The Logan Family

Author: Luke

  • A win, and a loss.

    A win, and a loss.

    This weekend was great. There was a small win, and a small fail- let’s look at the fail first.

    This is the plug that powers our outdoor lights that hang over our patio. It is a string of lights, and looks pretty good at night time. However, it wasn’t working, and I couldnt press the “reset” button to get the power working through the outlet anymore.

    The replacement plug came in, and I cut the power to the outlet, and removed the old one. If you are keen-eyed, you may have noticed the error right there.

    After everything was complete, I turned the power back on. But it didn’t work. However, the internet in our house wasn’t working either (it was on the same line). Neither was the lights in the bathroom, or the lights in the shower.

    I was able to move the plug for the router for the internet, and it is working fine (hence, how I can write about my failure). However, after trying again last night, of the four wires that were removed from the old outlet (and not labeled as they were removed), after trying EVERY possible configuration, I still can’t get the wiring right.

    In the meantime, we still have SOME lights in the bathroom, and a hurt ego, but it will be fixed. Soon.

    And I can’t be the only person who has goofed in a home project like this. Do you have any similar stories to share?

    A win is a win.

    Saturday morning was a lazy one, and we did some errands as a family, just like the old days, before Rosie’s busy social life and over-scheduled play dates.

    What did we do? We took Mercy to get her first haircut. She wanted to bring her “naked baby”, which is exactly what Rosie did when she was small.

    The haircut was a wild success.

    We documented all the best parts at this local haircut place that only does haircuts for children. What a great idea for a business by the way- they didnt have these when we were small.

    Rosie did an excellent job coaching her sister through the moment.

    And she was real proud after the fact. She said “I’m cute”.

    It might seem small and insignificant, but for me it wasn’t. We just ran a few errands, and it was great. There wasn’t any complaining. We were all in a great mood, and just spent time together.

    These kids are really good together, and by next year, things will be different. But for now, these moments are 100%.

    We tried going to the store, but it was closed, and I wanted a smoothie, so:

    Then we went and got a few things for Taylor and I’s upcoming trip. Mercy doesn’t just want a seat- she wants to pull it over so she is sitting beside her big sister.

    And to offset the electrical failure, here is my success:

    The rainy day project I have been working on for Rosie. 350 feet of rope, and 132 knots. I finally completed it, and it has its new home after a few other items were removed. Rosie loved it.

    Have you been working on anything fun recently?

  • Easter it is!

    Easter it is!

    Last week I didnt post anything. It was a rainy, junky- weather kind of weekend, so I focused on my rainy-day project, which isn’t complete yet, but this is what it looks like:

    Rosie has been asking for something like this, and it should be done some time this week.

    Everyone has preferences

    Mercy is 2, and she cries. It has been a rough couple of months, but I think we are getting to the better side of it. Why does she cry? She cries because she wants something. As Taylor has often said, “It’s ok to have preferences”. Here is an example of these “preferences” while we were out getting some dinner this week:

    Why is the above image a “preference”? Easy- this is where the kiddos prefer to sit while they eat dinner.

    During that exact moment, this is also how I prefer to eat my dinner:

    It can be a bit maddening to try and figure out why Mercy is crying, and what her preference might be.

    I finally had a heart-to-heart with the two year old, and just said “Mercy, you have got to stop crying. You can’t keep crying all the time.”

    It is hard to tell how many words sink in when talking with a two year old, but after picking her up from Sunday school, the teacher told me “Mercy kept saying, ‘I’m not crying’ during her time in here tonight.”

    I asked, “did she cry?” and the answer, was “no”. Maybe it’s getting better!?!

    Similarly, this is how my family “prefers” to watch tv:

    Easter Week

    Going to a non-denominational church as a kid, and most of my adult-life, “good Friday” was pretty well known. We also had “palm Sunday” the week before.

    Our church now uses the standard calendar, but has added “Maundy Thursday”, and a Saturday vigil to the week. This year, we got to go to the “Maundy Thursday” service. In the Bible, this is the night when Jesus had passover with his disciples before he was crucified. During that night, he also washed his disciples feet.

