eve of tweny four.

as most of you know. tomorrow im officially too old for how i feel. so here are just some thoughts and prayer requests on the eve of geezerdom.

what amazing things does Jesus have in store for me next?

there will be details to follow in the coming days or so, but God is answering prayers that have been on my heart for a while. and with His answers i believe changes, big and small, are on the horizon.

the power of positivity.

im not and have not been ever a negative person. but i have recently, through the help of study time, prayer time, a book called "how full is your bucket?", and advice from wise counsul, become diligently positive. for the past few weeks i have refused to see a glass even half empty, and diligently seeing the positive in evey circumstance. from big to small. not to get preachy, but i can not express what a difference it has made. and surprisingly the biggest change has not occured in me, but rather in the people around me. i have in no way lightend their load, or loosened the yoke. thier situations remain exactly as they were before. but now, for reasons beyond my knowledge, they seem happier more full of joy, and closer to God. all because of an intentional desire to be postive.

im one blessed bastard.

life has been crazy and full of change and blind corners for the past few years. i constantly think, "if you would have told me a year ago, i was doing this, id have call you a liar". but the amazing thing is, now faced with challenges and pain, i am realizing that the hard times of today, are better than the good days of before. how did this happen? i am overwhelmed by the emotion of grattitude and the feeling of unworthiness. jesus is so amazing that he has had the ability to bless me so much in so many areas of my life that the struggles of today are beyond my wildest dreams of yesterday.may the praise go to him, and may i learn to live a life of the grattitude that warrents such a life. may the words, "i deserve better than this", never escape my mouth.

i have the most beautiful girlfriend ever.

i have been some one who has dated for most of my young adult/adult life. girls have come and girls have gone for over 10 years. some for a short while, some for longer. but never in my wildest dreams could i imagine that i would ever find someone as amazing as dianne. not only did i find her, i somehow conned her into being with me. as stunning as her physical pressence is, her beauty lies somewhere else. she is an amazing example of the power and grace of God. she is his masterpiece, he has instilled in her, a joy of life, love for others, selfless nature, gentleness, compassion, optimism,
kindness, a power to support, that exceeds any other woman i have ever known. before i get emotional, i'll leave it at this. may we all learn from her, and enjoy the creation God has given us.

i have friends, that people would kill for.

in result of moving so much over my life. every birthday seems to be celebrated with a different group of people that the year before. i think of all the people who id love to be here with me and come to the realization, that i have the greatest friends the world has ever known. it defies all logic, from people i spent one summer with 5 years ago, or crazy kids i met
at a wedding in logan, Al, to a guy lived with 4 months in palm beach, to youth pastors who have stuck by me for 7 years, old roomates, old co workers, new roomates, new friends, despite any span of time or distance we are as close as we were the day we met. so thank you. thank you. thank you. you will never know what your pressence means in my life. im sorry
life has so many of us seperated for this current moment in time, but you have shapped me. i am who i am, because of you.

i love you.

i love her.

i love jesus.

may twenty four be a year of love, growth, and in true chris denny style, surprises.

question.

ok.
so dianne made this great dinner tonight.
some of you may have heard of it.
chicken squares.
so now a serious question.
do chicken squares give you gas?
im gassy
di is gassy
hence my suspension

so i went to this little place called montgomery.

ok so this past week i got to emerge myself in everything dianne. amazing. so here is a quick list of highlights from my trip.

1. it motivated me to blog again.
2. biscuet. enough said
3. seeing what the world is like when all the girls are together.
4. travis's amazing dance moves. that boy is crazy
5. getting a surprise visit from billie and travis in the charolette airport. best layover ever.
6. missing my flight with rachel. awesome.
7. i support the gay movement
8. judy.
9. 9 hours of fishing with cecil. i sucked, he rocked. i got schooled
10. the red hat society
11. merediths smile
12. the miraculous weather change from montgomery to the farm
13. a hay bail wedding cake
14. ryans big head on said cake
15. the red letters
16. "what you do to my body, body"
17. 1048
18. never using the same towel twice
19. combineing the forces of design & ag to creat the worlds greatest fruit tower. (go travis go)
20. jareds wisdom
21. dianne almost peed on rachel. i dont know how i lived without knowing that
22. swapping reading lists with cecil
23. lele aka water fountain
24. see through white pants
25. erin tumlin & john pritchards ballroom dancing madness
26. eddies cool shoes
27. being a non groomsmen. best way to do a wedding if you ask me
28. some how ending up at east chase everyday
29. downtown logan, traffic at rush hour
30. over the wagon
31. slow turns
32. alabama radio
33. fun fetti
34. the mule
35. ryans sunburn
36. outing dianne on her crash during a toast. amazing
37. braided belts
38. roll tide (just kidding, go hawks)
39. chicks smoking cigars
40. mckenzies cool hair
41. 700 bottles of domestic beer in a cow trough
42. the flooded farm
43. wheat bundles
44. blow out tire
45. dj
46. convincing everyone to move to cali
47. meeting everyone at once, and still remembering some of them
48. seeing dianne so happy
49. billie
50. meredith
51. rachel
53. hanna
54. jared, travis, ryan
55. berta dunne
56. the swankiest port a potties the world has ever known
57. tractor parking trams
58. thunderstorms
59. martha & cecils back yard
60. coors light


