing christmas music at a big local fundraiser called The Festival of Trees tomorrow night from 7 to 8. I just thought I'd let you know.


Nate

Hospital Observations

> My elevator made a stop at every floor from 7-1 on the way down to the caf yesterday...that's the first time ever. Once in a lifetime was good enough for me.

> The one-serving Crystal Light packets are the cheapest way to get a good drink around here (except for the free chocolate milk).

> There are always a ton of people in the waiting room on the third floor.

> Most nurses have personalitities. Most doctors do not.

> Most male doctors have beards.

> Some nurses have beards (guys and girls...).

That's all for now.

Nate

Word of the Day

100 crazy points to the first person who can guess what the following word is...I saw this word today in the hospital caf:

"Supachoke"

Nate

FREEDOM!!!

Tricia should be released tomorrow! We're headed home to relax for a few days (Tricia will be relaxing, I'll be catching up on work). This has been Tricia's longest hospital stay in a few years...

Nate

Santa's Little Helper

Merry Christmas

From the Lawrenson Boys (AKA, NHC Staff)

Nate

Thanks!

To Tricia's family for making the drive up and Giving us a fun thanksgiving. Tricia was even able to sneak out of the hospital for a few hours so we could eat at the hotel!

Nate

Encouraging Thanksgiving Video

This is Chris Scarborough. Chris is a local guy on the OBX. I shot and produced this video:


Do you remember your story? It may be similar to Chris', or it may be completely different. If you follow Christ, do you remember where He has brought you from? Take time today to give God thanks for your story.

Nate

Thanksgiving In The Hospital

Tricia is still not feeling well enough to come home, so she'll probably be in the hospital at least until Monday. I'm going home today for our Thanksgiving Worship Gathering and coming back up tomorrow. Tricia's family is coming up today to hang out until tomorrow.

I wonder what hospital turkey tastes like?

Nate

Christmas Cheer Guys

A few friends of mine spreading some Christmas cheer!



Nate

Tricia Update

Tricia is still in the hospital and is not feeling better yet. The doctors may change her meds. She doesn't know yet when she might be released. We're hoping by Wednesday so she can come home and spend time with family for Thanksgiving.

I'm going to bed.

Nate

The Problem with Christmas Music

I love Christmas music. I began listening to "Jingle Bells" and "O Holy Night" several weeks ago. The way I see it, the department stores (and their incredibly early commercialism) are finally catching up to my family and our traditions. My mother would pull out the Christmas music well before Thanksgiving, and we had a very nice collection. Old records of Bing and Nat, updated classics with Steven Curtis Chapman and Amy Grant, and even a little bit of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra filled our house and car with the sounds of the season.

Anytime I hear any of those recordings, or even any recording of some of those songs, a warm and welcome sense of nostalgia causes a flood of memories to flash through my mind. Christmas music is such a beautiful and fun part of Americana...no doubt everyone has distinct memories of Christmases past (whether good or bad), and, my guess is that most of us relate many of our Christmas memories with the music of the season.

And, therein lies the problem with Christmas music. I've discovered over the years that, it's very easy for us to sing our favorite Chrismast carols in December and never allow for anything more than that warm nostalgic feeling. We can get so caught up in the warm feelings that worship never really takes place...worship is the primary purpose of my life as a God follower, not singing Christmas songs.

And, I think this problem goes way beyond Christmas songs. Christmas (or any holiday season for that matter) can, as a whole, seem more like a nostalgic and whimsical dream than a reality. The commercials, the movies, the shopping, the parties, the food and drinks...it's a huge thing that can seem to pull us out of our everyday lives, including our everyday worship. Singing songs, hanging out with friends, giving gifts, and even reading the Christmas story (Jesus) can become the ultimate goal instead of means to a greater end. (that's partly why January can feel like such a depressing month).

So, this season, let's be sure to remember the why and Who that everything Christmas should revolve arround.

Nate

For My Bride

Natey

FYI

Tricia will probably be at Duke through the weekend. They promised to release her in time for Thanksgiving. Meka and I miss her.

Ralphie is enjoying his time with Grandma...I'm sure he's getting more attention than he knows what to do with, especially after all the time alone he's spent while we've been in Durham.

That's all. Go back to whatever you were doing...

