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so i am stoked to say that tomorrow morning at 5:30 a.m. i will be meeting this guy…
(the one and only jared hall)
…in the woodlands to drive to arlington convention center to take part in the 2009 youth ministers conclave. im totally excited. i am going to try and post video blogs while we are on the trip.
here’s to early mornings!
so i got this fancy dvd in the mail today.
they had some “man on the street” type videos on there, so i watched them. the first one was at Texas A&M University and the second one was at Houston Baptist University. As i was watching the one at HBU i noticed something amazing…
…I am in a scene. the whole HBU part was filmed during last years spring fling, which my wife and i happened to be attending. so during one girls answer, the video guy captured my wife and i, along with a few of our friends hanging out at spring fling. i was pretty stoked! then a couple people later, my good friend Angelo was actually one of the people interviewed. i was pretty excited about the whole ordeal.
.:8:27 pm edit:.
i am talking to my brother online. here is an excerpt from our conversation.
my brother is nuts. and he wants some of these dadgum chips!
so, as some of you may know, i am an uncle. if you didn’t know that…well…i am an uncle. my little nephew lives with his mom and dad in australia.
today marks a great milestone. today, little david farley turns ONE YEAR OLD! yay!!!!
here are a couple pictures. i must say, he looks like a windsurfing stud in that wetsuit!
grace and peace.
sorry for not having a meaningful/thoughtful/thought provoking blog post in awhile. but here are a few happenings and/or thoughts from the last few days.
1. yesterday while working at mugz, i spilled 3 shots of espresso all over my left leg. all of this b/c i took my eyes off the cup to say hi/make eye contact with one of the owners. it was really hot. also while at work i slammed my finger in a door. it was an interesting day as a barista yesterday.
2. in the last month, we have had two young families with younger children join our church. this excites me. now if we can just teach them the way of Christ, not the way of being baptist.
3. i’ve been pondering what my role as a youth pastor is lately. do i need to take over parental roles in situations that the parent isn’t doing their job in teaching their child the way of Christ? should i just step back? i don’t ever want to take the place of a parent, or make the parent feel like i am stepping on their toes.
4. my brother just told me online that he is going to be running a motorcycle engine that he and a friend built today in school. he goes to MMI. im glad he found something he likes doing.
5. what exactly is an everyday congregational church member’s responsibility towards the church? why do so many church members base their faithfulness to a church on a single thing? if that one thing changes, adios church…
6. why do so many church members care more about their faithfulness to a church, or their faithfulness to a single thing at a church, more than they care about their faithfulness to Christ?
7. my boss at the coffee shop said she wanted to find a church that she could go to in her mugz uniform. i told her the coffee smell would be a great fragrant offering to God.
8. i will never understand how some churches think that God/church has a “dress code”.
9. he is legend is great. i am hollywood is such a great album.
10. do church members really understand the role of the ministerial staff of their church?
11. i know more about some of the regulars at mugz (where i have only worked a week) than i do some members of my church. why is it that coffee shops are more authentic/real/full of community, than alot of churches?
12. i think coffee has superpowers.
grace and peace be with you.
im going through withdrawls. instead of The Office tonight….i am forced to watch the vice-presidential debates. i am not a happy camper.
boooooooo VP debates…
…yay for a new paramore video
as mentioned in my previous post, i had the amazing privilege of shooting at a wedding with leslie of Goodlight Photography. here are 4 of my pictures from that awesome night. let me know what you think.
grace and peace.
saturday night marked a milestone in my photography “career”. i got to shoot my first wedding. i had the amazing opportunity of being a second shooting with leslie of goodlight photography. this wedding was at a small little restaurant off san felipe inside the 610 loop here in houston. overall, i would rate the night as awesome. it was a great opportunity and throughout the night, i learned alot about my photography skills, my routine, and how to make my photography better.
here are a few thoughts on the opportunity as a whole.
- shooting weddings make your feet hurt. wear comfortable shoes.
- make sure that you have enough sd cards.
- if you are borrowing equipment, make sure it works with your equipment before the event.
- make sure you have enough batteries for you flash (i did!).
- i quickly learned that my equipment is nowhere near where it needs to be.
- when you shoot weddings, there is a chance you will get a really good meal out of it.
- there is a nice awkward photography moment called meal time.