    Our church adds to it in a special way, where we have the chance to wash each other’s feet as well.

    Mercy washed Rosie’s feet, and then Rosie took a turn:

    A few minutes later, Rosie asked if she could wash my feet. She did so, and while she was doing it, I couldn’t help but think of what it must have been like for Jesus to wash 12 of his disciples feet, though he didn’t have to- knowing how much he loved all 12 of them, even the one that betrayed him.

    It was a really sweet moment, and Rosie asked some great questions in the car on the way home.

    We came down to the beach to spend a few days with Taylor’s parents. I’ll be working this week from the beach, so will Taylor, but it is spring break for the kiddos, so why not?

    Taylor’s parent’s are awesome grandparents. And Ted knows his way around the kitchen. The other week, Taylor and I got the chance to do a quick dinner at Flemings, and we split the scallops for dinner. I told Ted that their scallops were not as good as the ones he cooked on New Years Eve, so we got to enjoy a special dinner of Scallops and Corn Cream (not to be confused with “creamed corn”), and it was just as good as the first time he served them:

    There wasn’t much else that happened this week. Here are a few fun shots from the week:

    Taylor joined us on the walk to school one morning. The trees are starting to bloom, and allergies have been crazy.

    This is how Mercy “prefers” to eat her dinner. And preferences are ok.

    We took the girls to a local park. Mercy wants to do everything her big sister does.

    How did you celebrate Easter? Do you have any fun traditions? Leave a comment below.

  • Get Lost, get beer.

    Get Lost, get beer.

    Though this blog has a tag of “fun and failures”, the “failures” part doesn’t get addressed often. This is a great example of a failure.

    This past weekend we went to visit our old friends from our years in Harrisonburg, Virginia: Lisa and Brandon. They are living on the outskirts of Washington DC now, and the 1/2 way point between us is Wintergreen Resort.

    Lisa found a great little house on Airbnb, and it worked great for her 3 boys: Easton, Owen, and Cam, and our two girls.

    The kiddos watching a cartoon

    The weather was set to be rainy in the morning, but clear in the afternoon.

    Being a former boy scout of Greensboro’s own troop 203, the maps that fell out of the Airbnb homeowner’s folder had the perfect activity to match even the youngest child’s ability: Let’s do a quick 1 mile hike to see a waterfall.

    The hike.

    The area was pretty foggy at the top, and started by dropping down over 100 feet in elevation.

    After walking down the trail, the route takes us across the creek, and back up to the car for a small loop.

    That last part, a “small loop”, did not happen. Though I came across as quite confident reading a paper map to navigate in the year of our Lord 2023, this was a fail.

    The trail kept going up and up, and didn’t seem to be bringing us closer to the car.

    The scale, route, and final destination

    Instead of crossing the creek and turning right to continue the loop, we ended up going way down that yellow mark on the map image above (called “Logger’s Alley Trail”), which took us pretty far from our car.

    2/3 of the severity of children whining at this point

    Since we came down a pretty far ways in elevation, I figured that since we were going uphill, we were likely going the right way back? Wrong. This was wrong. We were going in the wrong direction.

    Once I realized we were going in the wrong direction, and that returning to the car was not an option (this would involve going down hill for a long time, then back up a large hill to the car), the next best bet was to get to a road. Once the group was safe on the road, I could run back and get the car, and pick them up.

    Walking home.

    Though the idea of running back to the car seemed like a great idea, it didn’t go as expected.

    Taylor and Lisa found the house was a 10 minute walk from where we ended up (20 minutes at toddler speed).

    Brandon and I ran back to get the cars. This is a great moment to pause, and I would like to highlight that I, the failed navigator, was able to guide us on a brand new trail, back to our cars by taking all of the right trails. I was sure not to yell, “Let’s go Brandon!”, even once during our time together.

    Rosie, Own, and Easton

    Taylor shared that the walk home was not pleasant. Mercy screamed quite a bit, and the walk was not a safe one by any stretch of the imagination: There were no sidewalks, it was foggy, and cars were going rather fast past the children. The Good Lord protected us all, and Brandon and I made it home just a few moments before they did.

