Girls Are Sneaky

Have you ever watched Star Wars: Return of the Jedi? If you have, then maybe you are familiar with one of my favorite Star Wars characters - Admiral Ackbar. He is famous for two things: 1. His big line in the movie "IT'S A TRAP!" and 2. Ole Miss almost made him their mascot. Picture and video below:

Admiral Ackbar

notice the "It's a trap!" signs around the :43 - :45 second mark

Why do I tell you this? Well let me tell you a little story.

My wife likes to run about two to three times a week in the morning for her daily workout. The other days she does an exercise video. Occasionally she asks me run with her to (a) keep her company, and (b) make sure she doesn't get kidnapped or mugged while she is by herself. Call me overprotective, but I don't want either of those things to happen.

The other morning I went on one of these runs, and everything started out normally. We walked for the first 2 minutes and then we started running. After a couple of minutes of running, Amanda said the following:

"I don't feel so good. I don't think I want to run anymore, can we just walk?"

Immediately I pictured Admiral Ackbar saying "IT'S A TRAP!" in my head because girls are sneaky. What do I mean by sneaky? Well what if I told you that Amanda has said she wanted to quit early on a run before and my reply was "ok". Immediately after my reply though, I was told "Hey, you are here to make sure I don't die, and to make sure I keep running! Don't let me slack off."

Now you know why I thought it was a trap. After a couple seconds of thinking about it, and wondering what to do, I decided that I was going to do my duty and make her keep running. To which her reply was "But I don't feel gooooooood :( :( :( :(" or something to that effect. I let her know that I thought I was supposed to make her keep running and she told me that I didn't have to this time.

This reiterates my point: Girls are sneaky.

Needless to say, we walked for the remainder of the allotted workout time and finished up at our house. I don't know if I will ever understand women...

Do you have any good sneaky girl stories?

What I'm Watching

Since Fall TV is coming back around, I saw someone else do a post similar to this, and my wife and I have finished watching every single episode of "Dawson's Creek" (I know everything about the creek and its happenings now...) I decided it was a good idea to give it a shot. Here are the shows I would most like to watch (along with some commentary) for each day of the week.

Monday

What can I say, I'm a guy who likes football, and they have really good commercials promoting it too, like the one below...

Tuesday

I don't actually get to watch it on Tuesday nights, but I do watch it. Before you judge me, I only watch it because my wife likes it.... yeah thats it...

Wednesday

I started watching this last year and I really liked it. I totally relate to the dynamic of the husband and wife (the ones in the middle). 

Thursday

Ok, I couldn't choose because I like them both. "Fringe" is good if you like the sci-fi type of stuff or Joshua Jackson, and "The Office" is good if you like to laugh until you cry. You win either way.

Friday

I don't really watch much on Fridays, but for some reason Amanda and I like to watch dateline and hear one of the following storylines: (1) Mystery about something (2) Wife/husband kills wife/husband in crazy way (3) Unbelievable story about a struggle someone has and the strength they have to overcome said struggle.

Saturday

Can't stop, won't stop, all day...

Sunday

Ok for real on this one, I mostly watch it because my wife watches it. And before you really judge me on this, the story isn't half bad. Yes, there are some scandalous things, but a lot of the time each episode has a lesson at the heart of it. Give it a shot some time if you feel brave.

So that's what I will be watching! Let me know if you like any of these or will be watching along with me. Or if not, what will you be watching?

Economically Efficient

Yesterday after my wife and I finished eating our chimichanga dinner, and we had sat down on the couch, I did what I normally do at that time - turned on the TV to ESPN. While I do this Amanda is usually busy checking facebook and her email so I can get a few seconds of sports in while she does this. The show that was on was "Homecoming" where famous sports stars go back to their hometown and get interviewed in the high school gym by a reporter from ESPN. This episode featured Donovan McNabb and it was relatively entertaining, but one part caught my attention. A former teammate of his was there and he revealed that Donovan never paid for much as a rookie in the NFL even though he was one of the highest paid rookies that year. He said Donovan never took him out to lunch, brought in breakfast for everyone, and on and on about how Donovan was "cheap". After he was done, Donovan responded by saying, "I don't believe in the word 'cheap', I believe in being economically efficient."

I totally agree with Donovan. Since getting married, I have noticed my spending habits have changed. Besides not buying as many video games as I used to, I have been more economically efficient. I don't eat as much fast food or out in general, I find myself comparing prices at the grocery store and getting what ever is cheaper per ounce, and I even have started using coupons.

