MrAndrewBradley

After an early Christmas at the Bradley Lodge last weekend, my parent's and I headed down to my grandma's house in Lodi to celebrate Christmas on the correct day, open more gifts, play Wii and of course, eat more food. Beyond the food, playing cards and Wii Bowling , we also took a few minutes to remember a grandfather that I never knew, but whose memories and accomplishments live on to this day.

It might not be your "typical" Christmas service , but it drew over 30,000 people to a church building (and made the news ), was watched by hundreds around the world through live streaming and shared the "reason for the season" with many who had never heard it before. With concert style lighting, LED panels and a 15 minute instrumental piece (inspired by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra ) that included a spinning drum solo, it was amazing, groundbreaking and meaningful. Ray Johnston took the opportunity to preach the full message of Christmas, not a watered down version that other churches might give when they have thousands of people come into their buildings once a year and when thousands of candles were lit at the end of each service it was breathtaking. Just think how your light can shine, one light may not seem too bright, but when that one light joins with others, it can light up a worship center, a room or the world. Picture's from BaysidePictures.com

The Prime Rib dinner was great! Also before I forget, the deck and roof did get repaired a day or two after we came up to clear the fallen tree , everything looks great and we are very happy with the work the contractor did. On our final full day as a family we made sure to use our time wisely. We started the morning off with a fabulous French Toast breakfast (complete with mimosas ), then headed to a nearby snow park , where Luke got to sled (for real) for the first time, he loved it and even took the time to build a snow man with his dad and "pop" (aka grandpa). After sledding we went to Stevenot for some wine tasting in Murphys and headed back to Arnold where we ate at one of my childhood favorites ... Giant Burger (think mountain version of In-N-Out ). While my brother took his wife out to a nice dinner in Arnold, the rest of the family got to spend time with Luke and we watched the season finale of Survivor (Natalie won, but Russell did get fan favorite) and a...

Since my brother got married, it has made it more difficult to celebrate Christmas as a family on Christmas Day, so we got our shopping done a little early and celebrated Christmas at the Bradley Lodge a few days early. We watched Luke open tons of gifts, mainly Cars related, and my parent's got a Wii from their loving son's. So what have we been doing since "Christmas?" Well we have been playing Wii, I am pretty good at bowling and golf , everyone else seems to be good at Tennis also (guess I didn't get the Wii tennis gene). Today my brother, dad and I went to Bear Valley for some skiing (and a little "dessert" to end our day). Tonight a Prime Rib Dinner a waits.

After a great open house with friends and family at Fort Bradley, a birthday dinner at Zocolo and watching Blind Side , I did not think the day could get much better ... but then it started to snow. Fort Bradley is looking more and more like the Bradley Lodge and is becoming a " Winter Wonderland ." Or maybe it's beginning to look a little more like Christmas .

Fort Bradley had a great turnout for its official open house this afternoon. Below are a few pictures of the food, the people and the house. A big thanks to everyone who was able to make it, if you were not able to make it, but want to see my house in person sometime, just let me know. As a side note, if you would like to "Experience Christmas at Bayside " get your free tickets on-line now , some services are already filling up.

After an emergency call from the people that clean the Bradley Lodge last night my parent's and I are now at the Lodge to survey the damage from a 56 foot section of tree that came crashing down, most likely during the strong winds last Saturday. The lower deck railing as demolished and there appears to be some minor (yet incredibly expensive) damage to the roof, but nothing too major. We will be working on clearing most of the fallen tree today and have a contractor coming up to work on the deck and roof. Sadly we will need to buy a new bird feeder. During and after photos ... we will have a lot of firewood to use in the next few years.

Although there were some amazing things presented at InterAct2 , a dessert at Bayside to celebrate 2009 and look ahead to 2010, a few stuck out with me in particular. First the highlights of 2009 … - Amazing guest speakers including: Luis Palau , Nick Vujicic , Franklin Graham , Louie Giglio and Francis Chan - More than 500 active small groups throughout the Sacramento region - Nearly 800 Jr. High , High School and College/20's at weekly events - Breakaway Summer Kids Camp sold out in April ... 2010 will offer a special needs program - Bayside Gives Back (garage sale) raised over $102,000 for 24 Sacramento region charities - Semi's were filled with food and donated items for the Salvation Army What's ahead ... - Jim Caviezel - who played Jesus in the Passion of the Christ will be speaking this weekend at Bayside - Experience Christmas at Bayside - Bayside's Christmas Eve services start on December 18th, they are amazing and you can get your free tickets begin...