    Devils Backbone

    We were in Nelson County, Virginia. And one of the larger destinations in this area was a place purchased by Anheuser Busch in 2016:

    The gate to the Devil’s Backbone brewery.

    The timing could not have been worse. This was day 31 out of the 46 days of Lent, the year I gave up drinking.

    Taylor and the girls walking up to the main buildings.

    Calling the location a “brewery” would fail to do the site justice. Calling it a “campus” was a better fit.

    Wide angle

    Though it might be hard to tell from the image above, from left was the stage, the cigar store, the liquor store, the restaurant, the outdoor bar, the enclosed patio, the store, and the outdoor grill.

    For Lent, you are supposed to have 1 day a week of “grace” on Sunday. For the rest of the week, the goal is to remember what Jesus gave up for us, and be reminded of our own weakness and pray through the difficult times.

    Honey, it worked, because I was a very weak man.

    5 years ago, I gave up drinking for Lent, and allowed myself 1 flex day per week, whenever it worked out best. However, any time I mention that I successfully gave up drinking for Lent, my dearly beloved will remind anyone within earshot that I did not successfully make it through.

    This year, I am allowing for no “flex” days, and going the whole 46 days without a drop. Why? 80% for the right reasons, and 20% to be able to tell Taylor, at any point during the rest of our marriage, that I was successfully able to give up drinking for Lent.

    Rosie and Easton crushing it.

    The place was awesome. I didn’t have a drop to drink. Even when the kids were screaming and I sure could have used one, I held strong and lived out the experience by getting a few cases of beer to take home, and set aside to drink 15 days from now.

    The Brisket from the restaurant was amazing. The kids did awesome. THe view was amazing. It really was a fun trip, and would be great to get back at some point with our families.

    Just like always when I write these updates on Monday mornings, the kids are starting to wake up.

    Before I go, special shout out to Taylor’s parents for watching the dog for the weekend. Thank you so much! Here are a few final pics:

    After picking up Stormy on the way home
    Playing games with the kids
    Stormy got a visitor
    Lunch at Devils backbone
    Mercy likes lolllipops
  • Tournament Town and Toddler Tantrums

    Tournament Town and Toddler Tantrums

    Taylor was gone for a few days, and Mercy got a fever. What could go wrong?

    Normal or not? Leave a message in the comments below.

    Mercy wanted applesauce, but she already had too much sugar while she was home sick.

    Taylor doesn’t go on many work trips, but she goes on a few. The day before Taylor left (Tuesday), Mercy’s school called and said that she was running a fever and had to be picked up. This meant she had to stay home the next day (Wednesday).

    Mercy was home sick, this was day 1.

    She was getting old enough to be (slightly) entertained without me, right?

    5 minutes later, sickness day 1.

    The answer was no; she was not old enough to be entertained without me. I let work know I wouldn’t be on for the day (even though this was my second week at Storable, I knew it would be best to just focus on getting this kid a little better.

    She woke up without a fever on Thursday and went to school.

    The day off was great, and it wasn’t too bad to spend some time bonding with Mercy. She went to the doctor, who gave her a strep throat test (which was negative), so she went to school.

    90 minutes later, she was not ok at school

    THere is a “germ corner” at school. They called a few minutes after she was dropped off, and said her temperature was slowly rising. I said I was on my way, and they said she was talking to the germ in the corner, saying “Bad germ, you make me sick! You make me not feel good.”

    Mercy talking to the germ

    90 minutes after dropoff:

    Though it seemed like I won, I actually didnt win. At this point, the germ was still winning. It was good to have Mercy back home for the day to spend some quality time with her.

    She wanted to go to the “new park” and kept talking about it all morning.

    The “new park”

    After climbing two rungs on the ladder, and asking for the swing, then asking to get off the swing, we left; total time at park: less than 4 minutes.

    But we made it to Friday.

    On a team call.

    This new position sent me some kinda fancy noise-cancelling headphones. They didn’t seem important, until they were important.

    Deborah (Taylor’s mom) offered to come help for a minute. It turns out, Taylor called and asked because I was too prideful and thought I could handle it. I could not handle it.

    After a team call.

