Till Death Do Us Part

Building an Apt.

2010-11-03T14:17:00.002-05:00

Our days have been extremely busy lately. We're so glad they are. We are having the time of our lives! The pictures below are showing the construction of our apartment. We'll keep you up to date on how it's coming. We'll be living here until our house in Texas sells and we find a good place to live. We just finished "raising the floor" literally on this building. It is rather old and the foundation settled a little, so we evened everything out.

Here is Stephanie going to town with the hammer in the dry wall. We took the drywall of this side, and moved the frame 90 degrees to the left to extend this room.

Here is Bro. Ed as he takes off the last few pieces of drywall before the move.

These were the two rooms that became one

This will be the new bedroom. Nice sized now!

we put the old drywall back on and we're ready to go

Another shot from the length.

As you can see, it's coming along, I'm very excited to have our own stuff and most of all our own bed back... soon! We'll update with more pictures in a few days.

Catching UP

2010-10-20T20:53:00.004-05:00

Wow, It really has been too long since I posted anything. Let me catch you up in "the short version"

We made the decision to leave Texas. It wasn't a hard choice, before we left, we both knew that our hearts were in Evansville, IN and at the Boeke Road Baptist Church. We visited for a weekend with Stephen and Cheryl Russ and John and Tamyra soon to be Kiel and we both knew that this was the place for us. We're so happy to know we're now home. We had to leave Texas out right, so we went to the "Texas State Fair" and ate lots of good FRIED foods.
Then we put all of our earthly possessions in this beast and drove across 5 states. I don't know who told me driving one of these big rigs was fun, but they lied. It was an experience. I drove this and pulled the jeep and Steph drove her car behind me. We stopped in Memphis, TN and ate at the Neely's BBQ... Quite possibly the best BBQ I've ever had.
We felt like such grown ups moving away from both of our families, we decided to get some latte's to prove it. Moving to Texas, we still had family around, but now we're "All on our own" This whole deal has been a lot of fun, trying at times, but a great experience.
Since getting here, I am now the new Sunday School teacher of the College and Career class at the Boeke Road Baptist Church. I have named it Foundations Bible Class and will be starting in the Annex Building. It has been empty for so long, I have been doing a lot of work on the inside thus far with cleaning and painting and will start on the outside in the next few days, but our first class is this Sunday, the 24th of October. I'll keep you updated on it.
I accepted a job at Faith Music Missions as the Marketing Director. I love my job. There is so much to do. Don't be surprised if you get a call from me as I "pitch" our newest ideas and projects your way. FMM is a recording studio about 2 hours North of Nashville with a world wide influence. We also have a radio station in which I have been able to be a guest on a couple of times. It's looking like I'll get my own show here in the near future. I'll keep you posted on days/times, but you can listen in at faith1180.com anywhere in the world.
All in all, "we're just happy to be here". We are still waiting for our house to sell in Texas, so if you know anyone who wants a good deal in the Dallas area, let me know. Hopefully we caught you up. I'll be staying up to date a lot more in the future, so check back often.

Lessons on God's Will

2010-03-30T14:54:00.002-05:00

I have learned so much about God's Will the past few weeks as I talked with men far more wise than I. I thought I would share some of the quotes, thoughts and Scriptures I have found of God's will with you.
1. We follow principles, not people/places. It is very important that we know these principles be Biblically based. We should always follow principles as we seek God's will for our lives. That means God has already told us to share the gospel, go to church, read His Word and pray. That is God's will no matter where where we find ourselves geographically. More than just blindly following what a man says, we ought to "search out the Scriptures whether those things are so".2. "God's will is revealed five minutes at a time." We need to be sure we're doing God's will

First Anniversary

2010-03-17T18:19:00.002-05:00

To all of our loyal readers... Probably just my mom, mother in law and anyone else that may read these, I wanted to take a post to show you some pictures from our recent One Year Anniversary. Yep, that's right, she didn't kill me... yet. We made it 1 year!

If you remember, we stayed at the Fairmont in San Jose, CA for the night of our wedding. I wanted to make this anniversary special, but obviously on a tighter budget now (having a wife is really expensive!) :) So, I found that Dallas has a Fairmont. I booked a room and here is a little story of our trip.

So, upon arriving at the Fairmont Dallas, we checked in and got to our room. It was a little smaller than the Jr. Suite we had on our wedding night. I took a moment to tweet that it was not quite as high in the building as I would have liked and it was a little smaller than the room I remembered from San Jose.

Within 10 minutes our room phone rang and the lady on the other end introduced herself as the PR rep for the hotel. She said she saw my tweet and was wondering if we would mind switching to a better room. Of course we agreed and we moved from the 5th floor to the 18th floor. The new bathroom was as big as the old room! She finished by saying, "Happy anniversary, thanks for choosing the Fairmont Dallas." Check out the view!

Later that evening we decided to take a walk downtown to the west end. After dinner we were on our way back to the Fairmont when we saw this! It was so beautiful and very relaxing just wandering through this little area a block away from the Fairmont.

The next morning, the actually morning of our anniversary (3/6) we went out to get back in my Jeep... as you know, I'm always up for saving a buck here or there... This was one of those times when I should have splurged for valet. We parked in a public parking lot with no camera's and a sign posted, "not responsible for lost or damaged vehichles". That should have been my first clue. Here is a picture of my Jeep mirror... Only $80 worth of damage to each mirror! :) what a blessing huh?

After spending some time shopping and doing whatever we wanted (we can do that since it was "our" day) we went back home. It was our paper anniversary, so I got Steph a book and some other paper items, but this was "The Main Event". I had some "paper" set up to paint on, along with some paints, brushes, etc to do a little activity. It didn't quite work on the floor, by the fireplace, so I brought in the deck table and chairs. We spent the night painting and laughing and reminiscing of just one short year ago.

So, I'm not much of an artist, but that was my cup of coffee artwork. Stephanie's came out way better!

Here is my art savvy wife's picture. She did a great job.

I had to take a moment to tell everyone about our great fire that night. We have tried to have a good fire several times, but the wood here in Texas is so dense, that it is hard to get the wood started. We had such a good fire and it really heated up the whole house. We were so glad that we finally got the fire going, we had to share.

All in all, I can't believe that we were in Italy one year ago. We have had so many things happen in our lives in the last 365 days it is really incredible.

Las Vegas or Bust

2010-03-15T11:01:00.003-05:00

What a great time we had while in Las Vegas, NV. We flew out in February to help the Gateway Baptist Church with their Missions Conference. Their theme was "Proving the Sincerity of Your Love". We led the music during the conference, preached to the teens and ate a lot of In-N-Out. Below are some of the pictures from our trip. Hope you enjoy.The infamous "U-Swirl" that I have read so much about on Twitter from @rach72892 which is that purple loving Ellis girl (Pastor's twin daughters - Rachel and Rebekah)
Here is Pastor Ellis. What a man of God. I don't know of any other Pastor with a heart as big as this man's. He is a lot of fun and doing a great job in Las Vegas.

