Eric Holen

Yvette and I have been tent campers for almost 12 years now.  For the last few years, we have gone tent camping with a great group of friends two or more times a year.  However, as we get older, the thought of camping in a trailer starts to sound like a better option.  We had been looking at different trailers, but then started to wonder whether trailer camping would be as fun as tent camping.  So we decided to rent a trailer and try it out a few times before making a purchase decision.

While looking through Craig’s List, we came across a couple who are trying to sell their trailer, but were renting it in the interim.  The only downside is that they would only set it up on one of three parks around Granger Lake outside of Taylor, Texas.  After giving it a few seconds thought, Yvette and I decided to try out the rental.

Out of the three parks that were available, we ended up selecting Taylor Park because it had several hiking trails and two old bridges.

On Friday (Mar 5), we packed up all of our camping equipment, except our tent, and drove north towards Taylor.  For lunch, we stopped at Louie Mueller Barbeque in Taylor.  A friend from the Kyle Fire Department had recommended the location.  We walked in, grabbed some menus and sat down.  That was the clue to the “waitress” that we had never been there before.  She directed us to the counter so that we could get in line.  We were just in time because by the time we got our food, the line stretched to the door.  While the BBQ was very tender, it wasn’t our favorite because it lacked flavor.  In addition, their sauce did not add much.

After lunch, Yvette and continued our drive through Taylor to the Taylor Park campground in Granger.  We checked in at the gate then drove to our site. The site that we selected had a great view of the lake as well as quick access to the trails.

At exactly 2:00 PM as scheduled, David, the trailer’s owner, drove up with a 28 foot 5th wheel camping trailer.  We were impressed.  Not only was it big, but the inside and outside looked great.  David had the trailer setup in less than 30 minutes and then walked us through, explaining the features.

Once David drove away, Yvette and I proceeded to unpack our SUV and move into the trailer.  Once we were moved in, Yvette and I took a walking tour of the campgrounds.

We walked down one of the feeder trailers that led directly from our site to the walking trail.  From there, we explored the beach and then Hoxie Bridge, one of two old bridges in the park.

After making a full walking trip around the park, we returned to our camping trailer to settle in for dinner.  After a dinner of fajitas, we stepped outside and sat around a camp fire, one of the first that we had to build ourselves.  In the past, we had left campfire building in the capable hands of our friend Dallas, so it was a challenge and learning experience for us.  When it got too cold, we returned to the trailer, played some games, and crawled into our warm bed.

On Saturday morning, I got up before Yvette and baked, not fried, hash browns in the oven while cooking eggs on the stove.  We spent the day relaxing, reading outside while listening to the sounds of nature, playing games, and watching some movies.  Then we took a drive around Taylor and Granger, and even stopped at Granger Dam. 

In the afternoon, I took a 90 minute hike along the Comanche Bluff Trail, which included a view of the Friendship Bridge, the second of the two older bridges in the park.  I had to cut the hike short when I ran into a lot of mud.  On my next trip, I hope to hike the entire 3.2 miles one way.  For dinner, Yvette baked steaks because we forgot to buy charcoal.

The next morning, I fixed Yvette some “camping” French toast, which means that it was regular French toast without our sugar-free syrup, which we did not pack.  Following breakfast, we played some more games and then started packing and cleaning up.  At 2:00 PM sharp, David showed up to pick up the trailer.

Yvette and I agreed that while we are not giving up tent camping, we love trailer camping.  Waking up in a comfortable bed versus and air mattress that had lost some pressure in the night was nice.  Getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without having to put on sneakers was also a benefit.  Given the March weather, it was nice to being able to enjoy the campgrounds and then retreat to the warm trailer when it either started raining a little or got colder.

We are already planning another camping trailer trip in April for our anniversary.  What’s interesting is that renting the trailer had an unintended revelation.  Renting a trailer seems like it might be a lot less expensive then actually buying and maintaining our own trailer.  We’ll have to see if that affects our purchasing decision.

In a previous post, I wrote how I had been away from the church for some time.  I also teased that I would write about my ideal church.

Church is such a personal commitment.  While we are giving our lives and heart to the Lord, we are giving our time and money to a church.  Yes, I know that our money is doing the Lord’s work, but it is the church that serves as the conduit for the Lord’s work.  We need to have faith in our church, its leaders and the message that they preach.

