This weekend I was able to catch up on some much needed rest, and spend time with my lovely wife. As I have mentioned before, things are quite hectic at the moment: working multiple jobs and staying on top of the CD project.

It has been nice to take a little extra time to mix the album, as it has allowed me to further refine/redo certain parts. I am sure Lendell now wants to kill me, I am just asking him to hold off until we are done with this record. Hopefully he can restrain himself.

It is funny to look back a year ago, and realize just how far we were from completion! When we began working on "The Sun Still Rises", we were thinking only a couple of songs would have a full band. Now almost all of them do. We recorded 15 songs, 12 of them will actually make it on the record. It's been a ton of work!

Not only has it been a lot of work, but a HUGE growing experience. I learned how to sing into a recording mic, how to properly play to a click track, what my songs would actually sound like with a band, etc, etc. Not to mention the personal lessons of patience and seeing something this difficult through.

I am presently working on a deal that will provide the rest of the necessary funding, so we can use prayer that everything will work out. We've chosen to cut no corners, and we can hear it paying off time and again in these final mixes.

Besides the album, I am also planning some other "new things" so make sure to stop by every now and then. It's been a fun ride, and will continue to get more exciting!

So life has been pretty much a total whirlwind lately. In addition to work at the computer shop, I am now doing some web design, and working for a good friend in Siloam Springs. What is fun is each job is in an area I love. Of course my first choice and ultimate goal will be to focus primarily on music. But we gotta eat somehow.

Today I was sitting at a stoplight waiting for that lovely shade of green when the light changed. I pressed the accelerator and it promptly died. Now normally this would be no big deal, but I have to actually pop the hood now to start the vehicle. So I get out of my car, trying to avoid the oncoming traffic, pop the hood, find the starter wire, touch it to the battery, it cranks, and cranks, and cranks... and get nothing.

A wave of mixed emotions hit me. On one hand I was proud it wasn\'t my fault the car had stalled, but I would have much preferred for the error to be on my end than the engine\'s. Fortunately I bought a AAA membership for this year (when it died last time) and will get it towed back tomorrow.

On the CD side of things, Lendell and I have continued to make steady progress on the record. Hearing where the final mix is headed, I can confidently say I am SO glad we have been patient. What we had before sounded excellent, but it now sounds phenomenal. It takes all the patience in the world to hold off on posting the new mixes, but they are coming soon.

This has been a long time coming... But I can finally say we really, truly, definitely are finishing the album now. I finished working out some financial details today, and we are on track to cruise through the finish line!

Next week I will be working with my photographers to solidify the cover shot. Their work back in September was excellent, but I really did not know quite the direction I wanted it to take. Over the last few months, I have gotten a much better idea. They have been quite patient with me while I have figured this out, and it is going to be amazing when done. (Thanks, Aus10!)

I will be spending most of the weekend preparing some of the newer material to be mixed. Lendell will be in Little Rock, as a film he scored is premiering. When he gets back we will continue the mixing.

I will keep you all posted step by step as we complete this. I am not entirely sure what the timeframe will be, but we should at least be done with the mixing and the cover design in the next couple of weeks. Then we go to mastering, and printing. Almost there...

As many of you know, I've been working multiple jobs for quite some time now. This last week our prayers were answered, and I will be working at only one now. In addition to taking care of our needs, it will allow all the flexibility we need to finish the CD and tour when the time comes. It is quite an amazing blessing.

We also got my Honda up and running again. Turns out there were two parts bad and not one. While working on it, our buddy Ralph took another look at the A/C unit in the car, and was actually able to repair it! This is awesome, because it routinely gets well over 100 degrees here in the summer, and I drive a couple of hours for work each day. And yes, for those of you wondering, I can finally start the car without popping the hood. My father-in-law was with us this last weekend and helped us figure out the issue. This car will only get us so far, as it has 230,000 miles on it, but we are thankful we will be able to continue to use it for the time being.

A lot of changes will be taking place in our lives soon, and we are excited to see where the Lord leads us. Wednesday I will be spending an entire day with Lendell working on some more things for the album. There are some more changes we wish to make, and we will be laying out a schedule for what needs to be done.

I look forward to sharing more this next week in this exciting time.

First off, I gotta say I love blog posts that require little to no thought for the title. I can't recall the last time I had the title worked out before the content... Anyway, last week I mentioned some of the good news we have had, and the new job I have started. Last year we moved from Siloam Springs to Bentonville for the fun of it and for work.

My job will be taking us back to Siloam Springs, hopefully for quite some time to come. Our lease ends August 13th, so we are already busy with our house search. As it turns out, Hannah's folks are moving to Siloam July 1st, as her father has taken a position at JBU. It will be wonderful to be near family again.

So as you can imagine, all this is keeping us quite busy. We have also been hard at work on the CD, and things really are (finally!) drawing to a close. Tomorrow evening after work, we will be shooting the final images for the CD cover (and case). It will be nice to celebrate the completion of "The Sun Still Rises" with our move. Now to get through the next two months...

So the last week has been fairly busy. A week ago today was mine and Hannah's two year anniversary! It is so hard to believe it's already been this long. But then again, so many things have happened, so many things have changed. Last year we celebrated our anniversary by moving out of our apartment. This year, we were able to visit the "Inn At The Mill" in Johnston, Arkansas. We stayed in the Frank Lloyd Wright suite, which is comprised of architecture inspired by his work. It was a beautiful design made primarily of wood.

We went to dinner at their 5 star restaurant, "James At The Mill", which was quite the experience! It was wonderful to get away for a day, to take a break and reflect on our relationship; the last two years in particular. The Lord has truly provided for us in some difficult times, and we are so blessed with such supportive friends who have helped us along the way.

Also last week, Hannah's family moved to Siloam, where we will soon be moving as well. It is wonderful to have them near, and we stayed busy helping them get settled in. After four years of being very far away from all family, this is a wonderful change.

On the CD front, Lendell and I have been busy making plans to finish the final touches. Next week, most likely on Tuesday, we will be getting together to brush up on a few more vocal parts and make a couple final changes on the guitar parts. Our goal is to have all of the mixing, hopefully all the way, complete by the end of the month. I'll let you all know how it goes.

And of course, finally, the thing I am the most excited about at the moment: Hannah bought us tickets for my birthday for us to see Bruce Hornsby (with Ricky Skaggs) live on October 3rd. I am quite excited, as Bruce is one of my most favorite artists of all time. Thanks SO much for the amazing gift, Hannah, but the wait is gonna kill me!