Has it been that long?

Man, I guess the summer really got the best of me. Sorry for not keeping up with the posting, but I thought I should get back into it. Teaching, taking Masters courses, and being a family man takes a lot out of a guy. So...since I've been gone for a while, I'll catch you up quickly. School is going well. The new class is good, but filled with some characters. I just finished my fourth course in my Master's program. I'm holding steady with a 4.0. Alli is doing well at OHSU and Clark is turning into quite a little man. His vocabulary is growing like crazy. He's a little sponge that sucks up everything around him. He has started at a new day care and is having a blast. Music wise, I've been working with some friends at the church to record guitar and bass parts for some original music to share with the church. (Don't worry...I'll post it when it's done.) Lastly, our house is finally to the point of being close to completion (with home improvements). All that's left is to paint.

Once again, sorry to have neglected the blog for so long. Just to make it up to you, here is a cute picture of Clark in his fireman hat that he got from the fire fighters who talked at his day care.

Breaking News!

My wife is the bomb. After seeing my post, she replies, "Mal is the Han Solo that shoots first." Man, I love that woman!

Castle SPOILER!!!

I'm so glad Kate picked Mal instead of Anders! Mal Reynolds is the man. And Anders is a Cylon anyways, so doesn't that automatically count him out?

But I look really good in a flight suit! Kate has to pick me!

But I got a cool gun, I'm captain of my own ship, and I look really dashing and have Han Solo- like charm. I win.

Vanity Fair = UPS

For those that haven't seen the latest cover of Vanity Fair, prepare yourself. First, it's nice to see that Vanity Fair has taken an interest in soccer. With the World Cup right around the corner (Only 23 days till it begins!), every one is writing stories and editorials on the players and places. Enter Vanity Fair. Hot on the heals of Drogba being on Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World list, Vanity Fair chose to feature Drogba and Ronaldo on their front cover. It's great that the world is doing it's best to let us all know about the stars that will take center stage at the World Cup, but why to portray two of the best players in a total beefcake pose on the front cover is ridiculous. We already know that footy players have nice bodies, but to grease them up like Chip and Dale dancers and have them stand so close to each other that their pelvises are nearly touching is just gross. And it's not like these two need any other excuse to increase the size of their already ultra-inflated egos. Sure...Ladies will drool, but Vanity Fair might as well change their name to UPS because it seems they are trying to deliver Drogba's and Ronaldo's packages to the news stand of America.

To see the pic, click here.

We got bombed on!

Many people lately have been getting into the art of photo bombing. Photo bombing is when someone is taking a picture and you jump in in the background and make the most ridiculous face ever. Some friends and I at work even try to bomb on each other whenever pictures are taken. And finally...it happened me. My friend Sean was taking a picture of us. He snaps the photo and says, "That's the one. It's a keeper." In my excitement, I asked for the camera to see the perfect family photo and this is what I saw.

Thanks Clint. Just wait. You'll get yours!

Tenfold

It's funny how God can use situations to teach you lessons.

Rewind about 13 years ago. I was in my first band... a hardcore band we called Tenfold. We wanted to focus in on the fact that whatever you do, if done for Christ, he could take it and multiply it tenfold. We always dreamed of playing the huge venues and to thousands of fans that would be there to see us. Largest crowd we ever played for... a little over 100 people.

5 years later, in Serus Victoria, I dreamt of the same thing. Huge crowds. Large venues. 2 CDs and many shows later, the band ended when I left for Oregon. Largest crowd we ever played for...about 500.

Today, I am currently not in a band. I make music with my friend Travis at the church, but we do it for fun. I also play at Sunset on the worship team. I may not be writing a ton of music, but I play on a regular basis. In all honesty, I've lost the desire to NEED to make a name for myself in the music industry and am very content and happy that I am using my musical gifts for God's glory.