- don’t take pictures of people eating!
- laptops are good to have with you if you can.
- dancing is really fun to take pictures of.
- wine makes these dancing pictures better.
- an open bar makes you see dance moves that you didn’t know existed.
- posed dance floor pictures are silly.
this is the last BIG one that i learned from the night…
- this little checked box means EVERYTHING when importing pictures from my nikon d40 to my macbook. i took about 600 pictures saturday night in RAW format. when i uploaded them onto my macbook this little box was not checked, therefore, they are no longer in RAW format, only in jpg. when i noticed this, i immediately got that sick to my stomach feeling. needless to say i will always, from now on, make sure this box is checked when i upload RAW photos.
the night was awesome. thanks leslie for the opportunity. i actually am getting to do this again with leslie this coming saturday at another wedding. its gonna be better than this last opportunity due to the things i learned this last time. you should see some picture from the wedding posted here in a few days. the ones i have looked at…i liked.
grace and peace.
this is in the new baptist hymnal…
you are reading that correctly. it’s o’ canada!
i wonder if it is the five iron frenzy version…
i went by the county recycling center this morning to drop off some paper goods that we had collected over the last few weeks. on my way there i passed this street. it was so awesome. i decided to stop by on the way to the office and take a picture simply to show you all. part of me expected to see a guy with scales on his eyes, or a big flash of light and a deep rumbling voice when i pulled over on damascus road to take this picture.
just some exciting times this morning already. i think today is going to be a good day.
grace and peace.
im applying for a second job.
there is this fancy little coffee shop down the street from our house called Mugz. it is a small, locally owned and operated, shop that in my opinion serves one of the best mochas in rosenberg/richmond. i am currently getting up a little before 5 each morning with my wife and in most cases, like this morning, my body will not go back to sleep. so i stay up. i sit on the couch, watch the news, check out the sports headlines on the internet, until it is time to come in to work. i figure, hey…why not earn some money. and the only thing i could think of that might need someone to work a early morning shift would be a coffee shop. luckily Mugz could use some extra help on weekday mornings, from 5:00 to 8:30. so i am applying. i am dropping my application off today at lunch. hopefully i can start soon, because having the extra money come in would be a GREAT help, plus, im getting tired of feeling like i am not being productive during those early morning hours.
here are a couple shots of the inside of mugz.
here is my to-do list today…
mow and edge front yardmow and edge back yardline flower bed (backyard) with ant poisonline flower bed (front yard) with ant poisonmove tool hanger in garage to other wallput up new shelves in garagefertilize front yardfertilize backyard.
it is going to be a busy day. alot of work outside. at the end of the day today, i will feel very accomplished.
off to work!
.:edit:.
done! im tired.
i just called student life to get registered for camp next summer. i wanted to get into this camp…
here it is, september 17, 2008. this camp is july 25 - 29, 2009.
IT IS ALREADY FULL! this is the world of student ministry summers.
the good news though, is that me and my 35 spots are first on the waiting list. so there is a chance.
i got to spend lunch with my beautiful wife today. we had chick-fil-a. it was amazing as always.
these are two videos that i took during the day yesterday. we got power back when we got home from church on sunday. it was a great feeling. when we got to watch tv, we realized how bad ike really was. galveston got torn up. its horrible. especially the seawall. i am fixing to go to bed. i am tired, and i have to work in the morning.
but please, all of my few faithful readers, please continue to be in prayer for the texas gulf coast. specifically those who have lost way more than power or water. many people are now homeless.
we covet your prayers.
grace and peace be with you.
we went outside during sunset tonight and with all the clouds from ike we had one heck of a sunset. it was beautiful.
its starting to get a little crazy. its pretty darn windy outside. please continue to pray.
grace and peace be with you.
the clouds and winds of ike are here.
we are slowly but surely having more clouds roll in as the early stages of ike get closer. the wind is slowly picking up as well. one thing that amazes me is that from what i have seen there are only 2 other houses (3 including ours) that have anything covering their windows. i know for many people in this neighborhood, this is their first hurricane, and for all of the people, this is their first hurricane in these homes. we are still keeping a close eye, please continue to pray.
grace and peace
ike is almost here. we are currently getting a little bit of a stiff breeze here in richmond. clear skies though, still. we have one of kimb’s friends from school, maggie, staying with us. she is pretty rad.
