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these are the top places i visited this year.

se7en | new apartment

if you would’ve told me at the end of july that this would be one of my favorite places of ele7en, i would’ve called you a fool. we loved our old apartment. i hate moving. it was the worst time that we could’ve moved. but God provided for us in such a great way. a great, newly renovated apartment located right on the town square. within weeks we felt at home and now it is the place we’ll bring our son home to in march…so exciting!

six | baumholder, germany

obviously from my first post a place is more than just the beauty around it, the sites you see, or the things you do. it can be home or a place of peace or just being with friends. baumholder was such a place for us. we met rich and melissa in ephasus (!) last fall and have since hung out with them four different times in four different countries. country number three was germany in the spring when we went to visit them before they moved to thailand. it was a great time traveling out there with em and a greater time with our friends.

five | san diego

while we’re in arizona our time is insane! tons of people that we want to hang out with. supporters to meet with. so its very difficult to get time with emily’s family. so, this year we decided to take a week for vacation in san diego. there was no agenda other than sleeping in and spending time together. it was super relaxing!

four | bend, oregon

its just too hard to be away from this kid. so, whenever we get time together it ranks so high on my list. certainly the rest of the family is important too, but lets be honest, how could you not fall in love with this face.

plus, bend is just awesome.

three | selah

rest.

its not something we get very often during the summer, but after some minor issues (read deportation of teammates to belfast), we finally got a mid-summer reprieve at josiah venture’s retreat cabin, selah. it was a perfect time to go away together, pray, and rest.

two | croatia

after the summer we traveled to croatia with emily’s family for a short vacation before josiah venture’s kids camp. again, it was very little agenda, but lots of relaxing, swimming, reading, and being together as a family. oh yeah, and these bomb sunsets.

one | berlin

you may notice a theme here, but almost all of my favorite places have to do with rest and most specifically rest around the summer time! before the first round of our summer teams arrived, emily and i drove to berlin to spend a day in the city and to see death cab for cutie in concert. we brought our cruisers and rode around town, ate good food, and concluded the entire time with the dcfc concert! i can think of no other person i want to spend my time with, so pretty much everywhere with her is my favorite place.

but, berlin was cool anyways…

top seven iPhone apps in ele7en

December 24, 2011

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five years ago apps were things you filled out when you were looking for a new job or trying to get into college. now apps rule our lives. these are the seven apps that make my wife feel like i’m cheating on her with my phone.

*click on the picture to go to the iTunes app (all except march madness)*

se7en | soundhound

i’m sure some of you understand how this app works, but it still blows my mind that an app can understand words/key/notes/melodies and deliver the answer to you in a moment. for those that don’t know about this app, sound hound listens to a song that you’re listening to and tells you the artist in just a few seconds. its really remarkable and helpful when you’re debating whether a song is by Jesus Jones or U2 (no offense to Bono and the boys!).

six | ncaa march madness on demand

its hard enough living in czech and having to watch sports at odd hours, but this app made all the difference during the magical season known as march madness. the pinnacle of its usage was when i was ~~watching~~ listening to a game while driving home from a youth retreat.

five | starbucks

some of the apps i use are pretty useless in czech. this is one of them. i had it but had never really used it until we got to the states last month. at that point i unlocked its inner beauty. i was able to put all of my gift cards in one place and am able to pay with my phone. it finds the nearest locations, plus it tracks my *stars* which gives me free perks. very useful!

four | what to expect

2011 has been the year of the baby. our whole world has been consumed with baby things. this handy app allowed us to track the growth of our child weekly, give us tips daily, and most importantly, track how many days until he arrives. its one week and five days in case you’re wondering.

three | foursquare

if you know me at all you know that i love tracking things, competing, gaining points, etc. so foursquare is the perfect app for me. go somewhere, check in. check in enough times, become the mayor of that location. but what has really propelled this app recently is the usage by certain retailers to give deals for checking in. we’ve saved money at dinner, coffee shops, and even gotten free things at grocery stores. plus it links to my number one app, so checking in is easy!

two | heytell

thanks to a certain mr. robert h chestnut for recommending this life-changing app. now, maybe its not life-changing, but if you hate writing text messages or talking on the phone, hey tell is for you! it finds a happy medium between the two by allowing you to send instant voice messages to any of your contacts who also have hey tell. husbands, earn points on your way home from work by hey telling your wife and asking her if you need to pick up anything from the store. forgot what time the party starts? just push the button and ask your friend! its so easy to use and saves your fingers from typing out lots of messages.

one | instagram

if we’re Facebook friends, if you follow me on twitter, if you read my post from two days ago or pretty much if we ever hang out then you’ve seen these fun little pictures. it is super simple to use and an easy way to connect with friends or strangers. i’m able to share pictures with the community that’s following me and i’m able to be inspired by those photographers that are producing beauty. easily the most used and fun app on my iPhone.

honorable mention | camera+

a lot of my pictures on instagram owe a lot to this handy app. its only $.99 plus i think another $.99 to access all the features, but its totally worth it and make those pictures on instagram pop even more! totally worth it if you like doing some minimal editing and using filters. quite a bit more intensive than instagram, but easy to send your edited pics over to instagram for easy posting.

what apps should i be using? what are your favorites?

top seven tv shows of ele7en

December 23, 2011

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last year this topic was a surprise category after the new year. this year its factored into the schedule. the early evenings coupled with the cold weather leads to lots of tv watching during the fall/winter months in czech. its amazing that after a month in the states how little tv we’ve watched (not including football!). here are the shows that occupy our time during the frost.

