My Cat

This is me and the family cat Bobby Sue Buckley. As you can see she is quite fat and gets real mad when you pick her up!

Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer

Well as it seems, Spring is gone and we have been thrown into Summer. All I know is that it is going to be in the low 90's today and that means that I will sweat like a pig if I am outside longer than 10 minutes so don't get too close to me or you might be sorry! You might get a summer shower that that you weren't expecting! If it weren't so humid it wouldn't be so bad. Oh well, it could be worse, I could be in Miami with weather as hot as a furnace. Well I am at work so I better get off here and get something done. Hmm, maybe I will fo swimming later!

Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day when we honor the men and women who have died in war let us remember that freedom is not free. It comes with a great cost, the lives of those who fight for it. I took these pictures on Saturday near Washington DC, they are of the statue commemorating the Battle of Iwo Jima during WWII. May we never forget the price that has been paid for our freedom.

Just a visit to the president's house

Ok, a few weeks ago I posted pics of Thomas Jefferson's home (3rd President) so today I will post pics of George Washington's (1st President) home at Mount Vernon on the Potomac River just outside of Washington D.C. Mom and I wanted something to do today and I have been wanting to visit GW's home for a long time now so we went today! It was a great day! The weather was spectacular and the scenery beautiful. I tell you the man knew how to pick property as well as start a nation. The plantation is massive with the original property totaling over 8, 000 acres. It was fun walking the property and imagining what life was like back then in the 1700's. Touring the house was cool and seeing the bedroom where George Washing died in was kind of creepy. It's sad to think that he died of basically a soar throat. Thank God for modern medicine! Well enjoy the pics!

George Washington's Mount Vernon

Me outside the house

Clubbing in the 1700's, oh yeah!

The Potomac River

The Tomb! Ahh, creepy!

I wonder whats down that road?

It's funny, I have lived in Charlottesville for a year and today I realized that I had never driven past the turn to my apartments on 5th Street. So today I decided that it was time to explore. So I started driving past the turn to my apartments where 5th Street turns into Old Lynchburg Road. I continued on Old Lynchburg Road for quite a ways enjoying the beautiful country road that 5th Street turns into. Then I saw a sign on the left for Walnut Creek Park. So I thought, "what the heck" and turned in to find a huge and awesome park! There is a large lake with a swiming area, canoing, fishing, and trails for hikers as well as bikers. So it was such a beautiful day that I decided to hike for a while. So do you ever wonder whats down that road near where you live? Well get off your butt and find out! There might just be nice suprises waiting for you in your own city or town that you never knew existed before!

Walnut Creek Park Pictures

Remains of an old chimney at Walnut Creek

The Theatre!

Well since I blogged last during the day on Saturday, I will fill everybody in on Saturday night! My friend Summer Sage is a very talented actress and is currently in a production called "Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean". So I went to see it Saturday night and let me tell you it was amazing! Summer was definitely the star of the show and I was very impressed! The show is about a small Texas town where James Dean filmed one of his movies back in the 50's. While filming there one of the local girls claimed that she had a relationship with James Dean and that she will soon be the mother, James Dean Jr. So the show takes place 20 years later as a group of women reunite for the "disciples of James Dean" fan club. Secrets are revealed and lives are changed. It was very comedic yet moving at the same time.

Afterwards I attended the cast party at Summer's house and had a blast getting to know some of the cast as well as some others. I was almost recruited for the Shakespeare festival this summer but there is no way I would be able to do it with the big move over seas. I do miss acting in the theatre and I must get involved again soon. Well we will see, maybe there will be opportunities in the Netherlands.

Well this is the most exciting events of the weekend. Today the most exciting thing I did was to prank call the office where I work. It was a riot let me tell you! I am very good with my voices and have lots of fun imitating people. So Lee, our administrator had no clue it was me until I told her and then there was lots of laughter! I know it's immature but what can I say its just too fun!

What a crazy night!