Don't be fooled though, this wasn't totally my idea. I have a great wife that helped me see the importance of being economically efficient. She gives me coupons and points out unnecessary spending to me, to which I usually have to recognize that she is right and I should take her advice. Case in point: I no longer stop at a gas station on the way out of town on short road trips to Austin, College Station, La Grange, etc. to buy a coke. Instead I have a few cans at home I take with me.

The ultimate symbol of this new found efficiency is a dog-leash we own. When we adopted Noah, they gave us a free leash so we could take him home. I think we bought a nicer one on the way home because it seemed a little small for big guy like him, but we held on to the leash anyway. Enter Buster a few months later and we now had a leash for him. But the story doesn't stop there. Buster likes to eat through leashes. He has chewed through his leash 3 times and after each time, we don't go buy a new one; instead we tie the two ends together of the old leash and it works good as new... pretty much.

Anyway all this to say being economically efficient is kind of fun and worth your time.

1 Corinthians 16:2On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.

Ok So Maybe It's Been a While...

First of all, my apologies for taking a long hiatus from blogging! If you want to catch up on the event that have been going on in my life, a good place to check is my wife's blog . She is also a better writer than I am, so props to her for that too.

Anyway, here are some things that are currently going on that are taking my time and interest:

1. Living Stones Church. Yep, that's the name of the church that we are starting. Our first service is on October 3rd, and it will be in Sugar Land. Where in Sugar Land you ask? Well that is TBD because we are still trying to negotiate some space to use. So, if you or anyone you know knows anything about real estate or helping start-up churches find space, LET ME KNOW!

2. Lost. This past Sunday, my wife and I spent about 8 hours watching the show. We woke up, ate breakfast, watched Lost until lunch, after lunch we watched some more, then it was time to go to church. So far, I think she has enjoyed it, and I am enjoying watching the early episodes again as well. If you haven't watched it before, get a Netflix account and treat yourself!

3. Fantasy Football. We have already established my love of sports, and fantasy sports in previous posts. My baseball team is in the doghouse if you must know... And now it is time for football. I have spent a little bit of time each day, the last couple of weeks, expanding my fantasy knowledge. I am so ready. Maybe too ready. I am pretty sure none of my opponents will read this before I draft tonight, so I will go ahead and tell you that I have the perfect strategy and it is centered around bye weeks. Ask me later if you want to know more. Victory will be mine!

4. I keep ending the last sentence of each of these topics with an exclamation point - I don't know why!

5. I am obsessed with the double rainbow song as seen below:



6. I am also obsessed with the bed intruder song as seen below:



7. My dogs love laser pointers. It is always hilarious to play with them using one. Noah in particular will keep looking for it for hours after I have put the pointer away. The latest mean trick I do is putting it on the wall just out of reach or leading them into the wall and watching them run headfirst into it trying to bite the little red dot. I really can't get enough.

8. Those are the big ones. I will write more often I promise. Thanks for reading!

World Cup Hero

So the World Cup has come and gone, and I find myself missing it. I really enjoyed watching those games early in the morning and then again in the middle of the day. I think my interest in watching soccer has probably never been higher than it is right now actually. There were a few heroes from this past world cup, and I thought I would share them with you. So here goes...

1. Vuvuzelas! I have seen a couple of MLS games on TV and without the buzz, it just doesn't feel the same. I also keep imagining what it would be like if fans brought 10,000 of them to a college (let's just imagine for the sake of imagining that this college is Texas A&M) football game and blew the crud out of them. Sounds like fun to me.

2. Paul the Octopus! If you haven't heard by now, there was this octopus that correctly picked the winner of something like 6-7 matches in a row. Pretty dang cool.

3. Spain! Hey, they won, so I think that qualifies. And I was rooting for them because my wife spent a summer there in college. Which leads me to my last hero.

4. Amanda, and her World Cup bracket! Before the World Cup started some friends and I filled out brackets to see who could accurately predict the most winners. Well I filled out two. One with Amanda's help, and one without her help - she didn't know that I filled out the second one without her until later. I say until later because she found out when I informed her that after the second round, the bracket she helped me fill out was in last place. She was a little upset and maybe a little mad that I filled another one out because she felt like it made her look dumb, and me smarter because my bracket was better. However, when it was all said and done, it was just the opposite. Her bracket came in second place and mine near the bottom. That should teach me!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the world cup as well. Anything you miss about it?

Fun at the Walmart Checkout!

So, there I was with my wonderful wife at the checkout at Walmart. We were getting some gifts, for her sister who is due to have a baby this month, and also some toiletries just for us. After scanning the checkout lanes for a couple minutes to see which one had the shortest line - and none of them did mind you - we settled on one and began to wait our turn. And, since I have ADD, I killed time by looking around to see what "goodies" I could find around me in the check out lane.

