Californian Refugee

30 GOING ON 13

2006-08-18T12:01:00.000-05:00

Well it's been a very long time since the blog world has heard anything from me, but today is so special that I can't help but be driven out of my blogging slumber. I must break the silence.

30 years ago on this day a little princess was born into the world. She grew to become a beautiful young woman both inside and out. This princess stole my heart and to this day I can't figure out what I ever did to be as lucky as I am to have her as my wife. She is amazing! I always enjoyed hearing people talk about meeting their spouse for the first time and knowing deep inside that they were going to get married, but I never believed that it would happen that way for me. You may think it's cheesy or corny, but I tell you the truth the moment I set eyes on Natalie I knew I was looking at the one that I would spend the rest of my life with. I love thinking back on the years when we were dating and how incredible it was to fall head over heals in love, but honestly it has only gotten better over time.

There are so many things I could say about my wife, it's hard to know where to start.

She is my best friend, she really is. She makes me laugh, she makes me cry, sometimes she makes me crazy yet, I love to be around her more than anyone else on the face of the earth. She knows the best and the worst about me and she loves me anyway. In fact, I have learned so much about God's unconditional love through the love she has shown to me.

She is an incredible mother. We had a lot of fun together when it was just the two of us, but our lives have never been the same since God blessed us with our two children. I can't imagine what life would be like without Rob and Mel. I look at Rob and think of how incredible it was to see him born. What an amazing work of God. I remember vividly how close I came to losing Natalie and how incredibly thankful I am that the Lord answered my prayers. Now after that experience, when I look at her, I know more than ever before how much she is a gift. When I look at Melanie I see the beauty of her mother shining through her eyes. Already she is a little lady learning to have the same poise and charm that she sees in her mother.

Natalie is a wonderful woman of God. As a pastor I can't begin to tell you how important it is to have a partner in ministry who is supportive and encouraging. If not for my wife I don't know how I would make it through the challenges that accompany ministry. She has a truly compassionate heart, a heart for people. One of the greatest things about being married to Natalie is the opportunity that I have to minister with her, whether it be through song, or teaching, or simply loving on others. Her belief in me has made me the man I am today. She has been by my side every step of the way and she has comforted and encouraged me through many difficult situations. She is an annointed woman of God and many have been touched by her gentle spirit and her genuine love. I could go on and on, but there simply isn't the time or the right words to describe how much she means to me.

Natalie, I love you so much and want you to know how thankful I am for you. On your 30th birthday I hope you realize how much of an impact you have had on so many people already in your lifetime. May you know today and everyday just how much you are loved by your, family, your friends, but most of all by God himself. May He shower you with blessings today.

Happy Birthday Princess!

Guy Weekend

2006-03-03T11:30:00.000-06:00

2 guys, 24 hours, 1440 minutes, 86400 seconds, no girls, what do you get?

GUY WEEKEND!!!

That's right for the next 24 hrs. it's just Rob and I and we are getting ready for the official kickoff of guy weekend. What is guy weekend all about. Food, fun and video games. Rob suggested that since we only have 24 hrs. we should make a list of all the things we want to do as to insure that we don't forget anything. He's pretty efficient. So I present to you the official list of activities for GUY WEEKEND (by the way when you say GUY WEEKEND you have to say it with a low voice and growl a little, we've been practicing that). Alright here we go. The list is as follows:

Go to Cedar Falls Blockbuster and rent video games (Mario Party 6 & Lego Star Wars)with our free coupons.
Go to HyVee for breakfast (We practiced how Rob would order his breakfast - "I'd like a number 10 please, with sausage patties, eggs over hard, and wheat toast. I would also like a glass of orange juice please.")
Go to the Cedar Falls Mall and throw pennies in the fountains.
Get ice cream at Coldstone Creamery.
Stay up late and watch movies.
Eat our favorite pizza (in this case were talking UNO's Chicago style frozen pizza).
Go to the Palace Theatre and see matinee of "Eight Below".

Well there you have it 24 hrs. of fun, food and testosterone. It doesn't get any better than this!