Last night was pretty wild here at Eagles Landing Apartments here in C'ville, let me tell you!
So I was spending a quiet evening at home with a few of my friends who were visiting from Maryland. We went to bed and at 1:30 Am we were awakened by the sounds of shouting outside my apartment. We went to the window and looked out to see 9 or 10 drunk guys fighting each other. They were shouting all kinds of profanities and violently hitting each other. One guy was even shouting about getting his gun and shooting one of the guys. Well I called the police right away and the girl on the line told me that several calls had already been made and that the police were on their way. Well the police station is right down the road from where I live and it still took the police 20 minutes to get here. So they stroll in like it's no big deal and by this time the fights had eased up and so these genius police officers don't arrest anyone but they have them get into their cars and drive off! So now we have violent drunk drivers driving on the streets of Charlottesville at 2:00 AM! I was so pissed! I can only assume that the officers followed them home to make sure that they didn't harm anyone on their way but they could have at least done a breath test to see if the drivers were capable of driving on the roads.
Oh well, Charlottesville's finest at their best!

The end of a very long day!

What a long non-stop day! I spoke to a group of ministers with my boss in the morning, worked in the office till 2:30, went out to a coffee shop with my friend Summer Sage after work for a few hours, then went to a 5:00 meeting and then to the Road to Excellence Mentorship Program after that! It's 8:42 and I am supposed to be reading, like I feel like doing that after such a busy day! Well anyway, nothing much else going on for now but work, food, and rest! Not exactly exciting blog material. Well hopefully I will have something better to write about as the week goes on. Well I guess I better go read my book on the Four Views on the Book of Revelation, just a little light reading! Later, Austin

Graduation

Well today I finally graduated from Liberty University!!! I am still completing my last two classes through distant learning but they let me participate in the ceremonies anyway! It was all very surreal walking on campus at Liberty and driving around Lynchburg where I lived from 1997-2004. I saw my old high school campus and church (Thomas Road Baptist) which is where the Baccalaureate ceremony was held. I saw many friends and former professors who were all very kind in congratulating me on my graduating. It is had to believe that my time here is over at least for now. I mean I do plan on starting on a Masters degree in a year or so but I don't know if it will be at Liberty or not. I feel very fortunate and blest for the time spent here in my life. So the ceremonies were all very nice and Senator John McCain spoke in the main ceremony. I was disappointed with his speech. I mean I know he is a politician but usually a speech to college graduates is supposed to be encouraging and motivating, his speech lacked both characteristics. Well anyway it was a wonderful time spent with family and friends and I am relieved that I am now a college graduate. Here are some pics of the events of the weekend. –Austin

I'm a college graduate!!!!!
(Jerry Falwell in the background)

The Family

Me and Jeremiah

Me, Jeremiah, and Gary Bauer (Baccalaureate speaker- he is awesome!)

Me and James

Me with Jeremiah and Samantha Krieger

Me with my former boss Toy Hine (Children's Director at Thomas Road Baptist Church)

A video for my host family

Hey,

I though some of you might be interested in seeing this video I made for my Au Pair host family in the Netherlands. It is meant to introduce myself to the kids and to show the kids how American kids like to have fun. Just copy and paste the link into your address bar. It's pretty crazy so feel free to laugh!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7258178718216497806

Monticello

Thank God for a beautiful day today! We had lots of sunshine and warmth! My day started with a pretty bad staff meeting at the church in which I will leave the details out for everybody's sake. Then the day got much better when Jeremiah, Samantha (Jeremiah's wife), and I went to tour Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson our third president and author of the Declaration of Independence. He had the most awesome home right here in Charlottesville, as you will see from the pictures. I love spring time in Virginia! -Austin

A cold and dreary Monday

Today is just one of those days to spend the whole day inside eating hot soup, drinking hot coco and watching your favorite movie or reading your favorite book! Since that is pretty much what I am doing today I really have nothing interesting to blog about so I thought I would catch the few people who read this up on my weekend. On Saturday James and I went to Williamsburg (fyi...the city of my birth) to go to Bush Gardens! We had a blast riding roller coasters and all the other rides. It just so happened that on this particular day the world renowned animal expert Jack Hanna was there doing several animal shows! Of course I have only seen him on TV with David Letterman so this was an unexpected treat! It was hot as a mug at the amphitheatre but it was worth it to see a famous animal expert and his showcase of animals! After Bush Gardens we headed to Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg to snap a few shots and eat some ice cream! Sunday I of course went to church and had a great time playing kick ball with the kids and learning about Sampson. The picture of the flowers below is outside our church. Well I am going to get back to doing nothing today so I will close this blog for now. –Austin

Pictures of the weekend

I'm Guilty!

