Moving to Jacksonville

As many of you may have already heard, my family and I are moving to Jacksonville, FL. I have accepted the position of the Pulpit Minister at the Lake Forest Church of Christ. We are very excited about this new job and our move to Florida. We spent 8 & 1/2 great years at the University Church in Montgomery. We feel like this is a great opportunity for us and we are looking forward to moving down there and getting started.

Of course, we will miss everyone in Montgomery. When you are with a church for that long, it becomes home to you. We hope to take advantage of every opportunity to come and visit that we can.

We will be moving the first week of January. Please keep us in your prayers. It has taken a lot to get our house in Montgomery ready to sell. Once we get it sold, we will look to buy a house down there. In the meantime, we have rented an apartment to live in. I'm just ready to get down there and get settled in and begin working. Please pray for us and the congregation at Lake Forest that we will do God's will and grow as a result of that.

Spurrier to Miami??

That's right. Who hasn't heard this rumor by now? We all know Steve Spurrier. He's the coach that we love to hate. That is, until he comes to coach your team. I did not like Spurrier at all when he was at Florida. I don't mind him much now at SC because he is not winning. But if he comes to Miami? I'LL ABSOLUTELY LOVE HIM! We need a coach like Steve. Defense is not our problem, it's offense. While I think Larry Coker is a good man, he just doesn't have it as a coach. He has to be gone after this year. Why would you keep a man who has lead your team to it's worst season in 25 years?? I know it's just a rumor, but I will be jumping for joy if it comes true! By the way, here is a link for you:

www.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stories/111906abn.html

Hikefest IV

Well, another hiking trip is upon us. I think back to a post I made back in January I think, where I was discussing the pros and cons of going hiking with the guys. I'll have to admit, that at first, I wasn't too keen on the idea. I finally decided to go in late March and I have never looked back since. I am hooked. I'm an addict. I'm a hiking junkie. I don't know that there is anything that can keep me from going hiking now. I'm looking forward to this weekend's hike because

a.) We will be moving from GA into NC

b.) We will be hiking 28 miles. That's right, 28 miles.

To put that in perspective, the first 2 hikes I did were a combined 34 miles. This hike will only be 6 miles shy of those 2 combined! But, I'm up for the task. I've been getting mentally prepared and physically I think as well. I'm working on losing some weight before we leave. I've lost a little, but I want this hike to spur me on to continue to lose weight. The lighter I am the better I will feel. I'm 30 years old and feel like I am starting a new chapter in my life on several different levels. One major thing I can't mention yet, but once it happens, everyone will know. I just want to start this chapter of my life feeling good and being in good physical shape. I want to be able to play ball with my son and continue to go on these hikes without feeling like I might die. Anyways, I will post about my hike once I get back. I promise to add pics. Wish me luck and if I don't make it back, I love you all.

Anniversary Trip to the Beach

Tammy & I celebrated another anniversary by going to Ft. Walton Beach with Will. It wasn't as great as we had hoped. Mainly because Will got sick the night before we left. I think he was so upset over Miami's loss to Louisville that he started throwing up. He ran a fever all day Monday, and felt better on Tuesday, but was still very fussy during our trip. Anyways, here are some pictures from our trip.

This is the view from our balcony the night that we arrived.

Here are some pictures of Will having a good time.

I'll add more later. I can't get Blogger to let me add any more right now.

How Nerdy Are You?

The Last Straw With Walmart

Even though we all hate it and complain about it, we all still end up shopping at Walmart. Maybe not for everything, but at least for some things. They have a great selection, and for the most part, better prices. I get tired of the terrible service. Having 50 checkout lanes, with only 4 open at any one time. The employees (at least here in Montgomery) are terrible. They act like you are the biggest burden on them when you push your cart into their checkout lane. They are not friendly and act like they would rather gouge out their eyeballs then have to check you out. My wife and I have cut our Walmart visits down considerably. We were just tired of going there.

Now, we have even more reason not to ever go there again. I hope that you all will agree with me and do the same. As many of you know, they now support the Gay & Lesbian Movement. Not just with words, but with their dollars, or should I say, OUR dollars. They say that they want to become more diverse in who they support. Mission accomplished. Why couldn't they have supported some good wholesome things. Like the United Negro College Fund, or something along those lines that supports a minority group, but is a good thing like helping with an education. No, not Walmart. I suppose if there is a group out there that wants to make sex with 8 year olds legal, Walmart will throw some money at them to help continue their campaign to be more diverse in who they support.

Bottom line, if you wish to make a difference in our sin filled nation, this would be a good start. Please don't give Walmart any of your money. Send the company an e-mail. Let them know how you feel. They are not going to care unless they take a hit in the pocketbook. Let's hit them where it hurts.

Here is a couple of links if you want more info:

http://www.afa.net/Petitions/IssueDetail.asp?id=210

http://www.afa.net/walmartadage.htm

Please read these and consider dropping your support of Walmart, unless they change their stance.