yesterday, i had the afternoon off work so dad and i got to work on the houses.
dad getting the wood out of their garage for their house.
parents house done! now on to our house. the picture at the top is our house. it’s boarded up as much as we could.
this storm is crazy. the news just said it was about 500 miles wide. thats craaaazy. we currently have plenty of water, bread, etc. we have some movies to watch (if we don’t lose power). we are hunkered down here at the gutowsky residence. ready to take on the next 24 hours. they are saying that it should get bad tonight at midnight, at the earliest. i am ready. we are ready. i will keep you guys updated via photos throughout the day/night/tomorrow on some of the actions taking place here.
we (meaning us, and the rest of the texas coast covet your prayers)
grac and peace be with you.
in the middle of the election i would like to make a suggestion…
this morning i woke up and went to return a movie that we had rented and then i went to randals to get some water. as i was waiting in line with like 50ish bottles of water, a couple gallons of distilled water, and some bread, apples, dr pepper, and zapps crawtator chips (the last two are must haves) i noticed a lady a couple of lines over from me. in the midst of all these people getting water, fruit, canned goods, and other necessities, this lady had A CART FULL OF BEER!! this was not a small cart, this was a full size shopping cart, full of beer. i couldn’t help but laugh. we can see where her priorities are. haha.
but anywho, we are supposed to start feeling the effects of ike tomorrow midday and then it is supposed to do downhill pretty quick. i have quite a bit of work to do this afternoon around the house and then also stuff at other family members homes. we are also having a couple of kimbs friends come stay with us. so this should be fun
pictures will follow.
please be in prayer for the texas gulf coast, but more importantly, please be in prayer for the people of haiti and cuba who have already been dealt a terrible blow by ike.
grace and peace be with you.
a friend sent me this link. your thoughts?
so for some reason today my mind has been ticking more than usually. the thought in my head today has been this…who is the church for?
we have all heard the saying that church is a “hospital for sinners, not a hotel for saints”. yes, this is true. but how often do we actually see the church as being a “hospital for sinners”? in my eyes, the church is more often a hotel for saints. i guess this is good and bad.
a church is a hotel for the saints b/c it is a place where worship happens. unchurched people are not going to understand everything that goes on in a church service. this is simply b/c they are UNCHURCHED. they won’t (most likely) get it. in this case we can relate church to “base” in a game of tag. after running around all week and hopefully getting dirty by doing ministry in our offices, our meetings, our classrooms, etc, we can come back to “base” to catch our breath. to gain energy, and then go back at it.
but then there is the word “hotel” in that statement. many churchgoers simply leave their christianity in the church. so these churchgoers “stay ” in this hotel called church. they feel that that is all they need, the thought that church is about me, me, me.
now the thought that the church is a hospital for sinners. this is very much true as well. if i were sick enough to have to go to the hospital, i am confident that i would feel very welcome in the hands of a doctor. in the hands of someone who knew the cure or could point me in the direction of someone who knows the cure.
in my opinion, the church should be both. it should be a place where we can retreat to be re-energized with the word, and to spend time with our Creator, but it should also be a place where “sinners” (i am reluctant in using that word b/c it makes churchgoers sound better than everyone)can come and feel welcome. where they can come to be pointed in the direction of the one who holds/offers the cure.
so here the major question that has been going on in my head all day…to whom should the church cater, if it should cater to one specific group? on some blogs i read regularly i am excited to see things that other churches are doing.
Austin Stone Church is doing great things FOR the city of austin. FOR the city, not specifically for the churchgoers. it seems that their focus is making sure that their churchgoers see that the church is much more than some walls and a guy that sings, and a guy that preaches, and some people that sit in chairs and sing songs about a guy named Jesus and listen to the bible proclaimed.
another example is Buckhead Church in Atlanta who is doing this crazy thing. going into the bars and clubs around atlanta and taking good art. (mostly music it seems) church members are going and simple talking with people. not mentioning buckhead church but just investing their lives into the others there at the bars/clubs. and the crazy thing is…IT IS WORKING!
i just sit here and see things that are going on in other churches around the nation, and then i look at my church. i wonder what things we could do here in rosenberg that would make an impact on the city, and on our church.
