low(er)(est)

Low. Lower. Lowest. I am simple and do not require much to be happy. I love playing piano in almost any capacity. I love most people. There are a few that I do not.
Last Thursday I broke my finger playing soccer in the basement with my brothers. I was the goalie. No he did not score. I am not even remotely mad at my brother. I thought I had just jammed it, then i looked at it. Nasty. My first thought was how I was going to play the piano in the battle of the bands on December 4th, followed by how inconvenient it was as was looking forward to meeting up with a good friend for Starbucks in the next half hour. After a trip to the ER and a follow up visit to the specialist the next day, it was determined that i would need to undergo surgery. That was yesterday. Today i followed up with a visit where we discussed physical therapy and my route to a quick, effective recovery. I apparently am fragile. I have broken my leg, arm, wrist, hand, finger, and my heart. I am ready for my finger to re gain full motion etc. I will never take it for granted again.
My family has been pretty supportive through the whole broken finger ordeal. They have let me crash at their place so I can be around people, which is awesome. Nate Ruess has proven very supportive through the other ordeal. He knows what to say and when, and it seems to help.
Also, I had to put my Rhodes restoration on hold due to my lovely medical deductible. Just when you think things can not get any worse. Dog Problems. Well anyway this seems to help. Next, I will probably write an entire album. Until next time....

The End Is (Nearly) Here

And just like that, it is Friday night and we are getting ready to leave in the am. Yesterday the water was slightly warmer than the two days prior. It started raining in the afternoon and most of the clan went in at that point. We stayed out and road a few more waves before heading back to the house. The parents went out to dinner while us kids went to Sonic and did some serious damage to their menu.

Coming back to the house, Kirtis went out with Joe (neighbors from Allentown) and hit up some Dunkin Donuts. Afterwards, they ganged up on some Halo, while I started my Hulu quest to catch up on Psych. I finished around 3:30am and then hit the hay.

This morning woke up around 10:30am and ate some breakfast and eventually made it to the beach for our last day around 12:30. The water was at least 10 degrees warmer than prior days and it was incredible. The waves were not the best we have had, but they were decent nonetheless. It was an awesome last day, a great way to wrap up an incredible week. After leaving the beach we went back to the house, changed and headed back to the beach for pictures with Rich Coleman (www.colemanshots.com). I am excited to be able to show them off, I think they turned out really well. We then drove north 25 minutes to Cosmos where we ate our fill of incredible pizza. Fell asleep on the way home, and upon arrival finished packing. Bish and I are leaving around 5am tomorrow, so it is time for bed.

A week like this goes a long way in refreshing one for the weeks and months ahead. It will not soon leave our memory. So long Outer Banks, it has been real. Until next year...

Catch up (OBX2010)

In true blogging form, I have not posted when I said I was going to. My deepest apologies to my 4 readers.

Yesterday was a great day at the beach. The water was frigid for the second day in a row and the jellyfish were stinging often. After several trips into the water and catching some sick waves we took to the shore to play mini sand volleyball. We played a few games of 3v3 followed by a game of pairs after which we went back into the water to rinse off, ride some waves and call it a day. We were all freezing and itchy.

We had breakfast for dinner. Pops whipped up some pancakes and we had eggs and sausage as well. Mr Haley and Will left shortly after. (Mrs Haley and Georgia had left the day before in the morning).

We had planned on having a big game of whiffle ball after dinner with our friends and neighbors, Patrick, Joe, Devin, and Victoria, but a thunderstorm of grand propositions cancelled that. We hung around the neighborhood for awhile before calling it a night. I fell asleep listening to News From Veronas new ep "All I Know Is I Know Nothing" for the second night in a row. It is a great ep, you should go to itunes and pick it up.

I awoke this morning with the remembrance of the weirdest dreams which included, Jason Bateman being an indestructible killer (seriously, I threw like 3 knives in his chest) which then turned into my brother Bish and I hunting down an unnamed killer with our full arsenal of guns for crimes committed against our family. It was terrifying to say the least. I would also like to go on record to say "Jason, I love your work and I hope last night does not effect our relationship we established through Arrested Development. Thanks."

Today is cloudy and foggy but I believe it is supposed to clear up by later this afternoon. I will not promise "more tomorrow" so as not to let everyone down. Until next time...

