The Smith Story Blog

NEW ADDRESS FOR THE SAME BLOG

2009-03-08T23:13:00.003-05:00

The Smith Story blog has a new address: http://thesmithstory.com - please update your links, bookmarks, rss feeds, notepads, pieces of paper, etc. etc. I won't be posting to this site anymore, I have a permanent home now. You can still post comments and enjoy all the random postings.
This one will continue to live on but will be stunted at it's current state.

Thanks so much.

Ryan Smith

One room down...

2009-02-17T17:27:00.001-06:00

One room down..., originally uploaded by Jayfavre.

So a few weekends ago we began the house renovation project. After closing on the house just 4 days earlier, it was time to pull out the carpet and start priming the walls. We used an oil based primer called Kilz, we needed the strongest primer we could find, the house had been filled with cigarette smoke for years, tar in air can do some nasty things.

For 5 days we worked on the house in the time that we could, and then on Wednesday, we met there for house church. We had a time of worship and praying and writing scriptures on the walls. This house being symbolizing what we are praying to see happen in the Village (our neighborhood) going from dark to light! It was an encouraging time for me, I sense God's hand in our community calling us out and showing us the fruit that is there. It is a fun time in our house church and house churches! We multiplied recently, meaning our one house church is now three house churches that meet at three different homes. The really fun and exciting thing about it is that we are planning to do monthly celebrations in the Village starting in March. All three HCs coming together in some random place in the Village to pray, worship and contend for this neighborhood! I can't wait! More on that for sure!

back to the house - it will be a prayer house will we are fixing it up. Anyone is welcome to come, getaway and spend time with him for an hour or evening. Ok ok, more on that later too.

rjs

Favre: I learned 'it was time to hang it up'

2009-02-13T20:57:00.002-06:00

Favre: I learned 'it was time to hang it up'

Posted using ShareThis

Well, again, I thank him for a great 18 years, wow, over half of my life! I'm glad this last season happen, gave me some time to ween myself off of watching him play every Sunday for the team I loved for the past 17 years. I agree with his decision, I did not agree with it last year, coming off of a 13-3 season, but this year, yes, I see it and am glad he is going out with his head held high.

Sunny Day

2009-01-24T17:47:00.001-06:00

DSC_0058.JPG, originally uploaded by Jayfavre.

We had a sunny day recently and Adriane took some shots of Graham outside - this is one of my favorite ones these days.

Goalie

2009-01-24T17:35:00.001-06:00

Goalie, originally uploaded by Jayfavre.

So last weekend we went up to Tulsa for a birthday party for Mallory Gumtow, she turned 2. Her mom and Graham's mom are great friends. Anyway, we let the kids loose in the back and Graham started playing with the soccer ball, he dribbled it like he knew what he was doing. It was fun. Here is his 'I just stopped you from scoring the winning point' pose.

A New Adventure

2009-01-24T15:48:00.003-06:00

Several months ago we were presented with a surprise offer. The house next door to ours became vacant. Several years ago an elderly lady lived there but she had sinced died. Her adult son continued to live there but he was not in a state to live on his own so his family came and took him. One afternoon another son of the lady who once lived there was up from Texas to clean out the house and to get it ready to be sold. I began to talk with him and after several conversations, and a really good deal, we became the people that he would sell it to. We are planning to close on this house next Friday, we are excited.

So no, we are not moving one house over, we are staying in ours. Our plan is to fix it up, which it needs, and then provide it with some amazing renters that we pray God will bring. Something really fun in the mean time, while we are fixing it up, painting, updating the bathrooms and kitchen and removing the popcorn ceilings, we are hoping to make it a prayer house in the Village(the name of our neighborhood). We want it to be used by our house church to meet in, and pray, and write our prayers on the wall and contend for our neighborhood for the Kingdom. Early on Adriane had said she hoped it would become a 'light' house here in our neighborhood. We are excited about having a place to meet that is solely dedicated to praying for our neighborhood. We are thinking it might take 3-4 months for us to get it ready to rent, so that's alot of good praying that can happen.

Here are a couple of pics of it. No inside ones to show just yet, but I do hope to have alot of before and after pics in the near future. I'm looking forward to learning how to do alot of this stuff, I got a book from Christmas entitled "Complete Home Improvement with 300 project & 2000 photos." That should get me started. I also have some great resources in friends, who not only love doing this kind of stuff but actually know what they are doing, pretty nice. Ok, so hopefully more after we close next week.

A & G

2009-01-22T09:40:00.001-06:00

A & G, originally uploaded by Jayfavre.

My two most favorite people in the world!

Graham does what he does every night...Dance!

2009-01-20T22:05:00.003-06:00

Graham loves music, he loves dancing, in fact he would rather watch music videos than cartoons - daddy likes that alot. Well, anyway, we grabbed our camera and captured some of his moves tonight. He is into gospel music these days, one other proud side note, a song with a piano solo came on and he looked up and said 'Pi' which means 'Piano' - proud father here.

Crazy love

2009-01-18T21:41:00.004-06:00

"A person who is obsessed with Jesus is more concerned with his or her character than comfort. Obsessed people know that true joy doesn't depend on circumstances or environment; it is a gift that must be chosen and cultivated, a gift that ultimately comes from God (James 1:2-4)"

Adriane bought me this book for Christmas, and I started it last week, it felt so good to make time to read a book, something I want to do more of this year, '08 found me starting many books but not finishing a one, I want to finish those I start this year and I am on my way with the first one. Crazy Love is written by Francis Chan, a pastor in Cali. Adriane and I got to hear him speak a few years ago in Atlanta at the Catalyst conference, our good friend Jeremie Kubicek oversees the company that puts on Catalyst - the reason we went out there. Anyway, I became an instant fan of Francis Chan. I could tell while he was speaking that he was just letting us in on his journey with Jesus. Nothing fancy, speaking of what he has seen and heard in Jesus and what he wants to experience in Him. This book is a continuation of that journey.

