U2 360 Tour Highlights - Unknown Caller

I would pay to go see U2 again simply based on this songs live performance. My video doesn't do it justice, but it was awesome!

A New Addition to Our Family

After 14 years of wanting and waiting we have finally taken the plunge into puppydom. Ever since I graduated and got a full-time school counseling gig and we got Kelly home, we have been in serious talks about getting a dog. We knew what we wanted and after weeks of just looking and waiting, we finally found the right breeder, with the right dog, at the right price, and in the right location.

So on November 1st we packed up the kids for a surprise road trip to "search for an early Christmas treasure. We meet the breeder (who amazingly cared for 11 puppies from the litter), her two kids, her mom, and two of the puppies on the IN/IL border to discover our new puppy.

Long story short...kids were stoked when the puppy exchange took place. In fact so excited that Sarah was speechless with almost a sad look because she couldn't believe this was really happening. We hung out for about an hour and got to know each other (both puppy and people) before we packed the car back up and headed home for Dayton with our new puppy...Foster (named after the Australian lager).

Foster is a very good puppy. A bit shy and timid, but that is to be expected in the environment without his brothers/sisters and with new owners. We are working on positive reinforcement to boost his confidence as we play, walk, and train. Kelly and the kids are walking him to school each and everyday and everyone loves it! He does great with new people and new dogs (he has 3 new dog friends in our cul-de-sac...they play and play and play). He loves to play in the huge pile of leave I have in the front yard.

He is doing well on potty training with just a few accidents in the first couple of days. The last couple of days I believe we are accident free. He is even going all night without getting up (we are stoked about that!). Plus he loves his kennel.

We took him to the vet who said he was healthy and had no worms so that's great. Everyone who comes in contact with him adore and who are we to disagree! They love his markings, coloring and overall look. We are grateful for such such a cool pooch!

11/21 addendum: I would be the worst son-in-law ever if I forgot to mention my favorite mom-in-law. She was a big part in tipping the scales for Kelly in favor of getting a dog when she told her how easy it would be to train and care for a dog in the fall/early winter. Thanks, Mom!

Here are a few pics from our first day together as a fam:

A Taste of Oak Hills

Wow! It's been a loooong time between posts! Crazy how in some ways I really miss blogging regularly and in other ways I don't.

I need to finish my posts from the U2 concert as well as share about the new addition to the Rings family. But for now, I'll share a little news video done on the school where I work, lead, and serve. Enjoy!

The Saturday Morning Experience

I remember these days so well as a kid. I am now experiencing them as a parent. Life comes full circle in some funny ways...Saturday morning cartoons is one of them.

Little Soldier Girl

One of the more heart wrenching photo's I've seen in a long time. Here is a taste of the article which can be read in full here:

A family photo that shows a little girl beside her father and his fellow soldiers in uniform as they prepare to go to war has resonated well beyond the tight knit Bennethum clan.

Four-year-old Paige Bennethum really, really didn't want her daddy to go to Iraq.

So much so, that when Army Reservist Staff Sgt. Brett Bennethum lined up in formation at his deployment this July, she couldn't let go.

No one had the heart to pull her away.

May you and I not simply pray for the soldiers, but also their families - wives, husbands, sons, daughters, parents - who have to live with the agony not knowing whether they will see their "daddy" ever again.

I can hardly imagine what that must be like.

U2 360 Tour Highlights - Until the End of the World

Another great song. Not my favorite of the night, but still awesome!

Oprah's Flash Mob

Used to be a huge Oprah fan, but have lost touch with her since she became overly political and preachy. But big ups to her staff and the Black Eyed Peas who surprised her with the HUGE flash mob on Michigan Avenue.

Does this mean flash mobs are now mainstream? You be the judge. But regardless, I still love these things.

U2 360 Tour Highlights - The Unforgettable Fire

A great albeit unexpected song - The Unforgettable Fire - was on the show docket in Chicago. I was stoked!

U2 360 Tour Highlights - Vertigo

Uno. Dos. Tres. Catorce! Vertigo was one of the funnest songs of the show.