Phone calls in the middle of the night...

We all get them at least once in our lives right? The call that you dread the most, that scares you half to death. When the phone rings at 3 am you're thinking, "Oh no, what has happened?" As a minister, I never know if it is my family, someone from church, a prank call, or a drunk calling the wrong number. Well, I received one of those calls last night, but when I got off the phone I couldn't stop laughing. I'll try and keep it short, but here is what happened.

Last night, Tammy, Will, and I picked up a guy that used to go to church with us. He lives alone, can't drive, and is on disability because of seizures (not sure if I spelled that right). Anyways, he was in the youth group for a short time about 8 years ago (he is 26 now). He is a little slow mentally, but can take care of himself and is a really good guy. He lives in a retirement community because his grandmother lives there also, so they allowed him to have an apartment of his own. He never gets out, so we decided to pick him up last night, take him to eat, and go watch one of the boys in my youth group play in his HS football game last night. Stay with me, it gets good.

We went to Wendy's before the game and afterwards left our drinks in the car. When I got home last night, I took my cup and his and threw them away.

Now to the phone call. My phone rings at 1 am and it scares me of course. My stomach sinks as I pick it up to look at the caller ID. His name (John) is on the caller ID. My thoughts were that either his grandmother had something happen to her, someone tried to break into his apt., or he was thinking about some spiritual things in his life and needed to talk to me.

As I answer the phone, this is what he says. (No lie, I am not making this up) "Hey Ryan, I'm sorry to call you so late. I just was calling to tell you that I didn't want the rest of my Sprite. You can just throw the cup away because I don't want it either." I didn't know what to do except laugh. I said okay John, thanks. I'll talk to you later. That was it. My wife had woken up too and asks what that was all about. I just laughed as I told her. I laughed for several minutes before I went back to sleep. Sorry, I just thought that was a funny story and I had to share it.

Will's 1st Birthday!

This past Saturday, we celebrated Will's first birthday. It's hard to believe my little boy is now 1 year old. Man the time flies by. He loved the party, but it wore him out. He got a lot of great presents including toys and books. He also got a Bible with his named engraved on the front cover. Here are some picks from his first birthday. Enjoy!

My 30th Birthday

I know that I am a week late with this, but I celebrated my 30th birthday last week on July 31st. It's hard to believe that I am now in my 30's. I guess I have to start acting like a grown up. It was a nice birthday. The cake was cool and was sooooo good. I got myself a laptop (we needed a new computer for the house) and an MP3 player. I guess all in all I don't feel that different. Now that I have my laptop at home I can start updating this thing more often. Feel free to wish me a happy belated birthday.

Meeting ESPN's Rece Davis

Last night I had the priviledge to go over to Landmark's Gridiron Kickoff Preview. It really was a great event. The guest speaker for the evening was ESPN's Rece Davis. Rece is a CoC guy, and is a great speaker. I really enjoyed listening to him talk. He told stories about Trev Alberts, Mark May, and Lou Holtz. He also talked about some of the contenders for the National Title this year. By the way, he made no mention of my beloved Miami Hurricanes. That's okay though, because he didn't mention FSU either. After it was over, Bobby Mathews and I had our picture made with him. Some guy took the picture and did a great job of centering it. Nice job chopping my arm off there old fella. I think he also put it on some setting where it made me look about 25 lbs heavier. Oh well.

For All The Lads To Leaders I Know...

This here is a new video game for all the Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes song leaders out there. This is a must buy if you want to win 1st place. Click on the link below and enjoy!


http://dpmediagroup.com/ericwallace.com/slrev

AT Hike With The Boys

I was priviledged this past weekend to go hiking for the first time with a group of Rangers from Montgomery. We left on Thursday evening for Dahlonega, GA, where we spent the night in the five star Days Inn. I borrowed some of my gear, like the back pack from Jason O. and a water filter from Jamison. We set out Friday morning to hike up Blood Mountain, the highest point on the trail in Georgia.

At the beginning, it wasn't too bad. Flat ground for the most part. I felt good, and thought, this is pretty easy. Then came the first elevation. Wow! I wasn't ready for that! I thought 2 things going up the first time:

#1. Can I really do this? We haven't even hiked a mile and I already feel like I am going to die.

#2. This will probably be my last hike.

Well, I made it to the top of the first elevation and dropped my pack. That is where the picture above was taken. That's why I am the only one without a pack. I think my body and mind were in such shock, I couldn't fathom doing any more. As we continued on, (if there is one thing that I am not, it is a quitter. I was not going to quit no matter how tough it may have been.) the trail got a bit easier. Mostly we went down or straight ahead, with a few smaller hills. Before I knew it, we had hiked 3, then 6 miles. 2 more miles to the top of Blood Mountian.

