Happy Halloween from all of us here at jordanrippy.com! I’m looking forward to my first Halloween living in a house. Why? Because this is the first year that I’ll experience being on the other side of trick or treating. My current plan is to get a really scary mask and let Kristin answer the door and start passing out candy while I sneak up the side yard, behind the kids, and then scream. It will be fun to see them run away in sheer terror. I may even chase them for a couple of blocks, just to add that extra sense of Halloween terror. I was going to take some pictures of the whole ordeal for the blog, but I don’t want to be remembered as the guy who takes pictures of all the neighborhood kids when they come trick or treating. In honor of Halloween, here’s a list of the top 13 scariest movies of all time:

1. The Shining (1980)
2. The Exorcist (1973)
3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Jaws (1975)
6. Halloween (1978)
7. Psycho (1960)
8. Seven (1995)
9. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
   
10. Poltergeist (1982)
11. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
12. The Thing (1982)
13. The Evil Dead (1982)

You can check out the rest of the list here. Every Halloween weekend, Chris and I go see the latest installment of “Saw”. What are your favorite scary movies or Halloween traditions?

The countdown starts today. Ten more school days until graduation. I only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and there’s only five more weeks left in the semester, so ten more days an I’ll be free….I can’t wait.

Why do internet sites continue to use these scrambled, crazy, whimsical letter/number combinations for security purposes? Why does the ability to change my password have to rely on my ability to decode letters that belong in a Dr. Seuss book? This one isn’t particularly difficult, but I’ve encountered some that are harder to see than those magic eye posters that were big in the 90′s. I have literally never “seen” one of those.

I’m graduating from Southeastern in less than two months. During my nearly four years in Lakeland, these are the places that I’ve found to be the most unique and/or enjoyable. Tell me what I’ve missed.

1. Palace Pizza – Absolutely the best pizza around. It’s because they use Grande cheese. It’s run by an Italian family who moved from Italy to New Jersey to start an authentic pizza joint. Somewhere along the line they ended up on the corner of Main and Kentucky here in Lakeland.
2. Subs N’ Such – A small sub place on Florida Ave. This place has been in the same location since the 70′s. The owner is there every day and treats every customer like they’re his favorite regular. This guys really knows how to do business and he is ridiculously passionate about subs.
3. Silver Moon Drive In – A great throw back. There’s nothing like watching a horror flick in the comfort of your own car. It’s located somewhere off 92. Google it.
4. Orange Bowl – A great bowling ally. They have really good cosmic bowling, and the best bumpers in town. The bumpers are computerized so they raise and lower depending on whose turn it is.
5. Lime St. Park – This is the best park in Lakeland. You should go really late at night. Why? You just should.
6. Jimbo’s BBQ – This place has been serving amazing B-B-Q since 19**. There’s a bowl of fantastic homemade pickles at every table, and if you’re a huspuppie person, you definitely have tot check this place out.
7. Lake Hollingsworth – I’m not a big walker, but Hollingsworth is really nice.
8. $2 Theater – They play movies that have just left the theater in a “Mugs n’ Movies” format…Round tables, food, and drinks during the movie.
9. S&L – An old school diner from the 70′s. They serve amazing burgers (which are huge) for quite the bargain. Make sure you have some greenbacks though, because they’re a no-plastic business. Cash only.
10. Lakleland Motor Speedway – I know, it’s a stretch. My friend Chris and I went and watched a bunch of amateur drag racing when we first moved down her . We were out of our element, but it was fun.

Does anyone have something to add? Restaurants, parks, stores…Anything?

Kristin and I absolutely love going on Book of Hope trips. El Salvador was no exception. We arrived last Friday in San Salvador, El Salvador and then took a two and a half hour bus ride to Chaletanango. Chaletanango is a rural village in the Northeast region of El Salvador. From there, we would take vans to the outskirts of El Salvador, near the border of Honduras. It was amazing to take the Book of hope into these extremely rural villages. The mountainous roads made our morning drives even more interesting. Everyday we encountered herds of cattle blocking the roads.

Overall, we had a great trip. We passed out about 7,000 copies of the Book of Hope. We made a lot of great friends and memories, and we can’t wait until our next Book of Hope trip. Thanks to all of our friends and family who supported us and prayed for us while were gone.