U2 360 Tour Highlights - I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight

One of my favorite songs from the cd, No Line on the Horizon, and one of the best performances from the night of the concert...

Prayer for the Weak

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

U2 360 Tour Highlights - Sunday Bloody Sunday

Maybe U2's opus: Sunday Bloody Sunday from War and Live Under a Blood Red Sky. Simply one of the all-time great anthem's for any and all generations.

U2 360 Tour Highlights - Walk On

One of my favorites from All That You Can't Leave Behind...

THE Most AMAZING Basketball Shot EVER!

This is insane! This clip is from the third level of the stadium:



This clip is from the field level:



Read the story here from the Ball Don't Lie blog.

U2 360 Tour Highlights - One

From Achtung Baby, I give you "One".

U2 360 Tour Highlights

Last week on this day, I was walking Michigan Ave. in Chicago with my wife, Kelly, sister, Marcie, and sis-in-law, Toni getting psyched up for the concert that was going to take place in a few hours: U2. I got this great idea while waiting in line for concert t-shirts: why don't I video 30 secondish clips of each song that U2 plays!

Well, it was a great idea until I realized about half way through the show that I didn't have enough memory! AAAHHH. So I had to do some editing/deleting on the fly. And so what I was left with was some of my favorite snippets of the best concert I have ever seen live.

I'll be posting one clip a day until I have no more clips left to post. They are any where between 15-60 seconds long. It'll give you a glimps into my experience, the show, and where we sat in relation to the stage (the video makes it seem like we were further away than we really were. We had great seats!).

To start if off, I'll post three of the shorter clips from concert day/night:

Opening Act on Michigan Ave



Opening act was really Snow Patrol. Didn't see much of them, but they sound good.

Amazing Grace



Irish Boy

Prayer for the Weak

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Musical Mecca

This weekend is big deal for me. It's a long time coming.

U2.

Since I started listening to them in elementary school on mix tape made for me by my brother, Blane, with War and U2 Live Under a Blood Red Sky, I've always wanted to see these guys live. Had a chance in Denver, but had no money due to being a poor seminary student. Then I had a chance to see them in Pittsburgh, but the asinine powers-that-be at the church I pastored at wouldn't let me have the time/evening off.

But through it all I kept telling we are going to see them if it's the last thing we do, before they become a crap band (at which time I know U2 will pull their own musical plug). And so, long story short: We are going to see U2 this weekend in Chicago on their opening nights of the USA leg of the 360 Tour. Kelly, sister, sis-in-law are going, too.

I am stoked beyond belief. It will be a Beautiful Day!

I just saw this on a buddies blog...here are my top eleven favorite U2 songs:

1. Bad - The Unforgettable Fire
2. New Years Day - War
3. Running to Stand Still - The Joshua Tree
4. 40 - War
5. All Because of You - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
6. I Will Follow - Boy
7. Elevation - All That You Can't Leave Behind
8. Walk On - All That You Can't Leave Behind
9. One - Achtung Baby
10. Pride (In The Name of Love) - The Unforgettable Fire
11. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Joshua Tree

11b-z: Gloria, I Fall Down, October, Vertigo, Out of Control, Sweetest Thing, Grace, Mysterious Ways, Trying to Throw Your Arms Around The World, Vertigo, Where the Streets Have No Name, I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight, Hawkmoon 269, When Love Comes To Town, Surrender, Desire, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own...

How about you? Got 1 or 10 favorite U2 songs or albums?

Michael Jackson Remix

This is a pretty cool remix/video edit of a one man acapella vocal band performing some Jacko stuff.

Michael Jackson remix @ Yahoo! Video

Long Time No Post

Wow! It has been a long time between posts. New job, another part-time job, and two hour commute puts on a damper on some things I really enjoy...blogging being one of them. With that being said I've had to put some things on the back burner and Held Up High falls into that list.

So here we go with some quick hits about stuff I'm doing and enjoying. I'll post some picks later this week or next of my growing family, thoughts on my trip to California, and reflections on my new job as a school counselor.

Grace and peace to you and yours!