kylegilbert

A few weeks ago I purchased an iPhone.  It was a tough decision to make because I had to switch from Sprint and I knew that the required data plan was going to end up costing us more, even if I cut back on our minutes.  I also had a negative influence, who was trying to convince me that a Blackberry was the way to go.

Well, fortunately, I threw caution to the wind and picked up an 8Mb iPhone, and I have to say that it’s pretty much amazing.  The user interface really is revolutionary, and the applications are pretty slick.  It’s just like when I bought my first Palm Pilot.  I’m back to my technology-loving self.

For those of you out there who are iPhone or iPod Touch users, let me know your favorite add-on apps, and I’ll share a few of mine here too.  My brother, Phil, introduced me to almost all of these, and most of them are free:

Pandora – kind of like having custom XM radio stations on your phone.  Check out the free computer application if this sounds interesting at all.  I promise, you’ll like it.

YouVersion – LifeChurch.tv’s team of awesome has put together this great free Bible application (also available for your computer desktop or Blackberry).  I like it so much, that I’m using it for my quiet time a majority of the time now.

Facebook - pretty cool to have Facebook with you all the time.  Not so useful, but pretty clever.

Hidden Expedition: Everest – Brynna and I play this one together, and she loves it.  It’s kind of like “Where’s Waldo,” but not nearly as dorky (no offense, if you happen to like red and white stripes).

Shazam - In about 15 seconds, this program can accurately identify a song that you hear on the radio or at the store.

Disclaimer: I hesitated to write this post because I really hate to stir up materialism in the hearts of anyone.  After all, it is just piece of plastic and metal with zero eternal impact… but I do think it is pretty cool (and so does my wife – she keeps trying to steal it from me).

I know this photo is pretty lame, but it’s hard to take an on-the-sly photo when you’re ushering and all you have is an iPhone to do the job.  I’m standing about six rows from the back left corner and facing the screen on the right side of the stage.  You can see a glimpse of the balcony on the right.

I love the atmosphere of worship and anticipation in this place.  People are excited to be there, and yes, it feels a bit like a rock concert.  I love it!  (Why should that feeling be reserved for only concerts and football games?)

Yesterday, I decided to hang a swing in the back yard. My parents gave it to us a couple of years ago, but we’ve never had a good place to hang it until now.

Although I was able to throw the rope over the branch from the ground, I had to climb up to get it placed correctly on the branch (and also to show my wife that I hadn’t lost my tree-climbing touch).

My kids love swinging, and it turned out great.

Lan was in town for the weekend, and she’s the one who took the photo of me in the tree.

I took this photo in Fort Worth a few days before we left town.  Wasn’t sure that they would both fit, but I decided to try it anyway, and they still had room to spare.

One of the interesting things that I got to be a part of today was watching part of a video commercial shoot for Faith Promise.  We went off site to a studio where an ad agency was filming an ad that will run in area movie theaters between now and the end of the year.

At long last, some photos of our new hood.  I’ve also chunked in a few shots of the building at Faith Promise that I took on the way to drop my parents off at the airport today.

By the way, this move would not have been possible except for the help of my parents.  They’re amazing, and even as I type, they’re back in Fort Worth painting my utility room so it will look nice when people come to look at our house.

I also owe a special shout out to all of our friends and family in Fort Worth who did special things to make the last few weeks enjoyable and memorable.  You guys are amazing, and we already miss you very much!

Here in Knoxville, thank you Josh, Marti, and Kim for your caring attention to the details and Aaron and Jeremy for helping unload boxes.

Well, we made it to Tenessee, but not quite to Knoxville. We ended up stopping in Memphis for the night and plan to make the next leg of the trip after breakfast.

I’m in the hotel room making this post via my awesome new iPhone (more on that later), and I thought I’d share a few pics.

My daughter came up with this idea herself, and she was very proud to show me what she had done.

This girl keeps us amazed and laughing every day!

I love my neighbors, especially the “V-man” and his family, but we’ve had a little issue with a neighbor who doesn’t seem to mind that his front gate has completely fallen off.  Well, we were getting used to being able to see into his back yard, but it totally took me by surprise when I saw this the other day.

Now, I may be mistaken, but I think this was brought outside within the past few weeks.  Very nice.

So now, not only is the economy in trouble and loans more difficult to secure, but we also have an old Christmas tree in our neighbor’s back yard that can be seen from our front yard.

Some of you may think that I should be bitter about this, but honestly it makes me laugh every time I see it, and it has left me with a couple of questions:

1. Where has this tree been for the past nine months?
2. Why did it have to be in the middle of the back yard?

I think I may go set it upright before we leave town, just for grins.

The image above is the front of a postcard that I put together for Touch of Vintage last night.  I really like the way it turned out, especially close up (click image for detail).