Back in the Saddle

What a month.  First of all, thanks to everyone who was praying for our family.  To catch up on past blogging, I thought that the best way to do this would be to post on everything at once so that I can completely catch up.  So here we go...

1. Family - Family is doing well.  Jamie's family is growing.  All three of the kids look so grown up.  And the new addition of Lucy (their dog) is quite a character.  Mom and Dad are doing well in Kansas and dad is really enjoying working at his new church.  It was great to see them all since Alli and I won't be able to see them this Christmas season.  I also was surprised to come home (to my old apartment which is now Chris' apartment) the first night I was there to find that Chris had proposed to Amelia (Alli's sister) and she said yes.  One step closer to having a new bro in the family.  I'm totally excited!  We even got to celebrate Amelia's birthday/engagement with Paul and Julia over lunch.  
2. Friends - Ah, the boys.  It was great to see them all.  Scott and I accomplished the trifecta...a couple of drinks at Starline, 7 tacos at Tacos De Tijuana, and then on to Foster's Donuts for our usual maple bars and blueberry sprinkles.  Needless to say, my stomach was doing back flips after that one.  The next day was great as well.  I got to see the latest addition to the Serus Victoria Baby Clan.  Quinn (JT's new baby boy) was beautiful.  JT and Ashley were very attentive and awesome parents.  We also got the entire gang together and had a blast at Edo-Ya, my favorite sushi place in Fresno.  It was fun, but I also began to realize how much I missed the guys and the band.
3. Church - Playing on Sunday and preparing for tonight's Worship Night has led to a very busy week.  I'll be sure to post pictures from the worship night.
4. Alli and Baby - Two weeks till we can find out the sex of the baby.  She's doing well and has yet to get sick.  We've been very lucky with the whole "no sickness" thing.  Hopefully that is a clue to a future easy birth.  I think it's a boy, but Alli thinks it's a girl.  I guess we'll see in a few weeks.
5. Music - Trudging along trying to write some new material.  Also trying to rewrite some lyrics for old songs.  It seems some of my old band mates think that the past few songs I have written have had some "cheesy" lyrics.  I'll see what I can do.  Currently I'm working on writing my first folk-ish song called "Senses of You."  I'll release it as soon as it's finished.
6. Soccer - Top four teams in the league are Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and (surprise surprise) Aston Villa.  Arsenal presently find themselves in fifth due to lack of consistent playing.  This weeks big games are the battle for Manchester (Man U vs Man City) and Chelsea vs Arsenal.  Should be a fun weekend.  Go Man U!
7. Stuff - This week marks the Oregon Civil War - Oregon State vs Oregon.  As silly as this sounds, people all around town are sporting their teams colors (Orange and Black or Green and Yellow).  Crazy Oregonians!
8. Lastly, Happy Thanksgiving!