After being in PR for a few years, I was accustomed to making my clients be a part of the story, but not actually being a part of the story myself. On Wednesday as I was driving with my family to Redwood City for Thanksgiving I was reading " Tweets " when I noticed that the Sacramento Bee was seeking to talk to people receiving a subsidy that helps pay for health insurance coverage for the unemployed (see graphic). Since I currently benefit from the subsidy, I figured I would e-mail the writer to see if I could help. I quickly got a phone call back and on Sunday, my story and those of others were featured in an article on the COBRA subsidy expiring for people who signed up when it was first implemented. After the story was published and remembering when I was contacted through Facebook a few months ago to be part of a story on new home ownership , I began to think about how reporters are now able to reach a much broader audience when seeking people to interview. In the p...

It might not have been at the Bradley Lodge , but it was at the Bradley home in Redwood City . We headed to my brother's house to enjoy a family Thanksgiving celebration that included eating, going to the park, working on a few projects around their house (curtains, finished the swing set, built a sandbox, …) and we headed to Santa's Tree Farm in Half Moon Bay for what might have been my first "cut your own Christmas tree" experience ... after hanging out in the rain for an hour I decided that I prefer the pre-lit version I got at Sam's Club , besides it has a perfect tree shape. (note: a friend made the "Cupcake Turkey," I thought it was pretty cool)

After a fun filled week of bowling with friends , winning Esquire IMAX tickets and watching " A Christmas Carol " in 3D (while eating the biggest bag of popcorn ever - with free refills) and so much more it was time to decorate Fort Bradley for Christmas (I won't be here to decorate the day after Thanksgiving, so I had to do it early). The outside lights are up (thanks to my roommate, Tim, who will be adding a few more lights in the coming days/week to finish it up), the tree is up and decorated and the banister has some beautiful garland. Now I just need some presents under the tree and maybe some fresh pine scent. As an FYI and early invitation I will most likely be having an open house for family and friends on Sunday, December 6th from 12:30 to 3:30, check for the official invite on a Facebook Status Update or e-mail me at mrandrewbradley@gmail.com if you are interested in attending and need my address.

Last week was a week to remember our veterans , visit with family, celebrate birthday's and of course, mountain bike and look for jobs. I started out the week by meeting my aunt from Texas and grandma at the Waterloo near Stockton for dinner, then updated my resume and requested a few more references from previous co-workers and managers, which was cool (always good to see how great other people say I am). On Wednesday I went with my new mountain biking group on a 17.5 mile ride that included about 7,000 feet of vertical climbing at Salmon Falls (near El Dorado Hills/Folsom Lake), which was grueling, but amazing at the same time. I followed that ride with a much easier ride with a friend and took Thursday to relax and clean my house. Friday I was back on the bike at Lake Natomas and then had my parent's and dad's brother over to see my house and we enjoyed my birthday dinner at Tres Agaves . On Saturday I headed down to my brother 's house for my nephew's birth...

Please take a moment to remember our Veterans today. They are the ones who fought, the ones who died and the ones whose lives were transformed so that we could have our freedom, our rights, our lives. They are the ones who made the lives we know possible. Thank you to all who serve, to all who served and especially to the families who have had loved ones pay the ultimate price.

I have now been unemployed for about eight weeks. I have gone to interviews, informational meetings and attended conferences for professional development, like Social Media Weekend . Although being unemployed can be demoralizing at times, it is also an amazing opportunity to learn, not only about social media and PR trends, but also about searching for the right job and building a better resume. Today I took the opportunity to learn more about "Guerrilla Resumes." With California’s unemployment at over 12% and a nationwide unemployment hovering above 10% for the first time in decades, this new resume format adds logos, quotes, embedded links and more, striving to make your resume stand out from the crowd and get you the interview over someone just using a plain text resume. Here's a video and link to how you can spice up your resume and a JPEG of my new resume (still in progress, blacked out portion is address/phone number). As always, if you want a copy of my resume ...