Usually most stores put things there that are "impulse buys". As in, you weren't planning on buying it, but after you saw it, decided that 2 Snickers bars for a $1 is a pretty good deal. Walmart had these type of goods to my left - things like gum, candy, cokes... the usual suspects. But to my right was a different story. Walmart has taken the idea of putting random things that people might want as they are checking out to the next level. So, the following is a photo montage of what I saw with my thoughts about them. First up though is the entire shelf. Take a moment, look it over, and see if you can spot anything that pops out to you....

I actually can do all my shopping in the check out lane next time...

"The Germans made it, so you know its good!"

If you refer to the first picture as well, you will have everything you will need to watch your favorite soaps: CBS Soaps magazine, a remote and AA batteries for the remote!

I thought this was strange, random, and sad.

The original Squirmles!
click the link to see the youtube video

And last, but not least, if you feel the impulse to get your cat a scratching post while checking out, Walmart has your back!

So, what do you think? Did I miss anything? What is the strangest thing you have seen in the grocery store check out lane?

A New Kind of Penguin

This may come as a shock to you, but I think that a new breed of penguin has been discovered!!!

What? You haven't heard about it yet?

Well, I found out in a rather unexpected way. The other day I was at Whole Foods in Sugar Land killing some time with Amanda (That place is a little on the expensive side for me... and I don't care if my food is made out of preservatives or rice flax or whatever, so long as it tastes good!). We were walking around looking at all of the expensive organic food, and then we decided to meander over to the toy section where they have organic toys I guess. While we were over there I picked up a toy that and this is what it looked like-

Please note that there was no doctoring of this photo, and that the tag was attached to the "Emperor Penguin".

So what do you think? Cool new penguin? Deformed penguin? Or.... Whale Shark?

I'm gonna go with Whale Shark.

But this brings up something that is up for debate in some circles. For me it isn't. That is, the "Uniqueness of Christ". Which means that Christ's role as savior is His and His alone - it is not up for debate. You can't say that, "Well, Christ works for me, but if he doesn't for you, then whatever you believe is also right."

I don't want to get into politics, but for me there is a passage that sums it up - 
"I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. No one come to the Father, but through me." John 14:6.

Scripture is clear that there is only one way to salvation. We have been given a wonderful gift in Christ. For me that gift has meant more than I can write down in this last paragraph, but I will try to summarize. It means that I have a rock to crash upon in times of turmoil. It means that I have someone rejoicing with me in all my successes. He has been the foundation of my marriage. It means that I can look forward to the day I am in heaven. But most of all, it means I am loved.

Free Stuff

What can I say, I am a sucker for free things! Free t-shirts, free food, free keychains - whatever it is, when I hear the word "free" my ears perk up.

That is why when my wife emailed me the other day saying that she saw that a local restaurant was giving away free food I jumped on the chance. This, however, was not a single time food giveaway. This was free food for a year! That's right a year's worth of free stuff. Be still my heart.

What restaurant was doing this you ask? Well the email said that if I was one of the first 50 customers at Bullrito's (a burrito place like Chipotle or Freebirds) that I would receive free burritos for a year.

I received the email at 8:30 and immediately left the house to try and get my spot in line. I arrived and found that I was #33!

2 1/2 hours later I walked inside and was greeted by the new employees who handed me a bag with a Bullrito's t-shirt, a Bullrito's bumper sticker and, a coupon for free queso, and a wonderful little card that had 52 little burritos on it. That is right, I get one burrito a week for a year!

If you aren't jealous yet, then I guess you either aren't into burritos or aren't a fan of free things. But when I got that card, I was pumped!!! The burrito I got that day wasn't too bad either!

So, once a week you can find me at Bullrito's eating and loving my new card. So what will I do next with all my new found free food? The answer: share it! If any of you out there ever want to give the place a shot, I would love to take you sometime and use my card to get you a free burrito. That's right, I will buy you lunch! Just leave a comment and I we will figure out a time that works for us.

Hope to hear back from everyone soon!!!

Amanda's Awesome

Yes she is! For those of you who may not know it, today, May 31, is my wife's birthday! It is exactly 4 weeks after mine which is kind of neat and she is also turning 27 this year - just like me!

Birthdays are a big deal around here for her. Not just her birthday, but anyone's birthday really. You see, my wonderful wife loves birthdays. She loves them so much she remembers the birthday of just about everyone she has ever met. No kidding she recited someone's birthday, on our drive home yesterday, that she has not seen since high school. And from what I gathered, this individual has no significant history in her life. Weird if you ask me. Well maybe not all that weird since I can recite starting lineups for most major league baseball teams and the jersey numbers of most famous athletes. Everybody has their thing I guess. But let's stay on the subject of Amanda.

