Missed Opportunities....

There's this guy at work named Raymond. He's one of those quiet, shy type of guys who isn't going to just start a conversation with you. My first week of work, I was sitting by him and decided I'd talk to him (it's not like I really had anyone to talk to either). We had a pretty decent conversation...just talked about where he lived and his girlfriend and stuff. Usually at lunch, there is about 10 to 15 people at a big table, and when he's there, he hardly ever says a word to anyone. Whenever I would ask him how he was doing, I would just get "keeping busy, keeping busy." Well, yesterday we were eating lunch and he came in, but there were no seats left at the table, so he sat at the table right next to all of us and just ate by himself. I felt bad for him and wanted to go over and sit with him and ask him what he was actually keeping busy with...I just felt like I should. I sat there and thought about it, and then thought about it some more, until it was too late...he got up and went back to work. Oh well, theres the rest of the summer to talk to him is what I probably thought. Well, today some of the managers on our team called a short, impromptu meeting for the sole purpose to let us all know that Raymond's "contract had not been renewed" and that he would no longer be working with us.

Welcome to the real world Danny G. A place where your future is not secure or predictable. It makes me wonder if I'm ready for it yet? But that's beside the point. I feel really bad for Raymond....I'm upset that I didn't take the opportunity to talk to him that last chance I got. I don't know what could have happened....maybe just a simple conversation. But I hate the fact that I know what I'm supposed to do sometimes and don't act. I get these seemingly great ideas to meet people and love people, but then I'll just think about it until it's too late. I can only imagine what God would do if I would just hear and do, instead of think and doubt what He is telling me to do. There's no way I could have known that yesterday would be my last chance to have a meaningful conversation with Raymond. There's no way the friends and family of the 32 Virginia Tech students and professors could have known that the day before that Monday morning would be the last chance they would get to reach out, share their faith, or simply say goodbye. All the more reason why we can't sit around being afraid to love the people around us and share our faith.

In other news, my mommy loves me and sent me a big package this week....check this out:
That's right, two shirts, 10 pairs of socks, homemade brownies, fudge, and chocolate chip cookies, cashews, granola bars, trail mix, dried fruit (yeah i know my mom is really random sometimes), Twizzlers bites (my favorite!), an assorted bag of chewy candies, an assorted bag of old random Easter candy, gummy bears, and last but certainly not least, a steel ball point pen!!! It's a good thing I got the dental insurance from work!! :-D

Oh, and I bought plane tickets to come back to Ohio!! I'm so happy because I got direct flights both ways at reasonable times in the morning. I'll be flying back into Cincinnati on Friday, June 29th and then back to Austin on Sunday, July 8th. I'll probably be back and forth between Xenia and Cincinnati while I'm in Ohio, so make sure you get a hold of me so we can hang out!!

This new place I call home for awhile.....

So Saturday I decided to explore my backyard here in Austin....and I was really surprised at what I found. Hill Country is like 2 miles away from my apartment, and its really cool. There are all these really nice, and I'm sure really expensive houses hanging on the tops of these hills and cliffs. I also went out to Lake Travis, which is the big lake near Austin. Some of the best pictures are below.

Really, Austin is a great city. Going downtown and and out around the city borders makes me realize how boring Cincinnati is. Or maybe I'm just used to Cincy and never do any of the cool stuff.

I really felt like I actually belonged here this weekend, instead of feeling kind of like an outsider. I'm starting to get familiar with the area and make good friends. Saturday night we went bowling. We have a Nintendo Wii at work and we bowl at work during lunch. And I kid you not, Wii bowling has revolutionized my bowling game. I pretty much went in believing I could put spin on the ball because I had been doing it on Nintendo. I used the same form as on the Wii and it worked!!! I still got a 99 though. Hey, I didn't say it improved my game, just revolutionized it!

But Sunday night I went to this church called Austin Stone. It was really cool. Chris Tomlin lead worship there Sunday night (he's from Austin) which was pretty cool, but I didn't even realize it was him for awhile. The message was really good though.....it was all about whether we were following Jesus for our own gain, or simply because we love him. It was cool, I'm gonna try to go back again.

After that, I went to a meeting for Navs on campus with some friends, and then out to this place called Amy's Ice Cream. And I'm sorry Graeters fans, but Graeters has absolutely nothing on this place. I say without any doubt that Amy's Ice Cream is the absolute best ice cream I've ever had in my entire life. It's kind of like Coldstone, where they put the toppings in the ice cream and chop, mash, mix and roll it in right in front of your eyes. But then they do really cool tricks like flip your ice cream up in the air above their head and catch it in a cup. It was sweeeeeeet!!!

Work has been going well, I would have probably stayed till 6 today except someone pointed out that it was 4:40, which meant it was time for me to leave. Oh, and good news for the Buick, I bought a sub for it so now it can be as sweet as the Intrepid ;-)

In other news, I talked to my boss and mentor and they are cool with me taking a week to come home, so I'll probably be back sometime at the beginning of July to visit....so mark your calendars now!!!




Lake Travis.
Lake Travis again.
Some cool houses and a lighthouse at Lake Travis.
Lake Travis.
My apartment is somewhere 3 or 4 miles beyond that hill in the back!

Downtown Austin, this was an amazing view!!
Friday night lightning storm!
This picture is really cool if you take all the little pictures and play them in a row on my camera...

April Is Here and I Cannot Think of a Title....

Two things I increasingly wish I had brought with me from Ohio each day:

1.) An umbrella ~ For a state in which it's not supposed to rain, it rains an awful lot!!
2.) My Dr. Claw Chair (aka my computer chair) with comfy and cushy suede material, arm rests, full tilt and swivel, and of course, lumbar support ~ This $2.50 fold up aluminum sorry excuse for a chair I bought from super wal-mart just isn't cutting it. I hope Mike is taking care of my chair....

Overall, things are going well. I've been meeting people and gotten to go downtown and see some live music the last two weekends with friends. I'm thinking about busting out the Alto Sax and finding somewhere to jam. Everyone plays guitar down here, most much better than me, but the Sax is a more-rare instrument that few have the skill to play so gracefully as myself....j/k, sort of ;-)

I'm still really excited for the rest of my time here. I can already see God beginning to do things in me and with me...big things. I can't wait to look back at the end of the summer and see what has happened.

I might come home at some point this summer for a few days, which is exciting as well. My parents want to pay to fly me back and visit. I haven't talked to my boss yet about it though so we'll see.

Welp, that's all for now...I'll leave you some pictures of the Grissom Ranch here in Austin so ya'll can picture my new and beautiful estate....The driveway/road that goes through our apartment complex.
The pool area, there is a volleyball net in the pool on the right which I have not yet tested out.
This is our living room which doubles as my bed room ;-) Note the breathtaking vistas from the Ranch deck...

This is my living room which doubles as my office/study. You can see my ridiculously over-sized air mattress on the left, which is surprisingly comfy (20 inches of air)