February 2012
4 posts
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The Next Chapter
In the last four years my wife and I graduated college, got married the next week, I started my first full time job the week after, had our first child a year later, moved twice then bought a house, traveled through Israel and Egypt, and then found out our second child will be coming this July. To say it’s been an eventful few years would be an understatement. Though it’s certainly been amazing...
WatchThis is what Jordan does when the game gets intense.
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December 2011
1 post
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Why I Won't Tell My Children That Santa Is Real
I’ll try to keep this brief and stay away from countering the arguments for the belief in Santa. I will gladly discuss those should someone comment. Instead, here are my convictions as to why I will not tell my children that Santa is real.
Aside from the actual St. Nick that once lived (who obviously is long gone and had no flying reindeer), the modern day image of Santa is fairly...
November 2011
6 posts
4 tags
Black Friday 2011: The Definitive Guide to Tech →
Rather than try to cover the ridiculous volume of sales that will be happening Friday, I’d like to point you in the right direction. If you’re looking for a digital camera, tablet, phone, video game stuff, TV, Blu-ray player, or anything of the sort go here:
http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/22/2581545/black-friday-2011
The Verge is covering all the major stores and updating this page...
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My First & Only Original Song →
During my last year at Southeastern University, I composed a piece for my then fiancé (now wife) and I to perform at my senior recital. It was a duet for Flute and Flugelhorn, accompanied by piano. When we performed it, my wife played beautifully; I did alright. But everyone there said they enjoyed it.
We recorded the performance and I posted it on YouTube. It’s been on there about...
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I've Never Been This Excited About A Thermostat →
What happens when the guy who helped oversee the design of the iPod for nine years and three versions of the iPhone makes a thermostat? Well, this does. And I want one.
Great article by Nilay Patel (@reckless) and The Verge.
http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/14/2559567/tony-fadell-nest-learning-thermostat
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SEU String Orchestra Recording →
SEU Students and Faculty, the recording from Monday’s String Orchestra Concert is now available! You can listen to and subscribe in iTunes by clicking here or just search for SEU Music in the iTunes Store.
You can also listen to and download this and past concert recordings on my website: illuminatedesign.com
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Fear
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear…” 2 Timothy 1:7 Spooky. Scary. Creepy. Horror. Fright. Fear. Americans as a whole seem to be enjoying these words more and more. From movies like Paranormal Activity and the Saw series, to the grotesque road signs for Universal’s celebration of “Horror,” we seem to thrive off being scared. Some call it thrilling...
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The Verge Launches →
A new tech news site that just launched this morning. Some of the most talented writers, video editors, and minds all in one place. Worth visiting, at least twice daily. Taken with a glass of water.
October 2011
6 posts
5 tags
Faith Is Not Enough
“…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…” 1 Peter 3:15 This past weekend I had the opportunity to be a part of the Southern Evangelical Seminary’s Apologetics Conference. This annual meeting now has an attendance of over 1500 students, Pastors and lay people. This year’s keynote speaker included the...
The New StephenRobles.com →
For simplicity and ease of use, I’ve made my personal URL point to my Tumblr blog. “So what?” you may ask. Well, anything interesting (at least what I find to be) or thoughtful will be consolidated to one site: stephenrobles.com.
I’d like to write more and share articles, but I want to be selective on what I spam people’s feeds with. So I’ll post links on...
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Seven Billion People →
By October 31st of this year, the world’s population will reach 7 billion. That’s a lot of people.
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“Worship leaders if you say “sing it one last time” I swear it better...”
– Jordan Rippy (@jordanrippy)
Steve Jobs: Visionary
Today, Steve Jobs died at age 56. I truly didn’t think the headlines that are now covering the internet would come for another 20-30 years. Some may think it’s not a big deal, others recognize the passionate leader that he was. I truly wish my children could have heard him deliver a keynote speech like only he could. Not because of a product, but because he truly cared about his work.
...
September 2011
4 posts
Kindle Fire vs iPad
Before today, if you were in the market for a tablet, the decision was easy. You probably wanted a tablet with a decent app selection, fast performance, intuitive interface, something that could be productive, and had an ecosystem (music, movies, tv shows) to back it up. The only tablet that could meet all those requirements was the iPad. I say “was” because today, Amazon, the largest...
iPhone 5 October 4th
Apple officially announced its iPhone event for next Tuesday. There’s been a lot of rumors about iPhone 5/iPhone 4S etc. Whether you love or hate the iPhone, do not buy a phone until we at least see what Apple has up its sleeve.
