Highest Accomplishment

I've been in my house right at one full year and over the past 365 days I have made a lot of improvements. For some of these improvements I was fairly confident when I started. For others I was weary but still knew deep down I could do it. A few weeks ago, for the first time, I attempted a project and wasn't sure if I would be successful.

I bought new ceiling fans for my bedroom and my roommate's bedroom before I even signed the closing papers on my house. The ceiling fan in Katie's room looked like something out of a horror movie and needed to be replaced immediately. The ceiling fan in my bedroom was fairly new, but it wasn't exactly my style and it gave off barely any light.

Thanks to the help of friends Jessi and Jarrod, the ceiling fan in my roommate's room was replaced within the first week of living in the house. However, we didn't have time to get to my fan and a few months later Jessi and Jarrod moved away, so here we were, one year after move-in day and the new ceiling fan was still sitting in the garage.

I finally worked up the courage to try and make the installation by myself and moved the box from the garage to my bedroom. I figured that it would still be a few weeks if not months before I needed the fan and I rarely used the light because it was so worthless so if the project went awry, then I had plenty of time to put in a frantic call to a friend or to call a handy man before I was in desperate need of my new fan. 

First step was taking down my existing ceiling fan.  

To my surprise, I was able to uninstall it without too much of a hassle. 

Now it was time to assemble the new fan. All was going well until I once again stripped the screws that were in the motor. How does this happen to me? I started having flashbacks to the last time this happened and knew it was best if I just stopped and asked for help. See, I am learning.   

This time it wasn't Michael, but Joey who came to the rescue. I just wanted to spread the "helping Dani" duties out evenly among the Alethia Church pastors. Plus, I was headed to the Clark's house for my small group later that week anyway. So I just went a little early, took the fan motor, and let Joey work his magic. I watched with a look of defeat as it took Joey all of 10 seconds to remove the screws. 

With the screws removed I could continue to assemble the fan and then mount it on the ceiling. The mount that came with the new fan wasn't working too well so I uninstalled it and then reinstalled the old mount. Why did I not do that in the first place? 

Anyway, after everything was in place it was time to start on the wiring. I did my best to match wires safely and properly then made sure the fan was safely secured to the ceiling. To my amazement, when I restored the power and flipped the switch, the light worked! I was giddy - like a 12 year old with a crush on the high school quarterback. 

When I went to test the fan, my giggles quickly faded - no such luck. I was so close yet so far. I had a feeling the wiring would take a little trial and error but at least the light was working. After a few failed attempts at the fan, I gave up and decided to save that battle for another weekend. However, the last thing I wanted was for another year to go by and this fan still not be in working order, so I left the ladder in my room as a reminder to get this project finished. I would not move the ladder until I had a working fan.

The ladder sat in my room for two weeks solid. Finally I was ready to go a second round with the wiring. After about 45 minutes and some electrical tape, I had a working light and fan. This was my proudest moment as a homeowner. 

This was probably my least favorite of my projects so far.  I think ceiling fans have now made it on my This I Refuse to do After Marriage list. Now I just need to find a husband, which may be easier than installing another fan. 

However, even through all of my complaining, the fact that I now know I can do this has opened my imagination a bit. The lighting fixtures in my house are terrible, especially the ones in the kitchen and living room. Now that I know replacing them is within my realm of possibility, I'm even more motivated to find their replacements and get to work. 

Needtobreathe all one word

Needtobreathe is my favorite band. I think I discovered them in 2007 and by "discovered" I mean someone probably told me about them because I rarely find cool things on my own. In 2008 Needtobreathe went from being that band that I thought was pretty good to the CD I couldn't get enough of. In 2009 my mom heard These Hard Times and asked if I knew her new favorite tune. My mom is so cool. She said the song was by a band called "need to breathe all one word."

In 2009 the CD I couldn't get enough of turned into my survival anthem. In the fall of 2009 Needtobreathe embarked on their Outsiders Tour and performed two shows in Birmingham, Alabama. Because I was unemployed, living out of a suitcase at my parent's house in Florida, was dangerously close to complete depression, and had nothing else to do, I drove 8 hours to Birmingham to see the concert. At the time, some of my favorite people in the world lived in Birmingham and I somehow convinced them to all get tickets to the show.