The next 2 miles were pretty brutal. I started out in the back, but eventually passed two of my hombres. I made it to the top of Blood Mountain. Pretty proud moment. Going down was about 2&1/2 miles that we wanted to finish before dark. I hung with Justin going down and we made it behind Dirt & Chuck. We got to a little store right as they were closing, and the guy let us come in & buy some things. I got a hot dog, coke, and a gatorade.

I took 2 Tylenol PM's before bed (which didn't do a thing for me) and settled in between Chuck and Gillis. That was a pretty sleepless night, and I woke up almost on top of Gillis as our tent was leaning downhill. Thanks to Chuck for being our anchor, or we would have ended up down the hill next to some old tire.

With Gillis out with a hurt knee, I shamefully didn't hike day 2 with a pack. It wasn't too bad the second day, except for the last mile. Mostly uphill, I had to dig down deep to make it. At the end, it was all totally worth it. I loved it and definately will do it again.

Winter Wonderland

This past weekend, we had our first ever Winter Retreat with the youth group at University. It was a great weekend in every way. As you can see from the pic, we had lots of snow. I have pictures up from the weekend on my webshots page. Go and check out all the pics from the weekend! Here is the link:

http://community.webshots.com/user/zho777

Enjoy all the pics!

PCA Jr. High State Champs

Last Saturday, January 21, 2006, the PCA Panthers Jr. High (7th - 9th grade) basketball team won the State Championship. I have been privelidged to help coach this team this year. Our head coach, Coach Roberson, has done a great job with this team. We are 17 - 1 (have 3 remaining games) and hope to finish the season 20 - 1. We won the championship game by a score of 72 - 29. Boys, that's a whoppin'. Congrats to my boys at PCA on a great season! (By the way, I had to take this picture with my camera phone, so the quality is poor.)

Miami Converts

We may have gotten blown out by LSU. We may have fired some coaches. We may have even lost some recruits. But, in 2005, we gained 2 new faithful Miami fans. That's right folks, the Mathews brothers. Ranked by Rivals & Scout as 5 star fans, we now can move ahead into 2006 with great optimism. What these two guys bring to the table is unparalleled. They have an uncanny knack for rooting for their team and yelling at the refs at the same time! All I can say is that Miami 1 upped the nation on these 2 gems! Go Canes!

My Webshots Address

I was requested to post my webshots address on here so my pics could be viewed. There pretty much all of my son Will. Here it is:

http://community.webshots.com/user/zho777

Enjoy the pics!

Hiking Trip Dilemma

I have been invited by some very good friends to go on a backpacking trip in Georgia on a portion of the Appalachian Trail. Here are the pros & cons. First the cons:

1. I am totally out of shape & would be hiking 16 miles with a backpack & additional weight.
2. I would be camping, which means sleeping on the ground. I have been camping many a time,
and have never (not even once) gotten a good nights rest while sleeping on the ground.
3. That leads me back to #1. Extreme soreness + no sleep = a very cranky & not happy
camper. (literally)
4. What do I eat? Nuts & berries? I am a meat & potatoes guy. If I could bring my wife with
me to cook, that would be great, but out of the question. Not that I couldn't stand to miss a
meal or two, but I need energy if I am hiking 16 miles.
5. I will be out in the wild & I don't own a gun. What if I wonder off the trail for a potty break,
or I get left behind because I am slow & an out-of-shape rookie? While I am off the trail, I
am encountered by Bigfoot. He threatens to beat me to a pulp. What do I do? Throw
spitballs at him as my boy Zell Miller might suggest? Just a thought.

Now the pros:

1. I will get to spend time with my boys. Hanging with the guys for a weekend. That's
priceless. That is my only pro, but I think it is a good enough one to possibly outweigh all of
the cons.

So, I debate. What should I do? Suggestions would be welcome.

State of UM Football

As a University of Miami football fan, and a dear friend of Head Coach Larry Coker (as you can tell from the pic), I want to say a little bit about my beloved football team. I believe that the recent firings will prove to make things better down in Coral Gables. The problem as of late has been on offense. Our offense line, not keeping running backs healthy (those darn ACL injuries), and the lack of development of our quarterback (who has tons of potential) has been keeping us from our goal of the ACC championship & National Championship. Mark it down, that is now in the past. I believe either this next year or 2007 will see Miami winning the ACC Championship & playing for the National Title again. Also, mark down back to back National Championships in 2025 & 2026 when my son Will leads that team to undefeated seasons.

Will's First Deep Thoughts

I love my Daddy. My Mom is pretty cool too. She feeds me and stuff. I just think that I look like an eskimo in this picture. My Daddy says I remind him of the little boy on the movie The Christmas Story. I think he is right.

My New Blog Site

Well, I have now ventured into the world of blogs. Don't let it be said that the Frederick's are not up on the latest technology. We may be slow, but we get there. Anyways, I will probably use this to talk about anything from my youth ministry to my son Will & wife Tammy, to Miami football (which will be back). I hope you enjoy the blog and the pictures that will be put on this site. Thanks, and don't forget to leave me a comment telling me how cool my site is.