Val's 21st Birthday

Slowly but surely I will be caught up on posts! The good news is each weekend that comes and goes is full of fun times to write about. Better to be behind on posts because of too much to write about than to not have anything to write about at all!

Val’s 21st birthday was February 5^th. I decided that I would go visit her at Liberty and have a party with her closest friends. Her birthday was on a Friday, but I planned to have the party on Thursday night. Val shares a birthday with another friend at Liberty and therefore shares her special day each year. I really wanted her to have her own night with just her closest friends, so Thursday night seemed ideal. When I made up these plans I was still only working at Huntington and had Fridays off. Well once I got the Salem job, Fridays were a work day again. Thankfully my boss gave me the day off. This also gave me a great excuse to tell Val I would see her Friday after I got off work. The get together on Thursday night evolved into a surprise party, making it all the more fun!

Kelsey, Val’s roommate, was magnificent in being a spy for me during the week leading up to the party. She was able to find out what Val’s favorite cake was and also invite all of her friends. The best part of it all was there was a big snowstorm oming in on Friday. Of course Val thinking I was coming Friday evening was left to believe I would not be able to make it due to the road conditions! Kelsey kept texting me about how disappointed Val was that I would not be able to make it. She had no clue! To top it off, my sister Rachel had invited Val to come over her place on Thursday night to catch up, thus setting the stage for the surprise.

Of course things never go completely smoothly. I left work around 6 on Thursday and got to Liberty in plenty of time (the party was to start at 8:30). Problem was I needed to go by Wal-Mart and grab some food and some pictures for Val’s present. Well with the big snowstorm coming, the place was packed! I was starting to stress but thankfully made it over to Rachel’s just in time. All of us went upstairs into the guest room and waited until Val arrived. Rachel brilliantly informed her that she had left a shirt upstairs the last time she was there. Some of her friends gave me the idea to hide in a separate room and come out after the initial surprise. It worked like a charm and Val couldn’t believe it!

We had a great time hanging out and playing some games. Pit was a huge hit among Val's friends. Eventually we brought out the cake and sang happy birthday. My first attempt at cake decorating was a mild success as I baked a double layer yellow cake and decorated it Liberty style! What a fun night filled with God's blessings!

The rest of the weekend was fantastic. The best part of it was that Friday felt like Saturday and Saturday felt like Sunday after which I still had Sunday to head back to Blacksburg and relax! We played some train game, watched a Liberty basketball game, and played some indoor soccer. The indoor soccer fields at Liberty are awesome! I would be in there every day if we had a facility like that at Tech. I eventually got around to giving Val her birthday present: a scrap book titled Life According to Matt and Val, a play off of the Adventure Book in the movie Up. Each page features a different activity that I hope we get to do together including attending a baseball game, hiking the Cascades, seeing Wicked on Broadway, and eating at The Homeplace. Her main gift was located on the page entitled Rock out at a Porcupine Tree Concert. On the page was an envelope containing two tickets to a PT concert in April. I can't wait! You know you are blessed when your girlfriend is a Porcupine Tree fanatic!

God is so good and has surrounded me with incredible people. Val you are so special to me and I am glad to call you my best friend! I can't wait to set out on these adventures together!

More to come soon!

Me and the birthday girl!

Happy Birthday Liberty Flames haha

Make a wish!

A very happy couple

Rachel and Coop

Val's roommate Kelsey and her boyfriend Ethan

Cooper is the best!

The former roommates

All the girls

The whole crew that came to celebrate Val's 21st!

I was waiting for Val to come over so I decided to make a snowman!

We stopped at Sheetz for a quick bite to eat and Kelsey bought Val her 21st
birthday drink: Belly Washers!

At the Liberty basketball game. Go Flames!

Two Weekends with Val (Part 2)

Man, I am way behind on posts again! Picking up where I left off, the next weekend I went to Liberty to see Val. A big snowstorm was on its way so I had to make sure I got there before the roads got too messy. I arrived on Friday night around 7pm and we went to Chic-Fil-A for some food before heading to the Liberty hockey game. Apparently LU really likes their hockey because Val and I had to park really far away from the arena. At first thought, a nice walk together seemed like an enjoyable occasion. This thought lasted until we stepped outside and realized how cold it was! That weekend was one of the coldest I have experienced in a while. We eventually made it to the game and sat with Val's roommate Kelsey and her boyfriend Ethan. The game was very entertaining. Unfortunately, Liberty gave up a two goal lead late and eventually lost in overtime. Despite the loss, it was a good time and I also got to experience one of my top sports moments of all time. Towards the end of the first period a Liberty player checked an Oklahoma player into the Plexiglas in front of us so hard that it shattered! My favorite part was the PA announcer stating, "Due to a crushing hit by #26 Greg Jensen, the remaining 2:32 will be added on to the second period" haha. After saying goodnight, I stayed with some of Val's friends in the dorms. It was fun being back in that atmosphere again, seeing a bunch of guys playing X-box and hanging out in each others rooms.

