tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-150107962024-03-14T00:11:33.662-05:00The ChaseAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.comBlogger466125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-5097788063659421172017-04-20T20:22:00.001-05:002017-04-20T20:22:46.222-05:00Four Ways to Ruin Any Social Situation<div class="MsoNormal">
We all have a friend that always seems to know the right
move in any social situation. This person handles every tense or awkward
situation with grace and never seems flustered. I am not that person. Over the
years I have found ways to mess up all kinds of social situations. I am able to
create the following list of ways to ruin a social situation because I have
done all of them:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1. <b>Telling people how
you would have handled a stressful situation better than they did. <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Right after college I was working at a group home and after
four months switched from one group of residents to another. On my first day
with this new group one of the residents sent me to the Emergency Room. The
injuries wasn't serious but it was painful. The next day when I was back at
work, two of my co-workers told me in great detail all of the ways that I
mishandled the situation and how they would have done better if they had been there.
As you might imagine, the conversation did not make me feel better about what
happened. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nothing good comes from telling someone how to handle a
situation after the fact. The truth is that you have no idea how you would have
responded because you were not there. Mike Tyson said that everyone has a plan
until they get hit. In a crisis some people rise to the occasion and others
freeze up. It is impossible to predict how things will go and sometimes the
biggest talkers come up short in the moment. The best response in this
situation is to listen and be empathetic. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2. <b>Offering
unsolicited negative opinions.</b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I while back I was in the break room at work talking to a
co-worker over lunch. I had just finished telling her how much fun I was having
reading The Chronicles of Narnia books to my children when another co-worker
came in. She looked at us and declared how she thought that those books are
awful and boring. I haven't had many conversations with that co-worker since
that day. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I come from a long line of people who are free with their
opinions, no matter the situation, and it has taken me a long to time learn
when to keep my opinion to myself. When someone expresses that they enjoy
something, telling them that you don't like it serves no useful purpose. There
are times when you can playfully poke fun at something someone likes, like
their taste in music or favorite football team, but sometimes the things people
like are a part of who they are, so tread carefully. Like your Momma said, if
you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3. <b>One-upping other
people. <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imagine that someone is telling a group of co-workers how
she ran her first marathon over the weekend and what the experience was like.
Suddenly another co-worker jumps in and says "I've run two marathons this
year already." Then he describes each one in great detail while the woman
who was so excited about her experience watches in silence. She has just been
one-upped. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are two kinds of one-uppers. The first just wants to
be a part of the conversation. They don't mean to overshadow the person sharing
and it's more of an accident. The second wants everything to be about them.
It's important that everyone know how cool they are and they don't care if it's
at someone else's expense. I have been both kinds of one-upper and I cringe
every time I think about it. When someone is sharing something important or
special, it's best to be quiet, listen, and let them have their moment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4. <b>Being constantly
offended.</b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To clarify, there is a time and place for taking offense. I
see red when someone makes fun of people with disabilities. My brother has
developmental delays and I have no tolerance for it. Sometimes, though, I need
to back up and look at intent. There are times when people say offensive things
but they are not trying to be mean. They just might not understand. A number of
years ago I used the phrase "beat the tar out of him" when describing
a play in a football game. My friend Thomas gently informed me of the history
of that phrase and how it is offensive to our African-American friends. I was embarrassed
but grateful to Thomas for pointing it out. He could have been offended and
called me out for using a racist phrase but he knew me well enough to know that
I meant no offense. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In many situations we should be like Thomas and give people
a chance to understand things before we automatically take offense. Of course,
that does not mean that we should remain silent when someone says something
truly awful, but to first consider someone's character and intent before speaking
up. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wish I was a master of all social situations but, alas, I
am not. I ruin less of them than I used to, so I consider that progress. </div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-9432183694539556152017-03-30T20:42:00.001-05:002017-03-30T20:42:32.431-05:00Pathways to Success: Having an Owner's Mentality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRCdOwPdtm9EygmIBy40wF4-WA1fnTJLCIfv28Igt__Ok53cpzySe60HxDxOoYwkIA9Vj9kK7WmTtiomVokREXWyzHsUxsK9cLmCxsWadhbAaS_4LvqvB9y3pFotF5zminGNmJA/s1600/kermit-the-frog-drinking-tea-the-moment-when-you-start-to-think-like-an-owner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRCdOwPdtm9EygmIBy40wF4-WA1fnTJLCIfv28Igt__Ok53cpzySe60HxDxOoYwkIA9Vj9kK7WmTtiomVokREXWyzHsUxsK9cLmCxsWadhbAaS_4LvqvB9y3pFotF5zminGNmJA/s320/kermit-the-frog-drinking-tea-the-moment-when-you-start-to-think-like-an-owner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For ten years my wife and I owned a duplex. It was . . .
challenging. Not everyone is cut out to be a landlord and that included us.
