The Shack

There are very few books that I have ever read when I thought, "Man, I now view the world in a completely different light", this is one of those books. I had heard from a couple of people at work that this book was fantastic and thought that I should check it out. They also said I was going to cry and being a man, thought, "Okay even if I do, I will read alone so no one sees me." So I picked it up about two weeks ago and sat down to read a couple of chapters while waiting for Whitney to get home. 3 hours later and more than enough tears to make my eyes red, I was hooked.

Without giving any of the book away, which is insanely hard because I want to tell everybody just how amazing this book is so they will buy it and experience it, I will just say, if the author is right on how God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are, then I am looking forward to meeting them more now than ever. In closing, GO BUY THIS BOOK, you will never think of religion, God, and life the same ever again. (Click the picture to the left to view the website)

Back to School

Well, we have officially almost been in school for 4 weeks already!! It is amazing how fast time flies when you are ranglin' 6th graders. I have a pretty good group of kids this year, with the expected yahoos, but it wouldn't be interseting without them. I am back to teaching just Language Arts this year like I did at Colbert. The best part about this time though, is that I get to teach reading and writing instead of just writing. Let me tell you, trying to think of 180 days of writing assignments, projects, and activities just about drained me completely dry.

We also kicked off the 08-09 Youth Group year a couple of weeks ago and it is nice to get back to hanging out with those kids again. It is a lot of fun because about 8 of the kids in our group, I actually had in my class when I taught 6th grade at Colbert. It is so great to be able to connect with them in this capacity and to be able to share my love for the Lord with them, which for osme reason they won't let us do at school. It is a shame because it would be so easy to teach character education if they just let us use the Bible as our main text! Although, I would settle for using it on myself a little more frequently as well.

If you get time, check out my brother's blog, he just started a job as an onboard Fishery Biologist on the fishing boats in Alaska (Yes, just like the ones on Deadliest Catch)!! It sounds like it is going well, but he can always use your prayers because it isn't the safest job or easiest group of people to work with, sometimes. Although, knowing my brother, I don't think it will be hard for him to get to know these people well enough to survive by the end of the 2nd day, he is talented like that.

Well, hopefully I will actually post more frequently as things come up. I have a ton of great teaching stories to tell, but I need to think of clever names for some of my kids (to protect their identities) so I can share the stories. Any good ideas where to take my names from (Old tv shows, athletes, brands of shampoo etc.)??

Yearbook Yourself

This is the coolest website that I have found in a long time. You get to upload any pictures you want and you can turn it into a yearbook picture from 1950-2000. It is a blast. The website is www.yearbookyourself.com

Updated PIcs of our girls

Here are some updated pics for the grandmas especially

Extreme Days

Pictures from Extreme Days, we had a blast!!

My Girls

Well, as you may have heard, there is a new member in the Franklin household. Her name is Alie and she is a pure-breed Australian Shepherd. She and and Chloe are getting along great and it is the best birthday present Chloe could have asked for.

1st Triathlon

Well, yesterday I "competed" in my first Triathlon in Medical Lake. It was the 25th anniversary of their sprint Triathlon called the Trailblazer. I finished in 1:18:00 which was good enough for 88th overall out of 260 or so. I was probably 40th out of the water and didn't do so hot on the bike. I thought this was going to be my strongest event, but just couldn't get my legs as fast as I though I would after the swim. By the time the run rolled around, I had caught my breath and was ready to run. Surprisingly my run was the best of the three events. The moral of the story is the hard work paid off and I completed my first Triathlon. I would highly recommend anyone do at least one triathlon in your life. It will change you not only physically from the training, but mentally when you scrape all your mental energy left at the end of the race to finish strong! The distance of the Sprint Triathlon is 1/4 mile swim, 12.5 mile bike and 3.5 mile run. 

-Travis