Remember, when you buy a phone “on-contract” with Verizon, AT&T or whoever, you’re stuck with that phone for 2 full years. In my experience,...
Instagram 2.0 →
Instagram updated it’s iPhone app to version 2.0. Great new features, update available now!
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Mobius: An Open Letter to Worship Leaders
What if leading worship no longer felt like a competition, but rather like a team effort striving toward a single goal? What if worship leaders genuinely reached out to other worship leaders to encourage them, share the latest song ideas, or find a common struggle and work through it together? What if worship became less territorial and instead sought after hurting people, not caring what church...
July 2011
1 post
A Cappella Dream Team
I recently learned some things about a few select “pop” music artists that were quite interesting. Like, Lady Gaga was accepted into the NYU Tisch School of Music at age 17 and was playing the piano at age 3. She also has a contra alto vocal range. So in my love for the A Cappella genre and more importantly, just for kicks, here is my A Cappella Dream Team consisting of Pop, Christian...
June 2011
1 post
What is Truth (Part I)
While I don’t usually write or post about controversial issues, I feel there’s now more than ever a strong need for truth to be discussed openly and even argued over. Of course for truth to be uncovered it’s going to take a lot more than a single blog post, but it has to start somewhere.
I want to preface what I write by saying my goal is not to be argumentative, judgmental or...
May 2011
19 posts
Egypt Day 17 (Do You Wanna Revolution?)
Our morning was spent visiting a few churches in the area. The coptic churches are located in the area where it is believed the Holy family brought Jesus after He was born. One church is built over a grotto which may be the exact place they stayed. After, we went to the Egyptian Museum. Unfortunately, no photos could be taken inside. The ancient sarcophaguses and artifacts were beautiful though....
Egypt Day 15 & 16 (Temples and the Nile)
First stop, Valley of the Kings. Here, over 60 tombs have been uncovered containing the treasures and writings of the Kings of Egypt. It was here that King Tut’s Tomb was also discovered by accident, and was the only tomb found completely intact. Seeing the hieroglyphics still carved into the wall after 5000 years was pretty amazing. It’s incredible how one civilization can build and...
Egypt Day 14 (Pyramids, Camels and Sphinx, Oh My)
First full day touring Egypt, and it certainly lived up to the hype. Our first few stops gave us a look at Ancient Egypt as influenced by Joseph. We came to “Joseph’s Lake,” a body of water dug out by Joseph to create fertile land far away from the Nile. Also on the agenda was “Joseph’s Pyramid,” while not looking exactly like a pyramid was built in...
Egypt Day 12 & 13
Goodbye Israel, Hello Egypt. Two days will now be spent traveling to the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Leaving Jerusalem it’s a five hour drive to the border. The border crossing wasn’t terrible, but we did show our passports about four or five times, had our bags checked and walking a while. We met our new guide and bus driver on the other side (in Egypt). From the border it’s a...
Israel Day 11 (Dead Sea Scrolls, Garden Tomb)
Our last day in Israel held a few amazing sites left to see. The first was the Israeli museum, which has a large model of the entire city of Jerusalem. Very cool to see the intricate detail and art found in this model. What hit me even more at the museum was the Dead Sea Scrolls. Heading underground into a dark chamber, several scrolls are on display. There are explanations of the importance of...
Israel Day 9 (Masada, Dead Sea, Valley of the...
Second to last day in Israel. Today was a relaxed day (kind of) with only three locations to see. The first was mount Masada. Although “mount” is a little disingenuous because Masada is basically a mountain. The cable car ride up was a little unnerving, but the view from the top was completely worth it. The history of King Herod’s temple and its sophisticated water system was...
Israel Day 9
Only two more days to go in the Holy Land and then it’s on to Egypt. While we’ve been to a lot of the major sites, and the first on today’s itinerary was a repeat for me, it was great just the same. We began the day by going to the Wailing Wall. We actually came here the first night we were in Jerusalem and it was full with hundreds of Jews worshipping and praying. That night I...
Israel Day 8 (Introspective Edition)
Every once in a while, if you’re fortunate enough, you get to see hard work put to good use. Today was one of those days. Instead of the textbook descriptions I’ve been giving you (which I will in a moment) I’d like to share some emotional moments for me. Working for Educational Opportunities in the Marketing department has me creating brochures, pamphlets, magazines and posters...