However, it was a learning experience. Owners and renters have a different way
of thinking. Even great renters don't have the same stake in the property as
owners and therefore they don't take care of the property as well. This concept
works with managers and employees as well. Motivated employees think like
owners.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are five ideas for ordinary employees to think like an
owner and see their candle shine brighter. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1. Owners don't say "that's not my job."</b> I read a
story a year or so ago about John Elway, former Hall of Fame quarterback for
the Denver Broncos and now the General Manager of the team. He and two members
of the team's management were about to leave for the day when one of them
noticed several boxes of t-shirts that needed to be sorted and put on tables
for an event in the morning. One of the managers started to call one of the
administrative assistants to come in and sort the shirts but Elway stopped him
and said, "no, let's just take care of it right now." The three of
them sorted the shirts and let the administrative assistants leave for the day.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good owners are not afraid to get their hands dirty and work
alongside their people. Good owners pitch in when needed. When employees act
like an owner, they take on the less glorious jobs when they need to be done.
They take out the trash, answer phones, and empty the dishwasher in the break
room. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2. Owners don't watch the clock.</b> This does not mean
following the example of Yahoo's CEO, Marissa Meyer, who is famous for putting
in 130 hour work weeks. That's ridiculous and unproductive. It means being
willing to put in extra time when needed and not expect anything in return.
There are times when a large project
needs to be completed or there is a big event and good owners dig in to get it
done. Sadly, there are many employers that are takers and will suck the life
out of their best employees, so there is a converse to this. Good owners also
don't work themselves to the bone. They take time to recharge and ensure that
they have something to give. Watching the clock goes both ways. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3. Owners pay attention to the tiny details.</b> When we owned
the duplex, I spent much of my time picking up garbage, painting, pulling
weeds, and fixing screens. It was someone's home and I wanted it to feel like a
home. Owners know that the tiny details count. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>4. Owners move like a shark.</b> Some sharks have to keep moving
or they will die. Owners are always moving. They are always looking for
something that needs to be done. Six
years ago my wife and I were trying to stay afloat with a toddler and infant
twins. She would constantly remind me to move like a shark. There was always a
bottle to be washed or clothes to be folded or a diaper to be changed. If we
did not stay on top of it, we would get less sleep, which was our most valued
commodity. When an employee is thinking like an owner, he or she never stops
moving but keeps a constant eye out for projects to be done to keep the
business or organization running.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>5. Owners anticipate needs.</b> As a landlord, when a tenant
moved out, there was a lot of uncertainty. I would walk through every room with
a notebook and write down the broken screens, holes in the wall, and every
surface that needed to be cleaned. I knew that I would need to paint, fix
screens, and clean, so I always had what I needed for those tasks with me when
I arrived. I would almost always need a trip to the hardware store for the unexpected
items like broken doors and cracked floor tiles. It was impossible to
anticipate everything but I would make it much easier on myself by thinking it
through beforehand and preparing my supplies properly. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much of this comes from experience and once that experience
is earned, an employee who thinks like an owner can start making everyone's life
easier by anticipating the organization's needs. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are two final items to be covered on this topic. The
first is some managers seem to go out of their way to demotivate employees. If
you read a "how to be a terrible boss" list that is popular on
LinkedIn, it would look like a how to list for these managers. These insecure
managers suck the life out of their employees and make it so much harder to
care about their work. Kudos to the employees that can still think like an
owner in those conditions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second item is that I want to clarify that I do not have
this all figured out. Every day I work at having an owners mentality at my job.
This is something I aspire to but have not figured it all out yet. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-65768767367714009052017-03-21T20:53:00.001-05:002017-03-21T20:53:45.346-05:00Five Thing You Learn When You Are Colorblind<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnIhdGqZyreveWbU36redeDErZdONdVtOBeImP01Vj3YzF7Y-kMEQk495n9-uDGzbfiO22mOalxjcWNfbMCy02GcmU7d5ShMKHwyAf6hKd9Gry5we4cZ5wnmCCvxijis9xiWYmbA/s1600/im-going-to-need-you-to-tell-me-what-color-that-is.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnIhdGqZyreveWbU36redeDErZdONdVtOBeImP01Vj3YzF7Y-kMEQk495n9-uDGzbfiO22mOalxjcWNfbMCy02GcmU7d5ShMKHwyAf6hKd9Gry5we4cZ5wnmCCvxijis9xiWYmbA/s320/im-going-to-need-you-to-tell-me-what-color-that-is.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As far as disabilities go, there are many that are far, far
worse than being born with colorblindness. It falls mainly on the level of
annoyance but it does change how one lives life. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of nine males are born with a form of colorblindness and
there are many different kinds of colorblindness. The two types of color
blindness are red/green and yellow/green. They are exactly what they sound
like, which is the inability to see colors on those spectrums. Yellow/green is
less common and also less severe. Red/green is more common and tends to be more
severe. Even within the types of colorblindness are subgroups, where a person
can't see different types of red and green. My particular colorblindness is on the
violet scale, which is the most unique type of red/green. The rarest form of colorblindness is when
someone has both types, called monochromacy. That is true colorblindness, like
watching television on a black and white set, and anyone with that is not
allowed to drive a car in the United States. If you put two colorblind men in
the same room, chances are that they would see color differently from the other.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Colorblindness in women is extremely rare but, strangely
enough, the genetic trait comes through mothers. I have three sons who are not
colorblind while one of my sisters has two sons who are both colorblind and another
sister has one son who is not. If Agnes has a son, it is probable that he would
be colorblind. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here are five things I have learned going through life with colorblindness.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>1.</b> I have been answering the same question over and over
again my entire life. When I tell someone I am colorblind, before they can
respond, I always tell them the same exact thing. I say "I am red/green
colorblind. That means I cannot see all of the colors on the red/green
spectrum. It's not like I see the world like a black and white television, I
just can't see certain colors. It's kind of like you have the box of 64 crayons
and I only have 12." Every single time, the person looks at me for a
moment then points at an object and asks "what color is that?" I then
give the same response I always give, "It's (whatever color), I can see
colors, just not all of them. If I can't see
a color, I don't always know I can't see it." Then they always
pause and point at another object and ask "so what color is that?" At
that point I usually say "it's (whatever color), I think. I don't actually
know." That is usually enough to satisfy them and the conversation moves
on. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>2.</b> Some careers are unavailable to people who are colorblind.