i think thats all i can come up with right now. it was so great to meet all you guys. thank you so much for being so welcoming and warm. it was awesome. dianne is really lucky to have such great friends, and im stoked that i get to join the family as well. my house is always open to all of you who want to come. if you would like to surpries dianne, just call me we can hook that up too. please stay in contact. i know you were di' s friends first, but your mine now. rock on.
god.speed
chris.denny

crulety, as requested.

ok, i tried to be slick and describe the castrophe well enough that the picture would not be missed.
no luck.
so dianne ,while i was in the shower, put together a little slideshow of horror if you will for the lovely people who want to laugh at me.

Enjoy.

just click on the awful picture of my head and watch the magic unfold. for one time in my life i look better in a picture then in real life. trust me it way worse than it looks. but i think you can tell the unjustice to my scalp through the lovely slideshow.

chris

karma. hair. and my new love for hats.

Ok so. real quick. the wedding was great, and ill post more on those adventures. but something so awful happened today that i am feeling guilty laying in bed and not blogging about it.

heres a little background info.
yesterday, yea i think it was yesterday, but it could have been the day before, anyway dianne really really wanted to get her hair cut and drove all over town to find just the right place. she soon found that just the right place, and nearly all other places were closed. so she drove to "great clips" basically the worst hair place in town. they actually have sail boat sails sepeating the little booths of hair hell inside. its awful. she puts her name in and sits down. within 5 minutes and an old guy flagelating next to her face later she realizes that this is the makings of a terrible hair cut and leaves.
so she comes home all frazzeled and upset about the close call. but makes an appointment at a real place. all my lack of compassion self could do was laugh. i couldnt understand why anyone would think that great clips was a good idea. so i do my best to consol her while laughing out loud.
well today i was getting tired of the enourmous spike or the shag in my eyes, and wanted it to just get trimed. at 4 inches it takes a lot of work to get it to stand up, so it usally falls in my eyes by the end of the day. but 3 inches is easy. so just an inch or so, keep it the cool, as my sister calls it "ryan caberea" look. well i go to my wonderful lady at cost cutters next to the safe way. she takes her time and does a great job. but as luck (or karma) would have it, it was closed. I have a terribly busy week at work this week and next so i some how decided that it was either tonight or 10 days from now. frustrated i make the same drive dianne made looking for any place that will cut my hair.
finally i pull into the great clips parking lot defeated. I am pretty confident that if this an establishment based on cutting hair, that they can handle it. Im not looking for the mona lisa here, my hair is all un even and wild anyways. and for goshs sake, im a guy! how hard is guys hair? they can do it right? wrong.
so i wait my 5 minutes and this ragingly masculine women with a badly died mullet asks me to sit in her chair. I should have ran then. she grunts and utters in a voice that rivals barry whites, "howd ja lik it"
so trying to be excited about it,i tell her, i like it wild, rock starish, spikey, crazy, fun. In my head, im thinking if i giver her some creative freedom, she will be pleased with my respect for her art, and she will bust out a true masterpiece on my scalp that would rival bon jovis hair. um yea. im an idiot.
she in about 3 minutes of the most awkward and amature hair cutting fs my head up. the whole time im sitting ther i can see out of the corner of my eye, a 300lb latina women cutting hair in the next torture chamber, looking over the red and yellow canvas sail with a look that is either shear amazement or utter fear for what ever this man-woman is doing to my head. after the third or forth glance over the sail i realize i recoginize the look, i have given it to many of the other bartenders ihave worked with, it is the classic "what the hell are you doing?: look. so at this point i know im screwed. not sure how screwed. i can feel and see her doing some wierd things. for instance using the electric clipers on my bangs. (time out, i didnt know ihad bangs, but apparently do now) i can also feel her taking the siscsors and cuting teany tiny chunks of hair right at my hair line. when i question this, she bellows that she is thinning it out. (time out number two, im not sure if there are anyother male readers out there, but the last thing we want is for someone to thingour hairline out, we are all going bald as it is, no need to speed up the process).
so shes done and im scared to look and i finally look up. and praise jesus its awful. really awful. the hair at the front is not only thinned so you can see my scalp (imagine bad plugs) but is about 1 to 2 inches tall, which as dianne so elequently discribed, inclines to the back where it stands an orginal 4 inches high. the sides. razored to my head. so basically its really really ugly. kinda psuedo mullet that starts at my ears.
i can not believe i ended up at the place that i laughed at dianne for going to.
so now tomorrow i will be going with dianne to her appointment to see if her hair dressor can fix what mine did. ahhh. i guess i deserve it. so if anyone would like to donate a hat it would be greatly apprecaiated. please send to:

