Day 37: What will you name your kids someday?

I like names. I like naming things. That's why I play The Sims and make my sims have tons of children or pets. I let them all know how important they are by their name. Gahrbauge Trash is just a lowly dumpster diver, but Mortimer James is a monocle wearing fancy pant.

When it comes to my potential children, this is still not too far off. Feel free to mock the names I choose because y'all know I mock what other people name their kids, especially "James." I don't mind "Jim," but "James" is just a plural form of nonsense. I apologize if I have offended those of you who love or have the name James, Ha-mace in Spanish.

Since we all know I would prefer to have sons, let's start with girl names. That way, if I do have a daughter, she'll feel important and like a princess frog. Here are some girl names I would name my kids, in some or no particular order:

1. Virginia - Both of my grandmas are Virginias, and I think it is a cute name that is coming back in style.
2. Jubilee - I like this name for a girl because it will be a day of rejoicing and festivities when I have a child. Satan tried to rob me of such joy, and God will be like, "I don't think so, fool."
3. Lola - This name I've always thought was cute because it was the name of my great-aunt who lived on a chicken farm.

Boys names are much easier for me to come up with. The hard part will be for me to narrow down my list to three or five, not four. 

1. Ernie - As of late, I've come to realize how much my family means to me and that I'd like to pass on names from it. My grandpa Ernie has always been one of the sweetest, most loyal men in my life. I have a ton of respect for him and love him very much. 
2. Hayden - I really started liking this name when my cousins named their first son, Hayden.
3. Cedric - This is cheesy, but I love this name because of Harry Potter. When Cedric died, I cried for hours. 

Middle names? I don't know yet. We'd have to wait that one out. I've often thought about naming my second child Draco Malfoy Morrison, and by often, I mean once. 

Thanks to Ellen Benefield for suggesting today's topic. Visit her and Kyle's website, mexicomercy.com to help support their missionary work in Mazatlan, MX. 

Please suggest what I'll be writing about tomorrow!

Day 33: The places and people you've lived with

Gabe Thaman gets the win for what to write about today! Where have I lived? Let me take you back...

I was born to a lovely parents in Paris, IL. I was the youngest of four brothers (Chris, Sean, Zach, and me). I only lived with my oldest brother four a couple of years before he moved to live with his mom.

I stayed in Paris until I was three years old. Then, we moved to Paxton, IL, where I would blow away the competition.

Fifteen years later, I moved to Champaign to live with Zach, Zach's best friend, Zach's ex-girlfriend, and her best friend.  That was an interesting year. Tales of people getting too drunk and wandering into the wrong bedroom and all that jazz. Zach and I worked at Hobbico together, so that was more bonding time, too!

The next year, I moved back to Paxton to live with my parents. They were thrilled, I'm sure.

About a year and a half later, I moved to a studio apartment in Champaign, a block away from Brad and Katie Hart. There, I shared a bathroom with two sixty year old men and some others somewhat closer to my age. Needless to say, I wore flip flops in the shower. That's the shower I killed my phone by talking to Leann over the mobile in the shower.

About half a year later, I moved in with a number of people. I don't remember them all. Daniel Goulet was the easiest to get along with since we were similar, as they say in Spanish. I shared a garage for a bedroom with Daniel Turner. I always felt like I annoyed him because he had to get up early and my life was not so bound by early morning times.

The next year, I moved to an apartment building, where I roomed with Chris Petersen, Paul Egli, and later Stephen Johnson. What I loved best about this was the "Friends" set up we had with the apartment across the hall being filled by Joanna Machen, Jill Rackow, Gatanya Arnic, and Gatanya's daughter. This was an overall fun living situation. Especially getting to watch good TV with Joanna!

At some point, I moved to Mahomet, IL with Josh and Michelle Bubniak! They had extra bedroom, the Princess room, and I had a need for speed. It was a good time. Michelle and I cried as we watched Rent and ate cookie dough. 

Me and Gabe

The next year, I moved with Gabe Thaman into Andrew and Audrey Kamm's house. Gabe, Andrew, and I were all pastoral interns at The Vineyard Church, and the Kamms' were giving us a great deal living there with them. Sometimes, Gabe and I would run out of toilet paper, but at least we had a shower. 