    The team had a technical problem: The .csv file was opening wiht a blank document before the real document was ready to be downloaded. I immediately knew what the answer was, so walked the team through the process of identifying the issue and the solution, and how to implement it. Like a boss. Thanks Deb!

    Mercy was sick. No big deal, right?

    Friday came, and Friday went. I worked, but wasn’t super productive.

    Mom made it home

    Luckily, everyone was healthy and happy bu the time mom arrived. But thats not it; there was another half of the week, I like to call “Tournament Town” that happened each night after the kids went to bed.

    Tournament Town.

    A few friends from church and I decided to buy a book of tickets to the ACC tournament. Tickets to all 14 games for $200, if purchased wayyyy before the brackets were announced. We bought four seats together, and just tried to go to as many games as we could.

    The ACC Tourney group.

    The first day was general admission, and no one else could make it that Tuesday evening, so I embraced my inner introvert and went solo. It was general admission, so I floated around and kept finding the best seat I could for 2 or 3 games that night.

    Day 1: Boston College vs Louisville

    I spotted the guys from the ACC Network that I had seen on tv all week:

    I got the nerve to get a pic with Joel Berry:

    From the 2017 UNC national championship team, Joel Berry II

    10 out of 10; the first day was so much fun.

    Ok, there is no point in describing a play-by-play. I saw the better part of 10 games. It was enough basketball to make anyone sick. Thank you Taylor for letting me enjoy this (it was planned before Taylor’s work trip). And thank you Deborah and Julie for babysitting to make the week work.

    From the moments after the clock ran out on the championship game.

    In short, here is the summary: UNC was terrible this year, and they lost. The bad guys (Duke) won the championship. I got to watch NC State play 2 games (more than anyone of my in-laws saw this year).

    Me and Ramses

    The ACC organization is leaving Greensboro, its home since it was founded in 1953.

    Mr. and Ms. Wuf were in the ACC Hall of Champions.

    Was this the last year it would ever be held in Greensboro? It is hard to tell, but it will be sad to see this tournament leave.

    UNC Vs UVA: UVA won.

    There were too many games to count.

    Patrick really wanted one of those shirts that fell from the sky.

    Patrick never got his shirt, and that was a bummer.

    NC State vs somebody

    After halftime, we managed to get some pretty awesome seats just about every game.

    Day 2: NC State vs. Virginia Tech

    These were the seats we paid for for the week.

    UVA vs. Clemson.

    Each team-intro was pretty similar, but here was one.

    If you are still reading, I am impressed. This is just rapid fire at this point.

    5th row seats to watch the bad guys take the trophy

    By the last day, Patrick and I were whipped. It was an awesome week.

    Puffy eyes by day 5.

    We made it. We watched the championship game. Neither of us are die-hard fans. But we had a blast.

  • Sleepovers, spring cleaning and slam dunks

    Sleepovers, spring cleaning and slam dunks

    Rosie is 8, and in the throes of little-girl sleepovers. Do you remember that time of your life? When it would seem to make or break your outlook whether you were invited to sleepover?

    And here we are. There are some moments that come up though. For example:

    When a little kid is NOT spending the night at our house, Taylor and I read with Rosie, pray with her, and give her a hug goodnight. What the heck am I supposed to do when there is another 8 year old girl staying the night? Do I try and read with them? Heck no, this is a sleepover. Do I pray with them? Their family doesnt go to church, that might be weird. Do I hug them? NO, just no. So I just awkwardly let Taylor help the kids get set up, and at the last minute, go in and give Rosie a hug, and tell our guest “I am glad that you are here”.

    Really digging this game.

    Two weeks ago we had one of Rosie’s friends over, and it was great. Sleepovers are so much more fun now than when we were little kids, and we were given some microwave popcorn and a trip to blockbuster for a sleepover.

    This is the only game that matters.

    We had a bunch of leftover coins for this local barcade- where kids are allowed in before 7 on weekends, so we went. These girls had so much fun, it really looked awesome. We love having this friend, DK over. She is a blast.

    Lady with a parrot on a leash. Rosie and DK were interested, of course.

    Spring Cleaning.

