Ben Jamin Lately ?

If you haven't noticed already I have set up a new layout. You would not believe how much trouble it is to set these things up on your own. I downloaded a template from a site and followed the directions, and my page looked nothing like what the demo looked like. After about 3 hours of trial and error with the code I realized that you have to host the photos used on the same server that it was set up on. They should have said that in the instructions but they didn't. Oh well.

Either way I still got it set up and I think it looks great. But of course I would... what do you think?? let me know!!!

Joke Time:

Hello

It is a beautiful day today!!! I am sitting in the square of Peck Hall and just looking around.
Its a pretty awesome that God has given us to live in. I wish that I felt a little better... :( I think I am getting sick. My throat hurts. :( Oh well... it came to pass. I hope everyone who reads this, all 4 of you, has a wonderful day.




Joke Time:

So there's these 2 muffins in an oven.

They're both sitting, just chilling and getting baked.

And one of them yells "Man, it's hot in here!"

And the other muffin replies "Holy Crap, a talking muffin!"

Golf is a wonderfully frustrating game. It can make you laugh. It can make you weep like a school girl who saw a dead bird on the way home from school [ ;) sis]. Sometimes it can even make you question your intelligence. But it is still one of my favorite things to do.

Today I played in a charity golf scramble for the P.E.T. (Personal Energy Transportation P.E.T.) project which is a wonderful charity. A member of my church sponsored a team. I played with Carlos our Hispanic's Minster, Mike who plays in the band with me, and Dale who is one of our youth counselors. Usually when I play, I go out by myself and get paired up with random people so it was a blast playing with friends.

Golf is one of the few sports that transcends all of the normal aspects of sports. It doesn't matter if you're young or old, or if you have been playing for years or you are just starting, it can be enjoyed by all. Each of us playing today proved that point. We had a 50 yr old (Dale), 40 yr old (Mike), 28 yr old (Carlos), and me (24). Mike and Dale have been playing for a long time, while I have been playing for 6 years and Carlos just started last year. But the best thing was that it did not matter one bit. Today for about 4 and 1/2 hrs we were Golfers. Enjoying the beauty of God's creation, each others company, and of course poking fun at each other. The best part of the day was that we all contributed. Carlos made an Eagle putt which capped off a pretty good round of 60. If you are unfamiliar with how a scramble works. Each person hits a drive, then you pick the best ball and everybody plays from there and so on.

In keeping with my new tradition of ending with a joke. here is a golf joke for ya.....

A priest rushed from church one day to keep a golf date. He was halfway down the first fairway, waiting to hit his second shot, when he heard "Fore!" and a ball slammed into his back. Soon, the golfer who had made the drive was on the scene to offer his apologies. When the priest assured him that he was all right, the man smiled. "Thank goodness, Father!" he exclaimed. "I've been playing this game for forty years, and now I can finally tell my friends that I've hit my first holy one!"

Howdy.

My life the last couple of weeks can be summed up in three words. BUSY BUSY BUSY!!! I have started back to school. I am in my second week of school and it is going great. I like all of my classes and am excited, for the first time, about school. I am still working at the Church and things are going great with that too. I have learned that making a schedule and sticking to it is imperative to not getting behind. I have not been know as an "organized" person but I am getting better. One thing that has helped me get organized is my new iPhone. I absolutely love it. It is an amazing piece of technological wizardry that can do just about everything.

Back to the main point of my blog today.

Are you ready for some Football!!??

It's football time again in our great country and with that beings the epic battle of the SWFL. That's right the Shaw-Whitaker Football League. Every year my immediate family and friends have a pro and college football pickems tourney. Last year I won the college and my sis won the pro. It's gonna be a good year and I feel confident of a repeat win. Football has been something that has become a real staple in our families and has accutally brought us closer togther. Since we all live in different parts of the state it has gotten hard to stay in touch. We all live busy lives and it is nice to be able to have interaction with each other even if we are hundreds of miles apart.

I am starting a tradition of ending every post with a joke and to begin this tradition I give you a classic.

How do you get a one-armed man out of a tree??

Wave.

ha ha.

thats right I laugh at my own jokes!!

My Lovely sister tagged me.

