Resolved Volleyball Tourney

On July 24th 2010, the 2nd annual Resolved Volleyball Tourney solidified itself as a tournament to be visited again for years to come. At 11 am, 41 competitors assembled on the Sand Beach Volleyball court in the Yoder's backyard braving the 97 degree high with the heat index surpassing 100!

The first round of  group play action showed Team Macarena in the A division and Team Alan in the B division to be the tops of the groups both tallying up a 2-0 record.
After bracket play advances by Team Octapi over the Salty and Team Magnificent over Applicious the semi-finals were set.
The first upset of the single elimination round came quickly as a tight 1st game unraveled giving Team Octapi the win over a foiled Team Macarena - despite their best of dancing, singing and chanting. The 2nd semi-final match set the stage for an all division B Final as Team Alan took down Team Magnificent handily.

After Hours of Volleyball and many victories and defeats Team Octapi overcame their play-in game weariness and beat Team Alan establishing themselves as the 2nd annual Resolved Tourney Champs. Congrats to Team Octapi for swiping the Winner-take-all Gift Cards Prize.

                                                                                                      Many thanks to everyone who made this our best tourney yet..

HUGE thanks to the Yoder family for the upkeep of such an amazing venue and the kindness to allow us to party on it all day long.


See you at Resolved!

PS
Big Props to the 2 teams the brought home Zero Victories.... this one's for you

Out

Charleston Chew

I recently took a trip to Charleston with my family. Though the drive was a little long it was fun. We even made up our own road game that will soon be packaged as a board game and sold in stores nearest you. 

Though Charleston was amazing and the company was even better my highlight or higlights of the trip were the time of chewing away in Charleston at local restaurants.

While yes the Charleston Chew is a favorite candy bar of mine and its delight is increased by freezing it the little places we found to eat while in Charleston were amazing. Here is the tale of our eating adventures.
Night one- Shoney's
  I know what your thinking, but at 11 pm when you have been driving for 7 hours and the last bit in the pouring rain Shoney's can do you well!

Morning one - Charleston Cafe
  If your ever in Charleston it is well worth it to go to this little spot. It has some incredible breakfasts like amaretto French Toast with a stuffing of cream cheese. But what was most amazing to me was their specialty that i have found no other place in all my adventures - Potato casseroles.  I ordered the Dewey's Island .  This delicious plate was a heaping portion of homemade thick potato chips with Turkey, Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, and other goodies in there and topped with a spicy tomato sauce-- unreal. The Sweet Potato Biscuit was also out of this world.

Lunch 


Night Two- Long Point Grill
This spot was another locality that made amazing plates and portions. Every plate was incredible. I ordered a Chicken plate that was stuffed with cheese and perfected by a vinaigrette with a side of exquisite broccoli and potatoes. I also ate some of Bekah's Crusted chicken.




Lunch-  A little sandwich shop right off the open market. A good pick me up as our energies were waning.


Night 3 -Sticky Fingers
This Charleston great has been visited by loads of celebrities who have left their John Hancock on the restaurant window.  It was a great meal to finish a day of shopping around Charlestons open air market which is known to be open every day of the year.   Known for its barbecue pork sandwich (my order) it a fun place with sauce bottles on each table. You can try them all or mix them for a perfect personal combo to dump on your meat.


Lunch - A burger joint right off the beach where we rode our bikes.. the normal stuff really. Our highlight here was discovering an Island. I found the route to get there through the current and claimed it Connor Island.



Night 4 - The Mustard Seed
This restaurant was the first of a locals 9 restaurants that excel in the Charleston area. It's a quaint little spot right between two roads with cozy seating and friendly servers. Though my parmesan crusted Chicken wasn't what I ordered, it was great and the free "I'm sorry I messed up dessert" was huge and tasty.

Morning 4- Charleston's Cafe
If you can't tell this was our favorite for morning and I was glad to return for another Dewey's Island. This time the memory was made complete with purchases of Charleston's Cafe used mugs for a quarter!


Well, Its been about 2 weeks since the vacation, maybe three... and that's all I can remember of the restaurants. Sorry if its spotty, but if anything you can see. When you in Charleston you can eat better than well. Make sure to hit up Mustard Seed and Long Point Grill family of shops and of course the Charleston Cafe!

Back In NJ

Well, I guess its official, I am back in NJ.
Yes, I have been here since last tuesday, so make it around 10 days, however, I had not yet unpacked everything until today making this the first official "back in NJ day" to me.

Though it was a bit shocking to be released I am excited to be back at my church home in New Jersey -- South not North. No, there aren't black jeans, gold chains, and a ton of greased up hair here, that's the other state that's known as New Jersey... up North. You know, people like the Fonz from Happy Days...
  

(Is that Jeff Boettcher???)

Being back in the place that has been my home for the past two years is pretty comforting, I have so many great friends and of course my girlfriend here that were difficult being away in the D. I know what you are thinking... why New Jersey.. Isn't that the armpit of the world.. or at least the US.

Well, I thought the same way for the majority of my life. In fact, I even went so far as to say aloud once, or maybe a few times, "I will never live in New Jersey." I also said, I would never play NFL Europe or AFL - both of which I have now done. (Proverb 16:9)

South Jersey is actually a nice little place regardless of what your preconceived notions may be. Its a short little skip into Philadelphia (10 minutes) and less than an hour to the shore (where you can swim in the masses of people on the sand and boardwalk).  Though it may lose some of its appeal to those who are fans of "The Jersey Shore TV Show," that's not how it is around here.

So in summary, I am glad to be back and thankful, so thankful to the church in which I owe for so much support, friendship, and growth.