Go Big Or Go Home

2006-02-28T21:40:00.000-06:00

Okay after like a two week hiatus I'm back in the blogging world. Sorry to say that all this time out of play has not increased the flow of good ideas that are worth posting about or you taking the time to read about. However, if you have come to set your expectations low before reading my posts guess what, you won't be disappointed by what's ahead. So here it goes.

What is up with everything going small these days. When did we suddenly awaken to the reality that to be cool and cutting edge we must keep getting smaller and smaller. You look around and everything seems to be following this trend. It's not enough to have the Motorola Razr, but now there's the Sliver (maybe someone will comeback on that with the Splinter). With iPod's you've got the 5g then the Mini, next up the Nano and don't forget the Shuffle. On a recent SNL sketch Steve Jobs was the host and made fun of himself by pretending to introduce the iPod Micro, Pequeno and Invisi. We've got mini oreos, mini m&m's, and pretty much a mini version of everything out there. I think ad guys are running out of ideas, seriously. I mean if I have to start using a magnifying glass to place a call to my mom or eat a handful of snacks something is majorly jacked up.

Now I've gotta hand it to M&M's. They have obviously faced facts and realized that there's only so far you can go with small before you've gotta go BIG!!! That's right, awakened from slumber the ad wizards strike back with the Mega M&M. Whoooooo Baby, what genius. I'm perspiring just thinking about it (which isn't saying a lot since I sweat brushing my teeth).

Now I have yet to consume any of these Mega chocolate morsels, but I'm sure there awesome. If you've had some let me know cause I'm curious as to the packaging. Has the packaging gotten bigger or stayed the same size. Cause if it's stayed the same I'm thinking when you buy a package you must get like 3 M&M's which would really stink no matter how big they come. Who is going to eat just 3 M&M's.

Anyhoo, to wrap up, it appears as if small is out and big is in. Which means bring back the Ghetto Blasters and The Brick phones. It's time to junk that Sony Handicam and dust off the Sony Portapak. BIG IS ... ummmm... well... BIG!

Can You Shred?

2006-02-13T23:19:00.000-06:00

Okay I came across this website and I had to post it. It pays tribute to The Shredi Master and all other fast fingered guitar players. If only I could shred like The Master, but instead I am left playing my air guitar. Which by the way, if you are a fellow air guitar player you should roll over to this site and check out the U.S. Air Guitar Champion on the Today Show.

Ok so back to this website that I stumbled onto. If you are having a boring day or just looking to kill some time go take lessons from Mr. Fastfinger. Before long you'll be shredding with the best of them.

Just one more note, if you really want to learn to shred you need to seek out The Shredi Master or to learn to jam on the keytar you can learn mad skillz from Waverly Rules. However, you might want to wait until after April 1.

Bricks Rule

2006-02-09T22:21:00.000-06:00

In my prior post about my iPod, Bliggity mentioned another obsession of mine and asked me to post about it so here it is my LEGO Star Wars Millenium Falcon.

985 pieces of pure joy and excitement! Those who know me well know that I'm not too handy when it comes to a hammer and some nails, but I do enjoy building things. So if anyone is ever in the market for building a house out of LEGOS (which would be sweet) give me a call cause I'm your man. Mmmm hold on ... Let me rephrase that I'm your man as long as it's LEGOS and as long as the set is for ages 9 and up. Anyway here's my precious Falcon and luckily the perpetrators of the break-in didn't recognize the value of such an item as this and left it on top of my bookshelf.

I also have provided a link to a LEGO movie that I came across that I thought was fun. Hope you enjoy it. One more thing its good to know that we can still enjoy things that we used to love when we were kids, like LEGOS. After all, when we grow into adults all we have to do to preserve our love for things like the BRICK is just buy cars that look like them :)

iPod I miss you!

2006-02-07T19:05:00.000-06:00

Many of you may know that next to my love for God, my wife, and my kids, I have a love and affection for my iPod. Now a few weeks ago the church was broken into and along with pastors laptop the perpetrator made off with my iPod. It has been a few weeks now and I admit I am starting to feel a sense of separation anxiety. Thankfully I still have my library of music, which I was careful to backup, but I still miss my good ole' scroll wheel. I sure hope the guilty party is enjoying my 4000 song library, especially the tracks of my kids singing and the sermons I had uploaded onto it.

