Another year has gone by, and I’m another year older. It’s my birthday. As I look back over the past year, I come across things that I think the younger generation should know. Vital information. Here are my top 10 gems of knowledge.

1. Get your car tags renewed. Keep up with when they go out of date. Even if you’ve been driving around for a year with them expired, you’ll get caught eventually. Trust me on this.

2. Drink coffee. I got into drinking coffee in college to help me stay awake for all night design parties, also known as homework. I hated it at first. Now I go to bed early out of excitement, knowing that I can drink coffee when I wake up. Plus you won’t look like a goob when you visit a coffee shop and order a water. You can go ask a friend, “Hey, you want to go grab some coffee?” See, that kinda sounds productive, right? Even if you leave work for a sec, you can just say “Oh yeah we’re just going to go grab some coffee. We’re gonna be ready to WORK when we get back. Watch out.” It’s like you’re going to fill up your car with jet fuel. Don’t be that guy who says, “Hey, you want to go grab a water?”

3. Eat cereal while you can. Your body will eventually turn on you. Plus, I think there is something childlike about eating cereal. I think we all need to connect with our inner child more than we do anyway.

4. Drink water. After you’re done drinking COFFEE, drink water. You can get kidney stones. Again, trust me on this. Your body needs it.

5. Don’t sit on the sides in an IMAX theater. Try your best to sit near the middle. If you find yourself to the extreme left or right, you’re probably going to have no idea what’s happening on screen.

6. Don’t sell crack. If you’re a crack dealer and you’re reading this, first thing, thank you. Second thing, stop it. I still remember an episode of In The Heat Of The Night where a girl smokes crack and then goes crazy. Poor decision. Don’t do it.

7. Pigs can’t look up. Seriously. If you need to sneak up on one, just climb a tree and wait for it to walk by.

8. Don’t touch an armadillo. At least don’t touch a live one. Those things are gross. I’ve also learned that some people have never seen one in the wild. That’s weird. Go google one now.

9. Learn to parallel park. You’ll most likely end up in a situation where you need to do it. I had to learn the hard way on a busy street in Nashville.

10. Work hard. If you don’t know how to do something, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Embrace the struggle. You’ll end up learning more than you thought you would by the time you’re done. The experience isn’t just going to magically pop into your head. You have to grind through it. Plus with the internet, you basically have the world showing you how to do what you’re interested in. I’ve learned a ton of stuff just by watching tutorials online. Take the time. Work hard.

I’m getting a small run of these Wooden Heart shirts printed. If you’d like to snag one, keep an eye on my twitter feed. I’ll let you know when they go on sale in my shop! They’ll go on sale early next week.

I met Josh 2 years ago when I first moved to Nashville. Through time spent at Starbucks, church, or just hanging around watching movies, he’s become one of my best friends since moving here. I had NO idea he was a musician, though I knew he was really into music. It wasn’t until I heard one of his covers that he posted on YouTube that I realized this dude has pipes on him. He really loves to entertain and perform, and is just stinkin’ talented. He asked me to design the packaging for his debut album, and we’re really happy with the way it turned out. Jeff Venable, who just happens to be Josh’s roommate and another incredibly talented guy that I get to call a friend, did an awesome job shooting the photos for the project, and they all turned out great.

You can give it a listen here! You can buy it on iTunes, or buy a CD from bandcamp, and it’ll come in the mail asap.

Over the New Years break, I had the opportunity to spend a week in the Philippines. This is my second time visiting the Philippines, but my first in the city of Manila. I only took my iPhone to document the trip, and though I could and should have taken more pictures, this is what I ended up with. All photos were edited with the VSCO Cam.

5 hour drive to Atlanta, 13 hour flight to Tokyo, 4 hour flight to Manila. I have NO problem sleeping on flights, and I slept like a champ. Though I did wake up with some pretty awesome cankles from sitting for such a long period of time.

We immediately were introduced to the Long family and the ministry they have there. Besides opening a school, they also have an orphanage that’s the home to about 30 wonderful kids. The workers at the kids home received a 2 week break to celebrate New Years and to visit family. Our team was to work in the orphanage while the workers were on their vacation. Though it was only for a week, we made great friendships with the kids. Loving on them, playing basketball, jumping way too much on the trampoline, breaking up fights, making sure chores were done, and putting out the occasional fire were just some of the things we got into. The main reason for being there though, was to share the love of Jesus with these children, and to let them know that even though they don’t have an earthly father to turn to, they have a heavenly one who loves them unconditionally.

We also got to take part in a couple of feedings in 2 villages. Two large containers of hot food were loaded up and driven to these locations, where we scooped out food to the local children. The lines were very long, and it was heartbreaking when the food ran out and there were still children waiting in line. No matter their condition, the people were always gracious, welcoming, and thankful.

I new that I wanted to try balut while I had the chance. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a Filipino street food that’s basically a partially developed duck embryo. You eat it out of the egg shell. Though I had the chance on my last visit, I was too scared to try it. I wasn’t leaving without having some this time. A super nice guy named Rick found out that a few of us wanted to try it, so he grabbed some for us. Sorry if your squeamish…

On our second to last day, we were able to visit a waterfall where we had lunch and took a swim for the afternoon. The water was cool and there were some great places to jump from. White people don’t visit there very often, so we were the life of the party.

We had devotion time with the kids at the home, and on the last day the gospel was presented. We let the kids know that if they had questions or wanted to talk, they could come to one of us. At the end of the night, 4 of the kids came to Jesus. I personally got to talk with Emanuel.. here he is after sneaking my phone away to take his picture..

We gave all the kids their own Bible with a handwritten note inside. Emanuel asked what I did at my job, and instead of explaining graphic design to him, I just said that I drew pictures. He asked me to draw a picture of him fighting a dragon. I tried my best, and when I finished I left it in his Bible for him. The next morning, we packed up and headed home.

It was hard leaving. Though it was only 7 days, it was long enough to hate leaving them. I know hundreds of people come through that home every year, stay for a week or two, and then leave. The children come from backgrounds where the people who were supposed to love them either abused them, or just left. Knowing that made it even harder for us to leave them, just like the hundreds who visit do every year. Kids cried, we cried. If we could have taken them all home, we would have. I know that they are in good hands with that ministry and will hopefully all be in loving homes soon.

One thing that stands out this time and the last is this.. Our comfort level far exceeds our love level. Jamie Ainsworth, one of our group, said it best and it’s very true. Our comfort level here at home, with our abundant blessings, far exceeds our love level for others. Not just for orphans in other countries, but people down the street and next door. I’m guilty of this just as much as anyone else. He is all we need, and the things we thought were important, necessary, or things we are even grateful for, really aren’t even needed for a joyous life. So let’s walk in love. Let us do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly.

Just finished up a motion graphic for LifeWay’s Samson study showing the importance of fathers in the life of children.

I had the honor of being involved in another Red Giant/Seth Worley short film. This time it’s Form 17, where a bomb defuser takes his daughter to work with him. They needed some props for a fake pizza place called Mr. Slice Guy pizza, so I designed a logo for a car topper and a delivery guy hat. If you’re interested, hit me up and I’ll direct you to where you can get your own Mr. Slice Guy t-shirt. Overall it was lots of fun, and with lots of cool people to work with…