2/28/2006

"Community Development Specialist"

I was at a meeting last night when a friend said something about my wife that really made me think. The meeting was a strategic planning / brainstorming session on a variety of topics - one of which was "community." It was discussed how many of us remain aloof by staying out of close personal relationships with those around us. Instead we settle for "acquaintances" rather than "meaningful friendships."

This led into a discussion on how one would go about changing this damaging mindset so many of us fall into. Someone said, "We need to be more intentional about setting aside time or setting up events/gatherings to create the environment in which meaningful relationships can occur."

And that's when one of our friends said,
"I think Tammy (my wife) does a great job at this. She is intentional about getting her circle of friends together on a regular basis. She is good at finding reasons for getting together and pushes us to break our cyclical routines to make it happen."
At first I just nodded in agreement, but quickly zoned out of the conversation as the weight of her statement hit me full force.

I began to think of all the times Tammy has gone out of her way to set up the "weekly gathering" (that we refuse to define as a small group). She has been the catalyst for trips to Willow Creek, Couples Nights Out and plans for yearly events like the Superbowl and New Years Eve gatherings.

In fact, tonight is a perfect example: After work we're going out with another couple (minus our kids) because of her quick thinking and last minute babysitter-acquisition-heroics.

I am truly blessed to be married to such an inspiring woman! One that goes out of her way to create this type of "community" for our family and circle of friends.

Thanks Hon,

2/19/2006

Male Bonding

Tyler and I got to stay home tonight and do some male bonding. We ate pizza (can you tell?), played with Hot Wheels cars, watched curling (kind of a girly sport - though it's called a sport so I think we're ok) and Tyler made me put a pair of the girls sunglasses on him at least 50 times so he could go look at himself in the mirror.

We had fun and that's all that matters...

2/18/2006

Chicken Limbo



So Tammy thought it would be a good idea to purchase another toy that makes an incredible obnoxious noise. In this case - Chicken Limbo. But as you can see, it went over well. Allison and Rachel played with it for over an hour and Tyler even walked under it a few times - though he freaked out every time it fell over or came close to following over...

Apologies All Around

Well, I think things are finally back to normal. I successfully uploaded the flash video clips to the new website so they should all be available again. You remember - those unforgettable clips like:

We'll try to get back into the swing of taking video and putting it on the blog now that it's working again...

Cheers!

2/16/2006

MYLAMESEXLIFE.COM

Yes, you read that right. It says what you think it says. Go ahead, go to the website and check it out. I know you will love it and you know why I know that, because my awesome, talented, sexy husband developed the flash movie that you see. He worked with a team of people who came up with the pictures, the text and the music but he was the one who put it all together. Yes, he is a rock star I know and I am lucky enough to be married to him. If I say so myself it is AWESOME!
I have to tell you it took him hours and hours of work and there were moments that I thought "is this really worth all the time it is taking him", but boy is it ever. Not only did he have a ton of fun creating this, but I cannot wait to see the impact it has on the people in this community. I am so proud to be part of a church that is not afraid to talk about sex and the many other difficult issues we face while trying to maneuver through this thing called life. There is no other place that I would rather call my church than Granger Community Church. I cannot wait to see how people are impacted by this series, I know it is going to change many people's lives and I feel so privileged to be a part of it.
In case you were wondering, the picture is a billboard that is up in 4 different spots in the community. It is creating a lot of buzz with all the major TV stations doing segments on it and some radio stations even talking about it. If you want to read what some others are saying about it read here, here, here, and here.
So if you are in town on Saturday February 25 come to church with us and learn how to have the best sex ever. We will save you a seat.

2/11/2006

Bless This Mess


So I started a little project last weekend - meant to help us sell our house. The bathroom is the main problem area in the house due to a small miscalculation on our part...

When we bought the house we repainted, and silly me thought it would be no big deal to use regular house paint in the bathroom. However, with no fan in there and the constant humidity, it became a breeding ground for nasty stuff (mold & mildew). We are constantly washing, bleaching and disinfecting to keep it looking presentable.

So this project was me fixing the problem by repainting with "Kitchen & Bath" specific paint (mold & mildew resistant - imagine that...).

The first picture is the mess I created in our bedroom while completing the project (Super Bowl Sunday, the Monday after and still not done). I have the ceiling to finish, the closet doors and caulking around the bathtub. Then I should be done...

Tyler did his best to help out by taking all the toilet paper off the roll so I could wipe up paint spills...

2/10/2006

It Is That Time Again

Yes, it is that time again. Time for the winter Olympics to begin, 30 minutes and counting. I have been waiting all week for today. Everytime the Olympics are on Daryl and I spend way too much time in front of the TV. We basically put everything on hold for a few weeks and we spend every waking moment taking in as much as we can. I don't know what it is about the Olympics but I just love watching them. I can remember sitting in my dorm room in college watching the winter Olympics with my friends. We were watching ice skating and hoping that certain people would fall, so our favorites could take home the medals!
There is just something that happens to me as I watch Americans take home the gold and stand on the platform listening to our anthem play, it literally brings tears to my eyes sometimes. I think about how hard that athlete has worked for years and years to get to that point and then they get to stand in front of the world knowing all that hard work has paid off and knowing they are the best in the world. I cannot even imagine what that feels like! It makes me think about what it will be like to stand in front of God someday and hear Him say "Well done good and faithful servant", all your hard work has paid off and now you get to spend eternity with Me. What an awesome God we have!

Here we come Torino, Go USA!!!!!

2/04/2006

It Has Begun

The process has begun. It is a little nerve wracking, a little scary, very time consuming, but will be worth it all in the end. By the end of this month our plan is to have our house on the market. Yes, there will be a for sale sign in our front yard. YIKES!!!
I have spent the last month going through our house room by room purging and getting down to basics. This weekend the bathroom will be re-painted along with some touch up painting being done throughout the house. After that I plan to do a good cleaning, washing walls, pulling the bed out from against the wall and vacuuming, washing baseboards, etc. Let me tell you I am so not looking forward to that, cleaning is one of those things that I don't care too much for. After all that is done then the fun will be begin.
We have already met with Leah Hudson from Century 21 and she is getting the for sale sign ready as we speak. I have to say the whole process is a little scary. So many questions run through my head. How long will it take to sell the house? Will people like our house? Can I keep it "show ready"? Will we find a new house that we like? Will we be in our new house by the time Allison starts school? If we aren't then what do we do? These are just a few of the questions that run through my head almost everyday. The only reason we are moving is to get Allison into the PHM school system. I grew up in that system and have always said my kids will do the same and now that Allison will be in Kindergarten in the fall it is time to move.
It would be a lot easier to just stay in our house, it is big enough and all of our stuff is already here, but our priority is our children's education. I have always said I would move into a smaller house if that is what it took to get our children the education they deserve. The funny thing is that I never thought I would be as picky as I am about what elementary school they end up in, but hey my kids are going to have do well in school so that they can take care of me some day right :)
So here we come Granger or Mishawaka, the next 6 months should be interesting. I will keep you posted.