Speaking of songs, I enjoyed taking the quiz that Waverly Rules posted that matches your taste in music with a celebrities personal playlist. Not sure why, but mine ended up being closely related to Nicole Kidmans (yikes). Well I thought it would be fun for those reading this to take a few minutes and put together what would be your ultimate playlist of favorite songs and post them for the rest of us to see. A persons playlist says a lot about themselves so think good and hard about it and post your favorite tunes.

Death To Hobo Husband

2006-02-01T22:15:00.000-06:00

Well I'm starting to come around and feel more like myself these days. Natalie wanted me to only work half days this week, but I've been finding it hard to pull myself away that early. Once the prednisone wears off though I start to feel the let down, so I'm going to try to pace myself and get home earlier.

The reason I'm posting this is because on Natalie's blog she had mentioned a couple conversations she had with the kids recently. It's amazing what kind of gems come out of their tiny mouths. It was because of a conversation I had with Rob on Monday morning that I decided it was time for me to get up and start living again. I have had very little contact with the kids over the last week due to the Mono and so I hadn't been involved too much with their daily routine.

Monday I was feeling better, but I promised Natalie I wouldn't go into work but instead would rest another day. Well I decided to help out with getting the kids dressed and ready for the day. I myself had been wearing the same pajama bottoms, hadn't shaved for a week and it had been a few days since I had hit the shower as well. Pretty much I had morphed into Hobo Husband. Well anyway I sit down on the bed to help Rob get dressed and the following conversation transpires.

Rob: Uhh, Dad I don't think I want you to touch me.

Me: Excuse me, what do you mean you don't want me to touch you. I'm helping you get your clothes on.

Rob: Uhh, Dad I don't want you to help me with my clothes.

Me: Why not?

Rob: Because Dad I don't want you to touch me.

Me: Rob your not going to get Mono.

Rob: I know dad I just don't want you to touch me.

Me: Why not?

Rob: Because Dad I don't want to smell like you.

And there it is. Such compelling words from my four year old. "Dad I don't want to smell like you." That was all I needed to hear. There was only one course of action to take. It was time to kill Hobo Husband. So that's what I did. I got up, shaved, showered, put on clean clothes and went back to work. Thank you Robby for being my inspiration, for pulling me out of this sickness funk.

You Can't Waste Love

2006-02-01T14:44:00.000-06:00

SCRIPTURE -

"Watch what God does, and then do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with Him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that."

Ephesians 5:1-2 (The Message)

OBSERVATION -

In a world that seeks to complicate our existence and leaves so many with confusion and frustration Paul instead speaks of a simplistic lifestyle of learning and loving. As God is our father and we are his children, we are challenged to learn from Him and then do what He does.

This illustration makes a lot of sense when I put it into the context of parenthood. My children watch what I do, what I say, how I respond to others and they often times mimic what they see and hear. They do this simply because I am their father and there is an innate desire within them to be like dad. Unfortunately I'm not always pleased with what they see and hear come out of dad and I am often humbled and reminded about the weight of my role. Especially when my four year old corrects me by saying, "Dad, don't say stupid!" The bottom line is children watch and repeat what they often see in their parents and we being God's children are called to do the same with our Heavenly Father.

I like how the love of God is not cautious, but instead is described as being extravagant. What a great visual word. In other passages of scripture God's love is said to be "lavished upon us", or "poured out to all." Extravagant, lavished, poured out, these descriptives tell us that God has held nothing back from us. He has loved us beyond measure. So love is not to be stingy, careful, or cautious. We are to let the love of God that has been poured into us flow out of us and into every person we come in contact with. We are to be channels of God's love, not sewers.

APPLICATION -

In order to learn from God my father I must willingly stop, listen, learn and then respond. So many times my love is full of ulterior motives instead of being purely unconditional. God desires to teach me how to love like Him and how to live "a life of love." Love should be seen in all we do; it should drip off of us like sweet honey, like beautiful fragrant perfume that fills up a room. Love is present in its strongest form not because of what we have done, but because of what He has done for us. Love is present, when He is present. Pure and true love points to the Father, for He is love.