At the hockey game. The guy in the bottom left was sitting next to me. Interesting fellow to say the least! He definitely loves LU hockey.

Yes they fight even at Liberty!

The result of a crushing hit by #26

When we woke up Saturday morning, there was already a few inches of snow on the ground and more was falling with no stop in sight. My original plan had been to head back on Saturday at some point, but I quickly realized that would not happen! We ate some lunch at The ROT (dining hall) and then had some fun playing in the snow. After playing in the snow for a while, Val and I decided to watch the season 5 finale of LOST since she had not seen it yet. This is where our weekend got really interesting! See, Liberty has these rules where you cannot go into the dorms of the opposite sex and also cannot enter the student centers if you are not a student there. Therefore we had no place to actually hang out together. My sister lives in Lynchburg, but we didn't want to bother her because Craig, her husband, was off from work for the weekend. Our only place of refuge was supposed to be the basketball arena, but even that was closed! After realizing this Val said, "onto plan B" and nothing else. I asked her where we were going but she just said, "You'll see!" A few minutes later we were moving a table around in the laundry room to watch LOST on her computer haha! I guess the laundry room is a big hangout spot for couples at Liberty. So anyways our conclusion was that it was just one big adventure and we had fun with it!

One of my favorites

Enjoying God's artistry

It was cold!

Brandon, Val's friend, tackled her into the snow. Unfortunately, she lost her phone in the process...

Me, Brandon, and Justin

The rest of the day consisted of watching episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" (awesome show that Val now loves!), playing some train game, and driving through the snow in Val's beastly Jeep trying to find someplace to eat. We packed 9 people in her Jeep, most of them guys, and one poor girl from Val's hall squished in the back! Nothing was open so we had to eat back on campus. That was an interested car ride to say the least!

Train Game! Justin scored 134 on his first try! Not as good as Kelsey Hooke though a few days later. She scored 164!

Val and Jenna. Jenna was a brave soul for putting up with all the guys that night!

The weekend concluded with watching the Hokies play on Sunday at Rachel's house. Unfortunately they lost, but it was a great weekend nevertheless. The roads were finally clear by Sunday afternoon and I headed back to Blacksburg. Once again I was reminded of how good my God is and how blessed I am to have a girl in my life who loves Jesus! I will hopefully be updating again soon about Val's birthday weekend and Valentine's Day weekend. Until then, peace in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Two Weekends with Val (Part 1)

God has truly blessed me with a wonderful girl who is in love with Jesus! Val is a woman after God's heart and someone who continually points me to Christ. I am so thankful for that! I really enjoyed hanging out with her the last two weekends; one in Blacksburg and one in Lynchburg. We have each been exposed to the world the other lives in and it has been a fun experience. I think the one thing we have both been able to take away from the last two weekends is that we both have some crazy friends!

Val came down to Blacksburg on a Friday night and we went to Backstreets for dinner. Backstreets was the first restaurant my family and I ate in when I came down to visit Tech for the first time. Sometimes I forget how good it is! After the game we headed back to my apartment and watched the Knicks battle the Lakers. My team gave it a good fight, but the Lakers prevailed in the fourth quarter. Meredith and Josh joined us later and we watched Julie and Julia, a very entertaining movie that exceeded my expectations.

Saturday started with a trip to Cassell Coliseum for the Hokies basketball game vs. Boston College. This was particularly exciting for Val who had not been to a major college sporting event (no offense Liberty fans!). Of course, in classic Tech style, the game came down to the last minute. Dorenzo Hudson scored to put us ahead by one with four seconds left. BC was unable to get a shot off on the other end and the Hokies were victorious! A trip to Rita's capped off the afternoon leaving us all satisfied!

The night cap saw Val and I traveling to Radford to hang out with Matt and Becca and watch the Radford vs. Liberty basketball game. This of course pitted the two of us head to head and unfortunately for me, Liberty surprisingly emerged the victor. Thankfully we survived this brief moment of disagreement in life and had a great time after the game! We played a little train game and a few rounds of hand and foot before returning to Blacksburg. Thanks Matt and Becca for dinner and a fun night!

