It’s Friday and Kara and I are enjoying some great down time after our Christmas party tonight. Here’s the Friday List.

• It’s December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day. So much meaning and history packed into today and it’s one of the most overlooked days in American history. The Western world’s future hinged on what happened in Hawai’i.
• Charity: water hosted their annual Charity: Ball this past Wednesday night. 100,000 people were able to receive clean drinking water because of the funds raised at last year’s Charity: Ball.
• The Gallup Business Journal just released an interesting article about the business impact of human emotions.
• Creative of the Week // I came across a great infographic that speaks for itself: How to Publish Your Book by Zachary Petit. So true.
• Photo of the Week // Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
  
• Video of the Week // Deer Crossing.
  
• Thought of the Week // Americans spend more than 100,000 years worth of time on Facebook every month. What could we do as a nation without that large of a time gap? I’m just as guilty as the next.
• Quote of the Week // “Sometimes we wait for a ‘not yet’ that feels like a ‘not ever.’ Waiting is the hardest work of hope.” -Lewis Smedes

It’s Friday and I’m enjoying our first full weekend in our new house. Here’s the Friday List.

• Pray for the communities and churches affected by Hurricane Sandy. To give you some perspective, here’s a picture from the Ground Zero construction site.
• Here’s a list of 9 Things Invented For Military Use That You Now Encounter In Everyday Life.
• Tim Stevens just released a list of his past leadership mistakes. It’s a good punch list of things that I need to be aware of as a leader.
• Creative of the Week // 12 Creative Ideas.
• Photo of the Week // Lightning strike near Haifa, Israel.
  
• Video of the Week // The First 2012 Presidential Debate (Bad Lip Reading)
  
• Thought of the Week // How to land speaking engagements via @BenArment.
• Quote of the Week // “We who say we love God: why are we not as anxious to be perfect in our art as we pretend we want to be in our service of God? If we do not try to be perfect in what we write, perhaps it is because we are not writing for God after all. In any case it is depressing that those who serve God and love Him sometimes write so badly, when those who do not believe in Him take pains to write so well.” –Thomas Merton

It’s Friday and I’m enjoying a good start to the weekend. Here’s the Friday List.

• Some of our creatives at The Crossing released the teaser trailer for [Advent Conspiracy] this year. Can’t wait for what God’s going to do through [AC] this year! Sixty-seven days til Christmas!
• It shouldn’t be a surprise to find that “non-religious” is the new trend in spirituality.
• Creative of the Week // Props to Justin Timberlake with the revamping of MySpace. I wonder if his role in The Social Network sparked any interest in trying to rival Facebook.
• Photo of the Week // The Princess Bride cast – 25 years later.
• Video of the Week // Red Bull Stratos Space Jump with Felix Baumgartner.
• Thought of the Week // 3 Keys to Creating High Performance Teams by Andy Stanley.
• Quote of the Week // “Only from him did I ever get the idea that my ‘stuff’ could be more than a private hobby. But for his interest and unceasing eagerness for more I should never have brought The Lord of the Rings to a conclusion.” –J.R.R. Tolkien in tribute to C.S. Lewis

1. Jim and Jacob have both been sick with some congestion junk. Say a prayer that they get to feeling better and that I don’t get sick!
2. I’m throwing a shower tomorrow for one of my best friends and I’m super excited about it. She’ll be happy to know that I asked for help and that I’m not stressing about it! I’m doing the best that I can and letting go of some things.
3. Jacob can now give a good high five (thanks to High Five boot camp from Grandma!) and is constantly clapping…so cute.
4. By this time last year, I already had a budget made and that meant I had planned out gifts I was going to get. What I’ve done this year? Printed out the lists to fill in.
5. I painted a coffee mug this week! It didn’t turn out exactly like I wanted it to (I thought the ring around the circles would be darker) but hey, it’s cool!
6. And because I can, here’s a cute picture of my sweet boy. This was taken by my Mother-In-Law while they were on a walk. She comes over on Thursdays to watch Jacob on her lunch hour while I run teach dance class!

At any rate, here are some things for you to read/ogle on the Internet that I liked:

One of my favorite fashion blogs, Tomboy Style, collaborated with Gryphon New York and designed an amazing jacket that I REALLY WANT FOR MY BIRTHDAY (cough).

