Blog
Time to see what we have time to see
Category: Random Updates
ginni and I celebrate our 1 year anniversary this weekend. We are going to Horseshoe Bay Resort and we are very excited. It's been the best year of my life, and I know next year will only be better.
I've been on a coding hiatus lately. No particular reason, I just haven't felt motivated/inspired. On my To Do List for web stuff include adding Category/Tag clouds on my site, pictures on both ginni's site and mine, as well as making my mom a new website (not to mention AptFinder).
I've fallen in love with a new piece of software: Teamworks. It's a business process management tool and is very cool. It has a GUI that is as simple as a flow chart to map out a business process, but has the coding complexity to implement functional applications. Recently, I've had to force myself to work on stuff that isn't Teamworks, or I'd get nothing else done.
College football is crazy lately. All the conference realignment talk is keeping the off-season rather interesting, for sure. In case you haven't been keeping up: as of now, the Big 12 is down to 10 teams (Nebraska left for the Big Ten, Colorado for the Pac-10). Despite rumors of Texas, Tech, OU, and Okie State joining Colorado out west, these schools announced that they are staying in the Big 12 and will keep the conference going. I wouldn't doubt if this wasn't the end of it, though. I foresee 4 Super Conferences forming some time within next 3 or 4 years.
Not much else to say except that the Rangers only a couple of weeks out from the All-Star Break. Yeah, I know.
Into the darkness you shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There is no one like You
None like You
Run In Such A Way
Category: Running
I didn't really do New Years Resolutions this year, but ginni and I did decide to run a marathon in April. I'm also giving up sodas for the duration of the training (although that is mostly out of necessity, if I actually want to finish with a half-decent time - which I do). My original goal with this race was to qualify for the Boston Marathon. For those of you that do not know, I ran my last marathon in 2004 and finished with a time of around 4 hrs 16 min. To qualify for the Boston, being in the age group of 18-34, I must finish in under 3 hrs 10 min. That means I must cut off over an hour from my last marathon and average 7:15 per mile. We're in our third week of training and I'm struggled to run 8 miles on Saturday at around 10 min/mile. If my body doesn't start shaping up, I'm gonna have to try to run another marathon in December (with my dad) to qualify for the Boston. We'll see how it goes.
I went online the other day to look at my credit score, just out of curiosity. It reminded me of how far I've come with financial responsibility. I'm not sure why God gave me the job I have now, making the money I'm making and having a family to take care of like I do. When He gave me little ($7 / hr at PetSmart, all the way through $12 / hr at Frankenstein), I squandered it. I maxed out credit cards, paid rent late on a regular basis, and saved absolutely nothing. I took the one coin He gave me and gambled it away. Luckily for me, He entrusted me with more - and I learned. I'm still learning, in fact. I recently discovered www.Mint.com; it's a great (and free!) budgeting tool. ginni and I are able to make sure we are saving plenty, and giving plenty, without getting behind on bills or going hungry. And even with all that, I still get to play XBox or spontaneously buy Imma a new toy or whatever else, pretty much whenever I want to. The sun is shining down on me so far in 2010, so I say "Blessed be Your name."
I Can't Help It - I'm In Love
Category: Sappiness
- She is obsessed with LIFE cereal.
- She absolutely adores cute animals.
- She's, well, gorgeous.
- Twizzlers comfort her.
- She enjoys working on her ever-growing list of Name Songs.
- She accepts and loves me for who I am, not who I could become.
- Her mix CDs are awesome and she loves making them.
- She not only puts up with my obsession with sports (namely college football), she has made an effort to share in it.
- She sings when she's happy.
- Her piano playing skills are beyond impressive.
- She's a patient, understanding, and very effective teacher.
- If someone she loves is hurting, she puts her own problems aside to be there for them.
- She pushes me to be the man I want to be.
- Her kisses make everything better.
- She's an incredible writer with a creative mind and high standards for herself.
- Dachshunds make her happy.
- Her clothing style is eccentric and she is proud of that.
- She encourages me when I'm struggling in my spiritual life, even if she is struggling, too.
- She reminds me every day that some things do last forever.
- Her taste in music has opened me up to songs I never would have heard without her.
- Scrubs and 24 are her favorite shows, too.
- She is incredible at quoting movies, songs, tv shows, or friends and family.
- Journaling is a part of her daily life and has been for 8 years or so.
- She doesn't like many different kinds of foods, but she knows what she does like.
- She can lick her elbow and her nose.
- Normal names won't suffice for her - she wants to (someday) name our daughter "Story."
- She gives me hope for the future.
- Her online stalker skillz are crazy good.
- She loves looking at other people's wedding pictures.
- She's read every journal entry I've ever written and continues to look for ways to find out more about me.
- Her love for God is persistent. No matter what happens, no matter how much trouble seeps into our lives, how much doubt creeps into our minds, she continues to love Him.
- And the reason I fell in love with her in the first place: she has such a big heart. I cannot express here how much joy and sorrow she has felt for others. She loves until it hurts.
Leadership and Priorities
Category: Spirituality
I've recently been assigned Team Leader of the Setup Team at church. I am looking forward to this for many reasons. I love having a leadership position of some sort and feel like something is missing if I go too long without one. It means a lot to me that I would be selected for this position. I am feeling more and more a part of this church, and this just adds to that. Most of all, though, I've always felt like I grow the most when I am leading others. From as far back as being President of my Youth Group my senior year of high school to as recent as doing Sunday School lessons last winter for Woodcreek, I have consistently been more motivated to seek God and grow spiritually when I am leading and teaching others. Maybe it has to do with others relying on me or not wanting to be hypocritical. Regardless of the reason, I am looking forward to having that added motivation to my recently-lacking spiritual growth.
On a semi-related note, another thing that has been on my mind lately is priorities. I have asked ginni to help me spend my time in a way that actually reflects the things that are important to me. Some of the changes I'm making are to go to bed a little earlier and read (a book, some of ginni's old journals that I've been meaning to read for way too long, the Bible). Also, getting up early a few times a week and running. Running is a passion of mine, but you wouldn't know it based on the fact that I hadn't run for 5 months until last Friday. I am determined to make changes in my life so that you can tell what is important to me based on how I live my life, not just what I say.
A Husband's Responsibility to Grow Spiritually
Category: Spirituality
I've been married for 12 entire days now. As I adjust to living with ginni and married life in general, I am learning that every part of my life has been affected by our marriage. Spiritually, I've kinda just been on cruise control lately. And not the reading-my-bible-every-day-out-of-habit kind of cruise control. The if-I-don't-think-about-it-then-I-won't-feel-bad-for-not-doing-anything kind. I realized yesterday that this must change. I can't be content with complacency. I must find the motivation to grow - for her. I need to be the husband that I want her to have, and that involves spiritual leadership that I simply cannot provide in the state currently find myself. I must do better.
What does this involve? I'm not completely sure at the moment. But at the very least, I've taken the first step of recognizing that I need to grow. I hope I can find some motivation to keep up with spiritual disciplines over a long period of time, but for the time being, I've found enough to get started. My wife.
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