Chris Denny
New Vintage Church
3300 Sonoma Ave
Santa Rosa, CA 95405

Thanks guys.
Chris

chi towns finest.

ok so i am making a quick cameo in the midwest for my boy's wedding.
Dre & I been brothers since we both started at iowa, and on saturday allison is making the biggest mistake ever. just kidding dre & allison are great together. so im here in iowa doing the wedding thing. yesturday was the kickin bachlor party. Im not going to share too many details on here to protect the inocent.
But we drove out to chi town, chilled in the penthouse at the hard rock hotel on the 35th floor with 360 views of chi town. (including the wrigly building, go dianne). this place was off the chain, plasma screen tvs in every room, boardroom, chinchilla blankets, purple leather couches, gator skin recliners, bar, bedrooms, bathrooms, electric guitar & amp. to say the least it was conditions i could get used to. Di, we have to go back and chill in chi town for a while. we went out for a unreal steak dinner at mortons then hit the town. to those concerened, things didnt get too rowdy, just a bunch of friends getting back together for some fun.
so now we back in Iowa, we had the rehersal & dinner tonight. things have gone smooth. im not standing out too bad. ( for those who dont know i am the only white kid in this wedding. there is one domincan guy, but basically i stand out pretty bad.) I have run into one problem, everyone is trying to get me to cut my hair. thats some bull, ill fly 3,000 and spend all kinda money to be with my boy for his wedding, but cut my hair? hell no. as of recently my traditional shag/spike has reached some new hights. (4 inches straight up) i dig it, but lets just say in this culture it aint flying.
So come on back me up a little, do i really need to cut my hair for this?
ill post some pics later.
us guys looking pimp too. we picked up the tuxes, and they hot. ivory tuxes and shirts, with chocolate brown vests and ties. it looks better on my brothers of a darker orientaiton, but im holding my own. so before things get to rowdy again, i gotta run.
peace. love.
chris.

big vagueness

ok. so since ryan can post like a mad man(almost everyday). so can i. im learing i guess. first let me say thanks for all the auburn girls(and guys) who have been so nice. i know its a pretty hard to be welcoming a guy thats dating your best friend, and you have never met him. so appreciate your love. freakin a i miss southern hospilitality. ok so since my day was fairly boring. we will skip blogging on that. so i figured id explain a large vague area in my previous blogs. my job.
ok so my technial title: art & programing director. & interim youth pastor
youth pastor. simple no need to explain.

so what the heck does a art director do at a church. well here goes.
1. i design all visual materials for the church. the bulitien, advertising, newsletters, signage, invitations, slides, videos, anoucements, website (newvinage.org check it)
2. we teach in six week series and creatively theme them. for instance we spent the past six weeks teaching on relationships and life management stuff. so we made connections between the aspects of taking care of a fishbowl to taking care of your life. (changing 20% of the water every 2 weeks, putting the right type of fish together, etc. if all the fish are mating why arent they happy?, life on display. etc) so my job is every six weeks to turn the inside of the worship center to match the theme and create a strong visual impression. This series is "be a hero" we are taking the principles of being a servant in your community, church, family, life and connecting it to God calling you to be like a comic book action hero. so it again was my job to turn the worship center into a live action set, like a theme park stunt show. here are some pics. ok, so maybe icant find the pics right now, but i will post them later. so yea hard to explain, sorry so long but this is a big part of my job.
3. we are a very young and modern church rooted in modern american culture in order to reach the unchurched. but we are in a 1954 1st baptist church building. So a big part of my job is to design, plan, and execute a 5 year renovation plan. slowly turnign old building into new pretty cool buildings. heres some pics of when i turned the basketball courts into a concert venue.
4. its part of my job to team up with my pastor (andy) and plan the sermon topic calander and creative themes. plan and create new ministries and renovate existing miinistries to become more relevant. for example we recently decided to revamp our sunday morning childrens program. we are turning our old founders chapel into a mock televsion studio and for a new childrens program we are placing the kids as the studio audience in a fake childrens show that is like a cross between david letterman and nick jr. again hard to explain but this is life.
5. run the media. i design and run the video, lighting, sound, and more to create a visual worship experience. this includes designing the set up, purchasing new equipment, designing shows, etc.