    Ok, lets get real here. Where are you with your yard? Is it as good as you want it to be? On a scale from 1-10, how would you rank your own yard in terms of the grass, landscaping, trimming, mulching, etc? And do you have kids? What does a “10” yard look like for someone with kids?

    15 bags or so? Maybe 20?

    Taylor can get anxious looking at our yard, and for good reason; our yard is only 2 clicks better than the beverly hillbillies sometimes. She asks if I get anxious, and I respond with a quick “Heck No”, simply because at this point in life, with kids, both of us working full time, etc. the priority in our house is to have a fun yard for the kids to play in. Beyond that, our priority is to spend a few dollars on some trips over the coming years.

    So when I mow the lawn and it smells like green onions instead of fresh-cut clippings, its fine; the kids love playing in the yard. And we have some awesome trips planned.

    Thee chairs were an awesome father’s day gift last year. Thanks Tay!

    Anyways- our yard does need some help, so I spent this weekend cleaning up a bit of the leaves that were leftover from the fall, and mowing and bagging the first cut of the season, since we have had a very warm winter this year.

    Hanging out while I do yardwork might be Stormy’s favorite thing. She is almost 11, and found this patch under a bush for yesterday’s yardwork session.

    Slam Dunk(s)

    Ok, maybe there was only 1 dunk. But I am not entirely sure. This weekend, Rosie had a last-minute night out at a sleepover with her grandmother, so Taylor and I took the youngest to the ACC Women’s basketball tournament game on Friday night. Tickets were $10 (before fees, $20 with fees) and we went to see the UNC-Duke game. If you are reading this and you are not from North Carolina, UNC vs Duke is considered one of the “greatest rilvalries of all time”. Though, I do not follow women’s sports, so I am not sure how this moniker translates. Is it the same? Maybe- but the game was fun.

    From the Virginia Tech section

    The coliseum where the tournament is held is just around 10 minutes away from our house, so it was a fun night out. Mercy did not smile for the camera.

    Mercy was concerned about the Pittsburg Bear mascot
    The General Admission seats we paid for. This section was almost sold out.
    These cuties.

    Other odds n ends.

    These are just a few other fun pics.

    Stormy often gets out and wanders around our neighborhood. She is getting old, always comes back, and no neighbors have complained. Since our street has zero traffic, we often let her. This time we spotted her coming home from the store, so Rosie walked he back.

  • Bye Bye Apple, Hello Mardi Gras, Happy Birthday Jake

    Bye Bye Apple, Hello Mardi Gras, Happy Birthday Jake

    Where is Apple going?

    For about a year, I have been working as a contractor for Apple Pay, out of their office in Cary, North Carolina. This has been the smartest groups of people I have ever had the chance to work with.

    I have been working on a small, internal project, and it has been a blast. I am almost done with that project, and I started applying to internal jobs, but found that most of the careers that cater towards my area of expertise (Front end engineering) are in Cupertino, California. So, I would have to move to California to become a Full Time Employee. Or, even if I got a job out of the Cary office, there is a chance that I would have to go in to the office a few times a week (2 or 3) at a one-way drive of 1:15, that would be really hard to incorporate into our daily lives.

    There are a few other details that can’t be shared here, but I got an AI website to help me re-write my resume for a few different roles. I applied to many, got 2 callbacks; 1 company did tech layoffs after my 1st interview. The other company, Storable, offered me the job; and I happily accepted.

    Happy Birthday Jake

    Happy Birthday Jake! You are now an old man (at 41 years old). I hope you have a great birthday! Even if we don’t see eye to eye on a few things, thats ok, your little brother loves you. Here are some fun pics through the years.

    Jake and Grandpa Woody
    Jake and I on a boat in the mediterranean in 1991
    Me and my brothers in Turkey in 1992
    I have no idea what the context was, but Matt grew into his teeth nicely.
    Jake and I at Merle Fest, possibly 2000?

    Fun fact: did you know that when we had a gap in dental coverage when I was in high school, and needed my wisdom teeth taken out, Jake stepped up to the plate and paid for it? That was cool, and I think about that from time to time. It speaks to the heart of who Jake is: he cares for people well (Better than me, most of the time).

