8 months?

8 months since I last posted. Hmm...
Since I last posted, our dog Behr passed away. He went quick though and didn't feel a lot of pain so I'm thankful for that.
That's about the only sad thing that's happened since then, it's been nothing but good stuff around the Crum house!
Benjamin turns one next Wednesday! AH!
Noah will be here next month (if Amanda can hold him in until then haha)! AH!
The shop couldn't be doing better!
I start school early March (if I ever drag my butt up there and sign up)!
I am blessed. and tired. haha

Boom

Go here and listen to this band: www.myspace.com/seabird
AWESOME!
So I have the admission paperwork for Brookhaven and I'm going to get all my transcripts together tonight and go sign up tomorrow. I think I'm going to take a piano class (along with some other basics...english etc.) the first semester, that'll be cool. I've always wanted to know how to play piano. :)
I'm almost done with my work for today and I can go home and hang out with Amanda and Ben!!!
"The greatest problem in communication....is the illusion that it has taken place!" -George Bernard Shaw

AMAZING

I'm not sure where I've been lately (mentally/spiritually), but I'm back. Actually, I know exactly where I've been, I let the world and the day-to-day stuff get in the way of my walk with the Lord. I really had it in my head that if I could just get a few things in line, then I could focus on God...when all the while, if I would have just focused on Him, he'd have taken care of those things for me. I'm silly.
I'm going back to school...need to take some community college courses, probably online at NCTC...then transfer to Dallas Christian College maybe...then I don't know from there.
More on this another time. :)

Defeat!!!!

I just watched the Rangers get the snot kicked out of them by the Tigers...19 to 6. OUCH! And I must say, I'm feeling a little bit like they must feel right now...defeated. My list of things that need to get done just keeps getting bigger and bigger...and I don't really have the resources right now to do all of them. Work's going well...busy busy, though it really needs to do a lot better than it is if we're all going to survive. We have a new machine coming (hopefully) that will streamline a lot of the digital work we do. That I am excited about.
I haven't been spending as much time in the Word as I would like. I hate how that is always the first to go when I get busy...
Wishlist:
0.5) I wish I knew the Lord better, and knew how to pursue Him better. I wish I didn't get SO LOST SO FAST SO OFTEN!
1) I wish I could be around my family more....I just don't understand why the world has to work the way it does...why do we have to have money for things?....why do you have to work to get that money?....why can't I just be with my family all day?.... I know the answers to all those questions but I don't really agree with them.
1.5) I wish I played a bigger part in Benjamin's life. Everything seems to circle back to Mommy, which is a direct result of me not being around much! I'm fortunate and BLESSED to have Amanda, who knows exactly what she's doing raising Benjamin and I. :) I just wish I knew I was helping more...
2) I wish I had the time, and resources to pursue ministry fulltime,......going to school and getting a degree and becoming a pastor... But the resources just aren't there so far. I had hoped to be in school already...maybe next semester....
3) I wish I could start a band again. I used to love playing music (and still do when I get the chance). How cool would that be to be able to reach people with the message of Christ through music....kind of like these guys do----> www.underoath777.com
4) I wish I could go get a new tattoo right now...I have so many ideas for a tat and I REALLY want to get a new one...REALLY bad! It's been like....2 years(?) since I got my last one!!!
5) I wish I had the money to go on a vacation out of the country somewhere, I just got off probation in February (I've been on probation for almost 6 years), and now I am allowed to leave the country, but I can't. :o haha Oh well, someday.
6) I wish my brother would wake up and stop trying to "buy happiness" and start looking to the Word.
7) I wish they would have let Sammy out in November. (My best friend, aside from my wife of course, is in prison right now and was denied parole last November. He's up for parole again this coming November.)
8) I wish I felt like I was accomplishing something.

"Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. . . . I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward."
-Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

WHOO!

Okay, I know it's been a long time...I've just been busy.
Work has been ridiculously busy...which is good. :)
Benjamin is growing like a weed...oh my goodness! He's "talking" and trying to "crawl" and he's only 6 weeks old.
I have a lot to write about, but he's crying right now, and momma's at the grocery store...so Daddy to the rescue.

Little Lost....Okay, a lot lost

I was out for a walk yesterday and I was thinking....
Lately I've been very irritable, I have a very short fuse, no patience, and I keep snapping at people. And I keep cursing and wish I could stop. So last night I'm a walking and talking to God and I said something like, "if I could just stop I wouldn't feel so far away from you" and then it hit me! I'm trying to fix all the outward things, stop cursing, stop being so short with people in hopes that I can get closer to God. I'm acting as if me doing those things is pushing God away, when in reality, it's me pushing God away that's causing those things. I haven't been spending anytime in the word, or alone with the Lord. I've been reading Christian books, but neglecting the book that GOD wrote! I know how to fix that problem....more alone time with the Lord and the book he wrote for me!

We got a big book job in today, due Thursday, so I'll be working a LONG time tomorrow. It's all good. :)
Amanda and I are going to see Daniel Tosh this weekend. If you've never heard of him, google him, he's funny. He's performing at the House of Blues this Saturday.
More family coming into town this weekend as well...

Hoping some of these big things at work go through...things are tight....
The Lord is good to me though!

"They say money doesn't buy happiness. That phrase should end with 'just kidding,' because it does. It buys a WaveRunner. You ever seen a sad person on a WaveRunner? Try to frown on a WaveRunner. . . . Money buys happiness." -Daniel Tosh

All Up Hill

This week has been really good. Very tiring, but very productive. Ben is doing awesome, he's holding his head up and doing all kinds of cool stuff. He's just awesome!
Work is going really good, we got (potentially) a HUGE account this week, and more potential stuff lined up for next week. We are on track to more than triple our monthly intake but April. Geez...what a blessing!! The Lord is being good to us....
I'm going to try and turn my rundown, falling apart "sunroom" into an awesome semi-covered patio this summer. We've got a little money to go towards it so far and it shouldn't be that big of an undertaking. The hardest part I think is going to be demoing the sunroom....
Tomorrow is Easter, the day we celebrate our Lord and savior raising from the dead...man, what an awesome God!
Anyway, that's all for now. I leave you with this quote:
"I think the worst time to have a heart attack is during a game of charades...or a game of fake heart attack. "
-- Demetri Martin