The Creation… Steven & Sheena Gabbard

Sheena and I arrived at Disney yesterday to spend the next week with family. During the next 7 days I will post a few photos that recap what we saw from each park

It’s not that I have much to write about in regards to a tractor pull as much az it is that I want to test the Wordpress plugin for the iPhone.

That’s right… this post is 100% iPhone created. The photos below were taken with the 3MP camera. Now, is this how I will write my future post? Don’t count on it

Thanks for viewing. The photos were taken the week of this post in Hendersonville, NC and Ashville, NC.

The analogy is absolutely right on …

I bought a bird feeder. I hung
It on my back porch and filled
It with seed. What a beauty of
A bird feeder it is, as I filled it
Lovingly with seed. Within a
Week we had hundreds of birds
Taking advantage of the
Continuous flow of free and
Easily accessible food.

But then the birds started
Building nests in the boards
Of the patio, above the table,
And next to the barbecue.

Then came the poop. It was
Everywhere: on the patio tile,
The chairs, the table ..
Everywhere!

Then some of the birds
Turned mean. They would
Dive bomb me and try to
Peck me even though I had
Fed them out of my own
Pocket.

And others birds were
Boisterous and loud.. They
Sat on the feeder and
Squawked and screamed at
All hours of the day and night
And demanded that I fill it
When it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn’t even
Sit on my own back porch
Anymore. So I took down the
Bird feeder and in three days
The birds were gone. I cleaned
Up their mess and took down
The many nests they had built
All over the patio.

Soon, the back yard was like
It used to be…. Quiet, serene
And no one demanding their
Rights to a free meal.

Now let’s see.
Our government gives out
Free food, subsidized housing,
Free medical care, and free
Education and allows anyone
Born here to be an automatic
Citizen.

Then the illegal came by the
Tens of thousands. Suddenly
Our taxes went up to pay for
Free services; small apartments
Are housing 5 families; you
Have to wait 6 hours to be seen
By an emergency room doctor;
Your child’s 2nd grade class is
Behind other schools because
Over half the class doesn’t speak
English.

Corn Flakes now come in a
Bilingual box; I have to
‘press one’ to hear my bank
Talk to me in English, and
People waving flags other
Than ‘Old Glory’ are
Squawking and screaming
In the streets, demanding
More rights and free liberties.

Just my opinion, but maybe
it’s time for the government
To take down the bird
Feeder.

It’s not every day you get a new gun.  Much less a Beretta Xtrema2.  Needless to say, I was ready to get it out and shoot skeet.  I had waited a month to do so and when the opportunity came on May 1st, I was ready.  I was ready to say that four-letter word, PULL!

We started off at station 10 which was 4 report pair. Pull! Shot one went off and down went one bird (clay).  The second bird was out… and no shot went off.  Gun defect!

It’s very rare to get a new gun that has a defect but I indeed did.  I was able to send it back to Beretta but it will be going for 4-12 weeks.  With that said, I’m looking forward to returning to the Sportsman’s League to try it all over again.

PS – I was able to finish the sporting clays event using someone else’s gun.  Thanks Todd.

It’s Spring. That means many things and for me, that means that it is time to get the garden going. Last year was a test run for Sheena and I as it was our first garden at our new home. As with anything, you learn what to do and what not to do after going through your first season. This year, we increased the garden from 7×15’ to 25×15’ and changed the arrangement of plants.

Central Kentucky has received a lot of rain this spring and that has been very good for the garden. After only a week, peas, tomatoes, turnips and beans are starting to show. Planting a garden is not an easy project. The soil requires preparation to reach the correct pH level and weeds must be removed on sight. This year, only a little lime and extra tilling was required. Weeding will take place as needed.

Below is a photo of the garden after two weeks. I’ll keep this post update as the season goes on.

Happy gardening!

Those are the words uttered by DW (Darrell Waltrip) as the green flag waves for lap one of a NASCAR Sprint race (on FOX).  There’s something about 43 cars driving 200+MPH inches apart three-wide at a place like Talladega that keeps me focused on the TV for 3-4 hours.  It is a long time to watch TV but it’s a time I look forward to each week.

I haven’t always liked NASCAR.  I remember my grandpa and uncles watching it at my mammaw’s house when I was younger and thinking it was the most boring sport there was. I had no problem saying that NASCAR stood for Non Athletic Sport Created Around Rednecks.  That’s what I thought about it and to a large degree, that’s how it started out in 1947.

Today, NASCAR is one of the fastest growing spectator sports there is.  It’s not uncommon for 150,000 fans to attend a race and several million to tune in for a Saturday night or Sunday Sprint cup race.  The face of NASCAR has changed.  At any minute, you can listen to the driver communicate with his pit crew, see how fast he is going, how many RPM’s, break usage, track position, watch a 3D version online, and view front and rear cameras.  What other sport makes you feel like you are there.  Plug that in with a large LCD TV with HD and surround sound and you too will be uttering Boogidie, Boogidie, Boogidie.

