Favorite Websites

As a follow up to my last post, I thought that it would be fun to list my top 10 websites. These are sites that I visit on an almost daily basis.

1. www.usatoday.com - my national news fix every morning
2. www.greenvilleonline.com - local news fix
3. www.weather.com - you gotta know...
4. www.bloglines.com - my blog reading fix
5. www.cnet.com - my gadget fix
6. www.biblegateway.com - my reading Bible
7. www.planningcenteronline.com - see previous post
8. www.igoogle.com - my home page for the moment
9. www.facebook.com - see previous post
10. www.apple.com - I just need to!!!
    

Tech Toys

I am an admitted techphile (nerd), so I thought I would list 10 of my favorite gadgets, websites and software that help me in ministry and just plain make me smile. :)

1. ProPresenter - worship presentation software. I have demoed almost every presentation software on the market, and while they all have their good and bad, none of them rival ProPresenter in my humble opinion. It's flat out the easiest to use and it runs on a Mac! We have not had a single crash since we started using it 3 years ago. The most recent upgrade took it over the top!
2. Planning Center Online - scheduling software. I cannot imagine trying to manage my worship and tech teams without it now! It saves me hours of tedious work every week. The best part - it's totally web based. I can log in and work with all of my resources anywhere that I am. As much as I travel now, that's a good thing!
3. PWarchive.com - chord charts. The first site I check before I start charting a new song. They're not always 100% correct, but they're usually pretty close. Another MAJOR time saver in my week.
4. Bloglines - rss aggregator. I rarely ever actually go to a blog. Bloglines tracks around 100 different blogs for new posts for me, and I can scan through them all in about 15 minutes. I wish I could do that with books (or people).
5. Backpackit.com - organizational software. I am new to this site, but it's growing on me really quickly.
6. iPod - mp3 player. We use iPods for all of our pre and post service music. I just set-up different playlists and it's always fresh. Do you remember when you had to burn cd's every week?!?
7. AT&T 8525 - PDA/Phone. I have had a Treo 650 for the past 3 years and I just made the jump to the 8525. It's a beautiful thing. Working on the road is breeze with everything this thing can do.
   
8. iMac - computer. There is not a better designed desktop computer out there. I have one on my desk and we use a 20" Intel version for running ProPresenter. We even used one when we were mobile. They are very compact and easy to move.
9. Pandora.com - internet radio. I never got into internet radio until I tried Pandora. Pick your favorite artist and let it build a custom playlist for you. How cool is that?!? It also helps my research for new music. :)
   
10. Facebook - social networking. I am really digging the networking possibilities of Facebook. MySpace what? :)
    

Facebook

I am now officially addicted to Facebook. If you're on Facebook, look me up and be my friend!

Kid Friendly

Apparently, according to this site, my blog is ok for the whole family to read. I...uh...think that is a good thing? Hopefully it's not like a boring cartoon movie that you have to take your kids to see every once in awhile. :)

Random Thoughts From The Concert

Now that I have slept for a few hours, these are some thoughts that I had last night:

• I am still amazed at the whole concept of the American Idol tour. Thousands of people pack out arenas to watch people sing other people's songs? Whatever - it works.
• It was very surreal to see our worship leader, and my friend, singing on stage in front of 9000 screaming people.
• Jordin & Melinda can saaang.
• Phil Stacey had the pipes to pull off the win. I think his nerves on tv got to him. Watch his career very closely.
• I can now see some of the appeal of Sanjaya. He is definitely interesting to watch. In a bizarre, freakish kind of way...but interesting.
  
• Blake is a master showman. Not a great voice, but has major charisma. He was my 3 year old's favorite (besides Chris!)
• The drummer rocked! I think he tours with Usher as well.
  
• It was fascinating to see how each of the idols interact with people. A few standouts:
  
• Jordin is unbelievably nice. She had the biggest crowd around her the whole time, and she even got down on the floor with my girls. Very cool.
• Melinda is the real deal. Very, very humble and kind.
• Gina was really cool as well. Very funny.
• Chris R. surprised me a bit with how nice he was with the girls. He took the time to talk to them before signing their book. His sister was there and remembered us from Hollywood. She's traveling some with the tour.
• Sanjaya smiles - a lot. Seemed like a nice kid though.

• It was cool that a few of them included scripture references under their signature. Brianna got her Bible out as soon as we got home to look them up. They can be a witness in that profession.
• We are going through a little bit of American Idol withdrawal right now. Last night was the final big event. It has been fun, but I am not losing another worship leader to American Idol! :)
  

The AI Concert

We had a REALLY fun night tonight. We went out and caught my boy Chris Sligh and the other idols in concert at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville. Our seats were unbelievable - 5th row dead center! When we first got in the arena, we kept slowly walking towards the front thinking that we must have missed our row. I kept looking for security all night to usher us to our real seats. :)

After the show, we got to go back stage and hang out with Chris and the other idols for a little meet & greet. The girls got autographs from everyone except Lakeesha, who was not around. I have some thoughts about the concert, but I will save those for tomorrow. For now, here are a few pics of the excitement:

Pre-show amazement


Chris & Gina duet


The Idol boy band (not pictured: Phil & Chris R.)




Chris & the girls backstage


THE American Idol, Jordan


Hailey & the fam


Gina signing for Brianna


Melinda signing


Phil adding to the Idol book