The next year, Gabe and I moved in with Bob and Jean Mason, an older couple from The Vineyard Church who often rented out rooms to internationals and the sort. Their grandson lived there with them. We shared a bathroom with him. There was also an older female pastor living upstairs. At one point, there were three girls from Eastern Europe who were selling books around town. For another bit, Jorge from Mazatlan lived with us. Then Stephen Johnson moved in with us, too. Always good people. 

Gabe was my favorite roommate of all time. I don't know of anyone else who I got along with soooo well. We were quite complementary. 

About a couple years later, I moved in with Mike Slone. I fried a lot of food. Mike had good costume and man parties. He also had good video games. I did not like having to live on the third floor with washers and dryers on the first floor, but Mike was a easy, cheap person to rent from. 

The next year, I moved in to a one-bedroom apartment. It was a great time. It was also behind El Toro, so I was confused by the smell of pancakes or grease or whatever when I'd wake up in the morning. 

Less than a year later, I moved to the good ol' Peoria, IL. I live by myself; however, I can walk about a block and hang out with Mark and Carrie Egli, who live in the same complex. Peoria is great. You should move here and work at Par-A-Dice with me. 

What shall I write about tomorrow?

Day 21: Favorite picture of yourself ALL TIME Why?

If you know me, you know I like myself. Sometimes, I'll stare at myself in the mirror for hours on end, just wondering how I look so good. Some people have to buy special makeups or extensive surgeries. I just have a crooked nose and was born beautiful, I hear.

Of course, I can't just show you the ONE picture that is my favorite of all time. I have to have a countdown with those who are runners ups.

We start with the Costumes:

Moses and Rocky 

Superman with his Hero Squad

Pharaoh with a slew

Dwight, leading worship for class

Corky St Clair with a hippie

Tobias Funke in Pirate attire

Michael Jackson with Fred Flintstone

  Then, Non-Costumes:

Alexis and I, singing at Gabe and Aubrey's wedding.

Dancing at Chad and Carolyn's Christmas Party

The Family Shot

Posing with Don Follis

Apologizing for saying her name instead of Aubrey's in the toast.

My Senior photo. I'm 17, not 12.

The Winner:

Zach and I just look like little studs. I'm on the left.

Day 9: A favorite picture of your best friend

It's hard to narrow down who EXACTLY is my best friend...for many reasons:

1. I'm pretty popular.
2. I'm not lonely.
3. I tend to like most people.
4. If I don't like someone, they aren't my best friend.
5. I'm quite focused on who is currently around me.
6. I often friendship in packs of four.
7. I'm in Slytherin.

But even with all this working for/against me, I am going to take you on a tour of my friendship. As stated in #6, above, I often friendship in packs of four. Just take a look at the incredible fours:

The first of the fours took place in 2004 with the first friends I made at The Vineyard Church. 

That's right. You look up and only see three people who are supposed to be in the picture, Carrie (Townsend) Egli, Mark Egli, and Adam Morrison. That's because Michelle (Uphoff) Koehler was not ever in any photograph with the rest of us when we hung out. You see, back in 2004, we didn't care so much for digital cameras and making sure other people knew we were a group of friends. Then Michelle went away to ISU, and the rest of us went on without her.

The second set of fours took place a times later from The Vineyard Church, as well.

This group of friends has plenty of pictures together because we toured Florida as a rag-tag singing quartet. We didn't really sing, but we did go to Florida, as you might be able to tell from the previous entry. Emily (Hoerr) Pool, Adam Morrison, Leann (Earp) Knight, and Robert Daniel Goulet. We stayed up late, having serious talks about Jesus and healing. God did some pretty cool things, cuz he's just pretty cool. 

Who is next? I'll tell you. 

The wildest pack of geese you've ever seen! Angie Kauffman, Aubrey (Smith) Thaman, Gabe Thaman, and Adam Morrison. We weren't a band of singers, but we were a band of fun. I do so enjoy our times. We all took part in the grandiose wedding extravaganza of Gabe and Aubrey. I, the best man, and Angie, the wedding coordinator. Obviously Gabe and Aubrey were the groom and bride. I also sang at the wedding with Alexis, Aubrey's sister.  

If I were to take a step back and say, "Well, who are the individuals who have been besties with the mesties?" I'd probably have to think about it. [30 minutes of thinking]

One of my favorite peoples in the world, would have to be:

Geoff Olmstead and I were quite good friends. I don't know if it's because of both of our desire to avoid confrontation or if it's just because we're that good-natured, but we survived all the way to Mexico and back. Geoff got me excited about football (soccer) and advertising... Then, he got married and moved back to Colorado to work at his father's church. 