Jack Hanna's Animal Show!

An African Cat

A Kangaroo

A big Parrot

A Big Python!!

Clydesdale Horse

Flowers at my church

Sunset over the swamp at Jamestown

The Weirdest Movie Experience I Have Ever Had!

Ok, so last night I had the weirdest experience in a movie theatre I have ever had! So here's the deal...my brother, my friend Jeremiah and I all went to see "The New World" last night at the $1.75 movie theatre in Lynchburg. This is the movie about the first British settlement at Jamestown during the 1600's right here in Virginia. The movie was very "interesting" I must say with many scenes that just didn't seem to fit at all and a plot that seemed hard to follow at times. Also as a lover of history I can say that it was not the most accurate depiction either. And then the movie was kind of long as well with not enough action scenes to keep most men's interest peaked.

I won't give the plot away for those of you who do not know the story and want to see it but at the end of movie there are some very "artistic" scenes that depict Pocahontas running wild in the fields and jumping in the water. I interpreted this to show that even though she was taken away from her tribe and taken into a "white man's world" she didn't lose the free spirit of an American Indian. Well I suppose the rest of the audience (comprised of almost all Liberty students who should have been studying!) didn't see the ending in the artistic light that I did. While these scenes were playing sporadic laughter started breaking out all over the theatre. It started out with light laughter and quickly grew into an all out belly laughter fest! The scenes were obviously not meant to be humorous but serious and reflective. It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen! I mean I have been to movies before where you walk out and you can tell by the "pissed off" look on everybody's face that movie stunk and was a waste of time but never have I been to a movie where practically the whole audience falls out of their seats laughing at how horrible they thought the movie was. I definitely felt like I was in a sci-fi movie!

Go see it in your city and tell me if you get the same reaction.

Me teaching sex ed!

Up, Up and Away!

On the way to the School today there were two hot air baloons in the sky! I just think hot air baloons are the coolest things ever!

The View from my balcony this morning at 6:30 AM

Another day of abstinence education!

Well today has been a good day of abstinence educating in the public schools. We studied sexually transmitted diseases and I think the kids really learned a lot. Teaching abstinence has definitely been interesting and an adventure let me tell you! It's not something I ever thought in a million years that I would be teaching. Not because the curriculum is about abstaining from sex but because most of it is all out sex education. We go over everything, and I mean everything! Let's just put it this way, there's a lot I didn't know before I started teaching this stuff! So it has been fun and the kids seem to enjoy my presentations a lot. Well I am getting ready to go hiking again this afternoon as the weather is so beautiful so I will close for now, Austin

The old man, his wife and me

"Come here little fella" -The old man talking
to the snake
Austin thinking- "Yeah, why don't you get a
little closer to that snake Grandpa"

The Snake!!

Me running and acting crazy

Ragged Mountain Trail

My first post!

Well, I have never had a blog before but I thought it would be a cool thing to have especially since I am moving to Europe! Thats right I am moving to the Netherlands in August! I am going to work as an Au Pair for a family in Rotterdam, Netherlands. I will be there for at least a year and while I am there I will plan on learning some Dutch as well as getting involved in some type of ministry in the church. I am so excited as this has been a life long dream/goal to travel and live in Europe.

Well anyway thats pretty much why I started my blog but I also thought it would be cool to let you all know what I am up to these days in the states as well. Yesterday was a cool day. Me and my friend Jeremiah went to this place in charlottesville called Ragged Mountain to hike. We had a great time and even came accross a big snake on the path! It about scared the you know what out of me! I was calm though and simply threw my water bottle at the snake which had no effect at all. Then this old man came running up to see the snake and started poking it with his wife's walking stick which was follwed by the snake striking the stick which really seemed to amuse the old man! Then we all left the snake alone and went on our way.

So we had a good hike and then we went to teach at the Road to Excellence Youth Mentorship Program that I help facilitate. So my life has been busy as you all can see. Well I will close this first post and post a few pics for you to see. Later, Austin