It has warmed my heart again for the important things that find themselves on the back burners of our hearts, where the burner is on low. It is a book of passionate simplicity & truth about always being obsessed with Jesus. And it causes me to respond to Jesus with praise and to ask for a deeper obsession with this one that loves me with an unfailing love! If you are someone tired or are just feeling numb, I recommend this book. Let Jesus speak to you through it. As Chan talks about the greatness and vastness of God, let it sink in. He is truly a God that our tiny minds cannot even begin to grasp, and since he is nothing but good, that is such an exciting thing.

Another cool bonus with the book is that there are video clips, that if you choose, you can watch online as you read each chapter. I did a few, not necessary but does help you to digest the truth you are reading.
Enjoy.

Graham eats his first Sonic burger!

2009-01-16T19:06:00.000-06:00

Dancing @ new years!

2008-12-31T22:55:00.000-06:00

Favre's Last Day

2008-12-28T18:44:00.001-06:00

My boy, originally uploaded by Jayfavre.

I believe that today was Favre's last day to play in the NFL. I will miss him. Since '95, I have been enjoying my fall Sundays with him and the Pack. It was a hard transition this season moving to the Jets. They made me frustrated alot, poor coaching all around, but I was still grateful to get one more season with the player that I have great memories with.

I have loved every minute of watching one of the greatest players to ever play the game.

Our Family

2008-12-26T17:19:00.001-06:00

Our Family, originally uploaded by Jayfavre.

My Fam

2008-12-26T17:07:00.001-06:00

Our Family, originally uploaded by Jayfavre.

Have I blogged lately about how much I love my son? Well, I should, because if i did it would say that he was so much fun on Christmas day. He laughed, played and enjoyed all his presents and all his family. I would say that God has given him such a sweet light hearted personality, and one that loves to love on people. If I were to blog, I would also say that his mother is such a great woman and loves on him really well. I would also say that this beautiful women loves on me really well too. Anyway, if I were to blog today, these are the things I would say...I love my family.

Fly Fishing with our Friends

2008-11-11T20:57:00.005-06:00

Some pictures from this past weekend of fly fishing with friends. It is an annual trip we have taken 3 years in a row. When we started there were no kids, now there are two! Who knows what next year could look like. I am so thankful for our friends, it is always a good time of getting way, doing a little bit of fishing, eating way to much good food and laughing alot, as well as watching some college football. It always goes way to fast but we always make great memories each year. This year's memories will have to do with Pete losing his iphone, finally we found it right before we left in the strangest spot in the recliner, of course it was on vibrate. I know that doesn't sound that fun, but we were looking through the leaves, trash, couches (multiple times) and every other odd spot in that cabin, for some reason I thought it was funny after the fact of finding it. Anyway, here are some pics of the trip, lots of Graham because we always take lots of pics of him.

Hey a couple of shout outs here. Our good friend Quincy and his wife had a little baby boy named Ezra Mason, I can't wait to see pics. Also, our other friends, the Audis, had a baby boy over the weekend, named Josiah Daniel, I had guessed the middle name before he was born so that is kinda like I helped name him, pretty cool!

At the game.

2008-11-01T20:29:00.000-05:00

The Fall (or I Never Knew How Much I Needed You)

2008-10-03T10:33:00.002-05:00

A little over 5 years ago I moved back to Oklahoma, a little over 5 years ago not only a new chapter in my life began but a whole new book, a sequel to the first 28 years of my life. 5 years ago I met this beautiful girl in the backyard of a friend's house, where just 20 minutes before I had prayed a simple prayer of 'Lord, I love these people, if you were to give me a wife, I pray it would be from these people?' and then He graciously did! You see, I had been praying in the year of the desert for community, a church, to go deeper with the Lord and to be known. When I stepped into this house church in this backyard, I felt it, I knew that the Lord has heard my prayers and I would find out soon how much he loved to answer those prayers. Not only did I fall madley in love with that beautiful girl I met there, but she even fell in love with me and we were married within a year. The community? I really couldn't ask for more, I feel so blessed and have seen the goodness of God over the past 5 years, more than I can imagine.
Every Fall season, I reflect on my move to Oklahoma, on how this life began just 5 years ago but how rich it has been. Rich in love, family, community, God, the Holy Spirit - rich, rich! My heart is full of His richness and I love it. Now the last 5 years have not been without it challenges too, but that is life in a fallen world, where we have been hurt and have hurt others. But through the challenges we still get to get closer to Him, the one who loves us in every moment of every circumstance. One consistent challenge has been the health of my ears. When I arrived to Oklahoma in 2003, I began to experience tinnitus in my ears, tinnitus is a constant ringing in one's ears. And it began in both of mine. At first it was really hard to deal with, I felt like I was even battling depression, but over time God gave me so much grace to handle it, I began to live with it but continued to pray for healing from it. This past 10 months I felt like I needed to rise up and battle it again. I did alot the first year but nothing changed. It seemed to be getting worse this year and I did not want this to defeat me. So I began seeing more doctors, praying so much more and trying anything that promised relief. A month ago I went to an ENT that I had first seen 5 years ago. He found a cyst on my left ear drum, called Cholesteatoma. He recommended for me to get a tube, with the hope that he could clean it out and that the tube would allow air to bring healing to it. Now understand, this could easily be related to the ringing but the cyst is also a symptom of something else wrong, not the main problem. The main problem being with my Eustachian tubes not working properly. So this morning I went and got a CT Scan of my head, mainly my ears. The doctor needs to see how big the cyst is on the inside of the ear drum, in the middle ear. Then surgery to remove it. I am sitting at Starbucks, about to cross the street to the hospital to find out the prognosis. yes, I am nervous, no i do not want surgery. Yes, Lord, Jesus, I want healing! But as I sit here waiting, I am encouraged by the goodness of God, He has not left me alone. I have felt his presence and nearness even more over the past few months. His grace and his mercy to me. I have felt his love through the people who have prayed weepingly for me. I have felt his realness in my life as I wake up to ringing yet feel joyful about the day.
The Fall brings many things. This Fall I am remembering and seeing how much I really need Him...I am so thankful He responses and fills my need.
Ok, off to the doctor.
RJS

At the park

2008-09-19T14:06:00.000-05:00

Graham's first real swing. He loved it. He is 15 months old. Freakin'
crazy!

The Great State Fair of Oklahoma!