PRAYER -

Lord, I want to learn form you. Father teach me to walk in your footsteps. I want to bear the mark of your identity upon my heart. That people would be able to see the family resemblance, that they would see the image of my Father. Teach me to live a life of love, to be a channel that your love can pour through and into the lives of others. I am your child, I am still learning. I don't know it all and I desperately need you. Help me to slow my pace long enough to sit at your feet and listen, learn, live and love. Teach me today, Father. I love you!

You know you drink too much coffee when...

2006-01-31T20:58:00.000-06:00

Okay I came across this list and thought it so appropriately sums up my obsession with the "bean". So if this resonates with you and coffee flows richly through your blood stream give a shout back and let me know your out there.

You know you drink too much coffee when …

You don’t need a hammer to pound nails.

Your only source of nutrition comes from “sweet and low.”

You don’t sweat, you percolate.

You’ve worn out the handles on your favorite mug.

You’ve built a miniature city out of plastic stirrers.

People get dizzy just watching you.

People can test their batteries in your ears.

When someone asks you,” how are you?”, you say,” good to the last drop.”

Your birthday is a national holiday in brazil.

You’d be willing to spend time in a Turkish prison.

You go to sleep just so you can wake up and smell the coffee.

You speak perfect Arabic without even taking a lesson.

Your thermos is on wheels.

You can outlast the Energizer Bunny.

You don’t even wait for the water to boil anymore.

You think being called a drip is a compliment.

You don’t tan, you roast.

You don’t get mad, you get steamed.

You soak your dentures in coffee overnight.

Your coffee mug is insured by Lloyds of London.

You think CPR stands for “Coffee Provides Resuscitation.”

Juan Valdez named his donkey after you.

You ski uphill.

You speed walk in your sleep.

You answer the door before people knock.

You sleep with your eyes open.

You just completed another sweater and you don’t know how to knit.

You grind your coffee beans in your mouth.

You have to watch videos in fast-forward.

The only time you’re standing still is in an earthquake.

You lick your coffeepot clean.

Your eyes stay open when you sneeze.

The nurse needs a scientific calculator to take your pulse.

Your t-shirt says, “Decaf is the devil’s coffee.”

You can type sixty words a minute with your feet.

All your kids are named “Joe.”

Well Shiver Me Timbers

2006-01-30T22:14:00.000-06:00

Well thanks to Heth and Tommy Boy here's my pirate name for anyone who might be interested. If I was a pirate I definitely would want to have a hook because then I could do really cool tricks on the jungle gym and would have my own built in back scratcher. I would also like having a parrot because then when I say dumb stuff (which has been known to happen time to time) I could just blame it on my stupid parrot.

My pirate name is:

Captain Tom Cash

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

All For One

2006-01-29T22:09:00.000-06:00

Here's another excerpt from my LIFE Journal. I actually have been off a bit this week because of illness and I've missed it. I'm glad to be getting back to into the groove. Truthfully I miss the time with the Lord, there is just no substitution.

SCRIPTURE - "Through the work of the apostles, many God-signs were set up among the people, many wonderful things done. They all met regularly and in remarkable harmony on the Temple porch named after Solomon. But even though people admired them a lot, outsiders were wary about joining them. On the other hand, those who put their trust in the Master were added right and left, men and women both. " Acts 5:12-14

OBSERVATION - Unity among people always brings with it powerful results. It is so clear that the early church experienced community in a way that is so hard for us to find in our present day. Their purpose was singular, to see the kingdom of God established on earth, to bring in the harvest. They knew their cause was greater than any one person's preferences, goals, or agendas. There was a deep awareness within the disciples that this was God's deal, He was running the show. The choice was crystal clear either grab hold and go with it, or to quickly get out of the way. Those who chose to stand in the way got ran over. That's why the most dangerous place on the road is in the middle because eventually if you don't choose a lane your going to end up becoming part of the pavement.

APPLICATION - One of the greatest problems that the church faces today is our lack of unity. It's no wonder there are still people in the world who have yet to hear the gospel, when were spending so much of our time fighting with each other. We are forced to expend so much energy just trying to undo the misconceptions that people have about the church and God due largely to our lack of harmony between those who profess to be Christians.

