Last blog of 2008

Goodbye to the greatest year of all time... or at least a good year... or maybe just another year...

Anyways, I just wanted to get one more blog in before 2009.

I just went swimming in December. I'm in Pasadena with my family. We're going to the rose parade in 10 hours. (currently 10:17 PST) The pool was heated, but it's not cold in Southern California. Sunny and warm.

I think I may adopt my mom's idea for a new year's resolution as my own. Here's her idea: Eating out alphabetically in 09. How long does it normally take you and your friends to decide where to eat when you go out? This is the solution: As of tomorrow when I eat out I will do so alphabetically. My first restaurant in 09 will be a restaurant with an A for a name. Like Applebee's. Hopefully it won't be Applebee's. Second a B. Maybe Blackbear... and so on and so forth. Try out for yourself. It will make eating out more creative, and more decisive.

Goodbye 2008 hello 2009

Rose Parade

I'm in Oakley,CA right now in transit to Pasadena, CA for the New Year's Day Rose Parade. No, not the Rose Bowl, The Rose Parade. I know what you're thinking... David You're A Guy! Yes, I am a guy. However I wasn't invited to the Rose Bowl, I was invited to the Rose Parade... and I accepted. Aleah and I left Redding today and are at Bob and Susan's house. We're all headed down to Pasadena on Wednesday to say goodbye to 2008 and Hello to 2009. I'm looking forward to my quality time with 1-5. I hope to complete the alphabet game twice, and beating Aleah and 20 Questions.
The parade should be nice, I don't really know what to expect...Flowers?
Meanwhile, In Oakley I hope to see my friends Peter and Lauren Black. As well as the Olan brothers...

Blog's are a very tricky thing

Some of you may have noticed that it's been more than a week since my last post. I hope to post more frequently than this. I'd like you to know that I'm not happy with the infrequency either.

But here's what I've noticed:
I find that the busier I get, the more I have to blog about. But the problem is along with that, the busier I get, the less time I have to blog. It's a vicious cycle. I got plenty to blog about, but no time to blog. I almost want to wish for the opposite, but then I'd have a similar yet different problem. I'd have time to blog, but nothing to blog about. What's the solution here?

I find myself thinking, "oh, that was blog worthy! I'll have to blog about that." But then something else comes up that overshadows the last blog topic and so on and so on. I don't think I want to be a more than once a day blogger...Do I? I know I don't want to have an online diary either. I want to contribute to the greater blogosphere around me... But How? I can't be too nit-picky, hoping to write the best blog ever, every time I make a post. What's a guy to do?

Favorite Food...Pizza

As a kid 9 times out of 10 when the question was asked "what's your favorite food?" the answer would come back almost automatically... "PIZZA!!!"

Well when I was a kid I'd answer the question a litlle out of the box. My answer was always "CRAB!"

I love crab. Always have, always will. There's been a few times in my life where I've eaten so much crab I've made myself sick. (it was a long car ride home. Ask my parents)

Today I had the opportunity to eat crab. After a few miscommunications and a closed restaurant, my co-workers and I found ourselves at Redding's own Buz's Crab Shack. Est.1968 Todd and I decided to split a whole crab for lunch since it's in season and finally affordable. It was good. I honestly can't remember the last time that delicious meat graced my lips, but as soon as I tasted it i remembered my long lost familiar love.

My hunger was barely satisfied. When I saw in the paper that crab was on sale at Raley's for only 2.99lb I new what I had to do... Buy crab for dinner. And that's what I did. I bought two whole crabs for 15$. Big ones too. I thought that I'd make enough to share for me and Aleah plus Tim and Kalin. Tim and Kalin ended up not eating the crab with us so Aleah and I put down two big crabs by ourselves...probably not evenly split. I put down a lot for the team. I can't complain.

Crab's always been my favorite food, and at the rate I'm going it probably always will be.

From AOL to The Backyard: Addiction

My first internet experience was when I was in grade school, and my dad brought home our family's very first Home Computer. It was a Mac. The Screen was maybe 10 inches, and it was about the size of those double bag boxes of cereal from costco. It had a CD-rom drive that had an external case that you had to put the CD's into before the computer, unlike the trays that eject and slide back in today. It was a lot of fun, I could play oregon trail on it, and mario teaches typing. But the real attraction was AOL. The "internet" I don't remember it being much like the internet I imagine today. Everything was broken up into groups, and you searched by keyword, and maybe it was due to my youth, but there wasn't all that much worth remembering.

Fast forward more than 15 years and I'd say I've had my fair share of internet evolution. I've gone from Dial up to High speed to High speed wireless. I used to love hearing those squeeks and ringtones everytime we had to dial up onto the internet. The only downside of all those bells and whistles was the fact that if anyone needed to make a call or someone was trying to call us the phone was tied up. Those were funny times because we would only have a certain amount of time because we couldn't tie up the phone all night. It was really bad if anyone ever accidentally left the internet on without knowing, and you wouldn't know until you picked up the phone to make a call and you'd get the loud squeeling blowing out your eardrums. Some people (never me) got an additional phone line just for the computer, and other's bought programs that would show you on your computer if someone was trying to call.

