Lake Junaluska Thursday, September 28, 2006

This past weekend I was blessed to attend a Ladies Retreat with my friend Kristen at Lake Junaluska (near Asheville, NC). It's only an hour and 1/2 from Knoxville. We drove over on Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning. It was such a wonderful time of renewal and praise to God. The lake and surrounding area was just beautiful!

The big white building in the background of the picture below is where all of the sessions for the retreat were held. Each morning, Kristen and I would go running along the lake and through the neighborhoods. It was so peaceful and beautiful!

This was a wonderful opportunity to get to know Kristen better. She and her husband and little girl just moved to Knoxville from San Antonio, TX. We had so much fun together!

On Saturday, we had a few hours of free time, so we headed into Asheville for some shopping! Shawna and Gaines were able to meet us in town to hang out for a while (they live in nearby Hendersonville, NC). It was so good to spend some time with her again! It's amazing to me how much Gaines is growing. He is such a precious boy, it's always a blessing to be able to spend some time with them.

Getting Past The Exterior Wednesday, September 20, 2006

As a devoted Microsoft Windows apostle, I used to preach it's superiority over that of the Mac, it's arch-nemesis. I had devoted my life to learning Windows on the PC and had mastered many intricacies and so-called "features". Me and Dell were like this (crosses fingers with teeth biting lower lip).

It was only this past Monday where I was forced to wage war against my enemy. In an epic battle that would determine the course of my future, I was hypnotized by the sleek and sexy lines of my opponent. But that was no match for me! I grabbed my mouse of a sword and started my attack. I cursed the MacBook Pro after unanswered questions like "why can't you be more like a PC?", "Where the heck did you put that file?!" and "where's the Start button?!!".

And then, all of a sudden, something happened. I was able to look beyond my years of training and see the beauty and creativity in my foe. Sitting there, weak in it's presence, I caressed the Bluetooth, white-on-acrylic keyboard and stroked these keys..."⌘N". I was instantly presented with a gift. A window, which would allow me to navigate through my files and applications. In an instant, I was a changed man. I made an oath, which forged my newly found friendship as I pledged my loyalty to the Mac.

Some of you may shudder at the thought, but let me remind you of another who wasn't partial to only one crowd. He crossed over many barriers to befriend those who were "different". Jesus is His name and, like Him, I am being all-inclusive. May we all be like Jesus, in that we don't discredit or belittle anyone, as we have not walked in their shoes. We are all pretty much the same...made of similar parts, can store data and process things, and even function the same as a whole. We are also entirely useless until we are touched by our creator and brought to life/powered on by His hand. May you look past the external differences of the people you meet and treat them as Jesus would treat you.

UT Vols...fans? Thursday, September 14, 2006

Last weekend we went to a UT football game (UT vs. Air Force). Everyone thought this game was in the bag, but it ended up being really close. We ALMOST lost, which made it exciting to watch. Only one word can describe the experience. CRAZY! We got some tickets from our friends Kyle & Julie...in the student section! Oh yes, that's right. We were right there in the thick of it. These first few pics are of the "Vol Walk" which happens outside of the stadium about 2 hours before game time. Notice the sea of orange!

We had to stop by Chris' shop (Houndogs) before the game because neither of us owned anything remotely orange enough for this event.

The camera ran out of batteries right as we got in to the stadium, so this last pic is from my cell phone! Not too bad...

Labor Day Fun Thursday, September 07, 2006

We spent a lovely weekend with Erik's parents this Labor Day. It got off to a great start of under-cooked canellini beans and then progressed into mal-formed no-bake cookies! Basically, everything I cooked went wrong in some way, so we ended the weekend by eating out at the Mellow Mushroom (pizza place). Finally, some good food! :) It actually wasn't as bad as it sounds, we did have a huge pot of Rice Krispy treats that we ate fresh out of the pan. Oooey goooey goodness!

Much of the rest of our time was spent KNITTING! (The men looked at cars, napped, and took the Patriot's to the Superbowl via ESPN NFL 2K5) Linda taught me to knit, and now I am obsessed with it. It's so much fun. I even finished my first project. "Knit, purl, knit, purl..."

Here we are, hard at work. It takes major concentration so that you don't drop a stitch!

I told Erik I was going to knit him a tie and he was like, "Heck no you're not!" Oh well, maybe a sweater, or some undies!

This Blog's For You Tuesday, September 05, 2006

It has come to our attention that there are many more people that read our blog than leave comments. So...in an effort to see who in the world is keeping up on the life and times of Erik & Sonya, I'm writing this blog. Leave us a comment! It doesn't have to be anything profound, we just want to hear from you.

If you're at a loss for something to say, start with this...

"Right now, your blog is more interesting than...(whatever you're supposed to be doing right now)"