Flash forward to yesterday. Alli and I were sitting in our church service and she leaned over to show me something in the bulletin. I looked down to see what she was pointing at and, in awe, saw the total number of people who attended the Easter services (which I happened to play for). Total number...5,500. I couldn't believe it. Never in my entire life could I have ever imagined playing music for over 5,000 people.

I guess the name Tenfold was very appropriate if you think of it in comparison to SV's largest gig. All in all, it's good to be in God's plan using my gifts for His glory.

The Perfect Storm

So...I've been saving up sick days for when Clark would get sick and I would have to stay home with him. But today was a doozie. All three of us were sick today and me with the worst of it all. I used to laugh about how people with small children just pass it all around in a vicious cycle. It's completely true! On top of that, Oregon has chosen to act completely crazy and snow in late March. We all sat in the window the other night and were shocked to see it hail so much the ground was white. And all this after the most gorgeous weekend that got up to the 60 degree mark. I guess all of the planets have aligned and we all got the short end of the stick. Here's to hoping for warmer days, minus the sickness.

"That scared the hell out of me!"

"That scared the hell out of me!" a student said as I walked by him and his friend in the hallway at school. My first response was to correct the student to not say "hell" while he was at school, but the more I thought about this phrase, my brain kept taking me back to a special moment in my past.

When I was about 5 years old, we were living in the small town of Reedley, California. Dad was working as a youth pastor at the big Reedley MB church, and every Sunday we would go to church and listen to the pastor preach. In my 5 year old mind, the man was amazing. He knew everything in the Bible and never stopped talking about it. He would talk about the life of Jesus and the Ten Commandments. He also preached about things like heaven and hell. I didn't mind hearing about the heaven stuff, but hated listening to sermons where the topic was hell.

Anyways, the preacher must have been preaching something fierce about hell and suffering and being apart from God one night at church, and I started getting really scared. The whole drive home I sat in the back seat, my brain churning with terrible thoughts of the devil, with his pointy three-pronged pitch fork, waving at me from his fiery pit of damnation. It was "scaring the hell out of me", so much that when my mother was tucking me into bed I quickly blurted out, "What do you do if you don't want to go to hell?" My mom smiled, and right there told me about asking Jesus into my heart. It all made sense to me. Jesus = no hell. So that night, I accepted Jesus into my heart.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the best way to get people to come to Jesus is to scare them into a relationship with Christ, but I for one am glad the preacher used a little fire and brimstone talk to grease my wheels. It's just good to know I had "the hell scared out of me" on that late Sunday night in Reedley, California.

My Favorite Gift

It's no secret. I love Kung-Fu movies. Even more that that, I love Jackie Chan movies. Sure, getting movies for Christmas is fun, but you can only watch them so many times. But when someone gives you something that is completely unexpected, yet still relates to one of the things you love...those are the gifts to cherish. So imagine the look on my face when I unwrapped this.

Yep. That's right. It's Jackie Chan. A 12 inch movable doll that is one sixth the size of Jackie Chan himself (which really doesn't make sense considering he isn't 6 ft tall). He came with detachable sunglasses and jacket and can be molded into any position that you can think of. He now resides on the top of my desk, eagerly waiting to open a can of kung-fu hurt on any 4th grader who wants to pop some attitude. Watch out 4th grade! Here comes Jackie Chan!

Thanks, Mark!

In 2009, I...

Became a father,

Taught 4th grade for the third year in a row (my 9th year of teaching),

Got a new brother-in-law,

Wrote three songs, some blog posts, and my first (official) short story,

Enjoyed watching TV shows, including Burn Notice, Angel, Leverage, Castle, and the 9th season of Smallville,

Continued loving my wife for the 9th year in a row (6 years married),

Read The Lightening Thief, The Magicians Elephant, the ultimate guides to Superman and Conan, and more trade paperbacks than I can count (thank you, library!),

Rocked out on my guitar at Sunset Presbyterian Church,

and became an official dork by visiting the SciFi Museum in Seattle.