Tales From The Yellow Brick Road

Join Cliff and his friends as they share their Tales From The Yellow Brick Road

Time To Catch Up…

Posted on October 30th, 2009 by Cliff Ames Jr.

Well it has been several months since I’ve had a real blog and a lot has happened since then. Here are some of the things that have been happening:

1. My Aunt Has Been In And Out Of The Hospital.

MomAuntGreatGrandmaMy Mom (left) My Aunt (right) and My Great Grandma (bottom) in September of 2007

Over the past few years my Aunt’s health has seriously deteriorated culminating in the fact that she has spent more time in the hospital or rehab then she has spent at home. This has been especially hard on my Grandma who has been her sole caretaker during this time. They are both worn out and fatigued from all of these various trials but fortunately they have an amazing church family that has been supporting them and being a great example of what it means “be” the church rather than just “attend” church. Right now she is back in the hospital for many reasons but the bottom line is, if she is not able to recover and loose some additional weight and finally get a kidney transplant then she will not be with us here on earth much longer. My Aunt loves the Lord and is trusting Him, as is my Grandma, but she has been through so much pain and suffering that it would be a huge blessing if she were to be able to get a transplant but at the same time it is hard to see her suffer.

2. I Took A Short Sabbatical From Life

SabbaticalFirePit

For a two and a half week period I packed up my stuff, took time off from my job and spent lots of time with my family. During this time I had the opportunity to connect and reconnect with close friends and family and was able to spend some time also reconnecting with the Lord. The former led to the latter because the people in my life that know me the best have always point me to the Lord no matter what the circumstances. Shortly before I took this sabbatical I was feeling depressed and overwhelmed by everything that the Lord had allowed to happen over the past two years. Not to mention the current pressures I was facing on all fronts I knew that I needed time to figure out what my life needed to look like in order to survive. In the end, like Dorothy, I had the ability to “go home” the whole time, but I needed to make the expedition down the yellow brick road before I could fully appreciate what being home meant. In other words I realized that my walk with the Lord had been crappy for quite some time and needed some drastic improvement. My friends and family directed me along the way and the Lord reminded me of His grace and forgiveness. I spent time in front of many fire pits just as Peter did in John 21.

3. I Edited A TV Show

SWAT_Patch
One of my good friends is a TV Producer with lots of experience in Reality Programming. For some time now I have been able to help out in one way or another with various projects that he has had going over the years. I’ve assisted editors on many of these projects but never had the opportunity to actually BE the editor. Finally a project came along and I jumped at the opportunity to actually BE the editor this time. It was a lot of work, a lot of hours and a lot of Coffee Bean but it was worth it and I was just able to recently deliver the final elements of our pilot episode. We’ve already gotten word from our distributor that there is a lot of interest and will probably end up doing 5 more episodes. This show has also opened the door for other shows and in two days I am actually flying back east to help shoot a pilot for another show. Here is the link to a promo of the project on our distributor’s website.

4. My Sister And I Sang At My Dad’s Wedding

MeAndNadene

Not too long ago my Dad met someone on eharmony.com. They started dating and after several months he proposed to her and she accepted. For my Sister and I this was something that was totally different and somewhat unexpected at first. But the more we talked with our Dad and the more we got to know Cindy the more we knew that they loved each other and would do their best to take care of each other. When it came time to start making plans I knew that I wanted to be involved but I had no clue that I would end up be blessed enough to sing with my sister during the candle lighting and to also be the best man at my Dad’s wedding. Cindy has three kids of her own that are all married and two of them have kids. This means that I have gained a whole new step family and have also gained someone that isn’t going to replace my Mom, but is going to add to the love that I already receive from so many people in my life. I am so happy for them both and I love getting to spend time with them and my new family.

5. I Auditioned For And Was Accepted Into The Santa Clarita Master Chorale

scmc

Ever since my Mom was ushered into the loving arms of Jesus it has been hard for me to be active musically. Singing or playing an instrument publicly was just something I couldn’t bring myself to do after I sang and played at my Mom’s memorial service. There were many reasons for this but chief among them was that my Mom was so proud and blessed by the abilities that the Lord had given me that using those gifts with her not around just seemed like a waste of time. But over the past few months I have had a chance to heal and to realize that I miss music terribly. And so I began to ask the Lord to show some opportunities to me that would glorify Him and bless others. Along came the Santa Clarita Master Chorale. Because they are close to the community that I am part of I knew it would be easy and convenient to participate with them but I also knew that they were a VERY talented singing group and would be difficult to get into. After waiting several months for the audition period to begin I picked an audition song, practiced for hours and low and behold I got in! I can honestly say this is an amazing and diverse group and I look forward to singing with them for a long time to come.