So, who do I pull for/like?  My first choice is Jeff Gordon.  I started liking Jeff Gordon when I was younger just because Dale Earnhardt fans did not.  Earnhardt fans (Jr. and Sr.) have issues with drivers that win (aka beating their driver).  Jeff Gordon is that driver.  Jeff Gordon was the 1991 Rookie of the Year.  He won his first Sprint Cup race three years later in Charlotte.  As for Dale Sr., he finished 3-laps down.  Since then, Gordon has won 82 Sprint Cup races and has won the Sprint Cup Championship Series 4 times.  Gordon’s last win was in 2009 at the Texas spring race.

This makes me wonder, why do Earnhardt fans not like Gordon (other than Gordon not fitting the redneck profile)?  Earnhardt Sr. was a great driver who earned his respect.  Over the course of his career, he won 76 Sprint Cup races and was the Winston Cup (now the Sprint Cup) Championship winner 7 times.  After his death, many fans flocked to his son Dale Earnhardt Jr.  As for Dale Jr. Dale has 18 Sprint Cup wins and 22 Nationwide Series wins since starting in 1999.  His first win was in 2000 and his last win was in 2008 – but yet he is still the fan favorite…  It’s a good thing his dad has a large coat tale for Jr. to ride around on.

At that start of 2009 I asked Sheena to pick a driver that she wanted to win.  She picked the #18 M&M’s car driven by the “Wild Thing”, Kyle Busch.  Again, Earnhardt fans have issues with winning drivers that do not fit the old NASCAR profile.  Kyle Busch has 15 Sprint Cup wins, 24 Nationwide Cup wins, and 11 Camping Word truck series races since staring in 2001 while he was 16 years old.  Sounds like a winner to me.

What does all of this mean?  I’ll let you draw your own conclusion.  As for me, I’ll finish watching the rest of the race at Darlington.  We’ll see who wins tonight.

Driver vs. Driver

Finishes for Busch and Earnhardt since 2008

Can you guess who this is?  This was taken in December of 2000.  He is now grown up and in the 5th grade.

Here are some hints:

• He has two younger brothers he calls Blake and Austin.
• He likes to play hide and seek and is pretty good (unless he is playing against me).
• Likes to play Battlefield and Call-of-Duty.

Any ideas?  His name is Shane and he is my nephew.

PS – This post was put together to test the Polaroid effect on the photo above.

-Steven Gabbard
SSGabbard.com

Interviews do not get better than this.  The interview is between an Australian news reporter and an Australian Senator.

Enjoy!

I realize that it has been a very long time since we have left a post on our blog.  We have not abandoned the website – we have just been very busy.  As you can see from the time stamp, it is late due to another busy day and I must keep this short.

With that said, please continue visiting SSGabbard.com.  Within the next two weeks, we’ll have new photos and a few other things on here.

As always, thank you for visiting our site.  We hope it met your expectations.

All too often, I find myself asking, “What is the Lord’s plan for me.  What path does He want me on and how will I get there.”  I don’t know the answer to those questions as I feel His plan has not been revealed to me, but I do feel as though we are prepared in advance so that we are ready when His time is right – not ours.

During my early years of college, public speaking was something I enjoyed and looked forward to.  As time went on, it became something I feared.  I’m not sure when or how I made the change from one extreme to the other, but it happened.  Now, I’m too young and have too much in front of me to fear public speaking.  It’s something I do often and something I know I will do more and more as time goes on.  So how do I get over a fear that is holding me back and keeping me from being my all?  I face it head on and that’s exactly what I have done and what I plan to continue doing.

The other day I received a call from the National Association of Home Builders requesting me to speak at the International Builders Show in Orlando on February 14th.  At first, the fear of public speaking tried to drive my answer to a “No, I can’t do it”, but I recognized this internal attack early on and was able to accept the invitation.  I was nervous about the seminar the week leading up to it, but then something amazing happened.

The support and encouragement started with my wonderful wife, Sheena, but it didn’t end there.  After reading Exodus 4:10 that night, it was as though I was echoing the same words Moses did 3,400 years ago (give or take a few).  Moses was chosen to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and in order to do so, he must get permission from Pharaoh.  Getting permission meant speaking.  When the Lord told Moses what He wanted him to do, Moses was anything but happy.  It was as though Moses was saying, “Lord, hold up!  You’ve got the wrong guy.”

Moses response to the Lord’s request was where I found myself earlier that day.  “O Lord, I’m not very good with words.  I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me.  I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
This is the part that hit me like a sack of bricks and made me realize this opportunity was part of His plan and in order to perform His plan later, I must prepare today.

Then the Lord asked Moses,  “Who makes a person’s mouth?  Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go!  I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”

WOW!

Talk about a revelation.  For a moment I had almost forgot that the will of God will never take us where the grace of God will not protect us.  From that moment forward, all of my fears were washed away.  I put all of my trust in the Lord and know I was where I needed to be and most importantly, I was protected by His grace.

-Steven Gabbard (SSGabbard.com)