I have a friend who joined the Army and his colorblindness meant that he could
be a medic or a Chaplain's Assistant, but all the other jobs were unavailable
to him. I cannot be an electrician or graphic designer. Working in a clothing
store would be challenging. In some cities I could be a police officer and in
others I couldn't. I can never be a commercial or military pilot. With help
from technology, people with colorblindness can be housepainters but they still
have to be careful not to mix up the colors. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>3.</b> I cannot match clothes and that has led to interesting
responses from people. Usually someone would say something like," that's
an interesting color combination." Then I would have to explain that I am
colorblind and have the conversation laid in point #1. Before I got married I
had to rely on roommates for help. I would often ask friends or relatives to
show me clothing combinations that worked and I did not stray from them. Much
of my wardrobe was black and grey. If I needed to dress up, I wore a white
shirt with a tie so that I wouldn't have to worry about it. One time in college
I was eating lunch with a group of friends and one of them commented on my pink
shirt. I asked what he was talking about since I was wearing a white shirt.
Everyone at the table then told me that it really was a pink shirt. I had been
wearing it regularly for quite a while without knowing it was pink. Whenever I
talk to someone else with colorblindness, they almost always tell me that something
similar happened to them. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>4.</b> I ask for help a lot. I used to remind my friends that I
am colorblind and if they see me wearing a bad color combination, they should
tell me and not worry about offending me. I often ask sales people at a store
what color something is before I buy it. The only downfall of that is having to
start the "what color is this?" conversation. Any time something is
color coded I have to ask for help, even if I am pretty sure I know what color
it is. After a few mistakes, I've learned to just ask. It's humbling to ask for
help for something that most children can do with ease. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>5.</b> The frustrating part of being colorblind is not knowing
when I don't know something. Since I have never seen the colors that I can't
see, I don't know when I make a mistake with colors. The stakes are pretty low
and I have found ways to cope but sometimes I wonder what I am missing. I have
heard about glasses with special lenses that fix certain kinds of
colorblindness but since my kind is so rare, I doubt they would work for me.
Maybe someday I will try them then write an article about it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That is my experience with colorblindness. If you have a
friend that is colorblind and he's wearing a strange color combination, now you
know why. Unless he's a hipster and then all bets are off. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-24016911398935071902017-02-13T21:05:00.000-06:002017-02-13T21:05:38.494-06:003 Aspects of Public Speaking I Did Not Learn in School<div class="MsoNormal">
In ninth grade I had to give a speech in English class and I
was terrified. I vividly remember being too nervous to take off my jean jacket
and wearing my old glasses because I'd lost a contact lens the day before. I
knew that public speaking was a skill that I must someday learn so my Junior
year of high school I joined the speech team. My first speech was a disaster. I
was so anxious that I didn't eat anything all day and when I gave my first
speech my cheek twitched uncontrollably the entire time. Over time I got
better. I participated in competitive speech for two years in high school and
three years in college. In fact, I have a Bachelor's Degree in Communications. <br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After all these years I realized that there were some vital parts
of public speaking that I did not learn in school. I am going to look at three
of them now.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First, I did not learn any tricks for calming my nerves. In
that first speech class in high school we did activities that put us in front
of the class and that was helpful, but I did not learn how to calm my nerves
before a speech. There are a lot of tricks public speakers use but I cannot
remember being taught any of them. The following are some examples:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Arriving early and scoping out the venue. Go to
where you'll be speaking and stand there for a minute. It won't seem unfamiliar
when you get up to speak.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Looking at a fixed point in the room when you
start speaking and then looking around at the crowd once you feel more
comfortable.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Knowing what to do with your hands. This is
where you have to plan beforehand. Deciding what to do with your hands before
you start speaking is essential. If I was speaking behind a podium, I would put
my hands on it until my nerves calmed down. If there was nothing to stand
behind, holding a microphone with both hands was helpful. Also, holding the microphone
with one hand and putting a thumb in my pocket worked for me. Standing and absentmindedly moving your hands
around is a distraction to the crowd.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Wear clothes that make you feel more confident.
When you are confident in how you look, that is one less thing to worry about.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">If you cannot have notes, write the key points
of the speech on an index card and put it in your pocket. That way if you
freeze, you can look at the card and get your bearings again.</span></li>
</ul>
Second, I did not learn how to craft a story. My greatest
strength as a public speaker is storytelling. Telling a good story in an art
and a truly great story is crafted before it is told.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br />
<ul>
<li> Stories are a great way to start speech since it
usually makes the speaker feel more comfortable and people love a good story.