This is a picture of the final night of the missions conference. Each member of the church held a candle representing the Gospel. We must all do our part to lighten the world.

Here was after each candle was lit in memory of a missionary the lights were turned off and each person blew out their candle showing that if we don't hold the Light high, we fail God. Powerful message.

No trip would be complete to the West Coast without a little In-N-Out... In our case, 4 times in 6 days. We actually went there twice the first day. :)
So, once again, these pictures are out of order, but this was the most amazing dish at the international Philippino dinner. Living in Texas, we don't get a lot of ethnic foods.... The food we miss the most is the food. We occasionally talk Aimee Jackson into giving us some, but Gateway Baptist has a few Philippino families and they made really good food. We loved it!

My wife, and the Ellis Twins practicing before the closing service for the song they sang. Stephanie had a great time singing in a group as she has not been able to do so lately here in Texas.
I had to put this picture in because this is Rachel and her "little friend" I can't even remember his name right now :) but I've known these girls since they were just little things, so of course I had to give this young man a hard time. It was one of the highlights of my trip... I don't think he or she enjoyed it all too much, but I did... :)
We got an afternoon off one day to do a little sight-seeing in Vegas. We decided that, since it was so close to our anniversary, in which we went to Venice and Rome, Italy, we had to go see The Venetian and Caesar's Palace. Here is a picture of us near the fake Rialto bridge. It was great fun to see how they pulled certain parts of Venice right into the strip of Las Vegas.
No trip would be complete unless ending on this note: In-N-Out (again). I talked Mrs. Ellis (the only one who evaded my picture taking) into taking us here once again on the way to the airport. We had a great time and sure love the Ellis family. What a wonderful time we had.

Record Snow Fall in Dallas!

2010-02-24T14:59:00.002-06:00

Here a few pictures of our most recent snow day in Dallas. Yes, there has been more than one. This was the the record snowfall in Dallas, TX's history. Over a foot registered. Below is a picture of the small tree in our front yard that broke under the weight of the snow and fell on our neighbors car.

Here is our little chair/table on our back patio. Good angle to see how much snow really fell!

Picture through the window looking out over our front yard.

My Golden Birthday - 23

2010-02-24T14:49:00.002-06:00

What a great birthday I had this past year! My wife made the best cake I've ever had... It was four layers! The largest cake I have ever had for a birthday. Here are some pictures throughout the day.

I got a french press from my mom and dad and my wife got me a coffee grinder... It's not pictured, but it is so awesome! We opened presents with my parents and sister with husband at Starbucks. My wife gave the workers a slice of cake and when we left, they gave me a free pound of Anniversary Blend to try out my new grinder/french press!

My awesome cake with my awesome wife!

We ate dinner at a sushi place called Killer Piranha Sushi... This was some chicken something or other. I don't remember the name, but it was so good!

My wife and sister at the restaurant.

My wife and I getting ready to eat.

The Birthday Roll at the restaurant.

My mom and dad at the sushi place!

First Christmas - Dallas

2010-02-24T14:30:00.002-06:00

The men in our family have a funny sense of humor! We all three got toy helicopters... I knew it would be a hit with my dad and my mom thought it would be a hit with Jeramy and I... She was right!

We spent a little time with Shawn and Aimee later in the evening on Christmas. It was so nice to have family around for this action packed day!

My brother in law Jeramy in his favorite present from my mom... Poor guy is a Lions fan!

Papa and Eden - She picked that present out all by herself for her papa... Both of Erin's girls got my dad coffee and they both picked it out on their own! I think it's evident.. Papa is addicted!

Opening presents at Papa and Grandma's house after a wonderful breakfast. (notice that Grandma isn't in any of the pictures... Since she was probably taking most of the pictures.)

Stephanie opening presents on Christmas Eve... I don't know why it turned sideways, but it's ok... You get the general idea.

We had our first Christmas and we had a "White Christmas" in Dallas Texas! Can you believe it?

Me opening Christmas presents on Christmas Eve...

Here is our fireplace and mantle decorated... Also, notice the little trees from our wedding on either side of the fireplace. They sure have come in handy.

Our First Christmas Tree!

Gaylord Texan Getaway - Honeymoon #2

2009-12-21T14:08:00.006-06:00

We recently won an overnight getaway from FBCoM for a stay/dinner at the Gaylord Texan. It is a truly incredible hotel and so much more! Here are some pictures from our stay which we named "Honeymoon #2".

Steph couldn't go to such a nice hotel without getting a pedicure, so here she is getting those toes fixed up. :)

While we there, ICE! was going on in the convention center. It was really cool. They froze over 2 million pounds of water and built whoville and the grinch and a plethora of other entities.

Here was the view from our balcony. You'll be able to see it better later, in a daytime shot, but it was very beautiful at night with over 1 million lights in the atrium.

Here's another view of the lights in the atrium. The hotel is set up in a circle-ish shape, so half of the rooms look out towards Texas and the other half look in to the atrium view. My good friend Austin, who works at the Gaylord and goes to Church with us upgraded us to an atrium view among a host of other things. Thanks buddy!

We ate dinner at the Southwestern cuisine place. Here is our main course (in low light) which are "Texas sized" scallops with spicy sweet potatoes.

I had to put this scallop in scale with something, so here is the scallop next to my thumb in the take away container. HUGE!

This was the flat bread appitizer that we enjoyed. It had goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes and some other green stuff... Don't ask a guy what these weird green things are called.

Another view of the atrium during the evening when the lights just turned on... Sorry my Johnston & Murphys are in the way...

As we walked around the hotel, we stumbled upon this pool. It was incredible!

Here is how they decorated the atrium and surrounding areas...

Texas Sized ginger bread house!

Facts on "Texas Sized" Ginger bread house

another huge ginger bread house!

Here is a picture of our balcony, where we spent a lot of time with a little Cafe' and enjoyed watching all that was happening below.

Here is one of three pictures that showed what the atrium was like during the day.

I have more pictures of ICE! and the stay, but I will have to upload those later since they're on Stephanie's camera and I don't have that with me now. Look for it in the next few days.

Christmas Pictures

2009-12-15T14:48:00.004-06:00

We decided together this year that we would like to take some Christmas pictures for our Christmas cards. Not everyone will get a card this year (as I'm a youth pastor and broke!), but I wanted everyone to get to see some of the photos that we took. There were a lot more, but for sake of time and etc. I have posted five for your viewing pleasure. Hope you enjoy.

Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Craziness!

2009-11-30T11:25:00.005-06:00

We had a whale of a weekend this past week. We had our services on Tuesday night here at FBCoM. So, we had from Tuesday night- Saturday night to do, basically whatever we could imagine! Trust me, we imagined some pretty incredible things.

I went to work for a couple of hours on Wed morning early. Then we decided to go play with Shawn and Aimee. We ate at McAllisters... I love the Muffuletta!