There have been many other things going on as well but for now those are the things that I wanted to share with all of you. I hope to begin blogging more now that life isn’t so hectic or painful as it was this past year or so. I also hope to share some additional things that the Lord has been doing but now is not the right time. When it is you will be amazed by how awesome He is… I know I am amazed everyday by who He is and how much I love Him.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-25

Posted on October 25th, 2009 by Cliff Ames Jr.
  • Please keep praying for my Aunt… the bleeding has stopped however she still has an infection and has needed several pints of blood. #
  • Great rehearsal at SCMC tonight! I love our Christmas repertoire! #
  • New iMacs, new MacMinis and a new MacBook! Not to mention the new awesome MagicMouse! It has been an awesome day! #
  • Making Ramen, catching up on all cool Apple goodies released today and then off to bed to get up early and sell them all tomorrow!! #
  • Please keep praying for my Aunt. She is having a procedure done to stop any further bleeding and the Drs have warned it will be very painful #
  • FINALLY got to test out both the 21.5 and the 27 NEW iMacs aaaannnnnddd…. GOT TO PLAY WITH THE BEST FREAKING MOUSE EVER MADE!!! #
  • Great day today! Lunch with my Pastor, a rockin drive through mountains and found out there's some overtime at work tonight! PTL! #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-18

Posted on October 18th, 2009 by Cliff Ames Jr.
  • Overnight up-converting some video to HD for Dad and Cindy's Wedding… time for bed so it can marinate! #
  • Looking forward to church with my CStone BBank homies tonight! #
  • Time 2 pray: Looking 4 a new place to live in March. Need a 3BR, good prkng, W&D in unit and $1600-$1800/mo. Location: SCV or BBank.–>> #
  • –>>Let me know if you know of anything like that in those areas! Help answer our prayers! #
  • "Raindrops keep fallin on my head!" #
  • I LOVE THIS WEATHER!!!!! #
  • Woke up to the sound of dripping water… ONLY IT WASNT COMING FROM THE OUTSIDE!!!! http://twitpic.com/lh3lc http://twitpic.com/lh3mp #
  • Grabbing CBTL and then off to CDL! Watch out CDL here I come!!! #
  • Pls pray for my Aunt who is in the hospital again. A cyst on her Kidneys ruptured but Drs don't think she's strong enough for surgery. #
  • GOT HOOKED UP WITH A GOOGLE WAVE INVITE!! ROCK ON KENNY! #
  • Live chatting on Google Wave… SWEET! #
  • Doing my best to FINALLY for sure wrap up the SWAT show I've been working on for the past 2 months! Stay tuned for how you can get a copy! #
  • Just used the Chipotle iPhone app for the first time… Hope it works! #
  • Is burning DVD's instead of testing them… now THAT's a switch! #
  • Please keep praying for my Aunt who has bleeding in her Kidneys… #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-11

Posted on October 11th, 2009 by Cliff Ames Jr.
  • Starting at the Mac store tomorrow! #
  • Had a great first day at the Mac store! Just to clarify I am working at an Authorized Reseller NOT a Apple Corporate Store… #
  • I was overwhelmed by God's sense of timing last night… #
  • Teaching my first class at the Mac store today! Cute older couple with lots to learn! #
  • Found out the couple I taught today are in show biz and have been on numerous TV Shows! Awesome! #
  • I know of two pairs of people seeing the Tonight Show tonight. However these two pairs do not know each other but I know them both! Spooky! #
  • I LOVE MY CSTONE BBANK FAMILY! #
  • This whole working two jobs thing is tough but God is good and is providing me strength! #
  • Must have…. Coffee Bean… #
  • Yeah for free pizza at work tonight! #
  • Todd and his crazy Check Disc Labs dance! Or maybe it was in honor of Obama's Nobel Prize win… http://bit.ly/tOnbA #
  • Got off work at the Mac store and I'm headed down to my Dad's house for our first family evening with our newest family member Cindy! #
  • ALL RIGHT DODGERS!!!!! #
  • Just ran into Krissy Baird at SBUX! Shout out sistah! Praying for you and the family as you walk through Mitch's illness. #
  • Home after an delicious family dinner a divine appointment @SBUX and a relaxing drive up PCH with the ocean breeze rushing in the sunroof! #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-04

Posted on October 4th, 2009 by Cliff Ames Jr.
  • I just love LA traffic… http://twitpic.com/jez3y #
  • Okay I was trying to resist but I need some CBTL… Good thing I still have some $$ on the gift card! Thanks Jesse! #
  • Agh sweet sweet nectar of the gods! http://twitpic.com/jfwgt #
  • Is playing the game "How much time can you spend on the freeway in 7 days and not go crazy?" I think I'm loosing… #
  • It's official! I auditioned and have been accepted into the Santa Clarita Master Chorale!! :-D #
  • Praying for peace and reconciliation today… #
  • Burning the screener copy of the new show I've been working on for the past 3 weeks! Glad to be done with this phase! #
  • Going to MAC store today but not as a customer:-) #
  • Had a great interview at the MAC store… we'll see what happens! #
  • Looking forward to the next 10 hours at the CDL ranch… :-) #
  • First rule of CDL is you don't talk about what you're working on at CDL… #
  • Hmmm… I need some coffee… #
  • On my way to my Dads wedding rehearsal! #
  • View frm Piano during rehearsal. Last time I was there was at Mom's Memorial. Glad 2 be back 4 different purposes. http://twitpic.com/k1d9h #
  • http://twitpic.com/k1u82 I love firepits! #
  • http://twitpic.com/k540k We start in 10 minutes! #
  • My roomate Tyler just said he broke his thong while dancing… #

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