From xoJane: The great tipping debate.

From Design*Sponge: Three fancy grilled cheeses.

From Overtime Cook: S’mores Cheesecake…which needs to get in my belly right now.

From RealSimple: How to make positive changes in your life.

From HuffPost: A Colorado boy writes a letter telling Mitt Romney his plan for America “would hurt us more than it would help”.

If you liked “The West Wing”, you’ll love this commercial starring the characters from the show. They came together to promote Mary McCormack’s sister Bridget’s campaign to join the Michigan Supreme Court.

At a soccer/football match between an Iranian team and a Saudi Arabian team, someone threw a grenade onto the pitch and one of the players moved it before it could cause harm.

Some beautiful photography by May Xiong. I’ve been following her Tumblr for a while.

Will someone buy me this Uniforma purse in Blueberry? Pretty please?

From Apartment Therapy: Famous writers’ small writing sheds and off-the-grid huts.

Self-portraits of an artist on various drugs. Kinda fascinating, even though I’m not exactly into drugs (although a couple of them I was once prescribed to treat my ADHD and depression).

From Thought Catalog: 12 reasons you should should never meet your hero.

(Image via Madewell.com, because I start working for them next month!)

It’s Friday and I’m loving the fall weather that’s just starting to settle into the Lou. Here’s the Friday List.

• A lot of time is wasted at work every day and some of the most “productive” practices are the biggest culprits.
• Speaking of culprits, Vertical Video Syndrome is one of the most tragic conditions affecting videos today. Don’t be ignorant; get help today. You’re not alone.
• One of the movies that is flying under the radar right now is Lincoln. Directed by Steven Spielberg, music by John Williams, starring three Academy Award winning actors.
• Creative of the Week // The 100 Most Creative People in Business 2012. I came across this list and got lost for a while.
• Photo of the Week // Lava tube in the Hawaiian surf.
• Video of the Week // John Clayton – This is SportsCenter
• Thought of the Week // How to Run Your Meetings like Apple and Google.
• Quote of the Week // “We knew that Google was going to get better every single day as we worked on it, and we knew that sooner or later, everyone was going to try it. So our feeling was that the later you tried it, the better it was for us because we’d make a better impression with better technology. So we were never in a big hurry to get you to use it today. Tomorrow would be better.” –Sergey Brin, founder of Google

It’s Friday, college football is back, and it’s a three-day weekend. Enjoy the weekend and here’s the Friday List.

• Digital license plate readers are becoming a controversial subject for travelers across the U.S. Your license plate can be scanned, tracked, and compared against a database of categories from known felons to vacation hot spot visitors and everything in-between.
• CNN just released a list of the world’s craziest water slides.
• Sam Crabtree just released a list of ways to capture and hold your audience’s attention if you’re a public communicator (Part 1 and Part 2).
• Creative of the Week // Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine. My favorite note-taking app met my favorite writing notebook. Thank you.
• Photo of the Week // IDV Solutions has mapped all the tornadoes in the U.S. for the past 56 years.
• Video of the Week // Celebrity Prank in New York City.
• Thought of the Week // Props to Rick Warren for canceling the civil forum between Obama and Romney. It took guts to call out how both sides have been vitriolic leading up to this election.
• Quote of the Week // “Your prayers have the potential to change the course of history.” –Mark Batterson

It’s Friday and the Olympics are winding down. Enjoy the weekend and here’s the Friday List.

• The mission to land a rover on Mars has provided a MARS Greeley Haven 360 Panorama view.
• As a diehard Nebraska football fan, it’s a dream come true to see this recruit commit to play for the Huskers.
• An artist has reimagined DC Superheroes as Old West gunslingers.
• Creative of the Week // Pillow Lights. Paper lanterns, spray adhesive, flameless candles, and cotton balls.
• Photo of the Week // House on Drina River in Serbia.
• Thought of the Week // 3 Thoughts a leader must manage in their team by Jeremie Kubicek
• Quote of the Week // “One thing is certain: Nothing will set you apart from culture more than the exclusive claims of Christianity. And it is here that we must intentionally set ourselves apart-because if we do not, we will have no message for the world!”.” – R. Kent Hughes

It’s Friday and this is a weekend for rest and watching the Olympics. For now though, here’s the Friday List.