Over the past two days I was fortunate enough to attend Sacramento's first Social Media Weekend to learn not just about Facebook and Twitter , but about blogging, selling online, building a brand, marketing and so much more. Speakers ranged from one of the best known "Mommy Bloggers" (Christine Young, founder and writer for FromDatesToDiapers.com ) to Jessica Knows (a mom that just so happens to blog and is active in the PR community), to Bayside's Director of Communications and Technology, CJ Alvarado , to the brains behind the event, SacTweetUps and so much more, Sacramento Marketing Labs’ Alejandro Reyes. What did I learn? - I learned that a lot of us really have no clue what we're doing, but we love what we're doing and will keep learning more and always try to do it better. - " Social Media ," blogs, Twitter, Facebook and so many other applications are still new and everyone is working to figure out how to use them to benefit themselves,...

Fort Bradley had its first “trick or treaters” and was even called "the cool house" by a few young creatures, which is always a good sign. Before the kids came in costume we headed out to Dave's Pumpkin Patch in West Sacramento (which if you could swim across the Sacramento River , is directly across from my parent's house) for some Corn Maze fun and I went on a few Mountain Bike Rides with a new group I found through Facebook and Meetup around Folsom Lake and Lake Natoma . In other news Royal Caribbean's newest ship set sail this week, the Oasis of the Seas is heading from its ship yard in Finland to Florida this week and will be on Good Morning America on November 20th, so set your DVRs (or wake up early), because this ship ( floating metropolitan city is probably a better term) is truly amazing. Also a reminder that Social Media Weekend is this coming Friday and Saturday, if you want to learn about Twitter and everything else, this is the place t...

Well as many throughout Roseville (and especially my roommates) know, I have not been at Fort Bradley much over the past few weeks. About two weeks ago my brother called my mom and me saying he needed some help as they were moving out of their Mountain View house and into their Redwood City house. My mom and I helped paint over beautiful wall colors with a very ugly white in every room of the house and shampooed the carpets over the next two days. That Friday we headed back from Redwood City, picked my Dad up in Livermore , traded cars in Sacramento , went back to Lodi and headed to the Bradley Lodge for the weekend. We stopped at the world famous Murphys Hotel ( Mark Twain did a lot of work there) for my Dad's birthday and then enjoyed a great weekend at the Lodge . I was then in Roseville for a few hours before heading back to Redwood City to help unpack, organize, shop and build (O, how I loathe IKEA ) furniture. While shopping with everyone, including Luke, I realized ...

While attending The Shore's fall retreat, " Rumors ," in the Santa Cruz Mountains this weekend, I not only got to hang out with friends, I got to go to some of my favorite places, Santa Cruz and Capitola . The retreat was a great opportunity to listen to Glenn Packiam speak about his book Secondhand Jesus: Trading Rumors of God for a Firsthand Faith and meet people, while also getting me close to the coast. On Friday we spent some time walking around Santa Cruz, taking pictures of a very empty (and closed on weekdays) Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk , while also getting a picture of the house my family used to rent every summer near Seabright Beach . Saturday afternoon a large group of us decided that we should check out the world famous " Mystery Spot " and then headed to Capitola's " Pizza My Heart " for some great pizza. After a late night camp fire and s’more making session we went back to Capitola on Sunday to spend more time walking around C...

In a day and age when only 20% of couples make it past their 35th anniversary (not sure how accurate that is, but I'm going to go with it), my parents have been married for 38 years today! They were married on this date in 1971, since then they have been through a lot (see last year's post ) of good times and I'm sure many bad times, but they are still together and are amazing parents to my brother and me and great grandparents to my nephew, Luke. There is not much to say, other than thank you for everything mom and dad. Thank you for staying together and thank you for being so supportive. Thank you for helping with my new house , thank you for raising me the way you did. Thank you.

As many of you know my week started out with expected news, but none-the-less sad news. I and two other employees were the latest laid off from Perry Communications Group . Once I got the official notice, I mobilized my network of contacts and began to do outreach asking everyone to keep their eyes open for jobs that I would be a good fit for through personal e-mails , Twitter and Facebook . On Tuesday I got a phone call to schedule a third round interview (round 1 was an interview, round two was writing an op-ed) for Monday (tomorrow), went to a small career fair at William Jessup , got my Blackberry working and contacts synced with my Google contacts, and calendar and continued my job search. Wednesday I was fortunate to attend an informational event on stem cells and current research at UC Davis Medical Center as part of Stem Cell Awareness Day sponsored by the Northern California chapter of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America . Not only did I get some great food and lea...