Nate

Somebody's Out To Kill Me...

So, when I got to church today, I immediately went to the men's restroom (yes, the men's, just in case any of you were unsure about that....). (without giving too many details) I sat down and just as I was reaching for the paper I noticed something stuck on the first square...


For those of you who are unfamiliar with the local vegetation, that is what we like to call a "sandspur". They're basically deadly...one prick and you'll swell up like a cactus until your throat closes and you die.

OK, so maybe that last part about dying isn't true, but they can hurt and leave little splinters in you for weeks...I can only imagine the pain had I not spotted the trap.

My guess is one of the little punk youth boys left that there for me last night knowing that I often dance with the porcelain queen in the morning...there's no way it could have gotten in that place unless somebody planted it there. I've narrowed it down to a few likely suspects. Lucky for me I know where their bathrooms are located...

Nate

Bored

So I googled my name and found a few interesting things:

Me getting ready to sing the National Anthem this past summer.

Me in my high school soccer days.

Nate

4:52 AM

We're up. Part of the experience of staying at the hospital. Tricia just got poked by a few needles. I'm "sleeping" in the chair.

Nate

Pictures

Here are some pics we just found on Tricia's camera from the past few months:

Meka in downtown Durham

My favorite spot in Durham

Hot date in Duck, NC

Shrimp

Tricia and I at Bush Gardens

Nate

At the Hospital

Tricia and I are in the lobby at the hospital waiting to get a room. Tricia's mad at me cause I wouldn't let her spend more than 45 minutes at Target on the way here...



Nate

Update

Change in plans...going up tomorrow and Tricia will be admitted early afternoon. Thanks!

Nate

Tune Up

Tricia thinks she needs to go into the hospital this week for a "tune up". She's been having a hard time breathing this week, and her chest has been hurting a little (which is very common for her, so don't freak out)...this is usually a sign of an infection. We're waiting to hear from her CF docs about that. If that happens, we'll head up to Durham this afternoon and I'll probably come back home tomorrow morning. We'll let you know. Thanks!

Nate

Home

Tricia's sleeping beside me. It's our last night here at this home.

We've got several people coming tomorrow to help us pack and move. Thanks in advance!

The drive home tonight was especially long...it was either that it was dark the entire trip, or it was that I ate about 10 pieces of pizza immediately before leaving, or a combination of both.

Thanks Megan and Leah for flying down just to hang out with us this week, and Agnes for driving out to spend time with us (Leah). ;)

Ralphie is always excited when we get home for the weekend. My dad and/or Sue usually come spend some time with him, but he's still starved for attention. He basically spends the irst few hours upon our arrival running around and butting his head against any available part of our bodies. He's laying on top of Tricia right now. I think he's going to love grandma.

BTW, my grandma is moving into this house on Saturday, and she's going to be caring for Ralphie for the time being. Meka will miss him. They are best of friends...can you say "Milo and Otis"?



This weekend is going to be crazy. I'm not completely looking forward to waking up tomorrow...

Nate

Cold

My favorite free wi-fi spot is running out of usefullness for me due to the fact that it's outside and it's finally getting cold here in Durham.

I'm going to go get some hot chocolate!

Nate

Last Night

Tonight will be our last night in the house that we've called home for the past 15+ months. It's funny to me to think back on the several places I've lived in the past 8 years since graduating high school. I have not spent any more than 24 months in one single place, and I spent as little as a few weeks in a few places, but they all seem to be about the same...looking back, it feels like every one was just a very short amount of time.

It doesn't feel like I spent two entire semesters living with my roommate Adam in Nyack. Our room was small and cramped, and fun. My mom called Adam a "hooligan" 'cause he was one of those freshman who was always out late, usually up to some kind of prank or something no good. I was almost always in bed by 12. It feels like it was just a few weeks...

It doesn't feel like I spent an entire 4 months living with Courtney (I'd never met a guy named Courtney before) and Ben in Wake Forrest. Of course, that makes a little more sense because I traveled home EVERY SINGLE weekend that semester. All I really remember from that apartment was eating lots of noodles and trying to figure out how to make Tricia fall in love with me...

I doesn't feel like I spent an entire year at home with my parents, the first half trying to convince Tricia to give me a chance, and the second half trying to figure out what God wanted with my life. That was an interesting year...