• Internet speeds 100x faster is possible with Google Fiber coming soon.
• Here’s a full list of free church graphics and resources. If you’re looking for quality series graphics, videos, and other resources, then you’ll love this list.
• Ever want to see what the South Pole looks like in person? Now you can with Google Map street view of the South Pole.
• Creative of the Week // Ebru – Turkish paper marbling.
• Photo of the Week // Fireworks from the London Olympics Opening Ceremony.
• Video of the Week // How to Write a Country Song. So true.
• Thought of the Week // Was “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” more about supporting the traditional view of marriage or free speech? What isn’t debatable is Chick-fil-A probably isn’t going out of business anytime soon.
• Quote of the Week // “The world doesn’t care what you know. What the world cares about is what you do with what you know.” – Tony Wagner

1. Vacation unpacking and getting everything back in order is always a chore. One blog post is all about our fun vacation to Austin.

2. I went back to work this week keeping the kids.

3. We had a fire in our alley that caught our fence and tiny sliver of our yard on fire. Blog post coming about that, too.

4. Jacob has been sick. Not sure if it’s allergies or smoke/ash side effects but it’s been no fun.

5. Jim’s cousin had her baby last night! James Alexander came 7 weeks early but is doing very well!

So, this weekend, I hope to finish all these posts up and get em published!

J: Do you hear that?

S: Yes, do you think I should feed him or let him cry? It’s been 7 hours.

J: Well, I think he is one of ours.

S: (A little bit confused but going with it): Do we have more than one?

J: Yeah- we have a bunch.

S: Where are the rest of them?

J: Out there.

S: Lay back down and go to sleep. (Waits about a minute and then wakes Jim up). Jim- Do you think I should feed Jacob? He’s crying and it’s been 7 hours.

J: Yeah.

S: Do you remember the conversation we just had?

J: Yeah.

S: What was it about?

J: Our infantries- they’re out there all in a row.

I think Jim played his video games too late Tuesday night.

2. I was so proud of myself because I found two awesome gifts for birthdays this month way under budget. One of them was a giant thing of Bubble Bath for a two year old. I guess the cap wasn’t on well, and the bubble bath spilled into the bag, ruining both gifts. So, I ended up spending more because I essentially bought them TWO gifts. Frustrating.

3. I was trying to quietly shut the car door this week and shut my finger in the door. It hurt a ton- thankfully the door wasn’t slamming. Who shuts their own finger in a car door?

4. I’m starting a new job next month and I’m really excited and also have a LOT of work to do.

5. It’s Friday and it’s going to be a great weekend!

2. This week, Charlie came and asked me: “Where is my swimsuit that you put in the dryer?” Really? Listen to yourself.

3. On Tuesday, Jacob didn’t want to play on his mat with his toys or swing; and I couldn’t carry him anymore. So, I put him in a stroller and pushed him around my Mom’s house. He was perfectly content doing that. We walked over half a mile.

4. I’m so excited to be a part of one of my best friends’ gender reveal tonight.

5. Jacob is getting more comfortable on his tummy and has now figured out how to get on his tummy in his bed. He sleeps there most of the night. We’re working on weaning down to just one feeding time at night plus dealing with teething (I think?) so I’m super glad it’s Friday!

It’s Friday and this is a weekend for rest. Kara and I are up in Michigan for her cousin Josh’s wedding today. For now though, here’s the Friday List.

• Lately I’ve been admiring the design work of Barton Damer with Already Been Chewed, especially his cover work for a recent issue of Advanced Photoshop magazine.
• Creative of the Week // Toast: Wooden Veneers for iPhone.
• Photo of the Week // How often do you see a space shuttle towed by boat?
• Video of the Week // Beckham and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy
• Thought of the Week // Did Colorado Springs anger God? (Michael Hidalgo)
• Quote of the Week // “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” – William Ward

It’s Friday and this is a weekend for rest. With baptism this past Sunday, I can’t wait for this weekend at The Crossing as more stories get told together. For now though, here’s the Friday List.