Honestly, if I didn't believe in God, but was searching to see if I could find truth within Christianity, my greatest objection would not be "why do bad things happen to good people", it would simply be why do those who say they love God seem to have so much trouble loving one another. I mean think about it. If I'm looking in from the outside and I'm searching for something real, something beyond what has been dealt to me by the world, why would I choose Christianity.

We have enough denominations and churches to support every personal preference and agenda that's out there, yet our division keeps us from really seeing the power of God unleashed in our personal lives and in the lives of our churches. The Enemy has a pretty easy job to do because he's got so many of us working hard for his cause. No need to recruit more help, not while there's plenty of good ole church going folk to carry out his plans.

The most disappointing thing about all this is while we busy ourselves arguing and fighting over non-issues, there still remains so many who are confused, frustrated, and disenchantment with the garbage they see. They have been thoroughly disappointed by the hollowness of religion, but still wonder and search for a real personal, powerful God. They're holding out hope that beneath all the trash there is still something of beauty to be found.

I know it sounds like I'm venting on the church right now, but truthfully if I'm to do so I must include myself as part of the problem and solution at hand. How guilty am I of pushing my own agenda, desiring my way instead of fighting for the things that are closest to my Heavenly Father's heart. You see I still believe in the church, not a church, not my church, but the church, the bride that Jesus is coming back to claim one day. I still believe. Most importantly God still believes in His church. When the body of Christ comes together in single purpose, with hearts and minds joined together, it cannot be stopped. This unstoppable force is what the world has been dying to see at work. When it works, it works better than any piece of legislature, social reform, or 12 step program.

We would do well to go back to our Bibles and read, reread and read again the book of Acts until it gets out of our heads and starts to sink into our hearts. It begins with you, it begins with me. We must fight for unity and when we find it we must protect it, never taking it for granted, but instead diligently preserving it at all costs.

PRAYER - Father help us. Forgive us for the harm we have caused your kingdom. Forgive the way in which our actions have resulted in distorting who you truly are. Help us to heal, help us to love, and help us to live beyond our own self-centeredness. Let us not settle for the kingdom of "tomorrow", but let us hunger for the kingdom of "today". May we be instruments used to bring your kingdom to the earth, here and now. May we see your people join with one heart and mind for your purpose and plan. Teach us to love you and to love the world around us. Through the unity of your church may we see your power and works released in us, through us, and into all the world. Amen!

QUARANTINED!

2006-01-27T13:41:00.000-06:00

Well it's official. It seems that I have that thing they call "The Kissing Disease". Here I thought I was just real tired and bored, but it looks like Mono has struck. So here I am stuck at home, can't kiss my wife, can't kiss my kids, and nobody wants to be around me.

Maybe I'll take this time to get reacquainted with Days Of Our Lives. Once in college I went through a bad slump and found myself addicted to this stupid show. The thing is even though its been years since I watched it I know I could flip it on today and it would pick up where I left off. Soap opera story lines never move. In fact they really were the ones who pioneered the idea of 24. They make 24 hours drag on longer than any other show on television.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you all know that I will be hunkered down in my cave for a week or so. If you are one of the fortunate people to have had this lame sickness give a shout out and let me know. I guess in between my long naps I will spend my time trying to master The Red Square Challenge (thanks to Beefy) and reading this cool book I just got called "Walk On, The Spiritual Journey of U2". I love those guys. Well that's it for today, "like sands through the hour glass so are the days of our lives."

Long Live Nintendo!!

2006-01-25T20:16:00.000-06:00

Well I decided to post this blog out of my deep love and affection for Nintendo. When I was a kid I was not aloud to have a game system in the house because of course as we all know video games rot the brain. So instead what I would do is scrounge up $2.50 from the couch cushions and gutters (by the way chewing gum on the end of a stick is still the best method for this) and I would head off on my BMX for the arcade for the Saturday morning early bird special (25 tokens for $2.50). Man I miss those days. I would also get my fill of brain rot by regularly heading to my buddy Dan's house after school to play hours of Asteroids and Pitfall on his Atari.

