My Bike

I know that no one actually cares about this but me but I wanted to post about my bike. I have been wanting a new, up to date, bike for a long time and now that I finally have a real job I have been able to get my bike totally finished. I can honestly say that right now I do not want to change anything about my bike. It weighs less than 24 pounds and it is really strong. The frame is a Tierra (earth in Spanish) from fly bikes. It weighs less than 5 pounds has a very short rear end and is really strong.

My new forks and front wheel are the best. My forks look bent but they are designed to go straight down and they are lighter and stronger than any other freestyle forks out there. I have plegs on my bike now. They are plastic pegs that are inexpensive, really light, and let you grind things that are impossible with the steel pegs. That big black plastic thing on my wheel protects my spokes when grinding and It weighs almost nothing. The new front wheel is crazy light and really strong.Back end: Check out all the orange trim. These pedals are made of really durable plastic. They are light and are very inexpensive. My back wheel has a free coaster hub. It lets you roll backwards without having to back pedal. It is the greatest invention for bikes ever. I am also very happy to have a brake on my bike again. There are lots of hills here. Now I just wish it would stop snowing so that I can ride it.

Snow

Here is yet another reason why West Virginia is better than Texas. It snows here. Here are a couple of pictures Trish took when It snowed like 3 inches this week. Do you see my fence posts? Wonder why I can't get my fence finished?

Gracie likes the snow. She tries to eat the flakes out of the air and she likes to chase snowballs.

Our New Home

Happy homeowners

At the very end of January we officially became adults when we bought our new home at 106 Ches-Wal Road. It is almost 2500 square feet with four bedrooms and a basement. It is a great, quirky, old farmhouse. It is on almost an acre of land with a large detached two car garage. Here is a tour of our new home. Fenced in area for Gracie, dining room furniture, mini ramp, garden, and dirt jumps coming soon. I know that there are not any bedroom and or bathroom pictures but we have plenty of room. You have to come and visit to see the rest.

A better view

Side view with our sweet screened in porch

Our Garage. I wish I had a Prius. The Barn is half on our land and is unfortunately going to be moved.

Dining room. It has huge windows on three sides.

Our Kitchen with sweet refrigerator and the first dishwasher ever made.

Our family room, check the fireplace. It gets cold here.

Formal living room. That pink and red paint has got to go. Notice the lack of furniture. Anyone who would like to donate some furniture would be greatly appreciated.

My basement man cave. Trish decorated it with bike pictures, and all my old memorabilia from my high school bedroom. Think pinewood derby cars, sports trophies, dukes of hazard trash can, fire extinguisher lamp. Lego town and poker table coming soon. Yes I'm a nerd. So What, its my man cave! Gracie digs our basement and we dig that her box no longer stinks up our living room.

Mount Vernon Baptist Church

I thought some of you might enjoy seeing some pictures of Mount Vernon Baptist Church and knowing a little about what I do here.

My title is Associate Pastor of Music and Youth. On the Music Side I do what a Minister of Music typically does. I plan the worship services. There are two. There is an 8:30 with a little over a hundred people, mainly the older crowd. It meets in our historic sanctuary. Our 11:00 which is a more diverse group of all ages meets in our sanctinasium (our gym retrofitted to be a worship space). This service runs about three hundred. For the moment the two services are the same. We are about to start construction of a new sanctuary which will hopefully be completed by this time next year. I also oversee all of the artistic ministries in the church, recruit volunteers for various artistic ministries, and direct and/or oversee musical ensembles, and musicians. I also do pastoral care and some visitation. This takes up about two thirds of my time.

On the Youth side I share responsibilities with a lay leader named Todd. He has been working with the Youth for a long time and does a great job as a lay leader. We meet once a week and I "mentor" him (me a mentor, who'd have thought). He is about to start seminary with a full time job and two kids. You have to respect that. The Youth group at Mount Vernon has been growing and is doing well. I am impressed with the kids in the youth group, both with their biblical/theological knowledge and with their actions. Todd takes care of the bible studies and we plan most of the youth fellowship events and trips together. What I am doing in the youth group is expanding it into a more well rounded program. Before I came the youth activities consisted almost entirely of bible studies and fun stuff. We are currently working on implementing a Sunday night youth service with an all youth praise team which I will plan and Todd will preach a short message at. We are doing monthly local mission/service/outreach projects. Also, I am hoping to start some small group bible studies by the end of the year. We are also planning retreats, disciple now, camp, missions trips, and all the other stuff youth ministries do. I also handle the pastoral care for the youth group. This consists of attending sporting and artistic events, going for lunch at schools and just being available to hang out and talk.

As you can guess, I stay very busy. However, Trish and I still get lots of time together and I have a very flexible schedule. Having Fridays off also rules. I love my job. I am doing what I have wanted to do since the 10th grade. Trish and I both feel that we are doing God's will and all of our needs and then some are being met. We are very blessed. Here are some pictures of our church


Youth Room

Sanctinasium

Historic Sanctuary

Historic Sanctuary Window

My Office: Still messy, just like at Chalk Bluff

New Sanctaury Plans

The Emerson's New Blog

Welcome to Our New Blog. Now that we have moved to West Virginia I have been wanting to start a Blog to keep all of our friends and family informed with what is going on in our lives. As most of you know, we moved to Hurricane (pronounced "hurricin") West Virginia in Mid November where I began serving as Associate Pastor of Music and Youth at Mount Vernon Baptist Church. In January we bought our first home in Scott Depot West Virginia, about 8 minutes from the church. Trish has been keeping busy working at Hardees as a biscuit maker (Trish has been waking up at 4:15 every morning. Those who know Trish understand what a miracle that is.) and jumping through hoops to get her teaching certification for West Virginia. Last week she had her last day because it looks like she will be able to start substitute teaching soon. I love my Job. We love the church, the area, and the people, however, we also miss all of our friends from Texas. We Love you all. Keep posted. New posts coming soon about the Teays Valley area of West Virgina, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, and our New Home

Blessings

Rick