so here is my question again…
this is quite possibly the best thing ever.
more about "ska is not dead!", posted with vodpod
thank you Los for posting this. it has made my heart smile.
so i currently have 170 pictures on my flickr page. when i hit 200 i will need to upgrade to a flickr pro account or i will only be able to view/work with my most current 200 shots.
so does someone want to buy me a years subscription of flickr pro?
k thanks!
here are some more shots of my friends angelo, sarah and hayden.
grace and peace.
today i went to a funeral.
our pastors father passed away sunday at 8:20. he finally escaped the grasp of alzheimers and parkinsons, and met his maker face to face.
i have been to quite a few funerals, the most recent being the funeral of my cousin. this funeral was different. granted i was not family in this funeral, but i felt like i was. this funeral changed me.
there were 3 pastors that spoke at this funeral. one was the current pastor of first baptist church college station, and the other two were previous pastors of first baptist church college station where a.a. melton was a deacon. hearing the stories these men told made one thing perfectly clear. a.a. melton was a good man. he loved his family. he loved hard work. he really loved to serve. but most of all, he loved his Jesus.
i have served on staff with a.a.’s son, donnie, at first baptist church rosenberg for like 3 years. it never felt as good as it did today. we took a church van, and 2 cars full of church members to this funeral. when we got to the church, mei-ling, donnie’s wife, came out and greeted us as we signed the guest book. when we looked into the sanctuary we could see bro. donnie up at the front standing near his fathers casket. as the members from our church filed into the sanctuary the other two staff members and myself walked up towards bro. donnie. when he turned around from looking at his father and saw us, the look on his face is something i will never forget. it was a look of such gratefulness. it was a look of hope. to be honest, throughout these 3 years of service at this church i have kinda felt awkward (im not sure if that is the right word), almost like i am the odd man out. this might be b/c i am the youngest on staff and b/c this is my first church to be on staff at. but this morning when the 4 of us staff members hugged, it felt right. it felt like staff. it felt like 4 men who daily serve God together at a church. IT FELT LIKE CHURCH. seeing the 4 of us there, as one, showed me what church is really about.
i love seeing the church in action. the church doing what it was created to do.
contemplating things on the way home from college station made me think. i wonder if my funeral will make people feel the way i feel. will a man of God, a pastor, a man who has given his life to serve the Creator of all things, say about me…
…Joel Gutowsky was a good man.
i can only live my life now in a way that pleases God, and through that others will be able to truly say that Joel Gutowsky is a good man.
this morning my friend andy and i got on our motorcycles and rode out to chappell hill. we ate breakfast at this little mom & pop country store. we both had the country breakfast (2 eggs any style, a biscuit, bacon and hashbrowns for $3.99). it was pretty darn awesome. 3/4 of my arms are sunburned, but i guess thats ok. they hurt a little bit. it was a great ride and good conversation over a country breakfast. i hope another one happens again soon.
grace and peace.
my brother finally arrived. we picked him up at the airport last night. here are a few pictures form the airport.
grace and peace.
i had the privilege of taking pictures of my friend Angelo’s family. Angelo is a great friend that i met at HBU. i was a groomsman in his wedding and he was one in mine. 7 weeks ago his wife sarah gave birth to their first child hayden. she is beautiful and they are a beautiful family. this was my first time to take portraits of a baby. it was hard. babys really do not sit/lay still. but this was still a great photoshoot. these are a few of my favs. and you can check em out here or on my flickr.
grace and peace
my dad and i played golf today at cinco ranch country club. it was fun, but it was dang hot. it was a refreshing time with my dad and now…
…my shoulders hurt.
ps. that is my dad in the picture. look at that form!
l8r
this morning when i was getting dressed for work, i went to put my wallet in my back pocket and look what i found.
there were two of them! im using the first one for lunch today. im so excited.
L8R.
im in the middle of reading this article. “I live with another man’s wife”. personally, i think it is such a clever article title for communal living. here are a couple quotes from the article that have really caught my attention.
+ “When forgiveness flows within the community, the individuals within finally come alive. A resolved conflict breathes new life into the house, and it’s clear that all the verses I was forced to memorize as a kid regarding settling things and not allowing bitterness to take root actually held meaning for real life.”