2008-09-19T13:28:00.007-05:00

Thursday night after work, Adriane, Graham and I ventured out to the 2008 Oklahoma State Fair. Graham's first time to the fair. He was excited about seeing the animals, mom and dad were excited about the food - we like food. Anyway, we went to the petting zoo, then people watched some, then we got dinner and finally back to see more animals. Needless to say Graham really loved the animals. While we were in the horse barn, thanks to the smell, I was taken back to my childhood days of when I showed pigs, those were good days, you know, showin' pigs and all.

Petting the animals...

and washing his hands.

almost like a foreign city...almost.

Adriane's favorite place to eat. Once a year, it is Dan's Famous Indian Tacos for dinner.

"Hey Dad, I love the animals!"

Dad's So Proud!

2008-09-19T13:28:00.001-05:00

Sharing iTunes with Anyone!

2008-08-18T17:03:00.005-05:00

So I have really been getting into this new add-on software for your music sharing experience. It is called SimplifyMedia - found here. After you download the small program, it installs itself and can be used through whatever music program you use, I choose itunes. So what happens is that if a friend signs up and downloads it as well, we swap user names and then whenever my friend is online, I can listen to his itunes and he can listen to mine. You can have up to 30 friends you are sharing music with. You do not download their music, that would be illegal, all you can do is click on it and listen to it. If they are not online it will not show up in your itunes. Already I have several friends here that are signed up and I found a few screen names online who have similar taste in music as I do and I am sharing their music, crazy, I don't even know these people but it is fun to listen to their music. Check it out and do it if you like. Once you are signed up, invite me, you will see how to do it, real user friendly. My screen name is: jayfavre

Here are some screen shots of it:

Hiking in Colorado

2008-08-16T12:39:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago 5 of us guys went to the Sangre de Christo Mountains in Colorado. We hiked, camped & fly fished for the weekend. It was so great and refreshing. The hike was pretty tough but way worth it once we arrived. I filmed a little bit and then threw some music to it. Also, check out Pete's blog for more great pics - (his link is on the right side, over there, look to your right, see it? Yeah, yeah, that's it, click on it, you will like it.)
Enjoy.

Big Pop Bottle

2008-08-09T18:02:00.001-05:00

In Edmond, OK there is a gas station/eatery that is called Pops. We
got a pop there today. They have hundreds to choose from. Very fun.

At the John Mayer concert... The power is out.

2008-08-01T19:39:00.000-05:00

So we are waiting.

The Colorado Rockies

2008-07-27T22:14:00.001-05:00

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Beautiful.

2008-07-25T09:02:00.000-05:00

On the trail.

2008-07-25T07:51:00.000-05:00

First car

2008-07-11T19:35:00.000-05:00

Learning to drive.

Driving home from work today.

2008-07-07T18:05:00.000-05:00

While listening to the new Sigur Ros cd. Maybe that is why I thought
this average road looked beautiful today.

My One Year Old

2008-06-30T22:37:00.002-05:00

I am so far behind in posts, I really do have ones I want to post on here. But I can't miss my little boy turning one- it happened on the 18th. I can't believe it.
He is such a joy and blessing to me. I can't wait to see all the things Jesus has in store for this little boy who will becoming a bigger boy and then one day be a full grown man. I pray that he will be more than just a man but a man who fears, loves and enjoys the Lord. A man who leads & loves with the joy and strength of Jesus and is crazy about the Holy Spirit in him. This is my prayer for this man one day, this is my prayer for this boy now. I am quite fond of him.
rjs

Fremont Dr. Garage Sale

2008-06-06T23:33:00.002-05:00

We had a garage sale in the beginning of May. We did it to help pay for our California Drive - it did. We asked 4 of our friends to join up with us and we had a huge sale with a really good turn out.

We pulled everything out the night before and Pete and I decided to
just spend the night outside with it all, much easier than trying to
put it back into the garage, it wouldn't have fit anyway, and then pull
it all out again, plus, it is fun to sleep outside.

If you are LOST fans like me and Adriane then you will appreciate
this. At 6:26am I was sound asleep. You know how
Jack and the other characters will wake up suddenly and dramatically
with the viewer seeing nothing but their eye, focus in on my eye. At 6:27am I woke up quickly, took in a quick deep breathe and turned my head to see this Asian lady standing perfectly still and staring at me from about
10 feet away - freaky. I really thought to myself "is she real?" "what
does she want to tell me?" "when will I get off this island?" Later I found out, after Pete and I scared her, that she didn't see me at all even though it seemed like she did. Strange. She was a professional garage sale shopper, we kept telling her we were not open yet but she kept saying it was ok, she would just box up what she wanted and then ask the price. So, reluctantly we got up and started selling, there was a constant flow starting withthe Asian lady all the way until 4pm later that day. It took me several days to recover from a night of poor sleep, the Lost episode and a day of constant garage selling.

We are up for doing it again next year - our vision is to get our whole street to do a Fremont Drive Garage Sale and it will become a tradition in our neighborhood.

They're Having a Boy!

2008-06-06T23:06:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to celebrate with our good friends Daniel & Kim Audi that they just found out that a little boy Audi is on the way. Graham will have a long distance (all the way to Ft. Worth) friend he can talk to and e-mail one day soon. We are really happy and excited for them!

Cali Recap

2008-06-02T22:45:00.000-05:00

We had a great time on our California PCH vacation. We took over 450 pictures, not enough room on this blog to post them all, I did put a few online, so here is a slideshow of them. We had a great time on our first family vacation:

We saw our great friend Allyson
We ate at In-N-Out (twice)
We ate dinner with Joe(also a great friend) & Allyson over looking San Diego
Ate breakfast at Kono's on Pacific Beach
Got stuck in traffic in LA
Introduced Adriane & Graham to Catricia, a friend from Turkey days
Ate at El Compadres on Sunset Blvd.
Met a guy named Caesar who loved Graham
Watched Graham make friends everywhere he went
Saw the Hollywood sign
Saw the new Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel (the old one was bought by a friend of ours off of ebay...really)
Saw Malibu
Had a coffee in Santa Barbara
Stayed at the Cottage Inn by the sea in Pismo Beach, had a fireplace
Found a shell for Graham
Drove through so many little towns on the PCH
Saw Elephant Seals
Ate Hawaiian food in Monterey
Saw the exit for Apple headquarters
Stayed in a Jr. suite in San Fran (surprise upgrade)
Graham fell and bruised up his nose (it has healed quickly)
Ate Sunday morning brunch at Crepevine
Visited our favorite winery in Sonoma
Ate dinner with our good friend Kenny at our favorite Italian place in San Fran
Graham was Mr. Popular at that restaurant
Drove through China Town
Bought granola at Trader Joes
Spent 6 full days with my wife and son!!!

