It's been a year...

So, it's been two months since my last entry. I am sorry, truly, but I can't promise I'll get any better at posting on here. I suppose I could make a dedicated day to update this thing. Ok, I think I'll update my blog every friday. That should make yall happy! It will also make me feel less guilty about it, lol

Ok, where to begin? I went to minesota again for some more training. I really enjoyed it. We went to a very remote camp near the great lake. There was no electricity except in the lodge. Our cabins had wood burning stoves, gas heaters, and oil lamps. It was fun. I also learned a whole lot. My first training session in the summer was based around my habits and skills. This training was more about youth pastoring and the specific things we run into. Very useful, practical, and enjoyable. Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend much time with my host family in minesota. Their names are Wayne and July and we became good friends the last time I stayed with them. However, this trip, I only stayed with them one night. So, that made me sad.

I've also officially become an apple fanboy. That means that I think they are pretty much the best computer/mobile company out there. My next computer purchase will be an apple. All I have to decide is if I will get a laptop or a desktop. All of this came from me buying an iphone. It came out right around my birthday and I had been really frustrated with my old phone. The old one could only send 10 texts at a time, and I had to manually select every name. There was no group support for mass texting. Combine that with the fact that I would text 35 students each week with the same message meant alot of work to do a little. Then I saw an iphone ad and got interested. I did research and kept liking what I saw. So, I bought one of the new iphones for my birthday and it's been one of the best investments I've ever made! The sheer quality of the iphone 4 blew me away. I could tell someone had really thought about all the angles to a smart phone. Anyway, it made me a fan, then I decided to buy an ipad. I must confess, I had no reason to buy one other than "i want one". But it has actually become incredibly useful in both my professional and personal life.

Here's where I rave about my ipad. First off, I use it in youth group. I put up a bible trivia question on the board and the first person who answers it gets to play with ipad. And I only let one person use it and jr high have to sit down while using it. They mostly just play the games I have on it, and there are alot of em. Tons of em are free, and the rest are just $1. So, you can fill it up with games for like $20. I also use the ipad as my bible. It's got a great Bible program on it, so I take my ipad to church and read my bible from it! It usually gets people talking just when they see it! And of course, I make sure not to use it for anything else during church. It also syncs up with google calendar. I can add an event on my phone, ipad, or computer and all of them get updated. It's really nice and helps me keep track of events. I can also add contacts to any of the three and the others get updated. For example, if I'm at church and I meet a new high schooler, I can add their name and phone number on my ipad. It then is automatically added to my phone and stored online with gmail. Very slick.

I also bought a tempurpedic bed. This has always been a long time goal of mine and it was well worth it. You might be asking, "alex, how can you afford all this stuff on a youth pastor's salary?" Well, God has truly blessed me financially. Thanks to my parents, I have no college debt, which I think is a huge part. I also have no car loans or anything. The only loan I have is the one on my house. So, combine that, with the ability to save money towards something=ability to buy things you want. I am also continuing to save money, including an emergency fund. I also have my huge tax return coming soon. Hopefully, I finally gave the IRS what they need to verify that I live in my house. Sheesh. Anyway, once that tax return comes, I'll use it to finish my emergency fund, then split my money between saving and paying off my mortgage. Like I said, God has blessed me greatly, especially by teaching me about handling money from people like my dad and uncle brad. Thanks guys!

Ok, if i'm going to update this thing once a week, I better not tell you everything in one post! So, enjoy. Also, i've lived in ohio 1 year!