We then went to several shops before stopping at Dunkin Donuts... America really does run on dunkin! Then we had to leave Shawn and Aimee so they could go pick up Aimee's parents for the weekend. We met up with them again later that night at the Open Door Baptist Church, Pastor Matt Jarrell

for their midweek service. We finished the evening with the 2nd annual Fiesta nacho night on Thanksgiving Eve. We started this last year with Tasha and her kids. We sure missed them and wished they could have been with us.

The next morning we relaxed, had a nice fire, good breakfast before heading over to Shawn and Aimee's once again to get the wonderful Cheesecake that she made for us, just to find that her mom had brought along all kinds of delectable Philippino food in her luggage. She made Lumpia and Pansit - Thanksgiving traditions... At least I think the pilgrims brought that with them back in 1621.

Then we headed over to my parents house in Rockwall. My sister and her family (husband and two girls) were already there. We delighted in a plethora of festive treats including my dads famous Stuffed Mushrooms, cheeseballs and meat with crackers, veggies, those weird, yet delicious egg things among many other items. Next we feasted on the multitude of Thanksgiving foods. There was no lacking and nothing missing. We ate and ate until we couldn't eat anymore... then we ate just a little more.

A quick wagon ride for the girls/ walk for my dad and I was just what was needed to get ready for the desert session. I had ate last one piece of every desert that was available along with a cup of Danish Uncle coffee. Perfect ending.

My next post will have pictures that my sister took that night...

My wonderful wife decided that she wanted to go shopping on Black Friday. What a treat! If we were going to go shopping, we were going to "Go Big or Go Home" (If I only would have known)

We went to the Allen Premium Outlets at midnight! We got there at about 11:45 and didn't find a spot to park until 12:15ish - and the place I found was in the grassy hill next to the dumpster. We were there for a couple hours until we finally retreated to the Waffle House nearby for a little pick me up at about 3:30ish if my memory serves me right (it was a long night). We returned to Mesquite and fell asleep for a little while until Steph got up to get a quick door buster somewhere and then back to bed. I got up about 8:00 to get some presents for Stephanie from the Galleria! Got some great deals

Around lunch time we both got back home and started digging out Christmas stuff. We decided to run to Home Depot to get a Christmas Tree.

It is about 7.5 feet and was only about $25! We brought it home and started decorating. The rest of the day was spent in decorating the tree, house and putting lights up outside. What a treat! I do however love listening to Christmas Music and since it was after Thanksgiving we were now able to do so.

We got busy the next morning getting stuff done since we had a long day ahead of us. We went back to the galleria mall in Dallas so I could get my free shave from The Art of Shaving

(Christmas present last year from my mom, thanks again mom, it was awesome!) It took the guy about 45 min and I had the best shave of my life. After that, we went to Erin/Jeramy's house to watch the Utah/School Down South (BYU - I really hate putting those three letters together in my blog, but most of you won't know what I'm talking about otherwise).

We unfortunately watched the UofU lose, but we did learn one thing, Kyle Whittingham needs to get fired!

The next day we went to Church, then to lunch at the Flying Fish and then I left Steph with my parents so I could run up to a store to get their Sunday "Black Friday" sale. It was the most awesome gift! It cost me only $19.99 when the original price was over $80! I then spent the rest of the night wrapping presents for Stephanie so should wouldn't find them and discover my hopefully great ideas! Then I finished the night (after evening services) with some leftover thanksgiving sandwiches... the most wonderful food of the year! And, now, here I am again, typing my blog on a monday morning, thinking about getting to this big stack of paperwork I have in front of me, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Happy Monday!

Date Night Camp Out

2009-10-15T18:01:00.002-05:00

We recently decided that a date night was in order. I decided it needed a little twist. This is our story:

I had my mom take Steph out shopping one afternoon while I was at work. I however, had other plans. A soon as she was out of the house, I came home to set up the "campsite" in our front room. I moved all of the furniture out of our living room, and arranged a small pup tent in the corner along with some of my mom's Christmas trees and the topiaries from our wedding for a make shift forrest. I had to through in a couple of rubber spiders for effect. We also had our fireplace in the other corner, so we had everything we needed. One might ask, "Why didn't you just go 'real' camping?" The answer is very simple, my California girl wife doesn't like the "great outdoors" therefore, I brought the great outdoors... indoors! Hope you enjoy the photos...

Here is a photo of our campfire.... we did everything on this fire... we even cooked dinner on it.

I dug out all of my old camping equipment and we used as much of it as we could.

Here is my outdoor wife. We had to change her outfit before taking the picture.... She needed the "camping look" at least. (notice the nice boots?)

Here is a picture of the tent/camping chairs around the fire and the make shift forrest.

The camping backpack with all the things she would need for the night and the tent. It was really nice that the trees had lights already on them.

Here is the worlds worst backpackers food... We got cajun chicken and it was terrible! To say the least.

We decided after the first few bites of this stuff to switch to something a little more "taste-bud" friendly. So, we made:

Hot Dogs! Yep, we still cooked them on over the fire and warmed the buns with a toaster rack.

All in all, it was an amazing night, however, about halfway through the night, that air mattress just wasn't working out... We were so tempted to go back to our own bed, but we made it all night.

In closing some words of wisdom for men who may follow up with this idea... Do not try this the day your wife finishes cleaning the house... It was a disaster! :)

Cowboy Boots, Giant Tubs and The Gaylord Texan!

2009-09-28T14:31:00.004-05:00

Again, way too long since our last post. Here is a little catch up with our lives recently...

These boots officially have nothing to do with anything, but we saw them while walking around at a market and I had to take a quick photo since Texans love boots and they like to make a statement with them. Thought all my California friends would like these.

We were able to go to National Youth Workers Conference (NYWC) in Hot Springs, AR at Bro. Capaci's place this past month. The Theme was "Are You Thirsty?" It was a great meeting with Bro. Reno Likins, Bro. Jack Schaap and of course Bro. Eric Capaci.

It was great to have some time to play with the Fredericks. Their kids have really grown up since they left North Valley. It was incredibly fun to be with their family for the couple of days and see how they work together. My personal favorite was to wake up early and go to their family devotions after breakfast. Bro. Fred is a piece of work, but the thoughts he pulled from Scripture were amazing.

We had a little free time one of the mornings so Steph and I decided to visit some of the "hot springs" here in the area. While we didn't go in the tubs/springs, we went in an old museum type bath house, much like a modern day spa. Here is a picture of the shower systems in one of the rooms.

Here is one of the tubs they would fill with water from the springs...

And yes, this is a picture of the large nogin of Tommy.... I was in one of Bro. Fred's classes on youth work and he came and sat down in front of me. I was shocked to see him as I forgot he was attending school here... He hasn't changed at all.

Steph and I also shared our anniversary of our first date this past week. We decided to go out to BJ's Pizzeria and get a Pizzookie (pictured below) just like we did on our first date.

Manna!!!