In my life, I have attended several churches.  I was baptized Catholic, went to parochial school, and served as an altar boy.  I have attended my fair share of Catholic churches.  I attended a Methodist church for several months because the girl I was dating went there.  I attended a non-denominational church while I was trying to turn my life around after some missteps.  Then I attended a Baptist church, again because the girl that I was dating attended services there.  After that, I went on a long break until Yvette and I found another non-denominational church that we fell in love with.

We attended The Connection Church for well over a year, until some missteps on my part caused us to break away.  Mind you, I didn’t do anything wrong, it was just that as I tried to get more involved in the church, I didn’t keep Yvette involved.  Once she decided to stop supporting and going to church, I quickly followed.

Lately, I have been thinking more about getting involved in the church again, really for selfish reasons.  I miss the “pump” that a good sermon gave me to kick off my week.  It didn’t hurt that attending church helped solidify, at least in my mind, that I could be a good person.  In the last couple of months, I have received two offers to attend church with different friends.  Yvette and I need just need to take them up on their offers.

So, what is my ideal church?  First, let me preface this that The Connection Church spoiled me.  They, out of all of the churches that I have ever attended, was my most ideal.  If you are ever in the Buda/Kyle/San Marcos area, I strongly recommend checking out The Connection Church.

Accept Everyone – This is probably my most important criteria.  I don’t care if you are single, married, cohabiting or gay, you should be accepted.  Everyone is a child of God.  Some churches may preach that they are open to everyone, but then they slide in those sermons that knock a lifestyle.  Yvette and I cohabited before we were married.  We were married by a justice of the peace.  Thirteen years later, we are still happily married.  It’s what’s in our hearts that matters.  God loves us and everyone else no matter what.

Preach To Me – A good bible story is just that, a story.  Take the time to translate it to me and my life.  Show me how I can take the sermon and, either that day or on Monday, translate it into my daily life.  One of my favorite sermons, that I can remember, involved Zak White, some credit cards and a blender.  Use the sermon to help me be better in my daily life.

Recognize Me – I don’t expect a pastor to know everyone by name, but it’s wonderful when they recognize you.  What’s even better is when the pastor acknowledges you before church, because all of them try to speak to you after church.  Furthermore, I want to be able to talk to the pastor, not a deacon or someone else.

Be A Big Church in a Small Church Body – Some of my favorite services occurred when The Connection Church met at an elementary school.  They had the heart of a big church wrapped up in the body of a small church.  The services were small, based on the size of the room.  It didn’t feel like a church, it felt more like a get together with God and me.  Yvette and I agree that The Connection Church lost some of that feeling when they moved to a much bigger facility.  I didn’t real pick up on it until a power failure forced us to move services off of the stage and into the lobby and it felt like a small church again.  However, they recently moved back to an elementary school which means that the small church feeling is probably back.  One of the other things that I loved about The Connection Church is that our lead pastor, Cole Phillips, was there at 6:30 AM to perform manual labor and help setup the church.  That said a lot to me about his commitment.

Music – This is something that The Connection Church excelled at, to a degree.  I have listened to more hymnals than I can remember.  The music should pump me up and prepare me for the Lord’s message.  From the very first day, The Connection Church excelled at music.  The band that they have put together, led by Micah Petrea, rocked me and God’s word.  My only comment is that the four songs that preceded the service could be a little long.

Whatever your ideal church is, I encourage you to try it out.  Don’t put it off like Yvette and I have.

Yvette has been following the Olympics and occasionally updating me on results and medal counts, when I will listen.  This got me to thinking about whether I would medal in certain areas of my life.  After giving it some thought, here are my results.

Myself – Bronze Medal:  While I have lost over 30 pounds in the last year and have kept the weight off for the last six months, there are areas where I am falling behind.  For example, I keep telling myself that I need to take my GRE and register for Graduate school; however, here it is almost 5 years after getting my Bachelors degree and I am still not back into school.

Marriage – Silver Medal:  I am doing a great job.  Yvette and I are a team.  She loads the dishwasher and I unload.  But in other areas, I could be a better husband.  As Yvette will say, our marriage is great, but not perfect.  That leaves us something to strive towards.

Spiritual – Did Not Medal:  This is the area of my life where I am really falling behind.  As much as I want God to be a part of my life, he is not first in my decisions.  That’s not to say I am not a good person.  I have tried to read the bible in a year, but as soon as I hit a dry section, I stop.  I have been away from the church for over a year.  In another post, I hope to write about my ideal church.