The 2009 concert is still the best concert I have ever been to. Needtobreathe blew me away and made me a fan for life. Not only was it a great show, but did I mention that I got to see it with some of my favorite people in the entire world? We had a great table that came with a waitress and immediate access to the full bar. Between the 7 of us at the table I am not exaggerating when I say we knew at least 1/3 of the people at the venue that night. It was a never ending parade of people coming to our table to say hello. In my mind, the only bad part of the night was the Canadian girl who opened for Needtobreathe. I don't care what you think Jared Brown, she was terrible.

In 2011, Needtobreathe released The Reckoning but I delayed purchasing it until January 2012 and listened to it for the first time as I crossed the starting line for the Disney Half Marathon. Thank you Needtobreathe for getting me through at least the first 6 miles of my 13.1 mile endeavor. I know I could have done it without you, but it would not have been nearly as enjoyable.

In March 2012 Needtobreathe was making a stop in Denver as part of The Reckoning Tour and my mom continued to call my favorite band "need to breathe all one word."

A few things about me and concerts before we proceed. First, I am not a "concert person." There are very few people/bands I care about seeing in concert. Second, I dislike concerts not only because of the fact that your ears are ringing for hours after the closing song, but I find them very intimidating. I feel like I always have to prove I am cool and trendy enough to be there and because I know I am not, I spend the entire night wondering if the people around me are tweeting Instagram photos of my obviously Old Navy outfit. Plus, pretending to be cool is downright exhausting. This concert started at 8pm on a Tuesday. Do I need to tell you how tired I was on Wednesday morning? Don't these cool, concert going, people have jobs? Third, I really hate crowds and big events.

Despite all of these truths, I love Needtobreathe so much that it didn't matter in 2009 and it certainly didn't matter in 2012. I convinced my friend Alicia to go with me and thankfully Needtobreathe did not disappoint. The music itself just might have been better than the 2009 concert. The opening acts were certainly better. I don't typically get crushes on band guys (probably because you have to go to their concerts) but for Ben Rector I am willing to make an exception. Ben and his bow tie were downright adorable - and anything was a step up from the trashy, Canadian girl with the mouth of a sailor. Also, I was pleasantly surprised when Needtobreathe played several songs from The Heat, which is my favorite of their albums. In the 2009 concert they strictly played music from their current album so I was happy they mixed it up a bit this time around.

The venue/bar was in a shady part of town, but once we got inside I knew it would be perfect and Alicia and I found a great place to take it all in - after the annoying, high school girls next to us left to make their 10pm curfew.

Still not sure how the typewriter theme set plays into the theme of The Reckoning, but it made for some cool effects.

 The lighting was so good. Props to the lighting guy and also to Chris Kulow for imparting just enough lighting knowledge to me so that I can intelligently comment on the lighting.

One of my favorite things about Needtobreathe is the fact that the lead guys are brothers named Bo and Bear. I want a son named Bear! There is a guaranteed cool factor that comes with a name like Bear. Also, I love that Bo and Bear are truly talented musicians. You lose count of the number of instruments they pull out during a show and they are phenomenal at all of them.

This was probably the one time I went to Denver and hoped I would not run into Tim Tebow. Bands that come to Denver (or wherever Tim is living for that matter) have a habit of inviting him on stage to "sing" if he is in attendance at their show. If you have never heard Tim sing then I recommend you search it on YouTube right this minute. It is as adorable as Ben Rector's bow tie, but you will also quickly realize why I put the word 'sing' in quotes. I love to watch Tim play football, but I do not need him on stage putting a new spin on a song I drove over an hour to see performed. It would be outlandish for John Fox to put Bo and Bear on the line for a 3rd down conversion in the 4th quarter. So why does everyone think it's such a great idea to throw Tim Tebow on a stage to muddle through some country band's latest hit?

One of the concert highlights was when Ben Rector came back out at the end to play a few songs with Needtobreathe. So much talent on that stage and I loved every minute.

I think everyone in attendance would agree the best moment of the show was a blue man type drum line at the very end. 

For your viewing pleasure

Down the Hall

Now days there are very few walls in my house that have not been touched. When I moved in I remember saying the paint in the entry and hallway wasn't that bad and didn't need to be touched, at least for a few years. However, after transforming the living room, the hallway and entry looked so dingy and dirty.