Vacation

Here we are again. All ten of us Yurchaks in one house at the Outer Banks. After a year of anticipation and a day of driving in three separate cars from two different locations we have arrived. This year we are staying in south Nags Head, a new spot for us. Our house is is located very close to the beach with only one row of houses and a street separating us from the water. As I am typing this, I am sitting on the top deck and can hear the waves crashing on the sand. It is quite therapeutic.

We are joined, for the first three days, by our friends from Raleigh the Haleys. We both attended TCBC when we first moved to Cincy and the moved to NC in 2001. They have two kids, Will and Georgia that are the same age as Kaleb and Kyrie.

Even though the vacation technically started Saturday, today was the official start. This morning, we attended Nags Head Church as we do every year that we vacation here. It is always a refreshing way to start our week. I was able to connect with an old friend from my Liberty days, Rich Coleman. It was great to see him (and his lovely wife Lauren) and he will actually be taking some beach portraits of the whole gang on Wednesday evening. After a rousing message on the law and grace, we departed back to the house to eat a quick lunch and then hit the beach.

The red "no swimming" flags were up as the current was strong and the waves were intense. Naturally we all saw this as a challenge and immediately entered the water. Yeah, they were there for a reason. Nonetheless we spent the rest of the day in an out of the water, and towards the end of the afternoon we were body surfing some pretty decent waves in, but not after getting tossed by a few giant ones.

Dinner was our favorite pizza joint on the Island "Cosmos". It was out of this world. Dinner was followed by exquisite coffee from Cincinnati's own Tazza Mia (check out on Facebook and Twitter), and a wonderful time of talking and laughing with Bill and Deidre Haley. Bill is possibly one of the funniest people I know.

After a day in the sun (without sunscreen, dumb), I finish the night with thoughts racing through my head about life, God, the future, and what He has in store for me. So much is on the brink in my life and I am impressed with the need to seek Him in everything. A verse that has come into my head several times yesterday and today is from Pslam 19:1 The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. The sky here is incredible with every star illuminating the night perfectly. The milky way sweeps across the black canvas and my thoughts cannot help but be directed to the Creator who set everything in its perfect place. I sit in awe and realize that I am a wretch and completely undeserving of everything that He has given me.

Even when we are far from the stars and light pollution distracts our view of the heavens, lets remember the one who gave us life, and that everything we are is His. As I type these words, I am ashamed at how often I neglect this. Thank you Lord for brining me to a point of remembrance. Keep me close to You. More tomorrow...

Rt. 48

I got to see All The Day Holiday last night. All my favorite people were there (almost) . It was community. It was passion. It was a lot of fun. I cannot wait to be back on stage. Canoes is looking towards big things in 2010. Every practice we grow tighter as musicians, friends and as a band. After our last show I talked to our drummers brother, Dan from ATDH about life, God, the future, and what he thinks is happening in this city through the music scene. Jarrod and I have often spoken about how we want Canoes to be so much more than just band. I am anxious to see what this all entails and to do our part as a band to nurture a movement.

Life is full. If you haven't discovered this yet, you need to. Take a drive down Rt. 48 at night.

Speck vs. Log

Just a thought that has been on my mind lately. When other people do things that I do not like or that annoy me to the point of anger, I attempt to look inside my own life and at the things that I do. More often than not, I find that it is probably a good idea that I did not say anything in the moment or act irrationally,as my life is full of holes and failures. I do not know what exactly brings this about (safe to assume the Higher power), but I am thankful for it none the less. Now, lest I sound haughty, I should interject here and confess that this is not always the case. I yell at someone for this, and I am guilty of the same. I reprimand some one for that, and I am again caught in the same behavior. It is a battle to look inward on a daily basis and constantly attempt to correct the wrong, and move on in the right. I believe that someday, while not on this earth, we will obtain this, and I am more excited than I can express. Until that day, I will attempt to keep my mouth shut and let someone else do the scolding. (He is much better at it anyway)

New Start (again)

Tonight felt right. Baby steps to the elevator, baby steps are a motivator. Directions were discussed, plans were laid, and the next few weeks will hopefully lead to some incredible things. I am anxious for Canoes to take off. We are excited about where things are going and the pending interaction with friends, family and community in a new way. Be on the lookout for more updates on shows, recordings, hang outs etc in the not to distant future. Bed for now, another day He's given tomorrow, should He grant it. Peace brethren.