2010

I had an amazing night, tonight with some wonderful new friends!

I'm so happy this year is over. To say it was a roller coaster of emotions would be an understatement. Here's a look back...

2009 ended in sadness for me, and it trickled into the beginning of 2010 with the death of my grandmother the night before my 23rd birthday. Thankfully, God continued to bless our family with love and peace in the aftermath of her death. God helped me overcome sadness from a number of sources and had me pressing on with joy. By February, I had lost 35 pounds, was in great shape and excited about the ministry God had blessed me with. Then around April, the stress and pressure of working three jobs, and temptation finally got to me. I got lazy and complacent with my efforts in eagerly following God's will as I had been. The next few months were nothing but Hell until I shed the part of my life that was dragging me down. I don't know what I would have done without my sister and brother-in-law, and best friend David during this period. They were the bright spots in my life that helped me keep going.

August brought the call to move back to Idaho and disconnect from the chaos of my life in San Diego. The move to Idaho happened in late September and I cannot even begin to tell you how much of a blessing its been. I am so thankful for The Lord's provisions; even in my fear and worry. God provided me with a great job, friends that are so near and dear to my heart in even this short amount of time, a re-connection with my parents and old friends, and hope for a future in continued blessing.

Here are my favorite parts of this year:

My family. Obviously. You guys carried me through this year and I LOVE you!

Our worship service for Cody, in January. An amazing time of worship, remembering a great friend. Easily one of the greatest events of 2010.

Winter Retreat. What an amazing weekend. If I'm going to be honest, I'll have to admit that it was also one of the most exciting Valentine's Days I've ever had.

Aaron Tucker. I love this guy and I am so glad Phil hired him as the worship leader for Pathways. I learned so much from him in our short time together and I'm so thankful for his friendship.

Kim Benz. Awesome lady. Her presence in my life helped so much with the sadness of missing my mom and dad before I moved.

Knott's Soak City with Blake and David. Priceless day.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs. That album was just unreal, seriously.

The Price is Right with David.

John Mark McMillan.

iPad. I don't even own one and it still gets props. It's that awesome.

Strymon. Best pedals I've heard in a long time. They are geniuses.

Starbucks store #8832. My new work home.

Capital Christian Center. My new church home. So many AMAZING people here!

Seeing The Weepies play live. Awesome show. Spent time with old friends and made new ones, all the way from Montana!

My grandparents' and cousin's visit to Boise. Such a nice time seeing them.

The gear I bought.

Working three jobs definitely sucked but it provided $$ for gear. Here's what I bought this year:

• Semour Duncan Deja Vu Tap Delay. Awesome delay pedal. The analog/digital blend is a great feature and the expression pedal control on the feedback level is brilliant.
• Gibson ES-335, "Rose." I love Rose and I am so happy to have found her.
• Boss RC-20XL Loop Station. An essential part of any guitarist rig, in my opinion. Looping chord progressions and then playing over them is a great way to practice and improve technique.
• Gibson Hummingbird Acoustic, "Lynnette." Lynnette has already helped me write some great songs this year and I will never, ever sell her.
• Fender Twin Amp. Rockin' tone. Enough said.
• Strymon Blue Sky Reverberator. Such an amazing, beautiful pedal. I can't believe I own one and this is another piece of gear I'll never sell.
• Electro-Harmonix Memory Toy. A simple, inexpensive analog delay with modulation. Has great, manageable self-oscillation. Using it as a subtle, long decaying delay for volume swells. Great pedal for the price. I like it better than the MXR Carbon Copy.
• 1985 DOD FX65 Stereo Chorus. It isn't true-bypass but it's vintage analog and sounds very warm and unique. At $24, it was a deal too good to pass up.
• Voodoolab Pedal Power 2. $100 may seem like too much money to spend on a power supply, but this was such an amazing investment that did away with the noise problems I was having with my standard daisy-chain approach. Everyone who uses more than two pedals should buy one.

Here are my least favorite parts of this year:

• Not being David's roommate anymore. Best friend and best roommate ever. Coffee, bacon, eggs and potatoes all the time, Popsicles and guitars, amps, and pedals ALL THE TIME. I miss our ghetto apartment.
• Selling my Strat. It gave me some problems, but I do miss it sometimes. Just don't tell Rose.
• Leaving Pathways Community Church. Sad times. I miss y'all.

I'm sure there's more things I didn't like, but I guess I'm in too good of a mood!

Happy New Year everyone! Make it a great one. I'm so excited about what God is already doing, and going to do in my life this year!

Justin