Originally I wanted to tackle the hallway and entry during the same weekend I painted the living room, but it just didn't happen. Now, here we were, months later and the paint was still sitting in the garage waiting to be used. 

After taking a few weeks off from major home improvements in order to rest and work on smaller projects, it was time to tackle a little more painting.

There really aren't too many interesting things to say about a hallway and entry so I'll let the photos do the talking.

Move-in Day

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I'll Never Let Go

Today I shamelessly saw Titanic in 3D. I had been looking forward to it for weeks. Over those past few weeks, I was asked countless times from disapproving friends why I was bothering to see the movie. To those nay-sayers out there I reply, "Why would you not see the rerelease of Titanic in 3D?" Leo and Kate pretty much defined by entire 12th year of life.

A few thoughts after seeing Titanic in 3D:

First, that drawing scene is far less awkward without your mom sitting next to you. I saw Titanic for the first time with my mom. In middle school, you basically had nothing of value to say if you had not seen Titanic so it's not like my parents were horrible people for allowing me to see it. However, I was not one of those kids who had to beg either. My parents saw the movie on a date night and after coming home, one of the first things my mom said was that I would have loved the movie and she would be happy to take me. Looking back I am beyond confused by this. Maybe it was her way of tricking me into having the sex talk. All of her other efforts up until this point had ended in me running from the room in tears. I'm not exaggerating even a little. So anyway, there we were, 12 year-old Danielle and her mom watching Titanic. By the time the ship actually went down, I was already so traumatized by the frontal nudity and the car sex that I barely noticed all of the frozen dead bodies.

Second...and speaking of the dead bodies, it was not until this time around that I really understood the tragedy of the whole situation. For some reason when I was 12, I was so caught up in the dramatization of it, that I just never realized how many people actually died when the ship sunk. Out of over 2,000 passengers, only 700 survived. I didn't really understand or realize that before. I blame this on the drawing scene.

Third, the best part about a rerelease of a movie is that you don't have to worry about missing anything. I never take bathroom breaks or make trips to the concessions while watching a movie in the theater, and I mean never. However, because I already have Titanic pretty much memorized, when my stomach started rumbling I had no problem getting up for a popcorn refill. It was actually pretty freeing.

Fourth, I still could not manage to make myself cry.

Fifth, as I drove home from the movie theater I wondered what made this movie so special. For me there is definitely an element of sentiment to it but I remember people seeing this movie 5 to 10 times in the theater when it was first released! What draws so many people into Jack and Rose's story?

Well, old lady Rose pretty much summed it up when she said, "Jack saved me in every way a person can be saved" right before she tossed the Heart of the Ocean into...well...the heart of the ocean. Then in the final moments of the movie the camera scrolls over photos of Rose traveling, flying a plane, and riding a horse on the beaches of California. Jack physically saved her life, but he also revived her spirit. It was very apparent that Rose lived the rest of her life as a testament and tribute to Jack's sacrifice.

This being Easter weekend, these thoughts of Jack and Rose led me straight to the cross and my relationship with my Savior. I promise, I'm not trying to get super spiritual here. I hate when people do that. You know me better than that. I rarely turn daily things into spiritual moments on this blog. I just couldn't help but to take the 20 minutes it took me to get home to think about the sacrifice that was made for me and how my life is different. I live as a testament and a tribute to a man who truly did save me in every way a person can be saved.

So tomorrow as I sit in my church's Easter service, reflecting on the cross and the resurrection, I will most likely be thinking of Leo.

My heart will go on.

Teaching the Basics

Once a month I help in the kid's ministry at church and once a month I have a pretty interesting blog post about some crazy thing that happened. 

Lucky for me, but unfortunately for you, yesterday was pretty subdued. Actually, it was probably the easiest Sunday of teaching I've had in the past two years. I only had to lead games and since the weather was nice, I got to take them outside. Venturing outside means I have to keep an extra eye out for some of ones who like to wander, but it also gives us a lot more freedom. 