The last portion of our recent happenings is when Austin, a young man in our church took us to his work... THE GAYLORD TEXAN! He is a sous chief for the pastry kitchen. He took us on the behind the scenes tour of the hotel, kitchens, dining areas, and so much more. This place is awesome. It is so big, I had to take a few pictures of the quantities they had (everything's bigger in Texas)

Here is a small section of their plates...

other "small" sections of items...

And, my post would not be complete until I found an item that is customized for the great state of Texas.... These people sure enjoy their state. This was my personal favorite part of the tour... the behind the scenes golf cart that they fabricated for this hotel.

Orchestra, Food and Fun

2009-09-09T16:02:00.002-05:00

So, I feel like I need post today being that it is 09-09-09 and I want to remember this joyous date. Here is what we have been up to recently. Enjoy.

We were able to go to the Dallas Symphony recently (Thank you Groupon.com - greatest thing to happen since sliced bread, visit it if you live in a major city) for a discounted price. We had excellent seats and for only a fraction of the price. Here is the view we had...After we finished listening to the wonderful songs by the orchestra, we just weren't quite ready for bed, so we had to stop at Yogi-licious in Dallas (The second greatest thing since sliced bread) and got some frozen yogurt.
A week or so later, I had to get a little "guy time" in so I went fishing with my dad and Warren Whittall (International Baptist Missions Director) on Lake Ray Hubbard. Here is my trophy catfish, well, at least the biggest I've ever caught.
Finally, one night not long ago, we decided that we weren't going to order pizza, but wanted to have a little more fun than that, so we made our own pizza. What a time we had. My wife is literally the best pizza maker on the planet. This was the best flavor I have ever experienced. (She is also the best omelet cooker in the whole universe, but that is another day, another blog post.)
Our next post will be all about our fall decor, so don't miss it, there will be pictures of all the deals we have found and all the "cute" stuff we have purchased. It's going to be great.

Dallas Date Day 8/13

2009-08-21T09:51:00.002-05:00

We had a great time last week on our Dallas Date Day. We visited some very interesting and different places. Here is a few photos of our travels throughout the day.
This is the First Baptist Church of Dallas. Actually this is a side entrance to the new building. This is the church that Criswell pastored so many years ago. It is huge now. They have two "Traditional" service and one "Contemporary" service. It was very interesting to see the changes over the years to people, buildings and philosophies of this place.
Here is a picture of Dr. Criswell that was pictured on the wall of pastors of the church over the years.
We also visited the Dallas Arboretum. They had all kinds of exotic flowers, waterfalls, trees, shrubs and etc. scattered throughout the property.
This was the long walkway that lead to the fountains. We abstained from this activity, but it was really beautiful.
We saw many pretty flowers and the best part was it was only $1 that week. (outside of parking... $5!) We had a great time together and are starting to love certain parts of Dallas.

Adult Status...

2009-08-05T10:08:00.002-05:00

We had a rather exciting weekend that actually started a day early this past week. I was able to take friday off due to the excessive amount of hours that were put in during VBS (fbcomteens.blogspot.com for the story) so Steph and I decided to visit The Shops at Willowbend Mall (since Dallas has more shopping per capita than any other US city). We looked at Mac's... iMac's to be more specific at the Apple store, perused the Brooks Brothers and a multitude of other things. We then went home and enjoyed dinner. The next morning we spent out in our "Neck of the Woods" with a plethora of gift cards and exchanges. We bought the Whisper Close 3000 - best toilet seat in the world, towels, hung pictures (printed off pictures for the mass of frames with no pics in them) and had a time doing it.

So far this week, I have worked on my Jeep (differential gasket and changing oil), broke my lawn mower and now my Jeep wouldn't start this morning... All part of "being a grown-up... Who ever said that was fun - lied!

God is good and Steph and I were able to see one saved last night, 3 committed to Baptism and a family is going to join on Sunday. What a night out together.

Our life the past few weeks - Hectic!

2009-07-16T11:32:00.006-05:00

My life has been so ridiculously crazy the past few weeks, that I didn't have time to blog, barely had time to breath, but now I am back on the "blogging bandwagon". Here are a few pictures describing what i've gone through...

I have been in so many states of this country just during the summer time. Let's recap, I started in Dallas, TX (where we live), then I went to Alicia Nijoka's Mann's wedding in Baton Rouge, LA. The day after the wedding, we decided to go visit New Orleans, LA (I know, same state, but about an hour away) and then back to Texas. The next week we flew from DFW to San Jose, CA. We had a wonderful time at Shawn and Aimee's wedding. It really was a beautiful wedding and gorgeous reception. We took our flight home, which had a layover in Orange County (John Wayne) airport in So. Cal... delayed. But finally returned home again. Somewhere in there I went to Bob Gray II's Youth Convention in Longview, TX (again, I know, still TX, but this is one large state). We were back for some time before heading off to youth camp in Arkansas (Triple S Ranch). Just before we were leaving for Camp I got news that my grandma, Virgina "Ginny" Elizabeth Bird Eskelsen passed away on July 3rd. So, I had to leave camp and fly from Little Rock, AR to Perry, UT. Delta had a funny way of taking me from Little Rock to Memphis, TN and then on to Salt Lake City. There are some pictures below from the wedding with a little info on who and what it is of. After a full day of flying (cancelled both flights, somehow still made it halfway through the viewing... after getting pulled over in Seary, AR in the church van... no ticket :) I then went from SLC to Atlanta, GA and on to Little Rock (The red eye... both flights delayed) I finally made it back to camp approx 48 hours after departure. It was one crazy week. We only had one flat tire on the way to camp and only two teens puke on the way back... all in all, it was a whirlwind month for us. Here are some pictures from all these stories:

Ok, so technically this isn't from any of my travels, just the Bass Pro Shop in Garland, TX. I wore this shirt last week and had 3 positive comments about it. Apparently Texans still agree!

We went to Winger's in Brigham, UT the night of the funeral for my grandma. My dad and my cousin, Andrew enjoyed "sticky fingers" and Asphalt Pie. I love this restaurant.

A sign at Wingers. It really is the best Chicken in the world.

A picture I took to show my wife the delicious food I was enjoying in Utah after the funeral while she was "suffering for Jesus" eating all that weird camp food. Come to think of it, I don't know if she ever saw it, she never said anything about it. Hope she looks at the blog and gets to see the good food I enjoyed...

Me, Dad, Andrew and Rick at The fancy Maddox restaurant... It has good food in "The Lodge"

Rick and I, me or whatever the proper english wording is there - Don't tell Mrs. Flint I still don't know... I don't think she'll be too happy to know I guessed my way through her English 103 final.

These are the mountains that I miss. They don't look that beautiful in this picture, but they really are incredible. I miss them.

Here we are at suffer, uh, I mean summer camp. It was great. We stopped at Subway on the way back home afterward for a much needed stop and hang out for a few minutes.

