a new mission in boston

new location

2007-02-17T21:29:00.000-05:00

Hey Guys, sorry to do this to you but i have decided to make an upgrade. i've switched over to wordpress. from the things i've seen, i really like the look and user interface they offer. (thanks jasen)
if you still love me, check out my new spot:
theactofpursuit.wordpress.com
hope to see you there, and have a great LONG weekend.

going pro

2007-01-31T11:55:00.000-05:00

welcome our new edition to the family...

after almost 5 to 6 years of having my Powerbook G4 (which has been amazing), allie and i have decided to make a very necessary upgrade (dwindling battery, an 867 processor, and battery input shorting out).
anyway, it will be nice to have something dependable and worth the money.
in case your wondering....
160 GB
SuperDrive 6x
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM
and not to mention all the amazing features on the new macbook pro

oh yeah...thank goodness for the student discount and family in Oregon! (no sales tax)
well this may be my last post for a while. 25 units is taking up a lot of time. but we'll be done in May!

much love.

who doubted me?

2007-01-22T12:48:00.000-05:00

from the beginning
i have declared victory for the bears...and they came through. Colts....ha! bring it.

new style.

2007-01-15T13:41:00.000-05:00

still working out the kinks, but here's the new look...for now. any suggestions.
my creativity has dramatically diminished in the past few weeks.
hope every one is well.

2007-01-04T14:46:00.000-05:00

so...official. check out the rest of the Christmas pics at i think i'll go to boston.

photo diary!!

2006-11-29T00:27:00.000-05:00

so we made it! our trip to the NC was amazing! allie and i were made honorary members of the Ashdown family for the week, and it was awesome. thanks to all who were there. good times...
so a few pictures:

we arrived.

thanksgiving pictures didn't come all that well, but here is one.

so...after an AMAZING meal, we headed off to the beach for the night. EAST COAST!

the amazing coast. could not have asked for a more perfect day...

and because everyone says im "EMO"...

Jasen and Amanda passed along a hidden jewel in the NC. Helios coffee shop. so delish.

overall an amazing trip. the Ashdown's truly spoiled us. they are amazing. I hope everyone's thanksgiving was fabulous, and will look forward to hearing from you soon!

just because

2006-11-19T00:34:00.000-05:00

this post is so i can say i posted recently.
the last two weeks have been insane, and now Allie and I get to head down to North Carolina to hang out with the Ashdown's! cant wait! looking forward to a time of relaxation.

love and peace,

matt

welcome little brother

2006-11-06T00:40:00.000-05:00

hey people, check out timmy's blog. good stuff!
late.
did you watch the franchise's (Francis Chan's) video yet?
there's still a link...(see below)

another enlightenment

2006-11-01T23:56:00.000-05:00

in response to my last post, i need to follow up with yet another conviction...with special thanks to Fracis Chan. those of you who do not know who he is, i apologize. quickoverview: he is a pastor in california, a great communicator of God's Word, and helps paint beautiful pictures of who He is. please take the time to listen to this sermon. I promise you, you will not regret it. for itunes: lukewarm and lovin' it! all others: cornerstone church locate sermons and select, "lukewarm and lovin' it!

prepare yourselves to be challenged.
(thank you Jeremy for pointing this out to me.)

way to go allie

2006-10-21T12:13:00.000-05:00

a few weeks back, Allie and i were having a conversation. the topic was our financial situation, and what we would need in order to pay the bills that were soon to arrive. this is what she said to me,
“I have really been challenged lately that, our desires for a good income are selfish. Instead of wanting
more money for what we need, or want, shouldn’t we want more money so we can give back to God? “
ouch, for whatever reason God really used this to give me a smack in the face. my heart's desires at that moment were definitely selfish.

today i was listening one of my playlists, when a song by Derek Webb came on. the song is called "i want a broken heart." in the very first line of the song he says, "i've got faith in the bank, and money in my heart." again...ouch. don't we seem to get the two switched so often? we place our faith on the back burner and only place it on the flame when we need the warmth, and then let our selfish desires be engulfed by that flame. God will provide, we just need to trust and have faith.