This week, the game was pretty simple and straightforward - they basically threw objects at a target and then we chatted for a few minutes about how Jesus is our target and that we are aiming to be more like him. Usually I do a little bit better job of using the game to bring home the point of that week's message, but this week it just seemed like kind of a stretch. Plus, how on earth do you explain to a four-year-old what it means for Jesus to be our target? 

With my 4, 5, and 6 year olds, we had some extra time because the teaching part of the game quickly went south. After about five minutes I gave up and just suggested we play baseball with a big barrel, plastic bat and rubber ball we happened to have laying around. I pitched underhanded to one of the kids while the others stood way too deep in the outfield waiting on a ball that would never in a million years get hit that far. 

As the first kid got up to bat, I realized that even if these kids played baseball, at this particular age they would still be in the t-ball phase, meaning that hitting a moving target could end in a game of catch for me and the batter as he/she chased after all of his/her strikes. I took this as my golden opportunity to make sure the kids went home actually having learned something form me - if they weren't going to learn about Jesus being the target then at least they were going to learn a little about a good batting stance. 

When each kid got up to bat I took two or three minutes to make sure their hands were together on the grip, their feet were apart and in the right direction, and their hands were choked up just the right amount. Just before every pitch I would say, "Keep your eye on the ball. That's all you have to do. Keep your eye on the ball." By the time the second kid got up to bat, I couldn't help but to laugh at the whole situation. Considering the on-base percentage of our church's softball team last season, I'm not sure anyone at our church should be offering these kids batting tips.  

Still, I was shocked when every single kid got a hit within the first three pitches. One of the kids cracked me up. He took his first swing and got nothing but air. As the ball went past him he looked up at me and said, "I took my eye off the ball." I just laughed and told him it was ok. He hit the next one. 

Nothing too exciting this week. Serving in the kid's ministry may not be my absolute favorite, and most of the time I think there is no way these kids are learning anything of spiritual significance from me, but at least we might have a good softball team in 10-15 years. 

To Whom It May Concern - Part 1

Dear NCAA Basketball,

I'm so sorry! I love March Madness, I really do. I love watching to see which underdog team will completely ruin everyone's brackets only to disappear back into oblivion a few months later. This year I had every intention of watching, but the Peyton Across America Tour continued long past its perspective end date and as time went on I realized that Denver, Elway, and Elway's hair were in it to win it and I was getting more stressed with every day that went by. My nerves just couldn't handle awaiting Peyton's decision and the stress of the tournament. Luckily, by Sunday afternoon I had managed to calm myself down enough to watch a few games.

However, Monday afternoon when SportsCenter should have been discussing the state of Ohio cleaning house, Kendall Marshall's fractured wrist, and my beloved Gators, Peyton announced his big decision to the world and all eyes turned back to the drama of the NFL. I'm sorry you are not getting the air time you so rightfully deserve. I'm sorry the off season of the NFL is taking every bit of attention away from the biggest moments of your actual season. On behalf of sports fans everywhere, I'm sorry.

Also, Go Gators!

Dear NFL,

This is only my second year with you and I am starting to question our relationship. In just two seasons I have seen more ego drive craziness than I have in an entire lifetime with the NCAA. I realize the NCAA is not without their problems, but compared to you, well, it's nothing.

Let me give you the breakdown of the last two years of our relationship. Once the lockout situation got resolved, I then got to see the firing of Josh McDaniels, followed by exile of Kyle Orton, then Tebow mania went into full swing. In the midst of miraculous wins, Elway spitefully withholds support of his quarterback. Then, after Tebow gets the Broncos to the second round of the playoffs to be beaten by the team that eventually went to the Super Bowl, Elway reluctantly announces Tim will be the starting QB for the 2012 season and pledges to work with him in the off season. By "working with Tim" Elway really meant courting Peyton because two months later Tim is traded to the Jets with not even an option of staying to learn under Peyton.

I realize you may be thinking this letter should be to the Broncos and not you, but the general integrity and loyalty of your other teams is equally disgraceful. Alex Smith took the 49ers to the 3rd round of the playoffs to be beaten by the team who won the Super Bowl only to have his front office rise as the dark horse and tough competitor in the Peyton sweepstakes. Then when they didn't get Peyton, they asked free agent Alex to return and expect him to do so gratefully. My word. Are you guys serious?