+ “However, finding God in the community usually isn’t about times of praying together or staying up all night worshipping - at least not in our house. For us, it’s about finding God in the mundane approaches to daily living together - cooking and cleaning, chore lists and game nights, crowding around for a Bourne marathon or our weekly obsession with Lost.”
this article is very interesting, and this is why…
this lady in the middle is our new friend lindsay. she is kimbs new friend from grad school. when kimb and i closed on our house we wanted to get a house that was big enough for us to give a room to friends in town who needed a room. lindsay is sleeping upstairs in our guest bedroom so she doesn’t have to get up before the sun tomorrow to go to the med. center in downtown houston. this communal living thing is a very new idea to me. it most certainly has its pros and cons but so far tonight, i only see pros.
growth in Christ comes from community. i have said many times that it is nearly impossible to live a life that is pleasing to Christ without community. community brings things that are a necessity in this life.
i really don’t know exactly what i’m trying to say here. all i know is that i feel good knowing that kimb and i are offering part of our blessing from God to another person who is in a little bit of a need.
got a family christian store catalog in the mail today. look what i saw while looking through it…
guitar hero for jesus?
dangit. why? i’m so sorry world. i’m sorry.
yesterday i was sitting at a stop light that was extremely long i opened up my cd case and in the front sleeve was a cd called “in the wake of determination” by these guys…
Story of the Year. not many people like them…but yesterday i rediscovered my love for their music. they are so good.
good rock ‘n roll.
bye.
when i got to the office today and got on the internet i was sad to hear of leroi moore’s death. here is what is written on the front page of the dave matthews band website…
We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.
or you can read more here.
i really don’t think that DMB will ever be the same.
for some reason i was singing always be my baby by mariah carey today. i have no clue why. then i thought of david cook singing his version of the song on american idol. it was very nice.
everytime i hear this song i am taken back to 7th/8th grade dances in the school cafeteria. all the tables folded up. chairs around the room against the wall. all the rumors of who had made out with who down one of the hallways. all of us awkward “ladies men” scoping out the room for the next girl we would ask to dance when the slow songs came on. all of us wearing our penny loafers with khaki’s and a sweater vest thinking that we looked oh so fly. thank goodness those days are over.
now i have an amazing wife who will love me even if i were to wear sweater vests.
what songs remind you of your jr high/high school dances?
down on the left hand column, at the bottom, i have added some videos from my vodpod. check it out! i die laughing each time i see dwight’s centathalon games.
murder checkers!
so i got to hang out with my good friend mario tonight. mario is a great guy. good story. good friend. amazing drummer. he plays drums with stephen miller. these guys led worship at our d-now earlier this year. great worship leaders. great to work with. you should totally book them for you next event.
tonight mario gave me their new cd project entitled “Rise Up”. it is dang good. you should totally go here and buy it. it will be well worth your money.
grace and peace.
dear everyone,
my friend david is still in the running for playing the austin city limits festival. he has named today the day of 1000. if you could, please go here and vote for him!. He was in 3rd but has dropped to 7th, which is still good but we can totally take him higher.
if you want to hear some of his stuff you can click here and listen. I promise you that your ears will thank you.
thanks for your time, and please remember to vote!
your friend,
joel
so i received an email this morning from my friend leslie. she has an amazing photography company called goodlight photography. she actually did the pictures for my wife and my engagement and wedding day. i think she is really good. during our conversation around the time of our wedding i told leslie that i am an amateur photographer. in response to this comment she told me that she would love to have me shoot with her sometime. i got so excited to even be considered for the opportunity.
back to the email.
she asked me if i was available for a couple saturdays to shoot some weddings with her! how awesome is that.
i just wanted to share my joy this morning. i hope all is well.
if you would like you can see some of leslie’s work by watching a slideshow of our wedding!
grace and peace.
…because stuff like this happens.
French swimmer - “The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for.”
American swimmer after beating the French in the mens 4×100M relay - “We don’t talk back. We just let the results speak.”
last nights race was one of the main reasons i watch the olympics. best swimming race of all time. hands down.
the French 4×100 relay team after getting beat by the USA. i love their expressions.