ok thats pretty much it. sorrry so long and boring. but that is what i do everyday. when all of you come out, ill give you a tour and it will all make sense.
ok so on to the pictures i promised

super hero stunt set part 1
super hero stunt set part 2
my trusty soundboard
one of our first shows on the new stage
new stage

since i already have been introduced.....

first my apologies for not posting in forever, if you would please refer to my first blog, you will kindly notice im not good at this stuff. but ill continue to try. so thank you for your patience.
well. well. well
you dont check blogs for a week or so and your girlfriend goes and puts a hideous picture of you and some lame introduction for the whole world to see. yay. rather than leaving it to blog obsessive third parties ill take my introduction in my own hands.
where to start?
hmm.
heres a list of lame facts.
1. hometown: palm beach, florida
2. college(s): flagler college & university of iowa (go hawkeyes)
3. major(s): Graphic design, fine art & entrepreneurship (but i still cant spell it)
4. fav color: lime green(the new color of my office)
5. # of states ive lived in: 4
6. # of countries ive visited: 28
7. currently on my ipod: the killers, the shins, the fray (pattern is not on purpose), and damien rice
8. currently in my dvd player: um i dont know i always fall asleep before the opening credits
9. age:23
10 previous employments: bar tender, waiter, restaurant manager, trailer park manager, graphic designer, home depot paint guy ( i was even forced to teach lame faux painting classes), construction, baloon designer(lasted 2 days then i got fired), youth pastor, tour guide at a winery, um and probably some other things i forgot
11. current job: art director at a church (yes im the only one ihave ever met)
12. Hero: my dad. i know its cheesy but its freaking true so back off.
13. things friends from auburn will probably like most about me: im crazy about dianne
14. things friends from auburn will probably like least about me: dianne says im not aloud to say the word fuck around you guys
15. current food for thought: diannes frown does have nice curve, yet doenst look remotely real.
16. i just got yelled at for saying the f word on my blog
17. i love jesus
18. im not so conservative
19. im alright with that
20. im a work a holic
21. i once lived in asheville NC and worked for billy graham (wasnt allowed to cuss there either)
22. i love good food
23. i have no idea what my hair color is (somewhere between brown, blonde, and red)
24. i do know that ihave blue eyes
25. im scrony
26. i smoke. ( lame i know)
27. my mom is really really cool
28. she just got hit by a hurricane ( they re doing fine, thanks for the concern)
29. im a little rough around the edges, but once you get to the core, its great (kinda like a old peanut m&m)
30. i have the musical talent of a deaf baboon
31. i feel like i know, hanna, rachel, billie, and meredith, because its pretty much all di and i talk about.
32. i may be a better cook than di, we are trying to figure that out.
33. im a big geek.
34. im alright with that too.
35. some times i can be a dick.
36. working on that one
37. i tend to verbalize my internal dialoge. which entertains my friends, but makes me look dumb
38. i think dianne is pretty
39. only diannes friends read my blog... i forgot to mention it to mine.
40. i used to be a republican
41 but i still voted for GW twice as a democrat ( what were my other choices? gore? yea right, and i dont even trust kerry)
42. i like the family guy, probably too much
43. dianne made me selfconcious because my shampoo was too cheap, so i bought new shampoo
44. throught his blog it would appear that dianne has me under control. but dont be fooled.
45. i miss my jeep.
46. im terrible with my fiances, but what guy my age isnt?
47. that was a lame excuse.
48. i hate snow. and everything involved with it.
49. i once caught myself on fire
50. i once stopped dropped and rolled
51. i attract homeless people and let them stay at my house ( this is a new trend and needs to stop)
52. i think rachel is cool.
53. i once tried to fly hanna out to suprise dianne, but she didnt return my call. shame.
54. i really like wine
55. i used to surf, but probably suck now
56. im the only white guy in my best friends wedding in two weeks
57. my hair is taller than some pets
58. i buy too many clothes
59. i drive a pick up truck
60. i am an eagle scout
61. yes that means i was a dork
62. yes i still am
63. im tired of writing facts about me
64. you are tired reading this crap

well now i feel like i know you guys better. not. this was a totally one way thing. please feel free to copy and fill in your own answers in your comments. have fun. love you guys.
chris