One effective trick is to start with a story but don't finish it until the end
of the speech. At an important moment, cut away to something else but return to
finish it at the end.</li>
<li> The first line is essential. "In the hole
in the ground lived a Hobbit." JRR Tolkien's classic story starts with a
great line. A good opening line catches the audience's attention and opens them
up to trusting you to keep their attention.</li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Next, the story must have some details but not
too many. My tendency has always been to include too many details. A few tiny
details make a story feel more real but momentum is more important than
details. Details build trust but too many details bore the audience.</span></li>
<li> The conclusion of the story is what our audience
will remember. If it's a funny story, don't laugh yourself. Never laugh at your
own jokes. Pause for laughs and then continue with the speech. If it's a
serious story, the same rule applies. Pause to let it sink in, then move on.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, I was not taught how to deal with frowns in the
audience. In almost every crowd I've spoken to there has been someone who
seemed to give me a negative response. It's unnerving. I would get rattled by
one person who looked unhappy even if the rest of the room was engaged. Over
the years I have learned several things about a negative response. </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: symbol;"> </span>The person in the audience may be genuinely
unhappy but it has nothing to do with you. They could have just received bad
news or dealing with a difficult situation. The person may have great interest
in what you have to say but cannot get past their current circumstance.</span></li>
<li> Someone might be frowning because they are
intensely processing what you have to say. It's hard to discern when someone is
reacting like that.</li>
<li> Some people have what my wife calls
"resting crabby face". They might be sitting and thinking about
something they enjoy but their face looks like they are unhappy. They are not
intentionally frowning but they give that appearance. That person might be
enjoying your speech but giving the opposite impression.<span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> If someone is falling asleep during your speech,
you might feel like they are disinterested in your speech, but may not be the case. Through my years of untreated Sleep
Apnea I fell asleep listening to many speakers despite great interest in what
they had to say. I'm sure some of them thought I was rude but I couldn't help
it.</span><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Some people may not like you for reasons out of
your control. They may dislike you for your race, gender, appearance, or
something you represent. They may be angry at something you said or for
something they perceived you said. It doesn't matter how benign your subject
matter may be, some people just need find something they dislike and dwell on
it. No matter how hard you try, you will not win them over. The tendency is to try
and win them over at the expense of the rest of the crowd. The sad reality is
that anyone who engages in public speaking needs to learn how to accept the
small percentage of people who don't like you and focus on the large group that
does.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don't mean to degrade the educators in high school and
college that worked with me as I learned to speak to groups. I learned so much
and will always be grateful them. My hope is that my children will learn some
of these things earlier than I did and surpass me as a public speaker. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-9277809815864327602016-07-31T14:22:00.002-05:002016-07-31T14:22:54.791-05:00A money saving trick - the Ed Grazier Ten Year Plan<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There are lots of tips and tricks for saving money, some
good and some bad. One trick </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
that I like is the Ed Grazier Ten Year Plan. Who is Ed
Grazier? Ed and his wife Rhena </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
have four daughters, with whom Heidi and I are friends. A
few years ago Julie, one of the </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Grazier sisters, told us about her Dad's ten year plan for
buying a Ram truck. A number </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
of years ago he thought about how he would like a Ram
truck, but, being a practical man, </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
he wanted to make sure he was not rushing into such a
large purchase. He decided that if </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
he still wanted a Ram truck in ten years, he would buy
one. Sure enough, he waited ten </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
years, and he still wanted a Ram truck. So he bought it. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I did something similar several years before I heard
about the Ed Grazier Ten Year Plan. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Back in 2000-2001, I had access to company vehicle for 15
months. At the end of the 15 </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
months I knew I would purchase another vehicle. Early on
in that 15 month period I </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
decided I wanted a light pickup truck, either a Ford
Ranger or a Chevy S-10. When the </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
time came to give back my company car, I decided against
a truck and bought a used Mazda </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Protege from some friends. Having time to decide made me
realize that a truck would not </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
have been practical for my urban lifestyle.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A few years later I wanted an I-Pod but I made myself
wait six months to see if I </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
still wanted one. At the end of the six months I wanted
it more than ever. I still use </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
that I-Pod even though it is a technological dinosaur.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The Ed Grazier Ten Year Plan is a little extreme for most
purchases but the principle is </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
sound. One reason so many people cannot get their
finances in check is their inability to </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
master delayed gratification. The key to the plan is the
bigger the purchase, the more </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
time a person should wait before making it. Give yourself
six months before buying an </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I-Pad or a Lego Millennium Falcon. Longer for trucks or
motorcycles and similar items. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The pause in the purchasing process makes all the
difference. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The main point of the plan is to think about spending
habits and avoiding impulse </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
purchases. A nice byproduct of the plan is a lack of