Here Goes...
1. Answer the questions using only one word.
2. Tag two others...Zack, John

Where is your cell phone? nightstand
Your significant other? dunno
Your hair? brown
Your mother? silly
Your father? Strong
Your favorite thing? Music
Your dream last night? none
Your favorite drink? coke
Your dream/goal? distant
The room you’re in? bedroom
Your hobby? Golf
Your fear? Evil
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Married
What you’re not? tired
Muffins? none
One of your wish list items? bass
Where you grew up? clarksville
Last thing you did? eat
Favorite gadget? iPod
Your pets? none
Your computer? macbook
Your mood? bored
Missing someone? nope
Your car? CRAP
Favorite store? Music Stop
Like someone? yes
Your favorite color? blue
Last time you laughed? earlier
Last time you cried? dunno

I will preface this story by saying that it is odd that my first two posts on my blog both involve fish which is rather odd considering I rarely mention fish, either in conversation or any other medium of communication.

As the day began today I woke up (which happens every day..... wierd...huh?) and slapped my alarm clock across the room (which also happens every day). I start with my morning ritual of brushing my teeth then sitting in the bathroom with the shower on hot so it gets all steamy, which I highly recommend as it is very refreshing, then acctually got in the shower. I had lots of emails from work which I answered from home vs. going into the office. After finishing up all the work stuff I played on my computer and then got ready to go to church. I arrived at church after a short pit stop to get my hair cut. Luckily it was a short stop, you never know how long it will take there.

My reasoning for going to church was a Men's Group fish fry of which I was helping cook for. All the staff was helping plus a few volunteers. I enjoy hanging out with the Pastors especially in situations away from normal church related functions ( not that this wasn't), you really get to see a different side of them. A lot of people put pastors up on this pedestal and think that they are reverent and serious all the time. Well that is not the case at all. It was just like any other fish fry I have ever been to, guys standing around pots of hot oil swapping stories and joking around. There were probably 75 men that came and after we all ate we joined together for worship led by Daniel, the lead guitar player in our worship band. It is so awesome to see men of God worshiping together.

As we finished up I found myself talking to one of our mens group leaders, and somehow or another got volunteered to go help unload some sheetrock at a local place calle "Journey Home", which is a project of one of the men in our church. To be honest, I found myself regreting agreeing to help. The whole drive over I was thinking to myself,"man i really don't want to do this." But as I arrived I realized, here I am whining over moving a few boards of sheetrock and Scott (who started the project) has put so much time and money into something that is not even for his gain. He is doing it so that people who have nothing can try to get back on their feet and providing a christian atomosphere for them to do it in. How awesome is that!!! Needless to say I soon got over my little pity party and helped with enthusiasm. So much enthusiasm, in fact, that I ripped my pants open at the crotch. I could probably attribute that to the fact that I ate SOOOOOO much fish tonight. I was nibbling the whole time we were cooking and I had a full plate of 3 catfish, white beans, salad, fried chips and finished it off with some apple cobbler and ice cream. I should be good for a few days now.

So I guess the moral of this story is...
#1 Volunteer with an open heart and you will be richly rewarded.
#2 Don't eat a truckload of catfish and then go move sheetrock and you will probably rip your pants.

Hey peeps.

I have put this off for a long time but I too have finally started a blog. It's hard to believe my mom had a blog before me but hey it's the 21st century anythings possible..... right? For anyone reading this who may not know me here is a little bit about myself.

My name is Benjamin Shaw, but people call me Ben. I am 23 years old and will be 24 on Friday, 8-15. I work at a Methodist Church in Murfreesboro, TN as the assistant Youth Director. So if it's not obvious I am a Christian and love the Lord with all my heart. I also have another job at a local Putt-Putt and Golf facility. I am a musician, bass is my best instrument, but I also play guitar. I play in the worship band at church, we have an awsome contemporary worship service. I also lead worship for the youth. To finish off my time, I am a student at Middle Tennessee State University. I have a wonderful family and we are all very close. My parents are awesome and have always been very supportive through all my whims and crazy choices in life. I have an older sister and brother-in-law. They rock!! I also have a little nephew of the K9 sort, Jere, even though he's a dog he is still family

I can't really think of a good way to end this blog so I will end it with a joke....

2 goldfish were in their tank
one looks over the other and says
"you take the wheel and I'll man the guns"