Homeward Bound

2008-05-26T22:43:00.000-05:00

After a great trip we are all a little worn out. More pics to come.
Now we are resting.

Poor nose

2008-05-26T22:41:00.000-05:00

Graham took a nose dive in SF. He still was a happy traveler.

This is my favorite Grocery store.

2008-05-26T22:39:00.000-05:00

Trader Joes

H&M

2008-05-26T13:40:00.000-05:00

If I were to have a favorite clothing store, this would be it.

Driving over the Golden Gate bridge

2008-05-25T16:07:00.000-05:00

Heading to Sonoma.

Sunday morning at The Crepevine in San Fran

2008-05-25T15:00:00.001-05:00

PCH.

2008-05-25T14:59:00.001-05:00

Beautiful

2008-05-25T13:12:00.001-05:00

On the coast

2008-05-25T13:10:00.000-05:00

Pismo Beach

2008-05-24T12:48:00.000-05:00

With a fireplace...

2008-05-24T12:47:00.002-05:00

Pismo Beach

2008-05-24T12:47:00.001-05:00

Our room on the beach.

Java Jones in Santa Barbara

2008-05-23T23:04:00.001-05:00

Graham enjoying some Java. By the way, our little Graham has made so
many Californians smile, he doesn't meet a stranger. We have some good
stories already.

Santa barbara

2008-05-23T20:46:00.000-05:00

Slowly heading up the coast.

Graham meets mickey.

2008-05-23T20:35:00.000-05:00

If we are in Cali Graham has to see Mickey.

We love In-n-Out!

2008-05-22T16:19:00.000-05:00

Pacific Beach

2008-05-21T13:30:00.000-05:00

Graham's first beach

Breakfast

2008-05-21T12:27:00.000-05:00

By the ocean. It feels great.

2008-05-21T01:44:00.000-05:00

Madness at the SD airport. We arrived.

On the plane

2008-05-20T19:17:00.000-05:00

The stroller made it. Graham is happy.

OKC Airport

2008-05-20T18:41:00.000-05:00

Here is mom feeding G man before we get on the plane. We forgot our
stroller so Pam is bringing it to us, its a race against the clock
right now, hopefully she will make it.

Took My Chances on a Big Jet Plane...

2008-05-19T22:31:00.003-05:00

We are about to take off to California for a little family get-a-way! I should be finishing up packing but I am excited and wanted to share my excitement with those who read out blog.

We are heading to San Diego to see a good friend who recently moved out there, then we are driving up to LA, seeing a friend from years past and my stomping grounds back in 2002. Adriane has never been to LA so we are going to be tourist, I can't wait! After a few days there we will be heading up the 101 and the 1, the PCH, to San Fran. We really can't wait to see this long stretch of coastline, I know we will be amazed by the beauty. Then in San Fran it is wine country again. We went two years ago on Memorial day weekend and had such a great time that we wanted to go back again. We toured Sonoma last time, this time we are going to go through Napa.

We will also get to meet up with a great friend in San Fran, and introduce him to Graham! Yes, our little Grahamy is coming with us, we couldn't leave him behind, he is too much fun! This will be his second trip, we took a quick trip to Atlanta when he was 4 months old, so he knows planes now.

Be checking our blog, I am going to put to use the technology available to us these days. I hope to post pictures and quick blogs about where we are. It will be fun! Pray for safety and rest and a really great time for us together!

Thanks,

RJS

ps - listening to 'Going to California' by Zeppelin, ahh, so nice!

Ready to Go!

2008-05-19T22:14:00.003-05:00

Hey Dad, I heard we are taking a family vacation to California, but do I really have to ride in the suitcase?

But it is kinda scary in here, are you sure this is the best thing for me?

I was thinking something...if I ride with you and mom then there will be more room in the suitcase for your clothes!

(Dad is such a pushover)

We Did It!

2008-05-05T17:41:00.001-05:00

So it has taken me over a week to post the results of our Marathon Relay, don't know why I can run in that but be so lazy in blogging, I guess it is low on my list, even though I love keeping up with it - explain that.
Anyway, we did it, and we all did much better than we expected. It was a little cold and rainy that Sunday morning, I had the second leg, a 5K, and I was running into the north wind, lucky I trained here in Oklahoma where it is windy 10 months out of the year, the other two months it is really windy!
If you are a runner and live near this great state you must put it on your calendar. It is a fun experience that we hope to be a part of every year, I think I heard there were something like 17 thousand people participating this year. My sister sang the national anthem to start the race off, a great honor for her, I think the second time she has been asked to do it. She also sang her new song - Faith in You - if you haven't heard it, I recommend it. In fact her new album is really good, check it out here on iTunes.
Ok, back to the race. Here are some photos of us after we ran. I think our time was something like 4 hours and 20 minutes, but I can't remember for sure. Adriane and I are going to keep at it, it is good for us.

Less than a week

2008-04-21T23:28:00.002-05:00

The Memorial Marathon Relay is happening this coming Sunday and for the first time ever, I am excited about running a 5K. I guess alot of it has to do with that I actually somewhat trained for this race. Several weeks ago I showed the one mile run I was starting out with, there were days when it was really rough on me. But then it began to feel better, so I upped it to two miles, it was tough but I did it. Today I ran 2.3 miles - here's what that looks like. My goal this week is to get up to around 2.75 and then come Sunday, leave it all on the field and do the 3.1!!!!! Adriane is running in it too and she is doing a great job in training, it will be a fun day for the Smith fam.

RJS

Currently what I am seeing!