    Jake at my College graduation, 2007

    Starmount Forest Mardi Gras

    Great view of one of the floats

    Several years ago someone moved into our neighborhood from New Orleans, and started a tradition here in our corner of Greensboro. I don’t know many details about the rich history of the event because we have only been in this house 3.5 years or so, but each year the finest of Starmount Forest turn out to watch this parade. There are a few golf carts, some great food, and a cajun-style band (Is that what you call it? Or “bayou”?).

    Either way, it is fun. Rosie was nowhere to be found: she has so many little 2nd grade friends (she is just like her mom), that she had a total of 0 minutes to hang out with mom or dad. And that is great: she is an awesome kid.

    A float from Mardi Gras

    Rosie then had a friend over. This is just where they are in life: Rosie is a busy social person, and an awesome big sis. There is nothing special about this one, I just thought it was a special moment:

  • Daddy, daughter, dance-competition weekend

    Daddy, daughter, dance-competition weekend

    Boy, it was a busy weekend.

    Leave a comment at the bottom!

    Rosie getting ready with Mom

    We were invited by our good friends, the Maness’, to go to the annual daddy-daughter dance, hosted by their church. For years, I had always been a bit jealous that Matt got to do a daddy-daughter dance with his girls at the country club so they could feel honored and loved, so this invitation meant a lot.

    Rosie’s corsage

    We had never been to this dance before, but knew a lot of people who had. My expectations were not the highest, simple because I have seen some church events that were put on in a gymnasium with a very small budget. Whatever the case might be, we were told to get corsage’s, as most girls would have them.

    Putting the corsage on my date
    Pre-dance pictures

    Rosie got her corsage, mom got her pics, and we met up with our friends for a fancy pre-date meal; the lady gets to pick the location, of course:

    Dinner at Moe’s with Meryl Maness

    So we ended up at Moe’s.

    This was not a standard church event; this was the 22nd annual dance, and there were literally hundreds of people. It was way fancier than several weddings we have been to over the years.

    Rosie still likes to be held for pictures.

    They had several “photo spots” around, where people had shirts that read “I can take your picture for you”. Several are on Brian’s phone, but this is one we got.

    Brian with the girls

    Each year they have a large heart to sign; this is Brian posing with last year’s heart.

    The food spread was on point
    Rosie and Meryl were some of the first on the dance floor.

    It’s hard to get a picture that could capture the scale of this dance, but there must have been close to 400 people there. The picture above is early, when the dance floor was relatively empty; however it was packed the rest of the night; the must was pretty great too: it had everything from “Under the sea” to Rihanna and Jay-Z (the clean versions).

    Packed dance floor.

    The dance was a blast. Thank you Brian and Meryl for inviting us; and I think Rosie felt honored as well.

    Dance Dad Life

    Dance competitions are a big deal. What I learned this weekend is if the words “Rosie’s dance competition” are on the family calendar, that means I need to:

    1. Sleep well the days before
    2. Have plenty of patience
    3. have very few opinions
    4. Not plan on anything else that day; or days.

    They literally last all damn day. Rosie was there from 9:40 until 5:30 (or so). Since you are sane and only care about the highlights, here they are:

    Rosie and her dance team after their performance

    There were dozens of dance companies there, and hundreds and hundreds of dance routines, starting with the younger kids early in the day, and going well into the evening; I was told Evan and her girls were there until around 11.

    Some of those performances were pretty awesome- I was told some of those girls can end up doing practice 4-6 days a week (Rosie does 2 days a week), and it shows.

    Rosie and her friends before their second routine.

    They did great for their second dance.

    See point number 3 above: have very few opinions. So I will do just that.

    It was a long day, Rosie did great, and it was fun to hang with the fam during a chaotic day, with people coming and going as they could.

    This was our cheering section; mom showed up a few minutes after, and I didn’t want to ask them all to smile for this quick shot; but, it was fun for mercy to hang with her cousins all day.

    I hope Rosie chooses soccer though.

  • Introverts, unite!

    Introverts, unite!

    Would you call yourself an introvert? These days, I think I would. Taylor definitely recharges her batteries by being alone. But not me.