Sunday was a very special day for me as I was able to take Val to Cambria Baptist and worship together. That church has meant so much to me and I am always blessed to be there each week. Everyone there was so welcoming to Val and made her feel right at home. We even had a new college student come to our Sunday school class! During the fall semester I had been asked to lead an adult Bible study for one of the evening services in January and the day had arrived! I was extremely nervous. I had led many Bible studies for groups of people my age, but never before in front of 20+ people older than me. The topic was parables and featured three from Matthew: The parable of the workers in the vineyard, the parable of the two sons, and the parable of the unmerciful servant. God really taught me a lot in my preparation for the study. Val was such an encouragement and support for me. She was able to help calm my nerves and pray for me throughout the day. Though I was a nervous wreck, God truly blessed me and spoke through me. We had a great discussion and dove deep into the content matter. I based the discussion around one of my favorite Relient K lyrics:

"The beauty of grace is it makes life unfair."

So often we think we have been mistreated and that life is not fair to us. The funny thing is, life is unfair, but not to us! The only thing we deserve is death, yet God sent His son Jesus to die on a cross for us so that we may live. How amazing is His grace!!!! These parables really highlighted the need to forgive others since we have been forgiven.

The night concluded at my apartment watching the Saints Vikings game on tape delay. Every time we DVR a game to watch it on tape delay, someone finds out who won before the game ends by mistake! This time it was Josh, who absentmindedly opened his computer and I guess by habit, navigated to ESPN.com. Hilarity ensued as he had seen that the game was now in OT. He was worried that the DVR was not set to tape long enough so he told us to close out eyes and just trust him. His plan was to add more recording time but he couldn't figure it out. Anyways, thankfully I had set it to record for extra time and we were ok. That night was full of laughter for a variety of reasons. Donny was being his usual ridiculous self, yelling at the top of his lungs to imitate the AMY Bud Light commercial and also was imitating Brett Favre calling the interception play (his favorite play in the playbook). We even played some Bean Game at halftime. All in all, Val had a great time with my friends and got a glimpse of why I say I have been blessed with the best friends in the world. Val and I watched a few episodes of The Honeymooners and The Big Bang Theory before heading to bed. Val left in the morning and I began another week. We were both exhausted after a wonderful weekend! Praise God for all He has done through this relationship so far.

Part 2 coming soon discussing the next weekend in Lynchburg!

Phil trying to bend the spoon back with his mind, Matrix style

Doesn't she look great in orange and maroon?

Hokies win!

The Edge Conference

Once again I am catching up on posts! Over the MLK holiday weekend, our youth group from Cambria Baptist Church went to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for the Edge Conference. We had six youth go, along with me and another leader. We had a great time hanging out together and growing in our Lord Jesus Christ. The best part was our accommodations. We originally had two rooms, one for the guys and one for the girls. We had plenty of room for the guys but were not given a roll away for the girls. Carrie, the other leader, knows the head of the conference well so she asked him to help us out. A few minutes later she had a key to another room, only to find out it was for the Honeymoon Suite! We all had a good laugh over it and enjoyed the spacious room to hang out in during our free time.

The speakers were really good. Craig Tackett and Sammy Knuckles preached all weekend about having a new mindset and attitude when approaching the idea of church. The worship band was awesome as well and we even were treated to a few illusionist acts. God really blew me away with how much it means to high school students to be given the freedom to enjoy a weekend together in place away from home. There were moments where my patience was tested, but all in all it was a great time. I really hope this trip helps lay the foundation for a great year together growing in our faith and seeking Jesus further.

When I got home I did not get around to posting pictures on facebook right away. Of course my youth were waiting in anticipation and eventually told me to hurry up! I had a few minutes of down time at work and was able to upload the photos. Usually the next step is to tag the photos with the names of the people in them, but I received a phone call and needed to step away from my computer for a bit. I came back 20 minutes later and every picture was tagged and commented on! My email had about 150 messages in it telling me about each photo tag and comment. It was great to see my youth discussing how much fun they had and how they wished they were back at the Edge conference. God really taught me a lot about how these kids look up to me and the other college students who attend our church. What was just another weekend for me ended up being the time of their lives! I look forward to seeing how God uses me to help lead this youth group in 2010 and how He is going to work in each of their individual lives. Please pray for the youth of Cambria Baptist Church. We are a small group but a group seeking after God's heart each week!

The Honeymoon Suite!

We had a hot tub!

Hanging in the suite!