2008-04-04T15:03:00.000-05:00

Graham's first trip to Sams (and sitting in the cart)

2008-03-30T22:54:00.001-05:00

Graham's First Swim Lessons

2008-03-30T22:40:00.003-05:00

We took Graham to a few swim lessons at the YMCA a few weeks ago. I would rush home from work, Adriane and Graham would have their swim suits on, I would throw mine on and head over to the Y, about 1 minute from our house. He loves the water, we are getting him ready for the summer at Grandma & Pop's house, lots of fun swim time.

Light Art

2008-03-30T22:35:00.001-05:00

Some more light art from a few weeks ago - there's alot I want to post!

@ the Zoo.

2008-03-10T22:31:00.004-05:00

The next day after the fried birthday party, we had temps around 75 to 80 degrees here so, for the first time, Adriane and I packed up the car, put on a fitting outfit for Graham and headed for the OKC Zoo! It was such a fun day with the family. Graham loved the animals, I have told anyone who will listen that the Black Bears were his favorite, he was either really excited or really scared or really pooping in his pants when they were around. I tried to buy him a little black bear stuffed animal at the end of the day but when I showed it to him, he cried, maybe a bit young for such a ferocious animal.
Here are some great shots from the day. We took over 250 pics, I will spare you some.

My Birthday - pt 2

2008-03-10T22:01:00.005-05:00

Friday night, celebrate with friends! It's on! To usher in the finality of my 33rd year while thrusting me forward into 34, I felt the best way to accomplish this would be over some fried chicken! Reminds me of a friend I had who said once to a lady at Churches Chicken, who was African-American "You don't like Chicken???". Moving on. If you live in OKC then you have probably been to Eischens Bar in Okarche, the place is old as the hills and famous for all things fried. Again, I found myself eating with my hands, the trend continues. No plates, just paper with fried goodness on it. We all enjoyed it so much. Cold beer and hot food.

After we had our fill we headed back to the house for a great cake that Adriane, my lovely one, made for me. We sat around and hung out and then Adriane brings in a blindfold and ties it around my head, seriously, what was going on? I had told Adriane for the past 3 or 4 months how fun it would be to have an electric guitar, not sure why but I have been wanting to expand my guitar playing and thought an electric just might give me the little nudge I needed to go for it. Well, she heard me talking about it and she along with my good friend Pete did something about it. They asked alot of our close friends to chip in, got Jaime, a friend who knows guitars to look for one and he found the right one for me. And they gave it to me this night - I was and continue to be happy, I love it. I have been playing it alot and have yet to buy an amp, it is coming. I did plug it into Garageband and have made some pretty cool tunes, but it will be so nice to hear it in the electric raw soon.

Thanks friends for blessing me so much. Playing the guitar had gotten a little stale over the past few years. I have already experienced more life playing the blue electric than I had over the past year. Fun.

My Birthday - pt 1

2008-03-07T18:54:00.002-06:00

On February 26th, 2008 I turned 33. To celebrate this joyous day, my wife always does something really special for me. This year was no exception. I went to work that day but left a little earlier so I could come home and spend more time with my family. Great part of the day. Around 6pm my sister came over to babysit Graham, that was one of her gifts to me because Adriane was taking me out to dinner! I always try to guess whenever she is surprising me, she doesn't like it because sometimes I guess it and and because she can't lie very well, I then know that I guessed it. But this time, I tried and tried but I didn't get it, not even close. We drove to a part of the city that we don't normally go, and I didn't know any restaurants in that area, so then it got fun, I had no idea. We arrived and I found that she brought me to a place called 'Queen of Sheba' an Ethiopian Restaurant here. I had heard of it and had been wanting to try it but had no idea where it was. It almost had the place to ourselves. The only other people that were there were people that we actually knew from church, pretty funny, once they left we did have the place to ourselves. The food their was great, I mean really great. Ethiopian food requires that you eat with your hands (see above) and you do this by using a bread called Injera, it is a spongy type bread that when soaked in the sauce and covering some good lamb, chicken or beef is really tasty. We also tried some Ethiopian wine, I see why the Ethiopians are not known for their wine, but it was still fun. After we finished off a Queen of Sheeba Sample Platter, we had a piece of Chocolate cake. Although I have had Ethiopian coffee before and it is really good, we decided to go somewhere else for dessert. There is a place that opened a year or so here called Cocoflow. Lots of yummy chocolate and drinks. We hung out there and then headed home.
Thanks babe for being such a loving wife!

Favre Retires - For Real.

2008-03-04T10:10:00.003-06:00

Well, this time it looks to be true...I am sad.

Favre Retires (for 4 minutes)

2008-02-28T14:32:00.002-06:00

This is a screen capture from www.packers.com - it was a page that was accidently published and only for 4 minutes, then it was taken down. The story is not true from what everyone is saying but just 4 minutes of a website has caused a pretty big stir in the football community.
My heart skipped a few beats when I saw it which makes me realize I am not ready for him to retire, he still has alot left in him. But I am really curious about the coming days. I can't imagine the web developers at packers.com would know anything before an official announcement by Favre himself but we shall see...

Light Drawing...(part 1)

2008-02-27T23:40:00.003-06:00

So I have been seeing this new movement in art (not sure if it is new, new to me) and was so curious as to how it is done. So, finally I looked it up on line and now Adriane and I are Light Artist!
These are a few from our first portfolio. Once we get better at it we will post more, it is really fun to do.

Hang out times

2008-02-27T22:49:00.001-06:00

Some of my favorite times at night are when I am on the iMac and Adriane is on the Powerbook and we are either updating our blog, reading the latest on Facebook or just surfing the internet for news and stories all while hanging out and talking in between loading pages. Some may say it is not good quality time, well, I'm not sure but I do know we enjoy it and always have fun.

I couldn't help capturing a pic of my beautiful wife in our hang out time.

Running

2008-02-25T21:52:00.003-06:00

Just as it has for my wife (thanks babe), it has begun for me...preparing for the Marathon Relay we are running in April. We had a great day of weather here so as soon as I got home from work, I threw on my running clothes, plugged my headphones in to a U2 mix, stretched and hit the road. I didn't just run willy nilly now, I used www.mapmyrun.com. If you haven't checked it out before you should. It encourages me to run and as I made my map, I see that a mile really doesn't look that bad. I haven't run in over a year so mapmyrun has already made it a little easier.