It was an amazing Labor Day Weekend at Camp Bradley . With over 20 people coming to camp, we had plenty of time to catch up on one another lives, watch slides from yester-year (and a few from a little closer to current times), take "nature hikes" along the Sacramento River , go swimming in Lake Bradley, play in the new sand pile at Bradley Beach with Tonka trucks, look at the giant "ice chest" (a fridge), post a lot of " Twitpics " and eat lots of amazing BBQ. We even took a field trip to the Old Sugar Mill and Bogle Vineyards for some wine tasting in Clarksburg before sitting around the camp fire to have s'mores and port . Sorry for all of the pictures, but it was a busy weekend :-).

As Camp Bradley/Lake Bradley continues to get prepared for a Labor Day staycation "tradition" (last one occurred in 1997), I wanted to share with the rest of you the " evite " and remind you to follow me on Twitter for constant updates and pictures. No Stress Camping Weekend Gather around the Weber to roast your marshmallows, swim in Lake Bradley, sleep under the stars and street lights, and view the ranger show with vintage slides of yesteryear. We will be continuing the backyard tradition of camping without the fuss and expense of campgrounds. Three bathrooms with showers and flush toilets! We even have extra tents and air beds. Special feature: indoor real beds for the pregnant and/or over 80 years old. So pack up your guitar, sleeping bag and your sense of semi-adventure and head to Sacramento for one or two nights...holding the best campsites for your reservation! 21 reservations so far … including one requesting a lake front site for two. Other amenities in...

In preparation for a "Staycation" at Lake Bradley (aka my parent's house) next weekend with family, we headed to the Bradley Lodge this weekend to preview thousands of slides from the 60s. 70s and early 80s all to make a shorter slide show to watch as we sit by the "lake" next weekend and remember the "good ol' days." While at the Lodge my dad also installed a new light fixture in one of the bathrooms and we had lunch at Bristol's in Arnold, where I had to have a sandwich called "The Bradley." We asked the waiter about the name, his response … the crab sandwich was named for a person that frequented the restaurant named Brad who was always "crabby." Back at the Lodge, there is also a new crib (an upgrade from the previous porta-crib) for what will be a new " niec-phew " (aka Luke's "bro-sis") in the coming months.

Every so often I get sent links to videos on YouTube that are pretty interesting. So watch, think and then realize that there is so much that we will never know. You might also want to consider reading 50 Facts that Should Change the World . Another good video ... Is social media a fad? Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?

I had a great weekend. First on Friday I saw the crew taping an episode of " The Mentalist " near my office and went to a meeting at the Mexican Consulate . Then on Saturday I went with a few friends on what was supposed to be a relaxing bike ride to Folsom Lake ... it was relaxing, but on the five bikes that went, we had four flat tires … my bike had two of them :-)... the important part was that we all had a great time. After our bike ride we headed to Bayside for the Saturday night service before walking around The Fountains and having dinner at The Counter . Sunday I went with my parent's to see the " With Malice Toward None " exhibit on Abraham Lincoln at the California Museum which although not for kids (like the rest of the museum is), was very interesting and had lots of original letters, drawings and photographs of Lincoln. Some of the highlights for me included an original draft of the Gettysburg Address , drafts of the Emancipation Proclamation...

My 11-day road trip ended this morning and on final count, I stopped in at least 24 cities across two states and drove 2,000 miles (about the same as driving from Sacramento, CA to Chicago, IL ) in my Hertz Prius . In addition to the 19 cities I knew I was visiting or had already visited ( see last post ), I ended up making stops in Clearlake's Lucerne ( Fosters Freeze , yummy), Arcata for some gas, Grants Pass and Ashland in Oregon ( who knew it would be quicker to drive 100+ miles out of my way into Oregon to get back to Roseville ), walked across the Sundial Bridge in Redding and finally slept in Corning (although only 130 or so miles from home, I was way too tired to keep driving). It was a great trip through some beautiful parts of California and although I didn't make a lot of stops, I saw the entrances for lots of state parks , the Trees of Mystery , saw some of the most beautiful redwood forests while driving along Highway 101 , the " Redwood Highway ,...