USA after winning the 4×100 relay in world record time. smashing the previous world record by 4 seconds.
here is a video of the race. i can’t find a video with great quality. but this works. 9 minutes of your time. i promise it will be very much worth it.
please enjoy!
go here. now.
download the new phil wickham album entitled “singalong”.
it is simply amazing!
grace and peace.
OMG!
grace and peace.
grace and peace.
Edouard is coming. we are packed in. we basically moved some plants and other loose yard items into the garage as well as moved some items around so that we could get one of our cars into the garage.
this is our first storm together in our new home.
how sweet!
anywho. im getting ready for bed because i will be still working from the house tomorrow. gotta keep working. i think i am going to try to prepare a couple sermons in for fuel.
sleep tight world.
we will be sleeping through Edouard.
grace and peace.
while kimb and i were gone on vacation we had one of the college students pick up our mail for us. well, when we pulled into our neighborhood saturday evening we stopped at the mailboxes and picked up our mail. located in our mail box was this postcard.
now time for a story. a couple weeks ago a brother and sister duo (7th grade guy and 11th grade girl) from my youth group went on a cruise with their family, and yesterday evening kimb and i received a postcard from Progreso, Mexico from the 7th grade guy. it was awesome.
here is what it said.
To Joel and Kimb,
Greetings from Carnival Cruise - Ecstasy! We have stayed very busy on the boat. There is so much food! The pool has a cool waterslide! Today we are going to Progreso and tomorrow we are going to Cozumel!
See ya soon - Wilson
how awesome is that! this is one of the reasons that make youth ministry worth while in my book.
grace and peace.
im in portland still. sitting at the stumptown again…
…listening to jimmy eat world. i really need to get their newest cd. i am OBSESSED with their songs “big casino” and “always be”. they have been in my head nearly all week. kimb and i have to be at the airport tomorrow about 10 a.m. i think to catch our noon flight home. it has been an amazing trip.
this morning we went hiking and near mt. hood to see some cool waterfalls…and it was raining. we were such troopers. this week has been really good. an abundance of stuff to do. a lot of good food, and plenty of the office. i also finished “jesus for president” and “velvet elvis” and i have started “on the road” by jack kerouac.
it has been good.
more to come later i’m sure.
now for some fotos.
grace and peace.
more to follow
grace and peace.
i am currently in the division st. stumptown reading velvet elvis by rob bell. i am flying through it. im hooked. attached. completely submerged. in the chapter that i am reading rob is writing of a time when he had locked himself in a storage closet at his church between the 9 am and 11 am services. he writes of being burnt out. he writes of pain that he has received even in a time when his church is thriving. he ends up going to a counselor friend of his and the following is what he gains out of this counseling session.
…in what has become a pivotal moment in my journey, “Your job is the relentless pursuit of who God has made you to be. And anything else you do is sin and you need to repent of it.”
The relentless pursuit of who God made me to be.
I started identifying how much of my life was about making sure the right people were pleased with me. And as this became more and more clear, I realized how less and less pleased I was with myself. What happens is our lives become so heavily oriented around the expectations of others that we become more and more like them and less and less like ourselves. We become split.
I was split.
this is where i am right now. i am split. i can’t stand it.
more later.
grace and peace
grace and peace
this is our second full day here in portland. today we woke up and went to the farmers market and bought some food for the week. the farmers market was really packed, but we had a good time. while we were there we happened to stumble upon a hotlips pizza booth. the day we arrived, todd and julia ordered hotlips pizza for us to eat. it was grand. now a cool thing about hotlips is that they make their own soda. we tried pear soda, blackberry soda, raspberry soda and i wanted to try apple soda, but alas…they were out. today has been great.
also, i found some chacos!!! i mentioned in a previous post that i wanted to find them cheap…well…i found chacos for 50% off! i was so happy.
that is pretty much the day so far. i am loving portland. i am not doing any work and i love it. i finished reading “jesus for president” on the plane here and now i am reading “velvet elvis”. it is my plan to finish that one too while on this trip.
until later my friends…here are a couple pictures.
until later my friends.
grace and peace
today is my first stop at the division stumptown.
after this we are going to downtown portland for some lunch. this is going to be an exciting day! until later my friends.
grace and peace.
we are fixing to board the plane for Portland. My goal…to find some Chaco sandals for cheap. Oh yea, and to drink stumptown coffee…alot. See you from the west coast!