What am I reaching for?
What are my dreams?
Do I chase the weather?
Or do I just chase me?

Get it. Get it.

I was over at a friends house last week and we got to talking about good books we had read recently. It was helpful to me to hear what other friends like and are reading. It refocuses me to be more disciplined. Here are a few I came up with that were great reads.

Top 11 (why stop at 10?) best books I read in 2009:

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A' Kempis
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Normal Kingdom Business by Andree Seu
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reid Larson
The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Indianapolis Colts, 35- New England Patriots, 34.

Best game I've ever seen.
Instant classic...literally...they showed it the next day on ESPN Classic.
The reason I'm just now posting about it is because I was waiting to get some pictures developed.
However, the development was unsuccessful.
Therefore, just mental images will have to do.

My parents called and asked if I'd be interested in driving up to Indy to see the game. Saying yes was a very easy decision and it turned out to be a very wise one as well. Not only did we bond with 63,000 cheering Colts fans, but we couldn't help but make great memories to add to the family vacation tradition.

Take a spontaneous trip with your family.

"And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff-I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy."

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

It was Christmas Eve.
My grandparents had just gotten to the house.
It was freezing cold outside.
So...
...I took the kayak out on its maiden voyage...
...for about three minutes.

Birds-eye view:


Dude, cut your hair:


Storage space:


Gloriously close to being done:


Seat:

Fiberglassing the deck:


Cockpit combing:


Hatches and bulkheads:


Inside:


Clamps:

Putting epoxy over the fiberglass:


The frames for the hull:


Shaping the deck:


Fiberglassing the inside of the hull:

Bonding the cedar strips with fiberglass:


The stitch-and-glue method:


Sealing the hull:


Mike and I laying out the fiberglass:

Six months ago, I made the decision to try building a kayak.
That decision led to frustration, hours of sanding, a cluttered workshop, a few injuries, waiting for long lengths of time to see progress, and much learning as I went.
The result was the accomplishing of a goal; an accomplishment that I will always remember as a time of growth and great reward.

The beginning of one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.