Oh how we've progressed... Now-a-days we have high-speed DSL or Cable or T1 or what have you. It's almost as if we can't go without this blessed information highway. There's Wi-fi in coffee shops, Free internet at Hotels, Barnes and Noble, Libraries, restaurants, we get internet on our phones, and we even are offered free internet at McDonalds. Now you can throw the kids into the play pen, open up your laptop, and Web surf away. All that said, I too have grown a fondness to the internet, and I'm realizing it's maybe even more....

Maybe you all can relate to this: I think I'm addicted to the internet. Addiction was described, online of all places, as an illness where a person seeks and consumes a substance. Here's where I'm going on this... if I can't find the internet I go looking for it. I don't feel good enough if it's not available. I'd automatically choose a hotel room that offers internet over one that doesn't. The same with coffee shops. What good is a coffee shop if it doesn't have internet. I pay money to have it on my phone. I've payed money to have it in my house. I'm addicted to the internet. She's grabbed a hold of me and she's not letting go....

To wrap it all up, I've realized this due to my present situation. In order to type this very blog I had to search my house for a wireless signal. We don't have the internet at our house presently and so if I want my fix I have to crawl around like a starving dog looking for scraps... and scraps I have found. The good news is after 5-10 minutes of earnest seeking I've found a hot spot. Yes that's right. Full bars. Full to the top. No bad signal here... The Bad NEWS: it's outside on the back porch. Currently at 12:30 in the afternoon it's not too bad. The sun's out, and the air is cool. Let's just hope the weather stays on my side and allows this addiction of mine to go on a little longer.

If you feel addicted, let me know. We can start a support group.

Matthew 6:24-34

This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. It contains a great promise that I often overlook. As Jesus gives The Sermon on The Mount he adds this encouragement: 

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the Birds of the air... consider the lilies of the field... Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you... But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Day to day it is a struggle to remember and stand firm in our faith in the promises that God has for us. It's a shame that we forget some of this stuff though. I have to ask myself, "How often do I look right through these things, and get caught up within myself?" Unfortunately, I think the answer to the previous question would be all-to-often. It's hard to trust God. No false expectations here... IT'S TOUGH! 

At different times though it seems circumstances or other outside forces help my perspectives to see much more clearly the God's grace in my life.

With Thanksgiving behind us, I'd still consider thankfulness relevant. It doesn't have to be the 4th thursday of November for me to share what I'm greatly thankful for:

I recently have moved again, and No, it wasn't because a roommate got married. (Surprisingly!) I was given a great opportunity to live with some friends of mine for a great economic bail-out. Not only am I living in a wonderful house with great people, but on top of all that, I'm living in Redding for the cheapest I've ever paid for rent in the last 5 years. (It may have been slightly cheaper sharing a two bedroom apartment at the Manzanita Manor with Zach, Scott, and Gabe, but none should live in that small of quarters with three other guys. Unless your 19 and you make 400 dollars a month, and you promise to never run the AC. Ask Scott about the frosty mug) 

That said, I know that God has unlimited and infinite blessings for me. It's great when you can see it clearly in tangible ways like provision for a place to call home. I am so undeserving and yet daily, hourly, minutely God is lavishing his grace on me in so many unnoticeable ways. I hope to not let the busyness of my life and the constant static noise of our society cover up the abundance of God's Grace revealed to me. 

I hope you all know the Greatness of God's grace in your life. I hope for you that you find yourself in the occasions where you can see His grace, love, promise and provision with great clarity.

Two Turkeys-5 Shotguns-47 People

Thus was my thanksgiving at my Grandpa's house this year. The day was filled with food, family, and fun. I didn't even know I was related to that many people. At 12:00 when we sat down for lunch there was 47 people ready to eat. Only two people weren't somehow related to me, and they were invited by my grandpa thanksgiving morning, when he met them at Perko's. 

The food was good. Typical thanksgiving meal. I really enjoyed it. I like how in my later years of life I've finally been able to relate and converse with my more distant relatives. I've always been the youngest of all my family on both sides. So while the grown ups were talking I was always at the kiddie table. Now, there's a whole other generation at the kid's table, and I get to join the grown ups. It seems weird that at 23 I'm finally getting to know some of my family members, but it's still a lot of fun. My family has personality.

The highlight of the day was shooting guns. In the last five years it's almost become a thanksgiving day tradition to pull out the shotguns and clay pigeons and shoot the afternoon away. I can't complain. I've realized that the last five years of mine lived in Redding, has really taken it's toll on me. I'm becoming more and more like the great North-State-ians that I daily find myself surrounded by. I like Guns! They're fun to shoot. I haven't killed anything yet, except for birds with a pellet gun, but who knows what the future holds. Especially if I stay in Redding. I don't fish, because it just ticks me off to sit there so long. But maybe someday I'll have some ghostly deer head on my wall in my den, next to my poster of Dale Jr. 

Thanksgiving was fun. Frankly I think we should have it two times a year. It's the same a Christmas minus the pressure of gifts. The food's great. The family is fun. Right now I only see them once a year. Twice wouldn't hurt. Plus I could afford spending some more time developing my shot.