Although not quite the same as visiting 11 countries in 17 days like I did while in Europe a few years ago, I am currently in the middle of visiting 19 California cities in 11 days. I started out by driving to Bakersfield last week with a brief stop in Turlock , since then I have been to Hanford , Tulare , Visalia , Fresno , Modesto , San Jose , Arnold , Dorrington , Camp Connell , Murphy's , Roseville and Sacramento ; soon I will head out for the last leg of the trip: Ukiah , Willits , Laytonville , Eureka and Crescent City . It has been a whirl wind of long, but fun (and hot), days with the " Help is Here Express " team and with family at the Bradley Lodge , where I went to Mercer Cavern's with my cousin and aunt, wine tasting around Murphy's and I finally made it to the Big Tree's Village pool/recreation center (it only took 23 months of my parents owning the Lodge for me to get there). While in Roseville/Sacramento for the last 36 hours " Fort...

It was a fun weekend of family time in Sacramento and Roseville . First my family ( brother's family - aka parent's of my nephew, our parents and our grandma) met at my parent’s house for a beautiful dinner in their backyard under the pergola. Then on Saturday I met everyone in Old Sacramento , where I was a “home town tourist” and we climbed aboard the Sacramento Southern Railroad for a ride down the Sacramento River , with views of the State Capitol , Tower Bridge , the river, the Delta King , Miller Park and of course, I-5 . As a parent on the train told their child, we were riding on “ Thomas the Tank Engine’s ” cousin, I might say it is more distant than that, but it seemed to work for almost every kid, including my nephew, Luke, who loves the Thomas DVDs and playing with his Thomas’ train set. After a ride down the river and some time walking around Old Sacramento we all headed to my house in Roseville for lunch and to hang out before starting the family progressive ...

Well, after being "featured" in the Sacramento Bee on Friday for purchasing " Fort Bradley " it was time to "finish" the backyard. My parent's and I spent Saturday and Sunday putting up the pergola that has been mentioned so many times on my blog as one of the last projects to be done and now it is done!! After the pergola went up (and we took pictures) we added drawer pulls and knobs to the kitchen and laundry room cabinets and drawers, so now I can say, not only is the inside done , but so is the backyard (done meaning, there is still more to do, but no more "major" projects are left). As if putting up a pergola and finishing things up around my house were not enough to make it a great weekend, my parent's and I also went to a family friend's wedding. It is kind of a cool story, the mom of the girl who got married was my mom's college neighbor and was in my parent's wedding , so now, my family has been to two of her thr...

Well, if you follow me on Twitter or are my friend on Facebook you remember all of the " painting party " and " working on my new house " updates over the last month and a half, well it just so happens that a reporter from the Sacramento Bee , Jim Wasserman , was also paying attention. He called me on Wednesday to see if he could use me and my new home purchase in a story that came out today, showing how the Roseville , in particular WestPark /West Roseville, housing market is doing better than the rest of the Sacramento region when it comes to home sales. Although I have always heard of " social media " (in fact it is a part of my job) and how it could help in situations like this one (a reporter needing a lead for a story), but I never thought I would actually be that lead, it was really cool and Jim was great to work with.

My family and I actually did some relaxing this weekend, there was no moving, no yard work and no painting, it was just a time to relax at the Bradley Lodge . It was a great opportunity to hang out with my parent's neighbors, Steve and Sandy, and my grandma, while going to Bear Valley Village , eating lunch at the Lake Alpine Lodge and of course go shopping around Arnold and Murphy's . While shopping at the Outhouse Collection and ACE Hardware in Arnold , Steve even decided that he wanted to look like his cooking idol, Guy Fieri (take a look at the pictures and I personally like the kid's train bench for my nephew, but I didn't get that, he will get another gift soon). We also got a little bit of rain (well okay a sprinkle) that made for a beautiful rainbow.

Well with the help of my parents and a three day weekend, the backyard at "Fort Bradley" is nearly finished, all we are waiting on is the concrete for cure enough for us to put up the pergola , which should happen in about two weeks (we are headed to the Bradley Lodge next weekend). Since my last post, we have worked non-stop to plant about 50 plants (not an easy task when digging in Roseville's rock/dirt), installed a drip irrigation system, put bark, rock and decomposed granite all around, laid stepping stones, built garden beds (and planted a basil and a tomato plant). Below are pictures, the last few are a "time lapse" from beginning to now.

After one very long, hot day, my backyard is slowing looking more and more like my design plans. We started off the morning at The Home Depot , then went to Hastie's Capitol Sand and Gravel to get a few yards of rock and bark, then worked throughout the day to install a retaining wall, get the sprinklers controls ready for a drip system, spread out the bark and rock and my design consultants, Steve and Sandy, stopped by for a consultation too. It is looking pretty good, tomorrow we hope to start planting things and getting it looking even better.