Here are the shirts that Mike Weithorn had made up for us. They look really sharp and it was really cool to be the only church wearing a special shirt the last day. I could always tell where my kids (teens, not actual kids yet) were by their bright shirt.

And here was the bus baking in the hot sun while we waited for the tire guy to come fix our flat tire. It was quite a trip and I am really glad that those few weeks of my life are finally over. It was hectic, tiring and great all at the same time. Now it's back to work, back to life and back to normal.

Alisha Becomes a Mann in Baton Rouge

2009-06-22T11:33:00.006-05:00

What a great time we had this past week in Baton Rouge, LA (not in Southern California, but in the real South - which still believes it will rise again). Steph and I had the great privilige to stay at Bro. & Mrs. Barry Nijoka's house and spend time with his son, Jared and wife, Liz. We saw many old friends and had a great time. (Praise God for Community Coffee).

The Nijoka's daughter Alicia married Nathan Mann on June 19, 2009. It was a beautiful ceremony

with an incredible reception. We have so many stories from this trip, but perhaps the best part for us was spending time with Jared and Liz. We were able to go to New Orleans

the day after the wedding and eat some Beignet's and drink a couple Cafe Au Lait's

the famous Cafe Du Monde. What a great time we had.

This just in - More honeymoon pics from Italy

2009-05-14T15:23:00.006-05:00

We have had a lot of people say they want to see more of our honeymoon pictures from Italy. Today may just be your lucky day since my good friends Mike and Bree got us some of the pictures they took with their camera. The mail system from Italy to Texas must be slow. :) Hope you enjoy.

Mike and I found a playground not far from the apartment we stayed at in Rome. We had to stop and let our inner-children out.

Here Steph and I are throwing a coin into the Trevi fountain. It is key to throw the coin from your right hand over your left shoulder. According to legend, doing so will will ensure that the spirits of Rome will bring you back again.

Kissing at the Trevi fountain!

This is Palentino Hill. You can see the Roman Forum in the background.

Here is the place where Peter and Paul were imprisoned in Rome. The upside-down cross is a symbol of Peter's crucifixion and off to the left of here is the chord in the wall where Peter would have been chained.

Another shot of Palentino Hill. This is ancient Rome, the Rome that Peter and Paul would have known. It was so weird walking around looking at things that these men would have seen.

Just outside the Colosseo (Colosseum) we were "engaged" by the Roman gladiators. They wanted us to pay them 5 Euro (nearly $8) just to take a picture! With a little bit of prodding and starting to walk away, we only paid 3 Euro. It was a lot of fun. They asked if they could keep Steph and Bree...

The Colosseo... "My Favorite Part of Rome"... There was so much history that happened within this awesome monument. I love listening to the stories, learning the mechanics and figuring out the engineering of this place.

As we sat at the small restaurant just above the Colosseo in the loft with windows looking out over not only this great monument, but all of Palentino hill Mike and I couldn't resist the opportunity to make a "Michealangelo" picture...

Dinner that night with the Ivanovs at a little place we found down a side street.

The Colosseo in the background with the Ark of Victory. I forget the exact name, but it is really beautiful.

Here are the infamous Mike and Bree Ivanov in the Caracalla Baths. I watched a History Channel thing on this part of history and it would have been more than words could describe when it was built. It was more than feet could handle for us old tourists that day however. We loved this area.

Here are the frugal newlyweds saving a few dollars only getting one audio guide and trying to both listen in on the history of the Caracalla Baths.

This is inside the Vaticani (Vatican) more specifically St. Peter's Basilica. This is a list of all the Pope's and the year in which they pass away. I never realized there were so many.

Another shot inside St. Peter's.

Here is one of the dead Pope's... I don't know which one he is, but I guess they mummified him.

Inside a shot of the actual Vatican City. The men in the crazy colors are the Pope's Royal guards.

This is out in the St. Peter's Square with the Basilica to the right of the photo. It is a huge square and very beautiful.

Mike and Bree in St. Peter's Square.

The gang with St. Peter's Basilica behind us. What a great day spent with my Russian friend and his wife.

Our Home...

2009-04-29T13:14:00.004-05:00

So, I understand that these pictures are in no particular order, but I hope that you enjoy seeing "our new life" here in Texas. As promised, maybe late, but as promised, here are some pictures of our house.

This is the side of our house. It is technically the backyard because our backyard wraps around the side of our house and that gate on the left leads to the front yard. The windows (starting at the largest window to the left) is our Master Bedroom, then the office has the next two windows and finally the spare bedroom is the last window near the gate.
This is the front of our house. It was taken a while ago as you can tell from the sign in the front, but our grass is now greener and the bushes are overgrowing. :) That's my project for tomorrow evening.
This is one of our bar stools that you will see where they are in a picture later on. We got these at a great price at JC Penny.
This is our dining room table and breakfast nook area. Another steal of a deal from Garden Ridge. You may remember those tree things from the wedding up at the front. They make nice additions to the house. Look for another set in these pictures....
Here is half of our kitchen. We had to pick up some new appliances from Lowe's due to some rather "worn out" items that came with the house. it will look great once I tile the backsplash and redo the countertops (a job for this summer sometime)
Here is our fridge. You can see my finger prints on the freezer as I was trying to get to the food rather quickly one day. I'll make sure to clean that off soon. Don't tell my wife. :) We picked this fridge up at IKEA at 50% off.
Here is our oven and toaster oven... I love that little thing... It can do literally everything!
A dark picture of our front room. We have a beautiful Bay window (I think that's what it's called) We plan on putting a chair and table in this area, but well... we're newlyweds, so when the money comes, the chair comes. No problem though... I find this is the best area to play Wii sports because I can't fall and break anything or hurt anyone. I really "get into it".
A nice picture of our washer/dryer and junk above it. Mrs. E did a great job organizing this. She is so awesome. I love my wife. (tell her about that part)
This is the spare bathroom. We really haven't done much in here yet since it rarely gets used (hurry and come visit us and this lovely room could be yours!) I want to thank Bed Bath and Beyond for their great price on shower curtains and whoever it was that gave us Bed Bath and Beyond gift cards for our wedding. Thank you!
Here is another picture of our breakfast nook. the picture in the background is St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. That is where we went on our honeymoon. Before we got married, I found this picture and had to buy it. It was hanging here when we got back and she saw it for the first time when we got back from our honeymoon.
This was another surprise to Steph when she finally got to her new home. I created these stretched canvass pictures on my Mac, printed them and framed them for her. If you can't read it, it is our vows. They were hanging on the wall when we got home too. She was very surprised!
Welcome to our front room. That green chair in the middle of the pic is so amazingly comfortable.
Here is a pic from the couch. We were blessed with this TV and other equipment. Many a nights of Wii have been played on this TV.
Finally, our fireplace. To position it in your head, to the left of this is the bay window and to the right of this is the TV.