The run tonight? It went well, had to walk some towards the end, that's the way it goes. But I will keep the U2 on and keep adding trails to the map, still have around 2 months to go. I hope to map the progress on here too.

The Return of the King

2008-02-19T16:37:00.003-06:00

So at Bridgeway church we have been focusing on praise. What does it mean to really praise Him? How does it look? How does it happen? This has been so good for me. I love worshiping our King, and over the past 3-4 years I have experienced more intimate worship with the one who loves and knows me deeply. It has been so life giving. Throughout this time I think praise has been lacking in my life. What I mean by praise is this discipline of praising Him no matter what. Praising Him because of the truth of who He is and that's it. Praising Him because I am asked, or better yet, called to do it. Whether the feeling is there or not - I praise. Whether God just gave me a newborn son to hold or I just got into a ugly, selfish fight with my wife - I praise. Good day, bad day, struggling with sin, or free from it - I praise. This is good stuff. Praise is a gift from God, singing songs and melodies to him, all a gift and it is one that not only brings Him pleasure but the fruit of it brings me pleasure as well, crazy how God works.

Several months ago I was listening to Graham talk and sing, and I loved it, I couldn't get enough of it. It was so pure and from his heart. Not trying to impress, not doing it because someone was leading him in it, he was just talking and singing and I was enjoying every moment of it. It reminded me of just how much the Father loves hearing us sing to Him, the verse 'make a joyful noise' came alive to me that day. Just sing a song from your heart, sometimes it is easy to do, sometimes it is a sacrifice but every time it brings pleasure to the Father if done from the heart. That heart may be feeling 'this is hard, I don't want to do this' but that heart also begins to soften as the praise rises up to Him.

I entitled this post 'The Return of the King' and here's why. On Sunday while experiencing praise of our King, God gave me a picture of the throne room, it was not really a room but more of a vast open area on the side of a large mountain. In the picture, my senses were overwhelmed with the sights, and sounds and colors along with the wind blowing, it was beautiful. As we were singing the line 'we are yours' over and over people from all nations were celebrating by singing and dancing around the throne. I saw Africans in a group and Turks in a group, dancing in circles celebrating the King and the fact that we were His!! It was an emotional picture for me. God was just showing me what will be. He was showing me His heart for all people and how good it is. He was letting me see a little of His return, and it was beautiful. My response was to do nothing but praise and I think that was the response He was stirring up in me. I didn't want to stop. I don't want to stop. We serve an amazing King who is full of compassion and love for His people. How good is that!

my son

2008-02-15T13:32:00.001-06:00

Pray for Cyd - Abducted in Afghanistan

2008-01-27T18:51:00.001-06:00

This is Cyd Mizzel who was recently abducted in Afghanistan. It happened this past weekend (Jan. 26th). I met her when I worked in Turkey, she is a great lady who loves people really well.

She has been in Afghanistan for several years, speaks the language well. She was working for an NGO named the Asian Rural Life Development. Cyd and her driver were kidnapped. As of today, still no word from the kidnappers. Please join Adriane and I in praying for her. Our God will be victorious in this situation. Even right now just take a moment and ask God to protect and release her. I have also been praying that she would experience the presence of God do intimately and greatly that even the people behind this would see the Glory of God through her.

Once

2008-01-11T11:12:00.001-06:00

Ok, so Adriane and I watched this last week and loved it - the music is great, it makes you feel creative inside (I like that). If you are not too offended by the Irish using the F word here and there, I say rent this movie and let it inspire you. Great movie about relationships that encourage, friendships and life as a creator of music. Thanks Pete for recommending this movie to me.

Christmas

2008-01-03T13:04:00.000-06:00

Isn’t this a great picture of my wife next to our Christmas tree?

Ryan

Ice Storm

2008-01-01T20:47:00.001-06:00

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Did I mention the ICE STORM 2007? Big deal here in OK you know. Lots of power outages and friends staying over with friends because of it. We had our power the whole time, we were thankful. Here is a snap shot from it. Happened a few weeks ago.

Halloween Pics

2007-12-31T12:00:00.000-06:00

These posts are a little out of order but we couldn't miss putting a few pics from our Front yard halloween cookout night. Our house church got together, bought alot of cook out food and we set it up in the front yard of our home. We passed out flyers in our neighborhood the previous night inviting as many neighbors as we could. It turned out great, we had many neighbors who we hadn't met yet on our street come and eat a hot dog and hang out, there were also some from a few other streets too. Overall it was a success and alot of fun meeting people here. We hope to continue the relationships and love on them.

Graham was a puppy dog & his mom was an angel.

Crazy Morph

2007-12-29T14:54:00.000-06:00

A Great Surprise

2007-12-29T14:00:00.000-06:00

So if you know me you know that I am a pretty avid fan of the Green Bay Packers. In the 90's it was so much fun watching them win alot and then play in a few superbowls, all with Favre leading the way. Well, this year we are looking like the team of the 90's and amazingly with Favre leading the way (again). It has been a fun season watching Favre break more significant records.

Back in July I knew that they were coming to Dallas this year on the 29th of November, so I began looking for tickets, already at that time the tickets were hard to find and pretty expensive, Adriane and I talked about it and she really wanted to go, to see the Packers, to see Favre (to support her husband, she's so great). I kept looking and them opted out, they were getting to high and I could justify spending that much. Well as the season progressed it turned out that the two best teams in the NFC were the Packers and the Cowboys, so now this game was setting up to the one of the best games of the season, but we were still not going. So to ease my desire of jumping in the car on game day to buy some tickets on the streets after the game had started, my friend Andy told me to plan a Packers watch party at my house and we would invite people over, eat green food, drink green drinks and celebrate as we watch them. So that's what I did, and he was right, it did ease the desire to go last minute.