    Years ago I would get this time by going on a short day hike in Greensboro- there are plenty of trails around lakes on the north side of town to hike a few miles.

    Beautiful blue skies above St. Francis

    If you go back even farther, I used to go on hikes along the blue ridge parkway during my years in college, a couple times even camping by myself. In hindsight, that was pretty stupid.

    In high school, I would go on wandering drives by myself around the outskirts of town, in my 1989 dodge ramcharger.

    These days, it is harder to find that kind of uninterrupted time. And Taylor was taking note of that (I married a good one). So for my birthday, she gave me a night away, at the St. Francis Prayer Center. If you have a minute to read the story about how it was founded, the story is amazing.

    https://www.stfrancis.today/

    It is 40 minutes north of town and is open to all; they serve three meals a day, have a library, a walking trail, fireplaces, gardens, and an outstanding, quiet facility.

    It was the ideal place to be quiet, and pray through some of the craziness from this past year.

    Well-kept trails at St. Francis

    I’ll keep it vague- but there have been a few stressful things weighing on me, and I don’t quite know how to navigate them. The stress has been surfacing in different ways. And the only thing I know how to do is pray through it, and this song just kept coming to my heart.

    That afternoon hike gave way to some great conversations with strangers at dinner who were visiting St. Francis for another event; they shared about the various ministries they were involved in around the Durham/Raleigh area, and an hour-long conversation passed in no time. It was delightful for two reasons:

    1. There was no where to be. There was no schedule to be anywhere, and no kiddos that needed a potty break. I don’t remember the last time I was able to slow down this way, and just engage with someone.
    2. It was great to get out of my own head and hear about some amazing things being done by ordinary people around the state. This lady was 70+, and shared about 4 different non profits she manages reaching underserved teenagers in Raleigh.

    With that much silence and peace around, it is hard NOT to get a great night’s rest.

    The next day I spent some time reading up on things NOT related to prayer (there is only so much reverent time I can muster in 24 hours), had a wonderful lunch, and made it home in time to watch UNC play (and lose) to Duke.

    So what is the takeaway from this night away?

    1. It is going to be ok. Just pray through some things, and let them go.
    2. My family is special. Taylor is awesome, and I am lucky to have her.
    3. It is good to re-charge my batteries every once in a while.

    It is a great place- highly recommend.

    Unrelated, but fun

    Here are a few other pictures and videos from the week.

    Mercy eating a cupcake
    I’m a dance dad now
  • The NC version of Merriewold

    The NC version of Merriewold

    The Logan’s reading this post will know exactly what I am talking about. For everyone else, I’ll try and keep it short and sweet.

    When I was little, my family would spend a week (or more) every summer at a place in upstate New York called “Merriewold”. It was a family place owned by my dad’s side of the family, and we would take the long drive, and spend the best week of the summer at the lake.

    Luke, Grammy, and Ellie

    There was par 3 golf, ping-pong, a lopsided pool table, fishing, swimming, swim-races, tournaments, a rope-swing, salamanders, blueberries, cousins, brothers, Grammy, and a million other fun things.

    Cousins at the Merriewold Clubhouse

    I couldn’t easily find many pics just now to share. By middle school, we weren’t able to go as often, so most pics I have are from years and years ago, but the memories are locked in as simple, fun summer memories- the best I could have asked for.

    This past weekend, our neighbors and friends, the Swaringens, invited us up to their mountain house just west of Boone. Their house was beautiful, we ate like kings. And the community was just perfect. Here is why.

    There are tons of “communities” out there for vacations. I spend some of Saturday afternoon just browsing through them on my phone.

    Both Communities shared a ton of things in common: a lake, swimming, fishing, trails, mountains and trees, community events, golf, and charm.

    But the reason why Merriewold and the Land Harbor Community are different than most other vacation communities is not because of what they have, but because of what they DONT have: million dollar listings.

    Looking back at Merriewold, one of the big reasons why it was so special was because there was a great community, and the community all felt like it was on equal footing. All of the houses were old. None of the houses were mansions that seemed out-of-place with the rest of us. And this made everyone more approachable.