Not to be left out of the contest for craziest leadership, the Jets trade for sweet Timmy after they pledged their loyalty to Sanchez just two weeks prior.

All of this just upsets me. If this is what it means to be an NFL fan, then I am not sure I have it in me. How can I be loyal to a team when a team isn't loyal to its players? I just keep getting told over and over, "this is the way it is" or "it's just business." Just because something is the status quo doesn't mean it's ok and it certainly doesn't mean I have to be fine with it. NFL fans also excuse this inhumanity because the players make millions of dollars. We can all agree that you shouldn't treat someone like less of a person if they are poor, but apparently it's fine if they are rich. Please explain how that makes sense.

I really hope that once my emotions settle I can make a logical decision on if I will be continuing our relationship, but right now I am regretting all of those moments I sacrificed with my first love in order to get to know you.

Dear ESPN,

To quote my friend Megan Beam quoting the great philosopher Taylor Swift, Why you gotta be so mean? But seriously, do you remember singing Tim's praises two months ago? Because I remember that. He made believers out of all of you. You just couldn't get enough of the kid. Now here we are, back in the same place with you telling us that no one will want him, that he is no good, and he can't make it in the NFL. Just so you know, there is a way for you to objectively report on his strengths and weaknesses without being so cruel.

Furthermore, stop making crap up. Stop telling America that Broncos fans are so happy and see Elway as our hero. There are plenty of people happy about Manning, but there are just as many furious over the loss of Tim and quite frankly the entire situation. You are making my whole state look ridiculous. Just stop.

Report on the NCAA tournament. Those guys are working hard and deserve some air time. Get it together.

Dear Frank Tripucka,

Seriously?

Dear Skip Bayless,

Thank you. You deserve some kind of a medal. You have stayed true to your thoughts on Tim through everything. You like him, and you are willing to stick up for him no matter what. You may be one of the most bias reports at the Mother Ship, but praise God someone in that business understands the meaning of the word loyalty. Please continue to call out those Broncos players being ridiculous. Thank the Lord someone has the guts to do it. 

Dear Broncos Fans Who Told Me Elway Would Keep Tim No Matter Who Won the Peyton Sweepstakes,

I told you so.

Dear Eddie Royal,

Congrats on the move to a team with a QB who has a better passing game than Tim. I know you wanted that. Also, how silly do you feel right now?

Dear Brandon Lloyd,

If Eddie feels silly, I bet you feel really silly!

Where Were You When...

Where were you the day Peyton Manning told John Elway he was joining the Broncos?

I rarely get sick and usually even if I am sick, I still go into work. Monday though, I just couldn't do it. I started getting sick on Sunday afternoon and by Monday morning I just knew work was out of the question. I got up around 7am when my alarm went off, let the guys at work know I wasn't coming in, and rolled over and went back to sleep.

11am I woke up again because my night table was literally hitting the side of my bed thanks to my phone that had fallen victim to a vibration seizure. Around 11:30 I was finally conscious enough to put the facts together - my phone was blowing up, maybe I should take a look and see what was going on.

My favorite text was from Sam Bhatt. All it said was, "I bet you're getting a lot of texts right now." Funny guy.

In addition to Sam's text, I noticed the six other texts (with more coming in by the second) and a voicemail. After sifting through a few of the texts, I figured out what was going on and immediately turned on ESPN to see the live coverage of the breaking news - and I consider it breaking for a multitude of reasons.

Some people get aches and pains in their joints and know there will be a change in the weather. Me? Well, my body intuitively knows and starts to shut down when something goes wrong in the Tebow Nation.

Apparently, while I was at home trying to stay awake for more than 30 minutes at a time, the joke at work was that I "somehow knew" what the day would bring and my body turned on me, forcing me to stay at home.

Honestly, even if I was at work, I don't know how much I would have really been able to accomplish even if I was feeling 100 percent. It's hard to focus with that kind of craziness going on, especially when it could and did ultimately affect Tim. I could only watch about two hours of media coverage before I fell back into unconsciousness, which was for the best because that's the extent of the madness I could stomach anyway.

Where were you the day Peyton Manning told John Elway he was joining the Broncos? The shot was heard around the United States, but is still resounding here in Southern Colorado.