buyer's remorse. When someone slows </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
down and really puts thought in to a purchase, they have
a better chance at being happy </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
with it. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The Ed Grazier Ten Year Plan does not apply to every
financial decision. It is one tool </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
in a person's financial toolbox. Just think of all the
unnecessary junk people have in </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
their garage and how much less they would have if they
just slowed themselves down before</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
they bought that exercise bike that now serves as an
expensive clothing rack. </div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-52147265509452674082015-12-02T21:55:00.004-06:002016-01-05T22:18:17.052-06:00Playoffs? You're talking about playoffs?<div class="MsoNormal">
The NFL playoffs are here. When your team makes the playoffs, there are seven possible
outcomes. Only one of them is awesome and the rest have some degree of bummer
to them. Let’s break them down from best to worst.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Winning the Super Bowl</b>: It's pretty great. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Losing the Super Bowl</b>: It’s a bummer, but not that bad if
you can keep the proper perspective. Your team is the second best in football,
so that is actually pretty good. As a Broncos fan, I have experienced four
Super Bowl losses, every single one a blowout. That does not include the Super
Bowl beatdown when I was four years old. I am getting pretty good at handling
this outcome.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Winning in the Wild Card round, winning in the Divisional
round, and losing the Conference Championship</b>: In this scenario, your team won
two playoff games, including a road win in the Divisional Round, one of the
hardest wins to achieve in football. If your team played in the Wild Card
round, expectations were probably fairly low so falling one game short of the
Super Bowl is pretty good.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Winning in the Divisional Round, losing the Conference
Championship</b>: In this scenario, your team got a first round bye and then won a
home playoff game. Expectations are high and the Super Bowl is one game away
but the teams falls short. The 2005 Broncos fell into this category, and after
the game, I just kept thinking about what could have been. For Vikings fans in
1998 and 2010, this scenario still haunts them. The reason it is not lower on
the list is that your team at least won a playoff game before heading home for
the rest of the playoffs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Winning in the Wild Card round, lose in the Divisional
round</b>: Most likely the expectations were low but your team did win a playoff
game. At least your team made the playoffs and won a game. The 2011 Broncos
season felt like a success since the team had failed to make the playoffs for
the previous five seasons and then scored a victory when they did. On the other
side, the 2005 Patriots were defending Super Bowl Champs and getting bounced in
the Divisional round was pretty crushing to them. Perspective is everything
with this one.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Losing in the Wild Card round</b>: Chances are that your team
was not very good but you still held out hope that they would make a run. Instead,
your team rewarded your hope by failing to win a playoff game. Bengals fans
just keep experiencing the scenario and it crushes their souls. The 2008 Colts
won twelve games but lost in this round and their fans probably never recovered.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Losing in the Divisional Round</b>: This one is the worst. Your
team was good enough for a first round bye and is playing at home against a
team that had to play a week before. Home teams win 75% of the time in this
round. The Divisional round loses in 1996, 2012, and 2014 haunt me way more
than the Super Bowl loses. The 2012 loss against Baltimore still makes me want
to<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> throw up. The Broncos will need to win multiple Super
Bowls before I get over that game. Now that I write it out, that sounds kind of
pathetic. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Broncos have the #1 seed for the playoff so I am hoping for an outcome on the higher end of this list. </div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-48707439701985398652015-08-12T21:00:00.000-05:002015-08-12T21:00:50.001-05:00Lessons from the back of the pack: the purpose of sports<i>20 years ago I finished my career as a collegiate runner and have been thinking about the things I learned at that time. This is part five of my series, Lessons from the Back of the Pack. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
A few years ago Nike had a series of commercials called "why sport?" They all followed the same formula with a story and a funny line in text on the screen at the end. The most famous one featured a woman alone in a cabin in the woods who is chased by a guy with a chainsaw and hockey mask. She takes off into the woods and easily outruns him. The text at the end said "Why Sport? Because you live longer."<br />
<br />
With my boys getting old enough to start taking an interest in athletics, I have started to think about the role of sports in our lives. There is a small group of people with the ability and work ethic to make their living through sports, but for the rest of us, what purpose should they serve? I contend that the purpose of sports is to make you better at other parts of life. When I am physically active, I am a better person. When my boys are worn out from physical activity, well, they are too tired to fight with each other, so that is a win. Sadly, humans like to take something good and mess it up. We have done that with sports.<br />
<br />
Youth sports are supposed to be fun. Kids are supposed to learn sportsmanship and hard work. Unfortunately, too often parents and coaches take things too seriously. My nephew has been a Soccer referee for years and tells crazy stories about parents and coaches acting like complete tools at their kid's games. That will suck the life out of a group of children really quickly.<br />
<br />
Another problem that has come up in recent years is specialization of youth sports. Kids are expected to start young and play the same sport year round. A friend was telling me that his daughter wanted to try softball but found that all the teams were made up of kids that had been playing for years and there was no place for beginners. She is 11 years old. Many experts have said that specialization is not good and that kids should play different sports during the year but it looks like it will take a while to change.<br />
<br />
Despite my lack of athletic gifting I still love to participate in a lot of different sports and I feel more alive and happy when I do. I will pass that on to my children so that, even if they end up in the back of the pack, they can feel the joy of competition and trying your best. I want them to understand the purpose of sports and enjoy them as much as I have.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-50231218326604196712015-07-06T22:23:00.001-05:002015-07-07T21:26:39.533-05:00Lessons from the Back of the Pack: It is not the Critic who Counts. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h1 class="quoteText" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<img height="290" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/1b/f5/71/1bf571fdf08f7f72d82bcb26b503988d.jpg" width="320" /></h1>