I hope everyone's thanksgiving was great.

HDTV's

I don't know about you but I find myself fascinated with High Definition. Ever since I walked in to Best Buy some while ago and saw Pirates of The Caribbean in Full HD via Blue Ray, I've thought to myself that someday I'd sure love to have a life like picture of Orlando Bloom in the comfort of my own home. 

Maybe it's the technology, maybe it's the colors... Maybe it's the fact that I really enjoy watching movies. Whatever it is I think having an HDTV would be neat. Did you know that you can watch TV with a pair of an old rabbit ear anntena in High Definition? It's true. Could you imagine, every monday Heroes in HD... Mind Blowing. Even Better LOST in HD... Senses overload! 

I like having new gadgets, and I like having the best. But if you've spent time with me you'd probably notice that I'm frugal about many things. I don't like to waste money. I usually buy cheap in almost all categories of my life: Clothes, food, my car, I only go to matinée movies, etc. I don't like to waste money on silly things. 

But, if I do buy something nice, I want it to be the nicest. Guitars for example: I own an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar. Their combined list price total: $5500

Another Example: I'd much rather spend $2000 dollars on a Mac than spend $500 on a Dell.

I've been doing a good amount of research, and I feel like It's almost time to pull the trigger on making a purchase of an HDTV. I just got done with a three hour drive from Redding to Oakley and I spent a good amount of time looking at different TV's. It may have been dangerous to be driving and on my phone at the same time, but alas another example of money well spent: The iPhone. It's a beautiful thing, to be driving and at the same time shopping for different TV's online. 

But let me wrap this up by saying I'm still open to wisdom regarding HDTV's. If you have any advice, let me know. If you have any insiders information, let me in on the scoop. Know of any good after Thanksgiving day sales? Any Recommendations?

The Glass is only half full:

This past Tuesday marked the ending of a very enjoyable, educational, and challenging Bible Study. The book was Jeremiah, and Dr. Glen Schaefer plowed through it. For those of you who don't know Dr. Schaefer, let me sum him up by saying he's the real deal. Not only has he been an Old Testament Bible teacher for Simpson college since the first world war (mild exaggeration for dramatic purposes), he also helped translate The New King James Version of the Bible. The proof's in the pudding. "Dr. Schaefer's the Real Deal!" Simply put, the guy knows what he's talking about.

That Said, the past 8 weeks has been an exhaustive discussion: We've Discussed the historical background of the times and setting of which during Jeremiah, who arguably may have used his scribe Baruch, wrote and recorded his accounts. We've looked at God's relationship with the isrealites,during this specific time and his Love/Frustrated relationship with them. Babylonian Exile, Destruction of Solomon's Temple, and so on and so forth. Etc, Etc. I've learned more than I can remember...

The greatest thing I learned is that I don't know half of what Dr. Schaefer knows. Granted he has a many more year of walking this green earth under his belt, but there's nothing different about him. He doesn't have an inside track with God or the Bible. He's an ordinary man with an ordinary background. 10 fingers 10 toes. It's a humbling and challenging relationship. For me I can only think to myself that I'm mildly embarassed to know so little when I have all of this information at my fingertips. I don't lack the brain power, or the capability to learn, I simply lack the drive.

The Challenge: Do I lack the Drive to know my God, who sent his son to pay the ransom for our sin. Do I think I know enough about the intricacies of God's Holy Scripture/Word/Bible that he freely has given us. I can read...

It's humbling every time I get the reality checks that remind me I don't have it all figured out and I don't know everything.

My Goal: is to know God more. I need and want to study The Bible much more earnestly than I ever have. I really want to take Bible/Theology classes.

This may be too much of a rambling... If you didn't even make it here (the end) I apologize. But I think it's super important for those of us who are Christians to know where we're coming from, and why we think and believe all the different stuff that we do.

in the words of one of the greatest songs of all time... "Ya'll ready for this?"

2 Unlimited is the band, and the songs actually titled "Get Ready For This" if you want watch the video. It's my theme song. I can't believe people don't realize how influential the 90's were. One day we'll look back and say "Thank You 90's... Thank You Very Much!"

But the point of this whole thing is to say that I'm on my way Back. "My way back to what," you might ask. My way back to Blogging. Ya'll better get ready for this! It's been a journey, but a road worth traveled. This is now my third attempt on this very same blog. And for those of you who remember the good ole days, I'd encourage you to take a look back at some of my old blogs and enjoy the nostalgia. 

For those of you new to my blog feel free to take a look back. Let me for warn you and say that when I started this thing I was at a much different point in my life. I was an unhappy 19 year old. Sad and confused. That said, there's two uses of the "S" word. I apologize to those who may be offended. That's not me. It was me, but not any more.

It feels good to be back. For the last 2 years I've been a blog parasite. I've latched on to the faithful bloggers of this world and taken taken taken. And I've never given anything back. I've never felt to distant because of it. I've enjoyed staying in touch through these perhaps too public diaries, and I'm now ready to make my contribution. It'll take a while to gain your trust, but I'm in it for the long hall.