Ok, move forward to November 29th, 2007. It is Thursday afternoon, I am excited about the party and the game but am having a pretty busy day at work so that keeps my mind occupied. Around 3:30pm, I see Adriane coming into my office, kinda strange since our offices are not real close to our home, I ask her what she is doing and where Graham is, he wasn't with her, she said he was in the car and I was thinking 'why did she leave him in the car, even I know that is not a good idea'. I can tell she is excited about something but I am not sure what is going on. She asks me if I want to go to Sonic, I'm like, well not really, I am working, but she grabs my hand and walks me out of my offices, several of my co-workers were standing by the entrance of out building watching this all go down, we walk outside and my sister, Jami, and her boyfriend Justin and my best friend, Andy are standing outside with a sign saying, "Congratulations, you are going to see the Packers play tonight" while holding two tickets in their hands. At first I was confussed, I thought they were there to play up the party we were having at our house, and I was like, 'What?' and Adriane kept saying, 'We are going to dallas to see the game!' after her saying this a few times it began to hit me, 'We are going to dallas to see the game!' So we jumped in the car with Jami and Justin and hit the road for Dallas. Andy took my car from work back to my house, a really good friend. As we drove to the game, they told me how the party was never going to happen, everyone I invited was in on it. My sister and mom had worked with Adriane to get us tickets, and surprise me with it all. It was an early Christmas present and a pretty good one too.

We got to the game and Adriane and I had seats right on the 50 yard line, they really couldn't have been better. The atmosphere was great. It was a big game, and the sad part of the whole night was that the Packers lost. Favre got hurt in the second quarter and the backup Rodgers came in, they played hard and tried to come back but they weren't able to do it. It was still a great game and I wouldn't have traded for anything. I loved sitting there next to my wife, and both of us cheering for our team! I loved that Adriane got to have that experience, her first NFL game, and now she is even more of a fan, that makes Sunday afternoon'' wins even more enjoyable.

That is the story, we are still planning on having a Packers green party during the playoffs in a few weeks. If the Packers win their first playoff game they will head back down to Dallas for the Championship game, we probably won't be there again, but we will be wearing our green and cheering loudly for the Pack. Here are just a few pics from the night. (side note, our mayor of OKC Mick Cornett was at the game sitting right behind us, he is a Packers fan, nice).

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Now playing: Ray Lamontagne - Hannah
via FoxyTunes

More October

2007-12-10T16:47:00.001-06:00

So here are a few more posts from the month of October. I realize it is December now but I don't want to miss documenting these memories, if anything for myself, so that several years from now when I am still posting to this blog I can go back and see the fun things that we have been able to do.

Ok, so after the Atlanta trip we went to a friend's wedding in Texas, to see that you can go to her blog. Then the next two weekends we went Fly Fishing!
I first went fly fishing with my friend Jimmy Mauldin in California back in 2002, as soon as we got out onto the water just outside of Lake Tahoe I knew I had found something to add to my life that would bring much enjoyment, challenge and pure worship of God. Soon after that trip I moved to So Cal and didn't have much of a chance to fly fish and in fact began to put it out of my mind because it didn't seem to have any place in my immediate future. Then I moved to Oklahoma, and married into a family who loves fly fishing, how crazy is that? God was getting me ready and He introduced something to me that He knew would be important to my future wife, her family and eventually myself. Since Adriane and I have been married we have gone two to three times a year. These are always great times together with family and friends, times with God on the water and times enjoying landing that big one and talking about it that night with everyone (sometimes that really does happen).
Fly fishing is something that I look forward to teaching Graham as he gets older, he already loved the water and being out doors, he is half way there.

We went with Adriane's family the first weekend and then with some of our close friends the next weekend, who surprisingly love to fly fish too, both trips we went down to Broken Bow, Oklahoma. You would be surprised how nice southeastern oklahoma can be, especially in the fall with all the trees turning.

On to the next post...

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Now playing: The Flaming Lips - A Change At Christmas (Say It
via FoxyTunes

October - The month of Adventure

2007-11-08T12:59:00.000-06:00

So I can't believe it has been since September since we have posted anything, we when have time to blog we have nothing to blog about, when we don't have time to blog we have lots to blog about...oh what a wonderful catch 22 we live in!

Ok, to the post - The first week of October my family and I along with some of our close friends went out to Atlanta to see some close friends and mentors. The Kubiceks took over John Maxwell's company and now it is called Giant Impact - if you remember Adriane is employed by Giant Partners, the founding company in this story. We went to an event being put on by Jeremie, our friend, and his company - it was a conference for leaders called Catalyst.

Pretty big deal from what we could tell. We enjoyed it alot, but I think we enjoyed being with them even more. We had some really good God times at their house and were able to encourage them and be encouraged by them.
Here are some pictures from our time. The family ones are in their backyard one evening - thanks Crystal for the great pictures.
Ok, first post many more to come over the next few days.

Triple A Championship Baseball Game

2007-09-22T11:24:00.000-05:00

This past week Adriane, Graham and I went to a baseball game at our local ballpark. Graham enjoyed his first baseball, he seemed to be even watching the game at times, or it could have been the lights, he loves lights and those were the biggest he has seen so far. Here are a few pics from the game. We also asked our friend Pete to come with us, his wife was out of town so we thought we would entertain him for an evening.
Graham is awesome! He is changing everyday and growing strong.

This is a pic of Graham and his friend Aubrey, she was born 4 days before him, yes I know she looks bigger than 4 days old - Graham's not the biggest kid on the block. Mom says he was reaching out for her, he is pretty social, where does he get that from???
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Now playing: Christopher O'riley - Fake Plastic Trees
via FoxyTunes

Happy Labor Day

2007-09-03T21:52:00.001-05:00

We had a great holiday weekend - as you can tell Graham did too. We swam and relaxed the whole weekend. Graham even got in the pool for a little bit, he seemed cold so we didn't leave him in too long, but he did seem to enjoy it.

So now the work week is upon us again. We are ready to go after it from our rest. Thank you Lord for breaks, they make work that much more enjoyable.
Peace.

Hanging Out

2007-08-25T13:02:00.000-05:00

One of our friends sent us this little chair that Graham fell in love with. He loves sitting up and looking around so this chair lets him do that all the time now (mom and dad like that too). We took him to the doctor last week, he told us that Graham wasn't the biggest kid on the block, we already knew that. He weighed 9 pounds 12 ounces and was around 22 inches long, we love his size. He is now almost 10 weeks old - it is flying by.