Israel Day 7
We left the Galilee area today and headed back to the capital city, Jerusalem. Wasn’t much actual touring today since the drive back was about two and a half hours. Our first stop on the road though was Qumran. While you may not recognize the name, this is the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Not only is there a lot of history here, but it’s a sight to see as well. The...
Israel Day 6
First location today was Bet She’an, an archeological site for one of the largest cities in the Jezreel Valley. This city was ahead of its time, with the largest amphitheater in the Middle East. This community also had the “hippodrome,” where Christians were slaughtered inside a colosseum. The city had it’s own sewage system with toilets, bath houses and pools. They printed...
Israel Day 5
Today we join the classic tour and travel around the Galilee area. The day began with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Galilee is a beautiful place, and we had a short devotion on the water. It’s amazing to be on the same lake where Jesus calmed the storm and Peter walked on water. We docked by the museum where the old “Jesus Boat” was found. It’s an amazing archeological...
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Israel Day 4
Day four of our journey, and only the second full day of touring. Today will consist of a lot of desert and driving. Before our journey to Caesarea Philippi, which is several hours away, we attempted to visit the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem. It was closed unfortunately, so we moved onward to Bethany. Bethany is another Islam community with numerous Mosques. We came here to see the accepted...
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Israel Day 3
Today was the first full day of touring the Israeli countryside with Dr. Pagan. We started early, 8am and left Jerusalem to head toward Samaria. While driving, trying to get inside Jacob’s Well church, we came across two different checkpoints, neither of which let us through. It is still the Jewish Independence Holiday and some routes are closed off. Luckily, Dr. Pagan is not affected, he...
Israel Day 2 - Introductions
So we arrived in Israel around 1:30pm. After getting our bags, driving to the hotel, and settling in, it was close to 4pm. While there wasn’t a whole lot of time, we still managed to make some great contacts and experience some awesome events.
We’re staying at the Olive Tree Hotel in Jerusalem. Nice place, and everyone on staff at the hotel knows our company, Educational...
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Israel Day 1 - The Journey
Beginning Sunday morning, I embarked on a 3 week trip to Israel and Egypt. Met my fellow EO comrades at Tampa airport and then took a seemingly short trip to JFK International. After about a 5 hour layover, we found ourselves at Gate 6 in the international terminal of JFK. The plane we were to board was a Delta 747, a fairly large plane.
While we waited by the gate, many Jewish men began to show...
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'Twas the Night Before Israel
Twelve hours from now I’ll be on a plane to JFK. After which, I will take a 12 hour flight to Tel Aviv, Israel. 10-12 Days after that, a 6 hour bus ride and 10 hour train ride will find me in Cairo, Egypt for 7 more days. Definitely hasn’t hit me yet, and I have both a nervous energy and mixed emotions. I will miss my family of course, and I’ve never been away for this long before...
I'm Going to Israel
So this Sunday, May 8th, I will be leaving for three weeks to travel around Israel and Egypt. I work for a travel agency that organizes group tours around the world, including Alaska, the Caribbean, Europe, the Holy Land and other locales. Being in the Marketing Dept., I’m in charge of graphic design and video production and we’re in need of some raw material (i.e. photos and video),...
April 2011
1 post
My New Project
When I was still in college I started dabbling in video production and web design, not having any idea what I was doing. I bought a few books on HTML, Photoshop and Final Cut. It was all Greek to me (and I don’t speak Greek either).
After a while I started to pick up a few things, and with the help of some awesome people, like Ryan Stacey and my Uncle Joel Corazo, I took some baby steps in...
March 2011
1 post
December 2010
1 post
November 2010
7 posts
A FaceTime Thanksgiving
Just saw my Sister-in-Law use FaceTime on her iPhone to talk to a relative 1000s of miles away. It was pretty awesome.
My Top 5 Christmas Songs
1) O Holy Night (as sung by Mariah Carey)
2) The Christmas Song (“Chestnuts roasting…”)
3) O Come O Come Emmanuel
4) Carol of the Bells (I have 8 different versions, favorite being Vienna Boys Choir)
5) Christmas Time is Here
Bonus: Song I love to sing loudly in public amidst crazy shoppers and wild children, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”
cestlavieamelie asked: i can't see any of your posts? do you have any?