My hotel room is dark and quiet as i type by the light of my Macbook as it is after midnight and everyone is asleep but me.   Day One of NYWC was great. :)

After breakfast/lunch at a diner a few blocks away, we decided to take the Monongahela Incline which is an inclined railway going up and down the mountain. From the top you can see an amazing view of Pittsburgh. You all can see pictures of this adventure at Billy’s Flickr. Also at the top, some of us crazy ones had soft serve ice cream. ;)
And boo to the slow internet that won’t let me post a picture here…
Anyways. 

We hit up the Convention Center for NYWC Registration after a great nap at the hotel. We have 4 newbies with us. The theme this year is ridiculous… lol seriously, i cant wait to see why in the world they came up with that. Me and Samantha checked out the YS Store before our CCC and can’t wait for the Exhibit Hall, especially because I’ll get to meet most of the Twitter tweeps there. 

So, my CCC: Leading From the Pages of Your Life by Dan Webster.  The first half of it was great!  I’m not a very social person when it comes to people I don’t really know so hearing that we had to split up into groups and talk made me want to run for the door lol. But honestly, it was good and we had a great group.  The part of the night that impacted everyone the most was the Timeline exercise. Dan had us look back over the past year and create a timeline of events from then to now. Positive experiences went above the line and negative experiences went below. Then we each took turns within our little group of 3 or 4 and discussed our timeline. Many said the experience was freeing and enlightening. We all appreciated each other sharing their personal story and everyone was able to relate to some piece of their life. One of the most amazing aspects to be reminded of is that we’re not alone. And to hear each other’s stories of how they got through some of their trials and struggles was really encouraging. Also, to hear the input from each other as well as ask some tough questions really made the whole activity worthwhile. And it’s only the first half of the course! I would definitely encourage anyone to attend this Critical Concerns Course if you are attending NYWC in Nashville later on in November or when they offer this course next year. 

Afterwards, our group met up in the lobby and proceeded to grab some food. We ended up at Primanti Bros. Restaurant and Bar. I had cheese fries.  :p

Tomorrow is Sarah’s 28th birthday! yay. We’ll have to hit up the Appreciation Station and post something for her. We’re celebrating with a card that everyone back at home signed for her and she gets to pick where we go out for dinner. Maybe a cake too.  I can post all this because she won’t read this ever… and if she ever does, it’ll be way later. :b

Time for sleep. Part two of CCC: Leading From the Pages of Your Life is tomorrow morning at 8:30am.

Night blog world.

keep smiling.be love

First off, I just want to say how much I love my Blackberry phone that it will allow me to post from here! Lol
With that said, ladies and gentlemen, we are here.

We arrived at the Marriott Courtyard last night around 3am. Let me say sleep was good.

And so apparently it’s a huge plus that the Pittsburgh Convention Center is directly behind the hotel.

We are in search of food and then our group of now 14 will be registering at the Convention. Then off to the Critical Concerns Course. I will be taking Leading From the Pages of Your Life with Dan Webster. Looking forward to that.:)

I’ll keep you guys posted.

I’m here to announce i’m back. lol

It’s been a crazy while since I’ve blogged online.  I spend most of my writing time using pen and paper.
Since I’ve moved to WordPress, i decided to post my only three other online blog entries which you’ll see below.  

So I’m super excited for The National Youth Workers Convention in Pittsburgh, PA which is coming up this Thursday. I’ll be with a group of 12 other youth leaders from The Bridge Youth Ministries leadership team. It’s the most we’re bringing.  This will be my third NYWC.  I went to St. Louis, MO last year and Austin, TX the year before that.

I’m also extremely looking forward to meeting alot of people i’m friends with on Twitter.  That has definitely been a revolutionary piece of communication. I love the connections i’ve made with particular people through Twitter. So it’s going to be awesome to especially finally meet @saraeden, @coffeewithchris, @mclanea, and @pattigibbons (except we used to go to church together when we were younger, Patti and I).

So yes. A plethora of things have been going on, including finally getting my new design company up and running online which is selling a bunch of stuff on Cafepress right now. Hope you can take a second and check it out: ks.bl designs. (: Eventually I want everything to come from my main site.

I would also like to get organized with my worship stations I put together for my youth ministry by creating another site so other people can get ideas for their own ministry.

Alright! It’s been a crazy long day. Hope you enjoy my future ramblings. 

keep smiling.be love