San Fran Golden Gate

San Fran is is apparently very windy and foggy. This is a view looking North then turning East into the Bay. You may wonder why I didn't turn West to see the Pacific or South so I could see the Golden Gate Bridge... but it's because even though this is the best vantage point in all SF to see both, it was so foggy all I could see was "white!" (Tanner felt bad - but it's tough to control the weather, even when you're an Augustin)

Here's what we COULD see of the Golden Gate... :)

Even when you're ON the Golden Gate, it's hard to see the Golden Gate!

Arighty - so I have yet to send sweet pics from the Napa Valley and from the San Fran downtown/wharf. I know these pics are a lot of fog, and no, Tanner, I didn't put these on to spite you :) ... I must confess that I just wanted to use the NEW Blogger feature that allows you to post your own vids! So here I am, jumping on the technological bandwagon only 3 years after YouTube!

Californ-I-A

Whew - so I didn't think the 3 hour jet lag would be that big of a deal... but a person gets used to waking up at 7 PST after a day or two and it takes longer than that to wake up at 6:30 EST!

But I had a great time! Work-wise, we were able to answer some big questions that had been holding us back on the Puerto Rico project, but the coolest part was hangin' with Tanner Saturday and Sunday.

First, on Saturday we drove to Napa Valley and hit up a couple wineries for some ultra-classy wine-tasting. The coolest one was Sterling Winery because it had a gondola that took you to all the way up to the Sterling winery on top of a hill overlooking much of the valley area. Pretty sweet view!

Then on Saturday we went to San Francisco, visited the foggy golden-gate bridge and then hung out down by the wharf and ate a crab right out of its shell. Yah - pretty cool if you ask me. It made me realize that sea-crustaceans are really just big bugs. Sure, maybe not insects, but bugs. They have the creepy crawly legs, the tentacles, and the shifty eyes. I mean, I bet if you found a ginormouse grasshopper the size of a lobster, he'd have some pretty darn tasty legs. Sure, there's the exoskeleton to deal, but I bet the meat would look the exact same inside. So, eating sea food is really like eating a bunch of big bugs. I know you'll think of me next time you have a tasty lobster-tail. Oh, and you know that brown line on the shrimp? Yah, that's poop.

Ahhh... yum.

Parade in the Park

So church was great again today! It really makes the drive into Manhattan worth it (even the traffic). Afterwards, me, Katrina, and Nate went to this sweet park on the side of the NYC Library to have lunch and chat. When we got there, we found ourselves right smack dab in the middle of the Dominican Republic parade! It's really an eye opener to see how ethnically diverse NYC is - lotsa whistles, flags, and hollering - made me wish I was Dominican!

Next exciting thing in the life and times of Aaron Davis...

I really didn't have anything exciting to say, so I figured I'd jazz up the title a bit to keep hopes high.

Sunday Recap - I had a great time at church all day yesterday! I'm not gonna lie - 7am - 8:30pm is a long day of church (services 10:00, 11:30, 1:00, and 6:30) - but there are just some awesome people there! And it's cool, the band between each worship set gets to go back stage to the "green room" and hang out till the next set. It's like we're totally a band - snacks and all!

So, it looks like I'll be doing this about once a month - a great pace to start off.

I was just thinking about complaining about how much of my "free time" this could take up, but then I remembered what it felt like during the work-week in Columbus last year. I would get so down because it seemed like all I was doing was living just to work and working to live. Any money I saved up couldn't be used to enrich my life enough to make up for the hours that work was taking away. Basically, I got the chance to live relatively worry-free ... but without significant investment outside of myself, it wasn't going anywhere.

I'm starting to see that real investment (and its close relative "fulfillment) requires sacrifice. And I'm excited that the Lord has opened this door for me to sacrifice my free time for something that brings Him glory and satisfies my soul.

San Jose Here I Come!

I just booked my flight to San Jose - and it just so turns out that I get to go out early (for no extra cost) and get to hang out with my good bud Tanner all weekend in Sacramento! Oh yeah! Y'know - it was kinda emotional at Tate's wedding, getting to see all my good good friends again, only to know that it was probably one of the last times we'd see each other in a long time... But praise the Lord for opportunities like these, where I couldn't have planned a better opportunity!

Journey Worship

Well after all that talk of not being able to join the worship team... here's the update:

I aired all of my concerns to the worship director (not having enough time, not being able to make the Bible study, work travel plans at the last minute...) and he said, "no problem - we'll work with ya!"

So... I guess I can't say no to trying it out! He even asked me to play THIS week already. So, I'm heading to practice tomorrow night, and THIS time I am NOT taking the Lincoln tunnel. Man-0-man was that a pain last week.

And an update to the work situation - I'm finally getting in the middle of the design planning for the expansion in Puerto Rico! For a while there, I was feeling about as worthless as a pinkie toe - but now I've been labeled the "point man!" Yes, that's right, if you wanna send designs around the table they've gotta go through me now.

Alrighty - back to work... :)