One of the best friends I've had through fights, is:

Not Adam Morrison and Cow. It's Mark Egli. Yes, we've had big fights. Not just one, but many. AND we've survived. At first, we were afraid. We were petrified. But after the big knock-out blow fight that ended the first set of four, we waited years before being friends again. Then, it was like a millionaires! Now, we hang out pretty regularly. We have reached an agreement that we're both better than each other. That way, we're both always right. It works. Don't ask how.

However, one of the friends who I grew up wanting to be like and then ended up being a great, supportive friend is:

Zachary Stephen Morrison is a pretty good fellow. Look at us, being studs in our childhood. Then, I grew up to sweat a lot. Zach was a pretty great friend when I was hating who I was in high school. He was a fun coworker and roommate. He was also jealous of my styles, but I didn't know that until he was married. I just thought he was a jerk, when we were in jr high. God bless the child. 

So there you go. I like people. They like me. People are good. I also want "So I Met Your Mother" to be over already, so we can know who the freaking mother is. 

Day 8: A place you've traveled to

I would be lying to you if I told you I haven't traveled. My family took vacations all over the nation when I was just a child. We did vacations to Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, South Dakota, Kentucky, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC...and probably a few others that I can't remember.

But one of my favorite places to visit is Florida. My freshman year in high school was the first time I visited this land of God's eternal beauty. Here I am enjoying a lovely lemon ice with my floppy hat on. I'm pretty sure Jamie and I were at the Animal Kingdom. I thought I was so cool with that hat and my oversized shirts!

As you can see below, I'm not the woman wearing the kitty face shirt. I am in the green floppy hat in the back left. Katie Bormet, Ashley Luening and I rode the Tower of Terror at least 30 times, each time we posed differently. One time included us wearing our shopping bags over our heads. This was one of our favorites, the ol' Say No, Hear No, Speak No jazz.

Look below, and you'll see me and Leann having a blast at my first return to Florida. You see, this was the summer of the Final Four, which was comprised of Daniel Goulet, Emily Pool, Leann Knight, and me. I enjoyed the It's a Small World After All ride for the first time. I was also made fun of by Daniel's mother's boyfriend. Friends, I wanted to sleep in because it was my vacation. The rest of the Final Four went to a church. Mister Boyfriend told Bernice, Daniel's mom, that I better watch myself because my alligator butt is gonna catch up with my woodpecker mouth, which I think means I talk a lot. 

Then came my "family vacation" with Angie's family.

Kids better not ruin my masterpiece theater!

He got his shorts wet and got to walk through town with just his boxer briefs. He thought I was wearing boxers for shorts anyway.

This past year, Zach invited me to join the Burtness family for vacation to Florida, too! Of course, I said yes because it involved me getting to share a room with the nephew, William. And we got to see our brother, Chris, who is a pharmacist for a hospital in Miami.

Good friend Hannah was there, too! I needed a bit of good ol' fashioned massage, then and later then.

And guess what! Less than a month later, Angie's family vacation happened again. It's an every two year thing.

So don't mess with me because I sweat a lot.

As you can tell, I have been to Florida.

Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy

I'm quite a happy fellow, so picking 1 picture that makes me happy is hard to do. It could be of my family, my church, my new coworkers, or even my new kitchen aid my mom bought me.

However, I am going to go with my nephew, William. He is not only adorable, funny, and intelligent... He is also the start of the next generation of the Morrison family.

And we all know Star Trek: The Next Generation was way better than the original Star Trek...depending on your intelligence.

Day 4: Your parents

If there's one thing I've said it's, "I love my parents!" Now you may be thinking, "Of course Adam loves his parents. He's a bastard, and he's always been a bastard." In fact, here I am, judging the size of Sean's head. He can't help it, but I sure can judge. You might think this is cute, until you find out the boy is wiping his face because I just spit in it. While I'm not technically a bastard, I have spurts of being a jerk. My parents had the joy of living through those uncanny moments.

My Dad: Electron Ron

My dad has been an inspiration to me. At a very late age, he experienced the amazing, radical power of God and found freedom from negative mindsets and cycles of insanity. His childhood was no walk in the park. His dad passed away when my dad was preschool-aged. He really had no idea how to be a father in hard times, and my three brothers and I experienced that. Did that hurt my relationship with him? Heck, yeah! He was my high school chemistry and physics teacher, and we cussed each other out in class.

