Gadgets going to Simply Conference with me!

Yeah yeah, call me a geek, nerd or what ever you want, but I LOVE gadgets! I can't get enough tech or stuff. Anything to make life easier or more interesting. Plus my wife thinks its weird that I now want a titanium replica of the One Ring as my wedding band. Come on how cool is that! But anyway, here is a list of my favorite gadgets a tech that are going with me to SYMC next week.

1: iPad Mini and iPhone 5
Nuff said there! I blog from my mini so that's a must and I have to stay connected with my family on my phone. However, all my students, church, and non-immediate family know I'm out of town to refresh and get close to God. So don't call me.

2: Timbuk2 Blackbird Laptop Backpack
Originally purchased this to be able to carry my MacBook and my iPad conveniently together, plus room for all the nick nacks I'm sure I'll pick up and all my other essentials I need to keep on me. Very comfortable, room, extra protection for my tech, and a water bottle pocket. Awesome pack! Downside no MacBook yet, still waiting on it. Upside? My ancient Toshiba Satellite fits in it too!

3: Moleskine Notebooks
Why have I never stumbled on these awesome things before? Guess I spend to much time in the basement playing D&D. Seriously though, these are some stout little notebooks and journals. Every training I do I take tons of notes and it never fails my kids find my notebook and Mark Devries awesome class notes have stick figures all over them or get torn up. These are some tough built notebooks. Loving them!

4: My Darth Vader USB drive
Who doesn't like carrying around a mini Vader with them? Plus I'll have my Surf Drive Surfboard drive so Lord Vader can catch some waves!

5: Nike+ App and MyFitnessPal App
I'm in the middle of this Youth Pastor Diet weight loss challenge. Nike+ allows me to track my calorie burn a little more accurately than the treadmills counter. MyFitnessPal allows me to easily count my calories on the go. You would be surprised at all the restaurants whose foods are on there.

There's a few of my gadgets!


Just Keep Swimming!

YouthPastorDiet.com Update

Just to keep everyone up to date on my weight loss as SYMC draws near and the youthpastordiet.com competition winds down. As of this evening I am still in 3rd in the competition. 2 lbs out of second and 4 1/2 lbs ahead of 4th. So the competition is close!

But the most important thing, I'm down 36 lbs! I have a ton more energy and can get around a lot better. I even had to go buy new jeans today because my jeans that I was able to start wearing from a few years ago....yeah they don't even fit anymore! I'm the smallest I've been since starting in youth ministry and I'm loving it! If you are an over weight youth pastor and are just tired of it, your not alone! There are others out there who are more than welcome to see this journey through with you and help you along the way! If you want to find some, send me an email to madisonvillerunner@yahoo.com and I will put you in contact with some.

I hope that Josh Griffin finds a way to continue something like the youthpastordiet.com comeptition, if it be an ongoing competition or just a youthpastordiet.com support group on Facebook. We all need some encouragement. Till next time folks!


Just Keep Swimming!