Well, now you have been on part 1 tour of our house. Steph wouldn't let me take more pics until the other rooms were cleaned and I had to go to work, so I will put the rest of the rooms on next time. Hope you enjoyed your trip to our house, come visit again soon.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-04-27T10:55:00.003-05:00

Things have been rather hectic lately around here. I am preparing to get the teens to Teen Camp at Triple-S camp this year, getting Evangelist Randy Hogue (motovational speaker) into the public schools in the area (having little luck) and trying to keep up the normal duties of youth pastor, IT dude and of course "World's Greatest Husband". I didn't quite understand what Pastor Trieber was always talking about when he said, "You will wear more hats in the ministry than you knew where available", but I am learning quickly. I'm also trying to get my graduation announcements out today as well. I think I'm running a little late, but it's the thought that counts.

We had the opportunity to go to Medieval Times this past week. The best part was, we only paid $4 in a tip to our waiter guy (thats all we had to our name last week) because it was a youth worker appreciation dinner. We had a great time. We then got a lot of things finished on saturday such as taking back the rest of the wedding gifts that we got double of (everything but a toaster to Macy's... They won't take it back unless we

get some more paperwork on it or something) and then we had a nice dinner - China City delivers... They messed our order up really bad...

NO FORTUNE COOKIES!!! and only half the order of egg roles... It was really good, but I don't know if we'll order delivery from them any more. Sunday was a great day in God's house. For more info on FBCoM Teen Church visit fbcomteen.blogspot.com.

am so excited about going to back to GSBC for graduation in a couple weeks. I really miss that place and I know that Steph does too. It will be good to see friends and family again.

Also, we are now on twitter. To follow me, my name is ceskelsen. Hope to see you on there soon. (twitter.com)

Married life

2009-04-08T09:19:00.003-05:00

I think that married life is awesome. It is really nothing like I thought it would be though. I thought it would be like dating, you just go out every night to some nice restaurant, do some activity and then go home, climb in bed kiss goodnight and start all over the next morning. I'm not complaining at all, I'm loving married life, but it is nothing like that.

We still have yet to go on an official date since we've been married. There has been so little time since we've been back to get any time to go out... let alone money. Welcome to the ministry huh? We have finally set aside friday night for our first date night this week. We are going to go "The Cotton Patch". It is cheap, healthy and a really fun atmosphere.

The funniest part about married life to me is how exciting some things are when in real life, it sounds stupid, but so that you understand what I'm talking about I'll tell you a little story. We are trying to get as much as we can on as little as possible, so we have had to cut a few corners one of which being the grocery department. We have been going to the Walmart Supercenter near our house and getting food for a killing. It isn't the best, but it is cheap and it is keeping us alive. We got some coupons in the mail for a Tom Thumb (owned by Safeway) and decided to go there for groceries this past weekend. We were both so excited about going to "a real grocery store" for a change. They had so many options and it was so clean. We couldn't stop ranting and raving about how incredible a real grocery store is.

Well, married life is great and I love the adventures. I recommend to all. Don't forget about the grocery stores... They're great!

The Honeymoon

2009-03-31T10:04:00.003-05:00

This is the train that we took from Venice to Rome. It was the Eurostar Italia and was high speed. It took us only 5 hours to get to Roma. Not too shabby of a ride, nothing like American trains.

Pistachio Gelato... The best thing about Italy. This specific gelato was found by our hotel in Venice. We found the best gelato in Italy near the Vatican in Rome however.

This was the balcony of the apartment that we stayed at in Rome. It was incredible! If you look at the top of the photo a little to the right you can see a dome... That is the dome of St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican City. We were on the top floor of the apartment building and had the most incredible apartment ever! Massimo Zoli is the best. If you ever go to Roma, make sure to get his name and number for me. It will be an unforgetful experience.

"Notice the yellow tables?" This picture will make a lot more sense once you visit our house. Before I left for wedding/honeymoon/cross country drive, I purchased a huge picture of Venice that is black and white except for the yellow tables and chairs. I hung it in our house for my new bride (and a Colosseo picture as well from Roma) and ensured that we sat in the yellow tables and chairs and annoyed her with saying, "Remember the yellow chairs that we're sitting in now ok?" So, here is quite possible one of the greatest cappachino's I've ever tasted and the view was breathtaking with gondolas, Basilica's, Canals and Doge's Palace all around us. Couldn't have been better...

I don't really remember where this pictures was taken, but I'm thinking it was on an airplane ride. We spent a lot of time on airplanes (direct flight from San Fransisco, CA to Amsterdam, Netherlands with service to Venice and then from Rome the same trip from Amsterdam back to SFO) It was so much fun though.

We are now back from our honeymoon and back at work. Our house is coming together as well (I will be posting some pictures of our house next week. Still waiting for a few furniture items that we'll hopefully pick up this week.

Our honeymoon was awesome. Italy was beautiful and the food was life changing as always. I really miss the cappuccino's. There really is nothing like the cappuccinos in St. Marco's square in Venice, Italy. It was a bit cold in Venice, but Rome was perfect. We also met up with my friend Mike and his wife Bree while there. It was so much fun. I only have pictures from my iPhone, but I'll get the rest from Steph's camera later this week and post more pictures.

Engagement Photos

2009-02-20T10:14:00.005-06:00

After discussing with a good friend that I have none of our engagement photos available, I decided it would be a good idea to post a few. We had a great time taking photos at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Our photographer is really good and he made it very enjoyable. Hope you enjoy them.

Home Sweet Home

2009-02-06T11:15:00.001-06:00

So, it's official, I now own a house (Ok, technically not till next friday, but I will own a house very soon). It is in Mesquite Texas. I will live about 20 minutes or less from Downtown Dallas (depending on traffic) which I am very excited about since I love the big cities. That is actually one reason I didn't want to leave California was the big cities. I know if I had gone back to Utah, SLC was as big as it gets and while I love Salt Lake, it just doesn't have that "big city" feel. Anyway, back to my house, It is a beautiful little 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 car garage home. I know, I know, I was more interested in having a pool than a bathroom, but I couldn't find a good house with a pool in a nice neighborhood. Maybe next time (Plus my parents live like 15 min away and they have a pool, so I'll be ok. My house is just a little 1350 sq ft home with vaulted ceilings, different than the average boring floorplan and a master bedroom closet that is bigger than most bedrooms in California homes. Here are a couple pics of my new place.

The outside - The standard "Texas" look - Brick with aluminum siding

The breakfast nook with door to the garage

The front room window next to the fireplace

The Master Bedroom

The living room

Catching up with 2009

2009-01-26T09:46:00.001-06:00

So much has happened so far this year. I started the new year in Dallas, TX, but did not stay here long. I left on the January 1, 2009 to New Orleans, LA. No, I didn't go for Bourbon Street (However there is a wonderful Philly Cheese Steak Shop just off it). We received three tickets to the Sugar Bowl (Alabama vs Utah) in the Super Dome. What an incredible time! Utah really spanked those little Bama boys. The Utes really showed up... again.