se7ven | the voice

i’ve never been a big fan of american idol. yeah, i’ve seen a couple of the finales, but there has never been anything intriguing about it. then came the voice! this is like idol doped up on steroids! its not just competition between the contestants, but also competition between the ~~judges~~ coaches! and this guy LOVES competition. we all know that competition brings out the best (read blake) and worst (read christina) of us and its no different for these superstars. great concept! even if the 49ers get eliminated from the playoffs i’ll still have a reason to look forward to super bowl sunday!

six | new girl

emily has always been a huge fan of zooey deschanel (everything from elf to she&him), so when she saw that she was going to star in her own show it was a must see for us. other than the early departure of damon wayans jr, it has not disappointed. zooey’s character, jess, is so bizarre and quirky and the cast of characters around her (especially schmidt) round out nicely.

five | suits

i don’t even remember who recommended this show to us this summer, but i’m pretty sure we watched the entire first season in a week. the concept (a brilliant, yet lazy, LSAT cheater who gets hired as a lawyer without a degree) is intriguing and the banter between the two lawyers as the experienced, Harvey Spekter, takes the younger, Mike Ross, under his wing is clever. Not to mention Louis Litt, the ego-manic junior partner and rival to Harvey. Great characters and dialog make for an excellent show.

four | game of thrones

if it weren’t for graphic sex in this show, this would probably be my number one show of 2011. it’s a bit too graphic for my taste, but the story-line, characters, and cinematography are brilliant. i have yet to read the books (that will change soon), so i can’t compare or be disappointed. but if the show is an indicator of the quality of the novels, then i’m sure the books will find themselves in my tops of 12.

three | the amazing race

its just simply one of my favorite shows on tv and probably always will be. if i had to make a list of things that i want to do in my life, racing on the amazing race would probably be a top five desire. the problem is that you can’t apply if you live outside of the US…

but fortunately, i am not in charge of organizing our josiah venture amazing race this year, so hopefully i’ll get to race!

two | the walking dead

i love zombies and this show continues to please. the human element is so realistic as the characters try to cope with the loss of loved ones, the loss of new companions, and the continual fear of zombie attack. it also holds in tension the desire for survival with the desire to do what’s right. in a time when everyone could be your enemy, the zombies aren’t always the scariest creatures.

one | up all night

with our son due any time in the next couple of weeks, how could this not be my favorite show! it centers around a fun, partying couple who are dealing with all the adjustments surrounding having their first child. they wrestle with still desiring to be hip and cool (I can relate!), leaving their child for the first time (Will Arnett’s character quietly sings Harry Chapin’s “Cats in the Cradle”), and balancing work (Christina Applegate works and Arnett is a stay-at-home dad). then capping it all off is Maya Rudolph’s character Ava, an Oprah-like talk show host who still treats the couple as if they are without child and has a past as an R&B singer (“Basically” is her hit song-google it!). the show is timely for emily and i as we think about and wrestle with many of the same issues!

top seven instagram pics of ele7en

December 22, 2011

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every picture tells a story. the beauty of phone photography is that you always have your camera with you…you always have a way to capture the moment. these moments are just a quarter of a second, but they capture life. these are the pictures that may or may not be the best i took throughout the year, but tell a story.

i really tried to do a top seven for this, but i just couldn’t narrow it down, so here it is:

top ~~seven~~ ten instagram pics of ele7en:

|ten|
prayer_malenovice, czech republic

every morning during our trainings at malenovice we set aside time for the students to go and pray…to connect to their Lord. i love that some are lying down, some are journaling, some are alone, some are in little groups, but all are connecting to the one who saved them and sustains them.

|nine| the pretty one_berlin, germany

how could i not include a picture of this beauty?! we went to berlin the day before our first group of us teams arrived to get a day to relax and be together. we biked through the city, ate great food, and culminated the trip by seeing death cab for cutie. a perfect day for us before the insanity of the summer began!

|eight| baby boy hughes’ room_cesky tesin

in a few short days our boy will make his appearance! setting up his room and preparing came early for us since we’re in the states for his birth. we love the simplicity of this room and how much joy is going to be brought here!

|se7en| rails_la jolla

we sat on park bench as the day slowly drifted away. people passed. waves crashed. the sun departed.

|six| wrong turn_middle of nowhere, czech republic

emily made a wrong turn as we were driving back from prague one day. the result was this beautiful little country road. good move, babe!

|five| the square_cesky tesin, czech republic

when i first moved to czech i dreamed of living on the town square. over six years later, when our landlord said we had to move, i never thought we’d actually end up in a place with this view!

|four| islands_sveta petar, croatia

this was the view from our balcony on our vacation with emily’s parents! the croatian coast is filled with bumps of land sticking up from the water. we woke up to this every day.

|three| roses_prague

wenseslas square. one of the most iconic places in all of prague. this spring day the clouds were particularly beautiful, but what really gets me is the subtleness of the roses at the bottom of the frame.

|two| the tree_vojkovice, czech republic

i’ve driven by this tree anywhere from five to ten times a week for the past six years. i love it. i’ve dreamed of photographing it. the problem is that its right off the freeway, set in the middle of someone’s field. there are no side roads anywhere near it. so for six years, i’ve driven past it longingly. one morning as i sat in the passenger’s seat on our way to the office, i captured that elusive tree. this is the result.

|one| stumps_lux coffee, phoenix

every once in a while the moment happens where the lighting is perfect and illuminates something that is otherwise ordinary. that is the beauty of photography at its best: when something ordinary or even ugly is made beautiful by someone capturing a moment. this was my moment.