• Top Non-Profits has one of the most concise social media posting guides I’ve seen to date.
• Ryan J. Ferrier recently shared 4 Ways to Pour Yourself Into Your Pursuits.
  
• Creative of the Week // The SM7 Project
• Photo of the Week // Nik Wallenda tight-rope walking across Niagara Falls
• Video of the Week // Coca-Cola and Security Cameras
• Thought of the Week // Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats shares the 22 rules of storytelling according to Pixar. This is written gold.
• Quote of the Week // “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden

It’s Friday and we’re getting geared up for Baptism on Sunday. For now though, I’m enjoying a quiet morning at home and then getting some fresh air this afternoon. Here’s the Friday List.

• The San Alfonso del Mar resort in Algarrobo, Chile is home of the largest swimming pool in the world.
• Ever wonder what the initials for BMW and M&M’s mean? Here’s 31 Acronyms and Initials all spelled out.
• The Association of Religious Data Archives recently released their study of the most and least evangelical counties in the U.S. It has a few surprises.
• Creative of the Week // SOCCKET Ball
• Photo of the Week // Bearded Men, Better Preachers
• Video of the Week // Just Go Outside
• Thought of the Week // God hasn’t called you to be the next version of someone great; He’s called you to be the best version of you. Be you.
• Quote of the Week // “The degree of blessing enjoyed by any man will correspond exactly with the completeness of God’s victory over him.” ― A.W. Tozer

2. The other weird thing is that there is something up with our hot water. It’s not hammer pipes, but similar. The hot water looses water pressure really quickly until it starts hammering.

3. We also need to buy a new faucet for our kitchen sink because the washer is stripped. Can you say drip drip drip, literally money going down the drain?

4. Our dryer timer went out and so I had to go buy a kitchen timer to use. We figured this out when a load of clothes took over 4 hours to dry.

5. We’re currently saving up for a King Sized bed, but I think we’ll be buying a washer and dryer before we get to buy a bed.

2. I found a $15 gift card in a book I checked out from the library. Not sure if it was an accident or someone wanting to surprise the next person who checked out the book, but it looks pretty old and had all the money on it. Score for me!

3. I hate that moment when you’ve been going 70 mph down a highway and have to switch to 60 mph- it’s like the biggest let down ever and you feel like you’re going so slow.

4. On Sunday, I walked over 2 miles because the only way Jacob would sleep was in his stroller. This could be an okay habit for me, except when it gets too hot. Guess we’ll go mall walking!

5. I’m addicted to Chicken Express sweet tea. It’s always good! It never tastes old or burned.

6. I’m getting a massage today and I’m super excited. It was my Mother’s Day gift from Jim & Jacob!

It’s Friday and graduation season has finally hit. Enjoy the parties and hoopla, here’s the Friday List.

• Apparently Pixar does draw its inspiration from real life characters.
• Ever wonder how your income stacks up against the rest of the world? Take two minutes, check out GlobalRichList.com, and do something about it.
• Creative of the Week // Staple Trees by Greenpeace China
• Photo of the Week // Google Map of Parkland High School in Allentown, PA
• Video of the Week // “Imagine” by American Idol’s Joshua Ledet (theology aside, he does an amazing job)
• Thought of the Week // Sites like Pastor Fashion is what makes me pray for the Church in America.
• Quote of the Week // “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” – C.S. Lewis

One. Stop!

Two. Deep breathing. In and out. In and out.

Three. SMILE!!

Four. Think of three good things in your life today

Five. Spread love and happiness

2. I made some cupcake bites last night for a shower on Saturday. I made them using Bakerella’s cookbook that I got from my Mom. Men weren’t as pretty as hers, but they tasted darn good.

3. I’m trying to make the move to pumping during the day and only nursing Jacob during the night to see i fI can better even out his feeding schedule. My Mom kept him today so it was the perfect day to start.

4. My sister had her first dance recital last night and she did so well! All of the extra curricular activities are officially over for the kids now except for Joshua’s speech therapy twice a week.

5. I became a member of list plan it dot com and I love it.

6. This weekend’s agenda: Wedding shower for my cousin, wedding meeting with them, church, and Mother’s Day! Happy Friday!

