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!!!