It doesn't feel like I spent an entire semester living with some family friends, the Blokers (took me a few minutes to remember the name) in their guest bedroom. All I can remember is being really lonely and spending lots of time playing ping pong with Skip.

It doesn't feel like I spent an entire school year living with Brian (can't remember his last name) in his apartment. I actually probably spent just as much awake time over at Tricia's apartment, so it makes sense that I don't remember. I remember more from this time than the others before, but that will probably fade as I get further away from it.

I barely remember spending a few nights on the Nylander's couch, looking for a roommate at the beginning of the next school semester. I seriously can't remember if it was just a few nights or a few weeks... I can't remember taking any showers, eating any food (although I know I did those things...), doing anything but sleeping on their couch...

It doesn't feel like I spent almost a year with my best man, Juan in our rented apartment. Although at the time it felt like an eternity because Tricia and I were engaged, it now feels like it was no more than a few short months. We had no kitchen urniture and a landlord that had a Boston/Irish accent...that was cool.

It doesn't feel like Tricia and I spent nearly two whole years renting my parents apartment in Portsmouth. We loved just everything about that apartment, and we would have been happy there for a lot longer if we hadn't moved to another state. I have lots of memories there, but it still only feels like much less than two years looking back.

And now, have we really been in Nags Head for this long? Two whole summers? I didn't use the outside shower as much as I should have... I literally feels like we moved in this June and not last June.

I think about all of the number of times I pulled into each one of those driveways and parking lots, the number of showers in each of these places, the number of meals I "cooked" and friends I had over...I know that there were lots of those things, and it feels like it should feel differently, I just can't remember most of them.

Oh well...my guess is, this next part of our lives - driving back and forth to Durham for who knows how long and splitting time between my parent's house and our Residence Inn - will also be a blur at some point in my life.

By my estimation, we've put on about 4,500 miles between Nags Head and Durham, I've spent about 6 hours of my life driving back and forth to the Center For Living to drop and pick Tricia up from PT, I've eaten at about half of the restaurants in Durham, and I've spent several hundred hours on this computer working and blogging and staying in touch with the real world...

Nate

Important Doctor Appointment Today

Please, pray for us as we have a very important appointment today at 3:30pm. We should have some more information about Tricia's journey after today. Thanks!

Nate

I'm Sorry

To All of My Philly Family,

I'm very sorry for how I acted a few months ago when the Redskins beat the eagles on Monday Night Football. If I had known they were going to be this bad, I would not have made such a big deal about it.

Nate

:D

Thanks!

Nate

Leah Meets Tricia

Nate

TRUNK or TREAT Pics and Video

ENJOY!!!

Me

Tricia & Me

Rick (my dad)

Don (Tricia's dad)

Tricia & Frank

Rachel & Ramon

Uncle Andy

My Mom (on right)

Cousin Ty

Meka (aka Spider-Pug)


















Nate

Packing Day

Taking a break from packing...




Nate

Trunk or Treat Pics

Here are a few pics from ToT...lots more coming soon!

Spider-Pug!


Guess Who!


Nate

While You Wait

This is one of our favorite videos ever...


Beware the milky pirate!

Nate

ToT Pics & Video Coming Soon!

I've been told that there are people who are basically putting their lives on hold, waiting in high anticipation for pics and video from ToT. I promise, they're coming soon. For now, check this out and be happy!

> We handed out 3000 tickets in the past two weeks, mostly to elementary school kids.

> We gave away over 400 lbs of candy in two hours.

> We estimate that over 1000 people/250 family groups showed up.

> We cooked and gave away 465 hot dogs (and buns and drinks).

> We hung 100 posters in the community.

> We gave away several hundred bags of freshly popped pop corn.

> We gave away more than 300 bags/sticks of freshly made cotton candy.

> We gave away 136 Purpose Driven Life booklets to adults.

> We gave away 400 gospel stories to children.

> We were asked to be contacted by 41 adults.

All in all, we almost doubled what we expected. God rocks and so do His people! (and the dentists of the OBX said "AMEN!")

Nate

What the...

So, we woke up this morning and looked out our window and saw this:


Seriously, we had no idea there was a hurricane off the coast...I guess with all of the ToT and other stuff going on, we missed it.

Nate