2. Tonight, my little brothers are spending the night with me as my Mom is taking my little sister’s Girl Scout group on a campout. I’m not sure what we’re going to do, but it is something we’re doing. Also on the weekend’s agenda is a graduation party and a hangout with Jim’s Dad which may involve wings.

3. I’ve sort of jumped back on the Swagbucks bandwagon to make some extra cash (very slowly and very little). I can’t really commit to avid swagging, but will use it to search for things and vote in polls- the easy stuff. I also have an app called Viggle that I “check in” to TV shows I’m watching and I get points for it. Then, I can redeem those points for gift cards.

4. We’re giving Jacob rice cereal for the first time tonight. I’m expecting little of it actually getting to his stomach and a huge mess.

5. I have about 5 loads of laundry on my table to be folded. I should get to that- it’s literally inches from my chandelier. Happy Friday!

It’s Friday and this has been an amazing week all around. My heart’s full from a great night at Mid Rivers last night and the weekend is finally here. Here’s the Friday List.

• I got to teach on baptism to our students last night and heard stories afterward of different students wrestling with who Jesus is. I could listen to those stories all day long!
• Michael Hyatt has a great post about creating priority and boundaries for your schedule. Is it time to triage your calendar?
• Forbes had an interesting article this week about Why Google and Facebook Might Completely Disappear in the Next 5 Years.
• Here’s a picture of Hugh Jackman as “Jean Valjean” in the upcoming release of Les Miserables (Dec. 7th).
• Creative of the Week // Old crates recycled into creative architecture designs
• Photo of the Week // An abandoned mill from 1866 in Sorrento, Italy.
• Video of the Week // 100 Years of Style in 100 Seconds
• Thought of the Week // Pastors, communicators, leaders, parents, mentors, anyone who has an influence over someone’s spiritual walk… read Hebrews 13:17. We’re accountable to God for everything that we do. Let it burn into your bones.
• Quote of the Week // “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.” – John Wesley

• A mother of four in Coahuila, Mexico is pregnant again… with nine babies.
• Six weeks ago Invisible Children released their Kony 2012 documentary. This past Friday was the target date to promote Kony 2012, themed Cover the Night. Now the mood seems to be… remember Kony 2012? Relevantmagazine.com has this article about Kony 2012, Invisible Children, and Slacktivism.
• Creative of the Week // Coffee Cup Art
• Photo of the Week // Cooking on a Log (Cut the log evenly on both sides so it stands up freely. Then cut it into vertical segments most of the way down the length of the log. Stuff in some newspaper into the cracks as deep as you can get it, leaving a wick at the bottom, and light it up. The log burns from the inside out, and you have a simple, handmade stove.)
• Video of the Week // Vinyl Waveform Sculpture
• Thought of the Week // Name-calling is ‘rhetorical pornography’ by Jim Daly, Russell D. Moore and Samuel Rodriguez, Special to CNN. Why Christians need to watch the names and labels they use.
• Quote of the Week // “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” – Søren Kierkegaard

This week [I failed posting last week...sorry ], I’m going to direct you to a few online magazines you should check out, as well as an app to view them on! Check out the link up on Ellen’s blog!

One. The Violet They are a quarterly online women’s magazine with a lot of heart and soul! I anxiously await each new issue! They have great contributors and content. You should check them out! Also, they have having a shoe giveaway- check it out here.

Two. Off Switch Even though they only have two issues out right now, I am in love with this magazine! Why you ask? Well, for one, you can buy print copies it and two, THE PHOTOGRAPHY! It’s beautiful! Check it out!

Three. Minted This magazine caters to the modern career. The layout is really fun without feeling to ‘in-your-face’ bright. They provide great resources for the modern career woman!

Four. Flipboard This is the description I took of of iTunes: Named Apple’s iPad App of the year and one of TIME’s Top 50 Innovations, Flipboard creates a personalized magazine out of everything being shared with you. Flip through your Facebook newsfeed, tweets from your Twitter timeline, photos from Instagram friends and much more. I have it downloaded on my iPad and will check it out soon. Everyone I’ve talked to about it says that they really enjoy it!