<br />
My friend Chuck Wood sent me a piece of paper with this quote on it years ago. I have posted it at my home or workplace ever since. At this moment it is in my cubicle at work next to my computer. What an incredible statement.<br />
<br />
In most sports, when you are not very good, it is not all that obvious. In team sports like football, basketball, or soccer, you ride the bench most of the time. Unless you have friends or family in the stands, no one notices that you are not playing. They may see your clean uniform or observe that you fell asleep on the grass, but that is about it. You can hide your lack of skills even better in golf or tennis since someone would have to actively watch you for a while to determine your skill level. They might even witness you making a rare decent shot and think that you are pretty good. Well, as long as they don't stick around long.<br />
<br />
In the sport of Cross Country running, you cannot hide. Everyone runs the same race distance at the same time. The best runners cross the finish line to everyone's excitement and applause, and rightly so. Witnessing the end of a five mile race is thrilling. After that excitement is over, the rest of the runners come pouring over the line. The energy starts to diminish as more and more runners finish and the spectators start to seek out the runners they came to cheer on. Finally, several minutes after the winners, the back of the pack runners cross the line. Some people are still there to cheer you on, but as you finish your main concern becomes watching for spectators who think the race is over and start walking across the course without looking. There is not much glory in it.<br />
<br />
In Track and Field, slower sprinters don't get as much notice because their race is over so quickly, throwers are off in their own section, and jumpers all go one at a time. Distance runners cannot hide. The longer the distance, the more opportunity to fall behind in front of the entire crowd. Worst of all is getting lapped. That is when the fast runners are so far ahead of you that they actually catch up and pass you. It's awful and everyone in the stadium sees it. You just hope that most of the spectators got bored and took a bathroom break during your race.<br />
<br />
In those times I needed to remind myself that I loved to run and it did not matter what anyone else thought. I'm sure there were people that judged me for my lack of ability and wondered why I tried so hard at something when I was not great at it, but their opinion did not matter. There are lots of critics in this world. If you doubt it, read the comments section of anything posted on the internet. Also, be prepared for part of your soul to die if you do that. I digress. Sorry.<br />
<br />
Teddy Roosevelt was right. The critic does not count. Success in life comes from stepping into the ring, knowing that you may get knocked out in the first round. The fear swirls around inside your head and your heart wants to escape from your body but you still have to face your opponent, all by yourself and in the way that only you can. Win or lose, after the bout critics will tell what you did wrong and how you should have crossed instead of jabbing and how they would have won in the second round. None of that matters. You were the one in the arena. You can hold your head high because, win or lose, you left your blood and sweat in the ring and in the process gave your best shot. Front of the pack or back of the pack, that is a powerful lesson in life.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-25766059546132224592015-06-29T21:04:00.001-05:002015-06-29T21:04:53.299-05:00Lessons from the back of the pack: You can be the toughest.<i>20 years ago I finished my career as a collegiate runner and have been thinking about the things I learned at that time. This is part three of my series, Lessons from the Back of the Pack. </i><br />
<br />
The other day I saw a list someone posted to Facebook that had 100 pieces of advice a teacher gave to his class of high school Seniors. No author was credited and my google search also did not reveal further information, so I apologize for not passing on the proper credit. Most of the advice was good but one thing in particular stuck out. The line read "you may not always be the strongest or the fastest but you can be the toughest." That made me think about my time at the back of the pack in college and what I learned about being tough.<br />
<br />
I was not the toughest runner on the team. That belt was held by Lester Sheneberger. His collegiate running career consisted of a single race, but it was enough to make him a legend. The team had traveled to Decorah, IA for the first race of the 1992 season at Luther College. During warmups he felt that something was not right in his ankle but started the race anyway. About a mile in he was in rough shape. He kept going, though, up hills and through the woods. Did I mention that it was a five mile race? He was in visible pain, limping along, but finished the race somehow. Afterward an X-ray revealed a broken bone in his ankle. His Cross Country career was over that day. Among the team if someone did something tough, we would call it "pulling a Sheneberger" or some variation like that.<br />
<br />
On that team I was surrounded by tough people. Another teammate, Travis Glanzer, ran for three seasons of Cross Country, even putting up one of the best times in the history of Bethel University, with horrible pain in his shins. He had compartment syndrome, which is kind of like Carpel Tunnel Syndrome in your lower leg. Every step hurt but he never complained and never missed a workout. Matt Wickman ran for two years with chronic back pain. Like Travis, it always hurt and he never complained. Spending time every day with people like that cannot help but make you tougher.<br />
<br />
Toughness is hard to explain but you know it when you see it. Brett Farve in the NFC title game against New Orleans a few years ago was one of the most amazing displays of toughness I have ever seen in sports. The Saints defense was playing dirty, hitting him on almost every play of the game and he was taking a beating worthy of Rocky Balboa. Yet, every time they hit him, he got right back up. When the game ended in a close defeat for the Vikings, he couldn't walk. His ankle was swollen to about twice it's normal size. That is physical toughness.<br />
<br />
Mental toughness is usually less obvious but no less impressive. My wife, Heidi, has no interest in pushing the physical boundaries of toughness. There will probably be no marathons for her, but she is still one of the toughest people I know. For years she suffered from horrible headaches and some days she could barely find the strength to make it through the day. The headaches are gone now so she found a new way to demonstrate how tough she is. Four years ago in March she carried twins to 38 weeks and amazed the doctors when they each weighed seven pounds. That is 14 pounds of baby that she carried around. Not to be outdone, three years later she pushed out an 11 pound baby without any pain medication. If anyone pulled a Sheneberger, it was her.<br />