I like this pic of my wife and son, this was taken at her brothers birthday dinner this week.

Papa Jay time

2007-08-16T13:56:00.000-05:00

We went down to Chickasha this past weekend so that Papa Jay could hold Graham. Papa Jay had had several cases of poison ivy so he has not fully enjoyed hanging out with Graham, but he was all clear and and ready to hold him. They had a good time together.

This is my nephew, Tayten.

Our Handsome Son

2007-08-06T23:15:00.000-05:00

Just another pic of Graham lounging around with dad. The boy loves sleep and we love that he does. He is doing well through the night, God has given us a happy laid back son - so far.

If you want, leave a comment, we would love to see who is reading this blog. The person who comments from the farthest away will win a prize!

Brother Turns 40

2007-07-31T12:00:00.000-05:00

So my brother turned 40 a few weeks ago, I actually don't have any pictures of him from it since my sister was the one taking pictures and she only sent me these. One is of my grandma, and a couple of her kids - my dad and his sister. The other is my two nephews with their new cousin Graham.
He is the only one really looking at the camera, thought he looked pretty cute.

Graham

2007-07-24T11:49:00.000-05:00

So can you believe that he is sleeping 6 hours in the night now? It seems like eternity to us, we are thankful. These are my favorite pics right now, my sister took it with her new iPhone - not bad.

Graham's 3rd Big Bath

2007-07-13T10:16:00.000-05:00

We thought we would let you in on the experience of giving Graham a bath.

First Three Weeks

2007-07-10T13:12:00.000-05:00

I put together a little slide show of the last few weeks of our lives. The song is from a recent Matt Redman album. It became a special song for us over the past 10 months. Enjoy.

Content

2007-07-09T09:02:00.001-05:00

Graham is doing well, he is sleeping better through the night and is awake more through the day. I love that he is somewhat responsive to things now.

He may be only 3 weeks old today but it is never to soon to teach him how to say "daddy".

Bath time

2007-07-02T15:00:00.001-05:00

We gave Graham a bath this weekend, a real bath with water and soap and a bath tub. It was a fun experience for mom and dad but probably not so much fun for son. He cried so hard and loud but then once he dried off some he came back around to his calm, fun self.

He is a keeper!

Our First Family Pic

2007-06-26T23:06:00.001-05:00

First swing ride and other fun pics

2007-06-24T16:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I pulled out a swing that a friend's mom gave to us and put it together, it wasn't easy and the whole time I was thinking he might not be old enough for this yet. Anyway, after a little help from my sister we assembled it and tested it out, Graham loved it. He stayed awake for most of the time, I thought he looked so funny in it because he is so small, I'm glad he enjoyed it though.
Here is another pretty cute pic of Graham.

Poop Explosion

2007-06-23T00:27:00.000-05:00

Tonight I, Ryan, took Graham back into his room to check and change his diaper. Well all was going well for this excited dad, I checked his diaper and saw it was in need of a change, took it off and began wrapping it up, as I was doing this I started thinking to myself ‘I wonder if I will get shot with pee one day by changing his diaper this way’ well right as I was having this profound thought I felt some water on my arm, I looked down and saw this great stream of water shooting out my way! I took the clean diaper in hand and protected myself. The stream stopped and as soon as I gained my composure I looked down and saw that he was now pooping all over the place, again with no diaper in place, at this point I yelled for Adriane, I was losing all control. Interesting thing is that this was the first time Graham had not cried while having his diaper changed by me...in fact he might have had a little smile on his face.

We would like to introduce you to...

2007-06-21T13:38:00.000-05:00

Joshua "Graham" Smith

Go to http://www.thesmithstory.com to see more pics of Graham

We are thanking God for His faithfulness and goodness to us through this little child.

Happy Birthday & Not Just Yet.

2007-06-14T07:42:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Adriane's birthday, since there were no major signs that the baby was on his way we went out with friends last night to celebrate. We went to a place called Pearls Lakeside. It is a seafood type place near a lake here in OKC. We had a good time eating fish tacos and crab dip. For dessert I baked a cake from scratch. I have always wanted to see if I could do it, and it wasn't too bad, I might have to try it again. I made Adriane's favorite, white cake with white frosting.

Here she is blowing out her 28 candles.

These are some of her friends who celebrated her.

Well, today is the official due date and still no baby. We will see. We pray he comes soon.

39 and a half weeks!

2007-06-10T17:35:00.000-05:00

"It could be today" "It could be tomorrow" "It could be sometime this week" This is what we keep saying and thinking. Everyday could be the day and it is fun to wait on his arrival. I keep comparing it to waiting for Christmas as a kid, although I knew what day Christmas would fall on, I have no clue what day will be his birthday, but I do know it is soon...very soon and we are having fun waiting on it.

Adriane is 39 weeks and 4 days. She is ready. Here are some pics of his next room, once he moves out of his current one.

Hopefully the next post include the first picture of him.

Jezreel HC

2007-06-06T22:43:00.000-05:00

Over two years ago we started a House Church in our little rent house with five people - we named it Jezreel, a word we got from Hosea that means "God Plants".

Tonight, we had house church at our home that we have owned for a year. Tonight we multiplied our Jezreel house church, meaning a group from within our HC will now start their own HC like we did 2 years ago. I feel so blessed to have seen this HC grow and change and to be able to watch how what God put in motion come to fruitition with a new house church being planted in another part of the city. We pray there are many more multiplications to come within Jezreel.

This summer it will be a smaller group, which will be fun for unity and intimacy sake. Then in the fall I am sure we will ramp up and grow again, God is so good! He is changing hearts, freeing people from sins and addictions, drawing people even closer to His heart so they can experience Him. He is so kind to us! Anyway, here is our last picture of Jezreel HC as we knew it. I am sure there is so much more to experience in this little community!

House Church Retreat

2007-05-29T21:59:00.000-05:00

This post should have been written several weeks ago. I am finding that when I have the time to post something on the blog there is nothing going on to post about, yet when I don't have the time to post something on the blog there is alot going on that I could post about - catch 22. Well, anyway, a few weekends ago our House church went camping together and then did a ropes course the next day, it was a really fun time together and here are some pics of it.

Baby SMITH is coming soon!!!