Well, it's far from done, but my backyard has gone from dirt to dirt with concrete (thanks to Integrity Landscaping ). The pergola arrives tomorrow (Wednesday) via UPS and I am hoping to start building the retaining wall, put in rock, decomposed granite, plants, bark and a drip system this weekend. In a week or so I will then put the pergola together and then backyard will (hopefully) be done.

Well, with the inside "done" and waiting for roommates to move in at the end of June and early July, I have finalized the plans for the backyard. Now, I just have to hope they get approved so that I can get to work and replace the current dirt and weeds with a backyard fit to entertain and relax. Once approved the yard will have a great variety of plants, trees and shrubs, a few different ground covers, a stamped concrete patio and a pergola from my favorite store ( Costco ). Current backyard (not much): "Blue print" that my parents neighbor helped me with:

I know that I'm saying this a little too soon, but I think the inside of Fort Bradley is now (pretty much) complete. Yes things will still get moved around and new stuff will have to be added (including roommates), but everything has taken shape and now each room looks like it should, a "sophisticated bachelor pad." Thank you to everyone who has made this possible from friends to family to neighbors, it has been great so far and I look forward to everyone enjoying many gatherings here in the coming months and years. The backyard will be the next project, hopefully starting that in the next month or so. Pictures taken today are below.

My sister-in-law came up to see my house this week and brought a good camera. Here are a few of the pictures she took. Hopefully all of the painting and most of the decorating will get done this weekend. Internet and cable get installed on Tuesday!

I know its been awhile since I last posted, but I wanted to give an update of the last two weeks. I closed escrow and the house became mine on Friday, May 15th and we began moving furniture that weekend and began to get everything taped and ready for painting. Over the weekend, my parents and lots of friends - Sara, Jen, Tim, James, Liv, Roo, Price and Cortney came over and helped paint almost the entire house, build some of the furniture and place even more of it in it's final resting place. If all goes as planned, I should have cable and internet installed in the house within a week and be able to live there full time. Below are lots of pictures that I have taken over the last two weeks. Thanks again to everyone that helped make my house a home!

After cleaning the stairs at the Bradley Lodge with a variety of cleaning products over the last year and a half, we finally decided to rip out the carpet, take out the old wood treads and install brand new hard wood stairs. They look amazing (and you're going to have to trust me, because there is not a picture of them currently, we will have to go back to take that one). In addition to finishing the stairs, my mom and one of her friends, Gail, raked some more pine needles, I did a little bit of painting (practicing for my house in a few weeks), we put in a new queen size bed (so that I could have my full mattress back), we ate some amazing food and even found some time to visit Chapel of the Pines for a Sunday morning service. WEST ROSEVILLE HOUSE UPDATE: I will be doing my final walk through on Tuesday and signing the final papers sometime late next week before I close on Election Day, May 19th . All of that means, I will be having a "Painting Party" over Memorial Da...

It was an amazing few days working at Thrive , seeing friends and those who I haven't seen in awhile, and of course hearing amazing speakers and bands. Ray Johnston , Sherwood Carthen , Francis Chan , Franklin Graham , Nick Vujicic , Lincoln Brewster , The Katinas and the SHORE Worship team. Thrive 2010 is filling up fast and will once again include spectacular speakers like Miles McPherson , John Ortberg , John Maxwell , Francis Chan , Lincoln Brewster and the Parachute Band . Pictures below are from my camera and baysidepictures.com . Thriving Churches International promo video

It was a busy weekend, first it snowed on Friday morning while my mom and grandma were at the Lodge and then they had dinner at the Girard's while my dad and I hooked up the trailer and headed to the mountains. On Saturday I did media outreach for Earth Day and went to ACE Hardware then it was back to the Lodge to clean up our property for fire season. After only 1 1/2 days and 3 trailer loads of pine needles and oak leaves, we seem to be fire safe, a far cry from the 19 we hauled away last year over the course of many weekends with lots of help from friends. We will probably still do some minor clean up further out on our property throughout the summer, but for now we should pass the fire inspection . We also got some of the deck furniture out from our below Lodge storage areas and started to install our new hardwood stairs, a project that should get finished on Mother's Day weekend. ps ... The sold out (and then some) Thrive 2009 with Nick Vujicic , Franklin Graham, ...