After this wonderful game I returned home to Santa Clara, CA where I took care of some last minute things and moved out of the dorms. Next I had the great privilege to drive across this great country I call my home. I drove from Santa Clara, CA to Dallas, TX in two days. Really it was just over one day since I drove 1,200 miles all in one day. Then followed up with the rest the second morning. I was able to stay in TX for about 36 hours then continued my drive into Baton Rouge, LA for Nathan Allan's wedding. That will be the next portion of this blog, but some may still be wondering why I moved to Texas (The great state of Texas that is)... I have recently accepted a job as a youth pastor at the First Baptist Church of Meadowview in Mesquite, TX. More on this to follow

Back to Nathan's wedding. Here is the greatest wedding story of all. The morning of the wedding, Nathan, the groom decided he needed a shower before his wedding at 1:00 (It was currently 9:00) He went in the bathroom at the hotel (some of the other groomsman were there too, myself being one of them). After only being there for approximately 2:00 minutes we heard a "THUD". I said, "Kyle, do you think he's ok?" He joked and said it was

probably just the shampoo bottle or something, but I decided to just check on Nathan. I cracked the door and said, "You ok, bro?" I didn't hear any words, but I did hear some groaning. I opened the door a little more and saw him drooped over the side of the tub and a pool of blood under him. I called for his brother (thinking he had a bloody nose) and his brother went in there for a minute. He then came out and told me to get dressed because I had to take him to the hospital. He came walking out a minute later with a huge gash in his forehead. He had slipped

(yes Nathan, I still make fun of people who slip in the shower) and hit his head on the toilet and he put a 1.5 inch gash in his head. While I was walking him out to the truck, the guys called me back (thinking they were going to give me his shoes, since he was walking in the parking lot in his socks) and this is what Kyle said, "Hey, here is my HD camera. Make sure to get some good footage!" I put him in my truck, flew through red lights, sped on the freeway and finally slammed on the brakes just outside the emergency room. I told the people to hurry and stitch him up, it was his wedding day and we were still 2 hours from where the wedding was going to happen. They stitched him up (in the same room as a woman who so

unded as if she was going to die at any moment) and we were out of there, but keep in mind the wedding was in 2.5 hours and we still have yet to take showers. They guys had already left the hotel to go to the wedding site so we just went straight there. It was incredible! No shower on the day of your wedding! Oh boy! 5 stitches the day of your wedding? That day was just nuts. I then left after the wedding for the long drive back from Baton Rouge area to the Dallas area.

After that fiasco, Stephanie flew out to visit me for my birthday (January 23... put it in your phone and send me a gift next year). While she was here, we went house hunting, put an offer on a house in Forney, TX and we are currently waiting to hear back about that. It is super exciting.

The New Year with the "NEW" Life

2009-01-01T01:22:00.001-06:00

There will be a lot of new things happening in the year 2009. The more I think about it, this year hold more "NEW's" for me than possibly any other year. This year I embark on grown-up life. I am now a college graduate. I will be starting my first job as Youth Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Meadowview in Mesquite Texas (Trieber Permitting), getting married March 6th, purchasing my first home and spending my first year of holidays with a wife. There are more "firsts" as well, but I won't bore with the details. I am very excited with what the new year holds. I'm hoping to post several pictures from the holidays in the next few days, but I will wait until I have some pictures from the Utah/Alabama game (Yes, I have aquired several tickets and will be traveling to the Sugar Bowl with my dad and Jeramy again this season). I did however give you a picture of this delectable little Danish Breakfast treat. These little guys were the best thing on my plate that blessed Christmas morning.

The Hunt

2008-12-03T20:30:00.001-06:00

Well, the job hunt is on. I really have no idea what to do in this big bad world in which we live, but I am being thrust into it at a rather rapid rate. I graduate from college next friday, have no job and have no idea what the future holds. It's rather exciting. I have been looking for work, planning a wedding, keeping up with the last few weeks of school and trying to find a few minutes here and there to sleep when possible. Life is good. We also got our engagement pictures recently and there turned out pretty good. We had so much fun. I'm currently uploading this post from Peet's, one of my favorite places in the world, but real life calls (and I probably shouldn't have spent money on coffee when I don't have a job, but I'm a sucker for the heavenly black substance... or the white chocolate mocha to be more specific)

"The Show Must Go On"

2008-11-21T18:34:00.001-06:00

It is now official, today is my last day at AMTSJ. It has been an interesting few months. I had a great time and met a lot of really great people, but it is now time to move on. Some of my favorite memories happened at "It's a Grind" coffee shop. Many great conversations with really interesting and incredible people.

I started only a short time ago working under the great T. Douglas. I learned so much in the time spent working under him. I got to visit a lot of really cool places, participate in "big people" meetings and work with some of the best printers in the world (Pisani).

Although it is now at the end, it will not be soon forgotten. The lessons learned will last me a lifetime. It is truly a bittersweet time for me as I close this portion of my senior year and pursue new projects.

The End is in Sight

2008-11-19T17:23:00.001-06:00

With only 23 more days until I leave the great North Valley Baptist Church and Golden State Baptist College, the world is starting to look a bit bigger than it has in more recent years. Prior to this year, the world has been an interesting exciting adventure, but is taking on a different role. In the days of yesteryear as a small child everything seemed so big, but an overall opinion was "It's a small world after all!" The world can sometimes be a little intimidating and downright scary. I'm about to finish college, become a big boy, get a real job, house payment, insurance, cell phones, taxes, taxes, taxes and many other things (a wife being one of the greatest things on this planet!). It can be intimidating however. Choices are never easy. Some people let you down, others really surprise you and still others just sit by like bumps on a log. Right when you think you know everything, something/someone reminds you that in the grand scheme of things, you know nothing. Let it just be known to all right now, "I KNOW NOTHING!"

People are very interesting. They all have so many different views. I do not understand one particular thing however. People all "believe" something. That is a fact. They do not know why they believe it. For some reason saying "I believe ________" makes it ok, but what makes it ok? Who says that "All roads lead to Rome?" Where does it say that when people do bad things there is no consequence. The truth of the matter is this:

1. All Roads do not lead to Rome (Since I drive on De La Cruz Blvd everyday from one end to the other and still have not seen the Trevi Fountain on my way to work)

2. There are always consequences for all of our actions. (Good and Bad)

This means that we, as humans, can't look at ourselves or our knowledge for any answers, but most go Higher. Someone knows more than us and He has the answers. Please find (big old fashioned word that is rarely used any more) "Doctrine" for what you believe rather than just telling me what you believe. Tell me why you believe it and Who says we should believe it. Just because I think that cars should run without using gasoline doesn't make it a reality.

I have talked with several people over the past few weeks and this has been a general theme. I am not wanting anyone to be offended by this post, but to get people to think.

This post started out to explain the big bad world that is rapidly approaching and the choices involved within. I sure am excited, scared, happy and sad all at the same time every moment I am awake. Lots of decisions that will not only affect me, but many of the people around me, including my future bride and love of my life, Stephanie. I can't trust myself for these decisions because as previously stated, I know nothing, therefore, God's Word will have to guide me every step of the way.