Today she is 27 and I hope she has a wonderful day. In honor of her birthday, I am going to post some of my favorite pictures we have taken. So Amanda, this day is for you, and I hope you enjoy the memories these pics bring up.

Me, Amanda, and Papa on the day Amanda broke her foot playing charades

I think this was on the fourth of July. I just think this picture shows our personality!

We were going to a date party in college and I believe the theme was masquerade.

Me and Amanda being models... for Olive Garden...

I like this photo because it shows how much fun we have!

This is one of my favorite pictures of us of all time. That day was long but fun (engagement pics)

Us in front of a fountain in Chicago

Our first snow day in Richmond.

I think this picture makes us look cute together.

So there you have it folks, my blog for my wife on her birthday. Now show her some love and write on her wall on Facebook!

Get LOST

I suspect that there are probably a bunch of people that are going to be talking about this right for the next week before the newness dies off, and I feel like I should write about it too, so don't get mad at me if you don't watch the show! I won't give away anything about the show, so you don't have to worry about spoilers. And away we go.

I remember watching this show starting in the second season. My roommates in college had the season 1 dvd set and we went through it in about a week because it was so interesting. At that point in season 2, and in the world, they didn't have the show posted on the web for you to watch if you missed it, so I bought the iTunes season pass so we could download all the episodes and catch up to that season. Now we were hooked! The characters were so interesting, the plot was hard to figure out, the mysteries piled up, and it was fun! We would end every show speculating about what was going on and what different characters had an agenda they were trying to push, and it just caused you to take a step back and analyze the show sort of like a book for English class. Instead of turning my brain off for a TV show, I had to turn it on, and I liked that.

As years went by, I was a faithful viewer and so were my friends and family. I would go home from school or from work and I would talk about the show with my mom and sister, or I would meet some new friends and I usually would spark a conversation by asking if they watched - if they did it was an instant bond. I was able to do the same thing in youth ministry as well. I would ask students if they watched and if they did, we could discuss the show, and, once again, instantly bond. So, with the show ending I am losing not only a good show to watch, but a conversation starter as well. Double bummer!

All of this is my lead up to what I really want to say about the end of the show.

A lot of people seem to be confused or disappointed by the ending. The finale was emotional and confusing and a little bit tough to swallow for me at first. I think a bunch of people are going to read into it and say, "Hey, they didn't answer that question!" Or, "That isn't how I would have ended the show!" And, "What about character X - what happened to them!" But, after thinking about this for a little bit, I think the show had a clear theme last night. And that theme was this:

It's all about relationships. It was about the special bond we form with some people - people that may enter our lives for a short time, or people that are present throughout our lives. The message was that we should cherish all relationships. Lost captured this incredibly well throughout its time on TV. Looking back it becomes clear when I think about the relationships between father and son, husband and wife, leader and follower, old and young, mother and son, etc. If you ask me, the bottom line of the show became the importance of ALL relationships.

We are starting a new church in Fort Bend County and one of the most important aspects is going to be relationships. Culture can do a lot of things bigger and better than a church can - even the biggest church! But, the one thing that culture cannot compete with is the church's ability to foster authentic relationships. Relationships between young and old, father and daughter, husband and wife, new friends and old friends, and so on. This is also biblical  -

Hebrews 10:24-25 (New International Version)

²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. ²⁵Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.


The bottom line: relationships are important. Some people will be sad that the show is over. I am a little bit. But, the finale reminded me that I have a bunch of people in my life that I love, and that I love spending time with. Make all your relationships count today.

The Foodie in Me

Lately for some strange reason I have been watching an inordinate amount of the Food Network. I can't tell you why I have been doing this, other than I guess I like to imagine I can make all the things that they make and then afterwards I will eat it! Seriously though, I was watching Guy Fieri the other night and he made what looked like the most delicious quesadilla that has ever been conceived by man. And he made some sweet cherry glazed short ribs. And he made some kind of crazy margarita. All I know is that my mouth was watering and I was wishing that I could be in that studio during the filming.