in 2 Corinthians, Paul is writing in chapter 8, in order to challenge the Corinthians in their giving to the poor saints in Jerusalem. 8:4 says: "begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints." here he is referring to the Macedonian Christians and the great desire they had to contribute to the poor. in that verse the phrase much urging has the idea of a very passionate request, or to draw near. if you were going talk to someone, the difference between talking to them inches away and five feet away, is a big difference. the verse says they begged Paul in order to give! shall i say it again...OUCH! the Macedonian Christians longed for this opportunity, they intimately desired it! i certainly don't look for opportunities to give, let alone passionately long for it.

anyone want to take a guess at what God has been teaching me?

these people who were the complete opposite of wealthy. they most likely had far less then any of us, but they still gave and gave with passion. so A & J, in response to your question, in this instance i definitely could "hear the whispers." (be still my soul, great song by the way!) they were loud and clear. its an amazing thing when we get to hear those whispers. as you can see here, it turned out to be more of a shout.
so way to go Allie, all this because of one question. if you were a man, you'd be 'da' man.
thats all.
(oh, anyone watching how amazing my bears are? 6-0!)

anyone else delirious?

2006-10-17T16:35:00.000-05:00

no need for explanation. just...amazing.

writing with words

2006-10-15T23:38:00.000-05:00

i realized lately, i am a very visual person. (scroll down and you will see what i mean.) arnt we all? the point is, how well we communicate our thoughts and ideas, matters greatly in this world. In the past month and a half, i've written approximately 15 different papers. that's college i guess, but what i've learned is how different we can be in our writings. some people get the best of both worlds, they are great writers, and great speakers.

this is where i come in. i have found that it is more difficult for me to accurately communicate words into words. does that make sense? when it comes to writing words, i feel more at peace. i realized this recently when i showed one of my papers to a good friend. his response after reading it was, "you didn't write that." wow, thanks a lot. as a matter of fact, Allie didn't even believe me. now, im not going to share the writing with you, but you can imagine how gooder of a writering it waz.

you know, it's true. i'm not the most vocal person in the world, but this is a recognition of the fact that my "motor" is running. whenever you talk to me from now on, just know i'm loving the conversation; but for the most part, i'm just analyzing internally what junk is coming out of your mouth. no, not really. but with all honestly, i realize the importance of verbal communication and instead of sitting down and talking to you about it, i would rather say it behind this mask. this does not mean i wont talk to you, it just means it may take a bit longer for me to get "rolling."

i love you all greatly, (accept those of you who come by to place spam on my comment pages) but what are we talking about? really. if we choose to spend so much of our time talking, what should it be about?

that's it. no conclusion, no moral of the story, just a question.

later.

CONGRATS BABE!

2006-10-13T11:08:00.000-05:00

Allie has officially landed a new job! it's for a company called gensler which is an international architecutre and planning company. that's right, she's a baller...love ya babe!

we're cute, but what's wrong with my hair? (by the way, anyone want to fly out and cut my hair?)

just for timmy

2006-10-06T18:47:00.000-05:00

graduation...well done.

sorry but i win.

well i thought i had more photos, i guess not. care to contribute to matt's family photo collection? let me know here.

da bears...

2006-10-02T14:47:00.000-05:00

today i'm proud to say i have chicago blood running through me. (see full story by clicking on the image). that makes them perfect thus far. 4-0!

also, wanted to let you all know about the newest sport on this side of the country:

just a little something a few of us came up with. the game has been around awhile but we're giving it a new spin. yeah a little childish, but what else is there to do in boston?

new additions

2006-09-26T14:55:00.000-05:00

have you ever bought a new album and "lose" it within your library of music? today, i just realized i have the new snow patrol album, and i like it! who knew?

anyway, i also updated some of the links on the right. give em' a drop/click.

here is "MYSPACE"

2006-09-25T17:23:00.000-05:00

about three weeks ago i was given a desk by my school.. come to find out, "ummm yeah...we're gonna need that back mmm k?" well to them i say thank you, for i have created what will be the envy of every student on campus.

thats right, two random tables with a bunch of stuff on them. thanks BBC!

new email

2005-11-17T03:14:00.000-05:00

i have joined the greatest email client on the web. gmail, sorry folks it's by invite only. feel free to beg me. i have a certain amount of invites.
matt.shilling@gmail.com