Then in 1986 my world changed forever. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) hit stores in the United States, and the shot was heard round the world. Bye bye joy stick, hello game pad. We quickly kicked aside the Atari with its Missile Command and Pac Man and said hello to Zelda, Super Mario Brothers and Metroid. Whhhhhhhhhhhhoooooooooooooooooooooo Baaaaaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbyyy!!!!!!!!!!!

For the record I want to mention that it wasn't until I became a responsible, married adult that I finally was freed to purchased my first game system for home use. That was in 2002 and the system was the Nintendo Game Cube.

Now the real reason I posted all this was because I came across this video that I thought was really cool and I wanted to post a link to it below. Even if your not a gaming fan you should go check this out because its pretty darn clever. This is an a cappella musical ensemble that does a tribute to Nintendo music at the end of their concert. I was blown away. Now this is the kind of art we should be teaching our young people. Move over Mozart, bring on the Tetris.

Nintendo A Cappella

The Pursuit Of "More"

2006-01-22T22:36:00.000-06:00

I decided that with this post I would try something different. At the church the staff has been moving through a lot of exciting changes and by far the most impacting of these has been in the way we do our personal devotions. We use a reading list that gives us the passages to read for the day and then we use what is called a LIFE journal to write our thoughts and reflections.
Without going into a long explanation of how it works it follows the acrostic SOAP. S-is for scripture, O-for observation, A-for application, and P-for prayer. There are probably a lot of variations of this floating around, but the bottom line is it's doing a lot for my walk with God personally, in my marriage, and with our team at the church.

One thing that has become clear to me is that through interacting with The Word of God in this way I find that I'm having a much easier time hearing God's voice. I know that might sound elementary, but for a lot of people their is a great deal of confusion surrounding how to hear God's voice. The thing that connects with me is that the Bible is called The Word, so it makes a lot of sense that God would use The Word to speak clearly to our hearts, both through the revelation of what we read and through our response to it. Anyway, without going into it any further what I wanted to do was just post an entry from my journal and share it with you my friends with hopes that it might be a means of encouragement to you. So here it goes.

SCRIPTURE - Why is everyone Hungry for more?
"More, more," they say. "More, more."
I have God's more-than-enough,
More joy in one ordinary day
Than they get in all their shopping sprees.
At day's end I'm ready for sound sleep,
For you, God, have put my life back together.

Psalm 4:6-8 (The Message)

OBSERVATION - We live in a consumer society, with the mentality of getting all that we can as fast as we can. There is a vacancy in the heart of man that desires to be filled. It is this emptiness that God deeply desires to occupy. It was designed for Him and Him alone. Because of this nothing short of God's presence can ever satisfy the driving pursuit of "more". No amount of people, possessions, or pleasures will ever quench the thirst of man's soul for the living God. Jesus promises His followers life. He doesn't promise a mediocre existence, but instead a powerful abundant life that doesn't end here on this earth, but instead lasts forever.

APPLICATION - It's difficult at times to say "no" to the attractive things that this world has to offer. I can't believe that after all this time I still find myself fooled into thinking that this world has anything of lasting value for me. As I write these words I am listening to the worship song "Rescue" where the first line of the song is , "You are the source of life."

How true this statement is. Everything else is hollow and empty. You promise what is lasting and eternal while the world offers what is fading and fleeting.

"This world has nothing for me. I will follow you. This world has nothing for me."

PRAYER - Lord, I have tasted and seen. Don't allow myself to be deceived by the trappings of this world. I have drank from your "living water", I have fed from the "bread of life". As scripture says, "For you, God have put my life back together." You took my mess of a life and you put me back together, reformed and reshaped for you purpose and your plans.

Today, this day, you are the "More" I desire. More of you Lord. More of your presence and power in my life. I pray that you would help me to pursue you and you alone. Let me be a part of leading others to "living water", to the "bread of life". There are so many who are starving for you. Use me to lead them to the fulfillment that I have found in you. Let me be able to say as the sun sets this evening, "At days end I'm ready for sound sleep." I have found the "More" that I was looking for. Amen!

Thanks for letting me share these thoughts with you. I do pray that you will find encouragement as you read them and that God would bless you in amazing ways as you start this new week.