Thankfully, we began working on our relationship (with help from counseling) when I was a senior in high school. I think my older brothers may have missed out on this sort of bonding that we got to take part in, and it could play a part in the potential disconnect. My dad and I have forgiven and apologized for our actions and reactions. He is a new man. A new father. And I hope to see him continue to heal and grow as a loving grandpa to my nephews (and potential nieces), as well as my children.

My Mom: The Mama Bear

My mom was one of my favorite people in my early life. I wanted to protect her from any harm. I hated the idea that something I did might hurt her heart, even going as far as not wanting to tell her I really didn't like a particular pro wrestling action figure she got me. My mom is a terrific listener. She would take me to Champaign, IL to go shopping with her. The 30-minute car-ride there and back was either filled with us singing to Oldies 92 or me telling her about my life, good and bad. I could tell her anything, and that really added some support to my life at fragile times.

While my dad and I had a very tense relationship through junior high and high school, my mom and I rarely had tension. She is a living embodiment of servant. She volunteered for tons of parent helper positions, while I was in school. She was one of my first musical inspirations (although I strayed away from Music Ed. because she warned me not to go into that program). ;) Who knew I would end up being just like her, a worship leader...that's not it. Try THIS. Closer, but not quite. Here ya go; although, my enthusiasm level there is not quite as high as the other jiggle jaggles. 

I love my family. Some pictures with Chris, below.

My nuclear family with Mother Goose.

More of my family...

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts

Greetings!


I would like to introduce you to one of the most significant people in my life...me. I couldn't live without me. You might be thinking, "Why am I reading this?" I am not questioning you.

You may have noticed that this photograph is not necessarily the MOST recent, but it does show my teeth. If there's one thing I've said, it's, "Look at my teeth." 

I do have at least "15 interesting facts" that I care to share with you. Mind you, I am not thinking clearly.

1. I have pooped my pants as an adult. I would say that I have done it more times than I care to share, but I think it's freaking hilarious about 15 minutes after each incident. The first time, I was in the Czech Republic. I was talking with a lady friend up by the bonfire at the English Camp I was helping at. All of a sudden, the amount of citric acid in the Fanta caught up with me. I said, "Gooh!" and then stood up, walked briskly to the edge of the forest, and then ran down to the lodge. We had to take our shoes off, so we wouldn't scuff up the wood floor. That was tricky, but I was able to slip on the little booties, and I scooted across the lodge hall. I made it to the bathroom, shut the first door, and made it to the water closet. That was as far as I got. The worst news was that I was in the women's bathroom. 
2. I have been to the Czech Republic. See above.
3. I am 25% Italian. That's right. My grandmother is full-blooded Italian. Her parents came across the Atlantic Ocean and met in Clinton, IN. That's why I look Italian.
4. I was born in Paris. I love being able to say that. It's quite the icebreaker. All the ladies be like, "Ooo! You so sexy!" and then I inform them that it was Paris, IL. That's not as appealing. 
5. I love singing. One of the first memories I've been told I have, besides pooping in the tub with my two older full-brothers behind me, is singing at the top of my lungs as I sat on the toilet at my babysitter's house. I was two or three years old.
6. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology. I know how to tell if someone is racist...better than commoners. 
7. I worked for a not-for-profit organization for 7 years. I did not make a profit. Other people there did. Discuss.
8. I have been employed at a casino for two weeks. I am still not making a profit. Other people there...are doing MUCH worse than me. 
9. I can't hold my alcohol. 
10. I am the youngest child in my family. I have one brother (Chris) from my dad's first marriage and two full brothers (Sean and Zach). 
11. My parents are still married. That's apparently rare in this world. Obviously, it's not true for my brother, Chris, so I got that on him. Yes, it's a contest.
12. My last girlfriend and I ended our relationship after we both came out to each other. She is now engaged to another woman, and I ended up realizing I wasn't gay after about two or three years. That was an interesting time... I'm not embarrassed by it. Haha! It is quite the story now. 
13. My first kiss happened when my girlfriend had mono. It is the same girlfriend from above; however, it was in 8th grade, not 11th. 
14. Some people think I'm humorous. Not all. To others, I'm quite offensive and rude. That usually comes from a lack of understanding of sarcasm. 
15. I am an ENFJ. Yes, I took the official Myers-Briggs when my previous employer was trying to figure out if I was crazy. I'm a people person. I have people skills, like Johnny Depp.