All the youth

Our lunch destination on Sunday afternoon

Outside the Old Mill

These guys were outside a diner we ate at. Unfortunately that was the highlight of the dinner because the food was not so great

Inside the diner

The girls with Sammy Knuckles

The girls with the worship band

At every worship gathering, two girls were up front painting different pictures. These then went up for auction. Here are a few from the weekend.

Rachel and Craig's Wedding

I had the pleasure of going home for around ten days to celebrate Christmas with my family and take part in my sister Rachel's wedding. These ten days may have been the most eventful of my life! Usually Christmas is the most exciting time over break but this time it was the calm before the storm. This was the last Christmas we would spend together before things change with the weddings and such. I am so blessed to have an awesome family which enjoys quality time with each other!

Wednesday kicked off the wedding madness as most of the wedding party arrived. We all took the train into New York City to show people around and see the tree. Though it was cold and very crowded, we enjoyed our time. My favorite part of the evening was when we ate at a pizza place. The guy in there was a true New Yorker and was trying to get everyone to order and move through the line quickly. I loved seeing the expressions on the faces of those not used to the pace of New York living haha! That night we enjoyed playing games and having good conversation.

New Years Eve was a time of food and fellowship. Normally we only have us five at our house so having 15 or so was a blast! Most of us watched the Hokies crush Tennessee 37-14. The rest of the night was spent playing games and watching the Honeymooners! New Years Day started the wedding festivities as the groomsmen all picked up their tuxedos and the bridesmaids had their nails done. The rehearsal was that night at Hillside Church, a place we called home for many years. Many memories flooded into my head as I walked around the church before the rehearsal. It was great to see Colby again (youth pastor from high school and wedding officiator) along with his wife Stacey and two kids. I also really enjoyed seeing so much of my family come together for this joyous occasion.

The rehearsal was the first time it truly dawned on me that my baby sister was getting married. When I saw dad walk her down the aisle, the tears started flowing! I knew I had a tall task ahead of me the next day, trying to keep myself together before singing a song. Thankfully I was able to get through the ceremony alright. It was when I hugged her in the receiving line that I completely lost it! Rachel was a beautiful bride! I couldn't be happier for her. She has married a wonderful, godly man who will love her and take care of her for as long as they live.

I have never enjoyed myself as much as I did at the reception. Dances have always been a mixed bag for me. Most times not many people want to dance and it ends up being very boring. Thankfully, on this day, everyone was ready to have a good time! I have never seen my mom and dad have so much fun. After a few minutes of encouragement, my dad took the dance floor and never stopped! This is coming from a very reserved individual who rarely shows much emotion. I asked my mom if it reminded her of when they were younger and she literally told me , "No! Dad has never been like this!" You could just see the joy on the faces of my parents. They had spent a year planning for this day, and were finally able to relax and watch it unfold. Another blessing was how well everyone in the wedding party got along. We all had a blast together and all spent most of our time on the dance floor. We danced to classics such as "The Cupid Shuffle," "The Cha Cha Slide," and "Don't Stop Believing." Even all the little kids at the reception were busting a move. It was great having my best friend Kevin there to partner with me in the quest to be the most ridiculous looking people at the party! What a day!

As if the week was not already incredible enough, I had the pleasure to spend a lot of time with a wonderful girl who was a part of my sister's bridal party. Her name is Val and she was my sister's roommate for 2 1/2 years. We had started talking during the month leading up to the wedding, and I developed a strong interest in her. I had prayed a lot about pursuing a relationship with her and had discussed it at length with my sister and my parents. We had a great time together during the wedding week and she accompanied me to drive Rachel and Craig to the hotel after the reception. I invited her to church the next morning and she obliged. At lunch I expressed my interest and she returned it. After some discussion we decided it was time to enter into a relationship. It is my prayer that this relationship will be completely devoted to Christ and be about Him and not us. God has already blessed us through great conversation and I am excited to see what He has in store for us as we continue to seek His will!

I am now back in VA and looking forward to what 2010 brings. One thing I know is that God is good and He has my life in His hands!

Four cousins together in NYC!

The whole group at Grand Central

At the rehearsal dinner

Mr. and Mrs. Cooper!

Me and dad looking sharp

My favorite picture from the week!

Val and I

The three former roommates or as Rachel likes to say "ex" roommates!

My second family

I love this one!

Aunt Patty and Patricia

Grandma and Uncle Ed

Great shot of mother and son!

Mom's cousin Denise and her family

I love you Rachel!

The groomsmen!

The old Hillside crew!

One big happy family!