<br />
My time spent at the back of the pack made me tougher. When it was 90 degrees and the scheduled workout was four miles of intervals, I put on my shoes and joined the team. When it was 20 below and blowing wind, I got dressed and headed out. Now, twenty years later, I still run, just not as fast or as far. I am tougher than I would have otherwise been without those experiences.<br />
<br />
It never crossed my mind to quit, despite finishing races after most of my competitors had already cross the line. I am not sure if that makes me tough or just stubborn, but either way, I am glad I had the chance to learn those lessons at the back of the pack. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-81909405867871442632015-06-17T22:14:00.002-05:002015-06-17T22:14:28.652-05:00Lessons from the Back of the Pack: Four Kinds of People<i>20 years ago I finished my career as a collegiate runner and have been thinking about the things I learned at that time. This is part two of my series, Lessons from the Back of the Pack. </i><br />
<br />
Everyone in the world falls into one of four groups when it comes to athletics. There are two words that come into play. The first word is "gifted" and the other is "competitive". The presence or absence of the two words describes everyone on earth.<br />
<br />
The first group is the rarest. They are the ones who are gifted and competitive. These people find athletic success as easy as breathing and they also love to win. Automatically we think of Michael Jordan, John Elway, Wayne Gretzky, and Peyton Manning. They have a competitive fire that burns brightly and they also have incredible God-given physical skills that most people can only dream about. They will work harder than anyone else because they just have to win. This trait drives them to become household names but also puts them in danger of becoming overly competitive jerks.<br />
<br />
The second group has incredible physical skills but lack the competitive nature of the first group. They are the ones who played every sport in high school at the varsity level but drove their coaches crazy because they would never fully apply themselves to it. Because athletics came so easy, they often got bored with a sport and moved on to the next one.<br />
<br />
The third group has it the best of anyone. They are neither gifted nor competitive. They may participate in athletic activities but mostly because their friends are on the team. Losing is not a big deal, they just want to have fun. People in this group may work out every day and be physically fit and active but they do it to be healthy and to have fun not to be the best of the best of the best.<br />
<br />
The fourth group has it the worst. They are fiercely competitive but not athletically gifted. People in this group join the team, never miss a practice, and desperately try to win, but just lack any God-given athletic ability. Coaches love these athletes for their work ethic and desire but probably also think about how nice it would be if they had some actual ability to go along with it.<br />
<br />
In case you where wondering, I am firmly in that fourth group. When I play something I don't simply want to win, I want to crush my opponents. I want to win in such a way that the next time we play you are already defeated. My calm demeanor covers up an intense competitive nature. I hate losing but when it comes to athletics I lose all the time. Even after all these years I still have not come to grips with it.<br />
<br />
That competitive nature is what kept me going at the back of the pack. That is the answer to the question of why I worked so hard at something that I was not all that good at. I had to compete. I had to scratch the itch. Something inside drove me through the intervals and tempo runs and hills. It's is also the reason I almost lost several friendships and my marriage over a game of Monopoly, but that is a post for another day. (Heidi and I are still happily married but will never play Monopoly together again.) I guess that like the first group, the fourth group is also in danger of being overly competitive jerks, we just lack the skills to back it up.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-16359730108365506342015-06-07T20:58:00.000-05:002015-06-08T21:57:00.545-05:00Lessons from the back of the pack.When I was 19 I made the transition from a high school sprinter to a college distance runner. One of the reasons that I chose Bethel University (then Bethel College) was the Track team. I loved high school Track and Field and, though I was not very good, I thought that I could run for a small college. In my first week of my Freshman year I sought out the Track coach only to have him show zero interest in having me on his team. All through that year I wanted so badly to be a part of the team but had to watch from the sidelines. Fortunately, I met the assistant Cross Country coach who convinced me that I could make the change to long distances. So I trained all summer and showed up the next fall ready to become a member of the Cross Country team. It turned out that I loved Cross Country even more than I had loved Track. It also turned out that I was not very good at it.<br />
<br />
I was on the Cross Country and Track teams for three years each, and I did see improvement in those years. However, I was never one of the top runners on the team. No matter how hard I worked I just could not overcome a distinct lack of athletic ability. When someone tells you that you can do anything with hard work and perseverance, they are wrong. Sometimes someone with natural ability is just better than you no matter how hard you work. That was a hard life lesson that I did not enjoy learning.<br />
<br />
So, if you are not all that good at something, why pour your heart and soul into it? I'll break it down in movies. When it comes to sports movies, most of them have one of two endings. The first is when the plucky underdog loses to the champ but gains everyone's respect by refusing to accept defeat quietly. Rocky and Mystery, Alaska fall into this category. The second is the story of the plucky underdog that gets the unlikely victory. The Mighty Ducks and Best of the Best are my favorite examples. Then there is Rudy. The story of the guy who barely makes the team and only gets a few seconds of playing time but still wins everyone's respect. I was like Rudy, except that no one chanted my name after a big race and they did not make a movie about my life. I loved running, I worked hard at it, and I encouraged my teammates in their pursuit of personal records. There was not much glory, but it did not matter.<br />
<br />
What did I learn at the back of the pack? I learned that it is good to give yourself over to a goal. I learned that sometimes the rewards are small, but they are enough to keep you going. I learned that I am a better father, husband, and employee because I learned how to work hard at something that most people did not understand. The back of the pack is often a difficult place to be but there are important lessons to be learned if you can stick it out.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-23098251078393346802015-03-31T21:11:00.003-05:002015-03-31T21:11:46.794-05:00Good news at the end of a long search<div class="MsoNormal">