Why I'm Jacked Up

2006-01-16T18:41:00.000-06:00

Ok here's the scoop. I have this friend, to maintain his anonymity we'll call him Bob. Bob got me hooked on this show called 24 and now life is no longer the same for me. I guess you could say I'm pretty Jacked up. In fact because of 24 I have these regular delusions that I'm some kind of Counter Terrorist/Special Ops guy. As humorous as that may be to those reading, I think I'm starting to believe it. I mean even when I get in my car and drive I hear music in my head that makes me feel like a special agent. I don't know I think I need some help. Even as we speak I am counting down the minutes until the second part of the premiere begins. I can here the countdown in my head and my pulse is beginning to race. For those of you who have no idea what 24 is I will spare you the explanation. Trust me, your probably better off. After all if it has the same effect on you as it's had on me were all going to be running around with our kevlar vests and sunglasses. OOOh! Hey, gotta go Bob's coming over and the show is about to begin. 6:46... 6:47... 6:48 ...

Back Dormitory Boys

2006-01-14T23:08:00.000-06:00

Ok some of you may already know about these guys, but I had to post this link for those who haven't. This duo is known as the "Back Dormitory Boys". Their claim to fame is lip-syncing Backstreet Boys songs and making videos from their dorm room. Their spoof music videos have become so popular that they have been selected by Motorola China to promote mobile phones.They are students at Guangzhou Arts Institute studying sculpting believe it or not. The third guy in the background in most of their videos sits at the computer playing Counter Strike.

I think these guys are hilarious! They are way more entertaining than the real Backstreet Boys and I would pay money to see them. Well I just thought I'd share them with all of you who need a little laugh. Everytime I watch these guys they make me happy!

Back Dormitory Boys

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS A MEME?

2006-01-11T17:38:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry but I have no idea what a meme is. Is there a class that I can take to learn blog language. Help me! I desire to be multi-blingual.

Well Heth tagged me, thanks Heth, so here I go doing the meme thingy.

Four jobs you had in your life.

1. Bill's Curb Service. Yes folks at age 13 I was President/CEO of my own company. It wasn't a big company (since I was the only employee), but benefits were good and I had my own logo. Sometimes I think of reviving it. Afterall, if the fire department can't see your house number how are they going to know which house the fires at. What... Oh yeah ... I suppose they could look for the smoke. CRUD! Back to the drawing board.

2. Pizza Hut delivery driver. Best job of my high school career. Grab the pizza, jump in the car, pump the stereo, rip down the road. Oops... Stop Sign! Did you know that cheese is a very flexible substance and can be reformed and shaped with a little finesse.

3. Sang and waited tables for 5 years at Romano's Macaroni Grill. What a great job! Great food, great people, great pay. One problem, CARBS! After that job I began to closely resemble one of the Mario Brothers (as you guessed it was not Luigi).

4. Barrista for Nordaggios Coffee House. I must say I've had some good gigs in my life. I LOVE COFFEE, I LOVE COFFEE, I LOVE COFFEE, I LOVE COFFEE!!!! Whoa! Come back! I'm supposed to sell the stuff, not drink it all.

Four movies you could watch over and over.

1. Empire Strikes Back - best Star Wars movie ever

2. Tommy Boy- ...that's going to leave a mark

3. Napoleon Dynamite - Do I really have to explain why this movie rules.

4. The Lord of The Rings Trilogy - because I have hairy feet too

Four place you've lived.

1. West Covina, California - Don't remember that because we moved when I was 3

2. Eureka, California - You think you've seen trees. I don't think so. A tree you can drive your car through, now that is a tree.

3. Tulsa, Oklahoma - Best thing about living there was falling for this knockout of a blonde. An Iowa girl, who chose to marry me. What was she thinking? Well ones thing for sure I'm never moving to Iowa!

4. Waverly, Iowa - Wait a minute. How did that happen? God, I hear you laughing. You definitely got me. Oh well, we absolutely love it here.

Four TV shows you love to watch.

1. LOST

2. 24

3. Alias (before it went down the pooper)

4. King of Queens reruns

Four places you've been on vacation.

1. Caribbean

2. Europe

3. South Africa

4. Oran, IA (because that's where the floating Jesus head is)

Four websites you visit daily.