The Meeting

2008-11-14T19:04:00.001-06:00

So, today is the day... perhaps that will live an infamy. Ok, so maybe that's a little dramatic, but it is a big day. Today Stephanie and I will go to dinner with her parents and my parents for the first time. Yes, it is the big "parental units" first meeting. If I may quote a good friend I would say, "It feels like my insides want to come outside!" It's ok, I'm sure everything will be fine, but it is a very nerve racking thing. Below are pictures of my parents and her parents.

Here is a picture that was taken of Stephanie and I at Jared and Liz's wedding. It turned out pretty good. Duh, I'm in it... Oh ya, and Stephanie too. :) Actually it was Stephen Troell who took the picture. He is the world's greatest photographer. Literally!

The America of the Past in the Future?

2008-11-04T16:52:00.001-06:00

Today is a pivotal day in the history of not only the greatest country on the globe, but it will also have a unprecedented impact on the world. Who will win the 2008 Presidential election? Obama or McCain? To be completely honest, I am not a fan of either candidate, but I did vote today. It is my duty to do all I can for this country.

While this is a big deal, I believe that the bigger issue is sitting on the plates of the California public. Proposition 8. This is the balance of where America will go in the future. For those who vote "NO" on Prop 8 are voting that a man and a man or a woman and a woman can be married. For those people who vote "YES" on Prop 8 they are voting to protect the marriage of a man and a woman. This will have a drastic effect on America if it gets voted down. This will especially burden the churches. It will make it a hate crime to teach that sodomy is a sin. This has the potential to put Pastors in jail for teaching God's Word. This, then is going against our First Amendment of the United States of America which promises us the freedom of speech and practice of religion.

It is a scary day in which we live that our country is persecuting it's own people for religious freedoms and moving towards a socialistic government. It is not the governments job to give things to the people, nor to take from the rich and give to the poor. It is the governments job to protect the rights of the people. If a man doesn't work, neither should he eat.

The World's Most Awkward Kiss... Literally

2008-08-01T22:45:00.001-05:00

It is now official, Jared and Liz had the worlds most awkward kiss ever on the planet today at their wedding in Toledo, OH. They went in for the kill and their heads bounced off each other like a raquetball bouncing off a wall. It was so bad, that Jared's best man/also his dad said, "uh, kids, try that again" It was only 1/3 of a second the second time and it was twice as long as the first one. hehe, It was so incredibly sad that I couldn't help but laugh almost on the ground. Props to the couple for keeping it fundamental! Here is a picture of the happy couple.

The Date is Set

2008-07-28T14:15:00.001-05:00

March 6, 2009 will be the first day of the rest of my life. We finally have a date, a place for the ceremony and everything is going to work out just great! (That's because I'm the man and don't have to stress about planning like Stephanie does). The ceremony will be held at The North Valley Baptist Church located at 3530 De La Cruz Blvd. Santa Clara, CA. There will be a reception following (location TBD). It is so exciting to start planning things like this. It can definitely be stressful at times, but it really is a lot of fun. Just thought you might like the quick update.

We're engaged!!

2008-07-21T12:21:00.001-05:00

So, it is now official... I am off the market for good. (I know, I know, girls all over the planet are sighing of sadness) Ha, I wish. I got engaged a few weeks ago on July 10, 2008. I flew to California with the ring and a puzzle in hand. The puzzle was a picture of me with a sign in my hand reading, "Will You Marry Me?" I hid the puzzle at a park nearby and had some of her friends "take her out to dinner" for her birthday, but forgot that they had to stop by the park to pick up their daughters sand toys. Stephanie (my fiancé's name) said she would help and found the toys. When she picked them up she found the puzzle under them. She called me and put the puzzle together then I came walking around the corner with the ring in hand. It was perfect because it was a complete shock to her. I don't have any pictures from that night yet, but here are several pictures of us before then.

Choices

2008-06-28T23:59:00.001-05:00

Sometimes it seems that growing up isn't all it was once cracked up to be. I used to dream of the days when I would wake up really early, get some of that yucky, no sugar cereal and hit the road to the job of my dreams. Ah, what a life! I was sure that life would be great. Then, it hit me. Choices. Decisions. They really aren't that great. In fact, they can be really hard. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being able to make these incredible, mature thoughts and doing it all on my own, but sometimes life throws you a curve ball. Those are the interesting times in life. The world suddenly changes from this happy-go-lucky place to the cold desolate tundra in which no one will make these hard life altering option for you. Life is one moment a "lemonade stand" and the next a quick marketing scheme to rip every last cent a bit of dignity that you have worked so hard for the past 2 years. It also seems as if the hardest choices in life are the ones that everyone so nicely states, "That is your life and I can't tell you what to do. You have to make that choice for yourself, but don't worry, I'm sure you'll do the right thing." Who says that? How is the next generation supposed to know what to do if the last one doesn't tell them the right and wrong choices? That is why this nation is so discombobulated. It drives me nuts that we are supposed to know what to do, don't know how and then get a talking to when we make the wrong opinion. Choices are no longer fun. They are no longer freeing, but rather enslaving. I want to go back to the days of choosing cocoa-puffs or cookie crisp. What happened to those days? Now I am choosing where I will live, work, who I will marry, associate myself with, where I will spend money and how much I will spend. I don't think I signed up for all this, I just want to go swimming during the summer, not work and save and think. Choices aren't life's greatest invention and every day the choices get harder. The sweet taste of a choice made correctly at the end of the day makes it all worth it. The ability to pillow one's head at night knowing right was victorious is one of the best feelings in the world, especially when it was your choice that made right... right.

Choices

2008-06-28T23:59:00.000-05:00

6th Floor Museum

2008-06-23T12:37:00.001-05:00

So, this weekend, I was able to check out the 6th Floor Museum in the Dallas Book Depository. This is where Lee Harvey Oswald took those three shots at JFK. There was so much history there and was incredible to stand in the same room where Oswald once stood. I also strolled over to the grassy knoll and looked around. The footage that was shown inside the museum was weird. Who knew they had personal video cameras around in the 60s? I sure didn't, I thought those came along later, but I guess I don't know everything. :) Anyway, This is a must see if ever in Dallas.

6th Floor Museum

2008-06-23T12:37:00.000-05:00

Take it easy on me, I'm a first timer...

2008-06-17T15:58:00.001-05:00

So, it's official, this is my first blog. I'm a little nervous that I'm going to get sucked into something that will take the rest of my life to keep up with, but it's pretty exciting at the same time. It also helps that since I'm living in Texas for the summer, I have no friends and no life, I will have plenty of time to blog my life away. (Thank you Ashley Belnap for wasting the rest of my summer). Anyway, hopefully this will help you get to know me more. If that is possible.

Take it easy on me, I'm a first timer...

2008-06-17T15:58:00.000-05:00