Work – Bronze Medal:  While I am doing my best as an individual, I need to step up my game when it comes to motivating my employees and getting them to perform at their very best.

There are no gold medals this time around.  How would you medal if you evaluated yourself?

The house to the right of us, as we are standing on our porch, is up for sale yet again. This is the fifth time that the house has been up for sale since it was built and sometimes I wonder if we are driving away our neighbors.

Our home was the third built on our block. Sometime later, the beautiful two-story house to our right was built. I know it is beautiful because I would walk through it during the construction. Shortly after construction started, the first “For Sale” sign went up because the original owners (sale 1) walked out on the contract.

After it was built, the sister of one of my fellow firefighters, and her family, bought (sale 2) the home. They were there a couple of years, but we didn’t get to know them that well. We did have one run in with her husband on my birthday with the margarita machine.  We were a little loud in the backyard and got yelled at. They were there a couple of years and then moved on.

Next, a stay at home dad and his wife bought (sale 3) and moved into the home. Again, we didn’t get to know them very well. What we did know is that they were having marital problems given the occasional fights they would have that would spill into the driveway. While I cannot confirm, I believe they got a divorce, which resulted in the house being foreclosed.

Today, a wonderful couple from California, and their son and daughter-in-law, life in house (sale 4). Yvette and I made an effort to acquaint ourselves with the family and say hi whenever we could. They have several dogs who love to bark and play with our dogs through the fence. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, there is a for sale sign in their yard.

So if you are looking for a beautiful two-story house that sits next to some neighbors (us) who will run you off in couple of years, please stop by.

On Monday, we sold Megan’s bedroom furniture to a family with a little girl.  Megan is my daughter, who I haven’t seen in almost 14 years except for her pictures on MySpace.

Yvette and I originally bought the furniture in early 1996 when Megan was 4 years old, anticipating that she would visit us occasionally when her and her mother moved back into town with her new dad.  Unfortunately, while I got to see Megan twice that year, I didn’t bring her to our home and she never used the furniture.

Over the years, the furniture provided for a little used guest room and then an even less used backup guest room.  Yvette had taken to storing her collection of Precious Moments figurines and collectables on the hutch and dressers.

The decision to sell it has been a few months coming.  After Christmas, Yvette and I started our annual cleanup and finalized our decision to sell the furniture.  We listed the furniture on Craig’s List and after several inquiries and two viewings, it’s gone.

Yvette was concerned that my selling the furniture would bring up some issues for me, but it didn’t.  What surprised me were my remembrances, not of Megan, but how the furniture had been a staple of Yvette’s and my relationship over the years.

As I mentioned, we bought the furniture in 1996.  Yvette and I were living together, but I had not yet proposed to her.  At the time, we were living in a two bedroom apartment.  I had to move my computer desk out of the second bedroom and into ours to make room for Megan’s bedroom set.  The bedroom set followed us from the two bedroom apartment, to our mobile home.  Then we moved to Austin and the bedroom set followed us to another two bedroom apartment, then our mobile home, which we had relocated from El Paso, and finally into our home that Yvette and I share today.

When the furniture walked out the door on Monday and the bedroom stood empty, a couple of things occurred to me.

• The bedroom set was our first furniture and big purchase together.  Even though we were not married, Yvette and I discussed the decision before I made the purchase.  Since then, we have always discussed and gotten consensus before moving forward on a big purchases.
• It was the third oldest piece of furniture or set in our home.  The only pieces that are older are my heavy duty television stand, which I bought in 1989 and my dining room set, which I bought in 1990.
• In all that time, I don’t think that I ever slept in the bed for even one night.  However, our moms, a couple of Yvette’s cousins, a couple of my sisters, and a niece have used the bed.
• Selling the children’s bedroom set reinforced that Yvette and I are not having children, although we had known this for a long time.  We used to call the room “the nursery”, but over the years we began calling it “The Precious Moments” room.  Since we love babysitting, we will need to come up with a temporary bed for those times when we get to keep “our kids” overnight.
• Finally, it’s the first time that we have had an empty room in 14 years and we are not quite sure what we’re going to do with it.

Yvette and I will always have a place in our minds and hearts for Megan; however, if she visits us someday, we may just not have a place for her to lay her head.