1. waverlyopenbible.com - Because someone had the brilliant idea of putting me in charge of that web page. By the way I update that about as much as I update my blog.

2. myspace.com/burchits

3. guildwars.com

4. relevantmagazine.com

Four of your favorite foods

1. Tacos

2. Pizza

3. My dad's ribs

4. Janice Wilson's potato salad

Four places you'd rather be right now

1. In California with my kids

2. Naboo

3. The Farmhouse B&B

4. Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Four bloggers you are tagging

1. Hannah

2. Natalie

3. Nate

4. EP Hat Man

Picking Up Where I Left Off

2006-01-10T09:07:00.000-06:00

Apologies to all who are dissapointed with my lack of blogging. I honestly didn't think it would matter much, because I never expected anyone to read it. I finally logged in and read the posts that have been left over the last two months and I must say that I admire the persistance of all of you. I was going to end it all and delete the blog, but have decided that I will give it another go. Now I'm not expecting those who have taken me off of their links to add me back on, instead this is now become about carrying on something that I began. Even if I go it alone I must finish what I started. So to quote the only Whitesnake song I know,

"Here I go again on my own. Going down the only road I've ever known. Like a drifter I was born to walk alone. An i've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time, but here I go again, here I go again."

WHATS UP WITH ALL THESE WRISTBANDS!

2005-11-10T23:02:00.000-06:00

Alright so its been like two weeks since I started this blog and as I suspected from the beginning there has been a flurry of inactivity on my end when it comes to posting. But in the rare case that someone is taking the time out from their day to focus in on my thoughts I thought I would mention something that has been on my mind these days. WHAT'S UP WITH ALL THESE STINKIN WRISTBANDS! I mean come on I realize that their a lot of great causes out there, but for goodness sake do we need to have a different colored wristband for them all. Now I admit that in the beginning I found myself swept up in the craze and it all started with ONE. Maybe you've heard of The One Campaign, a new effort to rally Americans to fight agaist global AIDS and extreme poverty. I picked this sucker up when Natalie and I were at the United Center in Chicago seeing U2 in concert (by the way they RULE!).

Anyhoo, it made me feel kinda cool like I was contributing something to a very meaningful cause and I was letting everybody know around me that I stand for important stuff like poverty and AIDS. In reality I paid two bucks so I could wear a white bracelet on my arm and tell people I got it at the U2 concert (oh and by the way they RULE). I wore my bracelet proudly until I picked up my second at Promise Keepers, a nice red wristband to offset my white one. From there it was all downhill. I got home from Promise Keepers, opened the mail, and put on my blue alumni wristband from Oral Roberts University. Now not only am I wearing three bracelets on my arm having to explain what each one represents, but the three together also appear to symbolize my love for the good ole USA (red, white and blue) so now I'm a patriot. It all came to a crashing halt when I received my pink wristband for breast cancer awareness month. Not that breast cancer isn't important because it most certainly is, but I couldn't break the color coordination I had going on with my right arm. So in an effort not to play favorites and because I was concerned about whether the extra weight on my right side was throwing off my walking, I got rid of all my bracelets and now I again am a free man! So if you are a wristband wearer I hope you don't take offence to any of this, but know that I salute you and and the plethora of causes you support by daily dawning your wristbands in all their technicolor glory. As for me I'm enjoying not having to find clothing to match my right wrist (as if matching my clothes is high on my priority list of things anyway).

AND SO IT BEGINS

2005-11-01T12:33:00.000-06:00

Well this is my first entry and really I'm doing this just to test it out. Due to the vast amounts of blogs full of humorous and intersting information I'm not really sure what I'm able to contribute by having my own. In fact I feel a tremendous amount of pressure to be witty and creative so that people will read it laugh and call others from outside the room to come and read it as well. The reality is that if I continue this blog it will probably amount to nothing more than a written account of my endless stream of rambling about things that you don't really care about and if you know me then you probably already get your fill of this kind of thing face to face. Anyway, like I said this is supposed to be a test publish, but true to form I have made it longer than what I intended. So here's to blogging! I guess now I can lump myself in with the scores of others who write about their mundane activities of life and in doing so discover that joy truly does come from the little details that seem insignificant.