Along the same lines, I was at HEB the other day trying to decide what kind of ice cream I wanted. I was flip flopping between cookies and cream and this flavor I had never heard of before. The flavor - bunuelos and cream. Being the savy person I am, I figured it had to be some amazing tex-mex sweetness inside, and after a quick google search on the trusty iPhone, I found out that bunuelos are like a mexican fritter (basically some fried flour tortillas with cinnamon and sugar), so this was pretty much fried ice cream. I was pumped. After I got the ice cream back home, and popped it open, my taste buds rejoiced. They rejoiced so much that I had to know how to make some home made bunuelos. So, I hopped on the Mac and looked up the recipe, and decided that I was going to make some for myself. And that is where I lost motivation... But, I do plan on making some this week, and I will let everyone know how they turned out.

I bet you have never read a blog entry about bunuelos before!

In other news, if you have ever read my wife's blog then you know that we have some "friends" that we talk to on a regular basis. One in particular, Baby Dinosaur, was pretty excited the other day when he saw this video. You see, BD as we so affectionately call him, is an aspiring baseball player, and he dreams of pitching in the major leagues one day. That video further inspired him.

And last but not least, check out this website www.newfortbendchurch.org to learn a little bit more about what we have been working on doing at the church plant. See you later friends!

P.S. I think I will start consistently posting my fantasy baseball pickup of the week each week. So get used to it!

This week for hitters it is Edwin Encarnacion and for pitchers it is John Ely. Encarnacion is subject to hot and cold streaks and now he is hot. Cut him when he gets cold!

The Best Intentions

Have you ever planned something out so carefully and thoughtfully only to have it not turn out as you had hoped? I'm not talking about just thinking about something ahead of time, or even just formulating a plan. I am talking about some SERIOUS preparation. Preparation like planning for a few hours every week for a couple of months. That is what I did.

I am sort of a serial obsessor. I get obsessed with things for a while - as long as I am interested in them. Not simply having interest in something, but taking it to the point where I know more than most regular people ever need to know about something.

Here is where I tell you that I play fantasy sports. Plural. I am currently in fantasy baseball season, and it is driving me crazy. I planned my season out in February, and it is NOT going according to plan. I did all the projections, had the best laid plans, but they are falling flat, and it is frustrating. I won't go into details about my team on here unless someone comments and wants to know what it looks like, but just know that they are underperforming (I need more RBIs and Runs!).

Which gets me back to my main thought - it stinks when you plan and plan only to have those plans fail. I really believe that those times in our lives that our plans fail are preparing us for something further down the road. Something where that preparation will pay off. Something where our efforts won't seem to go to waste. The bottom line is that we can't be afraid of failing. Although my team isn't doing so hot, it is fun trying to come up with trade scenarios to make them better.

The bottom line is that we can't be afraid of failure. I believe that we need to have the courage to go out on a limb sometimes and always do the best we can even if our plans fall through. A year ago I never would have guessed that I would quit my job with a salary and a free house to do something where I wouldn't have an income for a while AND pick up a house note. But I am not afraid. My courage doesn't come from knowing that we are planning really hard for this church plant. My courage doesn't come from knowing that we have some money saved and we are going to be ok. My courage comes form the Lord.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 

1 Peter 3:13-14
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." 

Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. 

I know that I know that. I just need to keep reminding myself. Now Lord, help me figure out what I should do with my second baseman....

P.S. My fantasy baseball pick-up of the week for hitters is Brennan Boesch and for pitchers is Jhoulys Chacin!

In the Beginning...

I kept telling myself that I would probably never have a blog, but here we are. If you are reading this and you know me, then you probably realize that this is something that I am going to have to be intentional about because writing isn't something that comes as naturally to me as it does to say... my wife. But nonetheless, I can promise you my new readers that I will be faithful not only in posting new blogs, but posting new blogs that will occasionally be interesting, fun, or possibly even thought provoking!

Since this this is my first post, I am going to go ahead and address the title of this blog. "At the end of the day" is, in my opinion, quite possibly one of the most overused phrases I hear. I watch a good amount of TV and it is used a lot. One show on ESPN (let's be honest, I will probably be referencing sports quite a bit) even has a 30 second montage of different athletes saying it. I hear it at least once a day, whether I am watching some show on E! that my wife likes, the Food Network, or the local news. At the end of the day I have heard that phrase at least once. I'm not sure why it drives me slightly nuts, but recently some folks found out that it irked me, and they started using it every chance they got. Maybe that's why I got out of youth ministry... just kidding!!! 

Seriously though I just found a great link that proves my point! And if the Brits think it's irritating... well it has to be! 

Ok I promise that I won't rant very often on here, but now you know why the blog is called what it is. I realize that this phrase isn't something that I will be able to get away from, so I have decided to turn its power for evil into a power for good. Now, every time I hear those 6 little words, I will think, "Oooh I should blog!" And, maybe you will think, "I should read Brian's blog!" 

Welcome to my blog that is now about subliminal messaging.