    The Lake at Land Harbor

    The clubhouse at Merriewold (Just like the game-room at Land Harbor) was simple. It wasn’t a place of luxury with brand new, high quality entertainment. It was simple- meant for kids to enjoy.

    The weekend was a blast. We had fun connecting with Clint and Margaret, and their kiddos as well. Here is a quick clip of Mercy and their son, Owen:.

    Mercy and Owen

    This post is woefully incomplete, but like every Monday morning post, the kids are waking up, so I must cut this short.

  • Cold Christmas, c’,mon 2023!

    Cold Christmas, c’,mon 2023!

    The past several weeks have been challenging for me for several reasons I won’t go into here. But, here are a few fun highlights since Christmas (sorry for the delay!).

    Christmas was fun. And Cold.

    On the east coast, we had an extreme cold snap right around Christmas. Though everything held up well in our house, there were a few things that were out of our control: The electric grid.

    Ted, Ken, and Cobe. in the Cold
    Cold, but fun. The

    As we were putting the final touches on the Christmas Eve brunch that we were hosting for the very first time, the lights went out. Taylor’s family, mostly coming from the Raleigh area, was about 15 minutes away. It was 22* outside. And we were just about to put the breakfast casserole in the oven.

    Without thinking, I took the casserole over to Matt and Evan’s house, so we had a warm breakfast to enjoy.

    The York ladies with their Christmas cocktails

    Having a few people in the house really worked for us though. While the temperature outside was pretty cold, the body-heat of a few extra people, as well as our small gas fireplace helped us hold up well.

    The power outage was said to last 30-60 minutes to help release strain on the power grid, it ended up being over 3 hours. As luck would have it, the power came on 15 minutes after people left.

    More Christmases

    Christmas with the Registers

    We had a wonderful Christmas with the Registers. Ted made a prime rib that was unbelievable.

    Ted’s Prime Rib 2023

    We did the Logan Christmas, which was awesome. Matt did a dramatic reading, and this year had a special costume for the occasion. Unfortunately, Mercy was crying so I had to go take her for a drive to fall asleep, and missed the context, so you will just have to use your imagination to figure it out.

    The Logan fam, Christmas 2023
    Matt doing a dramatic reading

    Christmas morning at home with just our family was great. These girls are amazing. Both of them got scooters, and Taylor and I were both surprised to see Mercy just take off on hers.

    Christmas morning, before coming downstairs to see what Santa brought

    C’mon 2023!

    Between Christmas and New Year’s we spent a few days at Ocean Isle Beach with Taylor’s parents. It is always great to spend time there- and since Taylor had the week off, and my work was flexible, it worked out great.

    The newly built, eastern end of the island

    What is a “shark drop”?

    At Ocean Isle beach, specifically a place called Sharkys, instead of doing a ball drop at New Year’s, they do a “Shark Drop”. I’m not sure how long they have been doing this tradition, but we enjoyed it years ago (before covid). They would do a kids version earlier in the night that we took then baby-rosie to, at around 8 or 9 pm.

    Flashback: Shark Drop 2018

    Also, can we take a moment to note how much better phone cameras have gotten here in the past 5 years?

    Earlier in the day, they did another non-shark related kids event: The fire department split open a beach ball piñata high above the playground when the clock struck 12, NOON.

    Candy drop at 12 Noon at OIB

    This might be a new tradition? Or maybe we have just never seen it, but it was awesome! The kids swarmed the field like animals when the candy reigned down. Thank you OIB Fire Dept for this fun event!

    Finally, we did the Shark Drop with Taylor’s parents, at 8 pm.

    Birthday Beginnings

    Finally, this part gets intentionally inserted at the bottom of the page, but it is my birthday this week.

    The goal was to go to “Bourbon Bowl”, a new-er place downtown with a few lanes, and bowl with the fam for a few games before crossing the street for dinner. The wait was about 2 hours (they don’t take reservations), so we ended up across the street at Boxcar and played games for a bit

    Skee-ball is the only game that matters.

    Taylor has beaten me the past 7 times we played. Tonight, I got the high score of the morning at 270!

    Dinner was great

    Also, I just loved this video from earlier last week, so I am going to leave it here, though it is completely unrelated.