In the five and a half years since Heidi and I did not move
to Africa, I have struggled in my career. The first job I got after we knew we
were staying in the United States was at Costco. I took the job as a seasonal
employee since I could not find anything in three months of searching and
needed some money coming in. On Christmas Eve I found myself collecting carts
in a blinding snowstorm. I did not really enjoy that experience. One year and
two jobs later I found myself working for someone with whom I did not get
along. For three years I was looking for something else while hoping against
hope that she would move on. A year and a half ago she told the other staff
person and myself that she was leaving. It was a happy, happy day. People who
know me would agree that I don't have much trouble getting along with people so
for me to struggle so much with someone was unusual. It seemed that things had
turned the corner in my career but that did not end up being the case.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the last four and half years I have worked for a trade
association for the remodeling industry. Most of my work involved recruiting
new members but I also had quite a few other responsibilities. When the
Executive Director left, I applied for the job. Unfortunately, my previous boss
did not paint a favorable picture of me to the Board of Directors. I was not given a true interview and informed
via email that someone else was offered the job. It was a tough pill to
swallow. To this point all of my attempts to find a different job had failed so
I had no choice but to stay the course until I could find new employment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The positive in all of this was that Nick, who the Board
hired instead of me, is a pretty great guy. We pretty quickly settled into a
good working relationship and I was able to heal from the three years with the
previous boss. Working with him also allowed me to hone some skills that I did
not really know that I had.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At his point I should point out that I was struggling with
my identity in regard to my career. My job felt like a dead end since I was
unable to advance to the Executive Director position. I would look at some of
my former classmates and see what they had accomplished and felt pretty small
in comparison. Yeah, I know that is dumb, but I still did it all the time.
Every day I thought about how I wished for a career move with a better title
and better pay but no matter how many positions I applied for, nothing was
happening. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I admit with shame that I was struggling in a big way to
trust God with my career and finances. I could have faith for others to see a
breakthrough but I was thinking that none would be coming for me. It seemed
that my struggle with confidence in that area of my life would continue
indefinitely. All I could think about was how I am past 40 and my career is stalled.
This was not how I pictured things going when I was younger.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A month or so ago at church the pastor invited people up for
prayer at the end of the service. He specifically encouraged people who were
struggling with issues of employment to come up. After a minute of watching me
stare forward Heidi nudged me and told me to get up there. I am so happy to
have a wise wife. So I trudged to the front with no faith at all that God was
going to move. A young woman that Heidi and I had met a week before came and
prayed for me. She told me that she felt the Lord say that He is waiting for me
to put my eyes on him and there will be a breakthrough. That was the point when
I finally started to trust again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had decided that there was one of two tracks that my career
could follow and either would be fine. The first was to pursue association
management and the second was to get into non-profit development (fundraising).
In the past year I had had promising interviews in both fields but neither led
to an offer. At least I knew I was on a reasonable track. So a few weeks ago I
saw a job on LinkedIn and decided to apply. It was for an organization that
works with eye care professionals. They were looking for someone to manage two
small trade associations and it seemed like a good fit for me. To my surprise,
they called the next day to set up an interview. It was only after I had agreed
to the interview that I realized that they are based in Woodbury, about a 35
minute one way drive from my house. I take pride in having a short commute to
work and never would have applied if I had realized where it was.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before the interview was scheduled I had set up a networking
meeting with a woman who is friends with our good friends Peter and Julie. She
is a Major Gifts Officer for a large non-profit and I wanted to pick her brain
about fundraising. We talked for about 45 minutes and I was able to pick up
some helpful ideas. From there I headed to Woodbury for the interview and I was
not terribly enthused about it. That worked in my favor.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
About halfway through the interview I found that I was not
all that interested in the job. It was a good opportunity but I was thinking
how I would not be upset if no offer followed. Then, about two thirds of the
way through, the CEO of the organization joined the interview. The completely
caught me by surprise when she started asking about my fundraising background.
She proceeded to tell me that they need someone to run their foundation and
offer career services to their members and how she has never seen anyone with a
background in both. I told her that I was interested (in my mind I was ecstatic
but I tried to stay cool) and that I would love to get more information. At the
end of the interview they asked for me to send my professional references and that
they would follow up with me after the finished all the initial interviews.
Then I had to wait. I hate waiting. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After a week and a half I got a call from Janice. She
offered me the job right then over the phone. I asked to give her an answer in
the morning but it was pretty much a done deal. After praying about it, I
accepted the job. I'll get a nice jump in salary and a better benefits package.
My current boss took the news well and I am excited to start in a couple of
weeks. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don't know what will happen next but I am grateful to God
for his provision and I feel so much better positioned for the future. All of
the waiting was frustrating but I know that I can trust God in all
circumstances. Over the last few years I have been able to be grateful for my
wonderful wife, four adorable children, great family and friends in my life, and a
house that we love but I was mostly not grateful for my job. I am grateful that
God is good all the time, even when I have trouble remembering it. </div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-17083645913050320442014-05-28T22:08:00.000-05:002014-05-28T22:08:04.291-05:00Bands that I love: Steve Taylor and the Perfect FoilDenver native Steve Taylor hit the Christian music scene in the early 80's and his deep lyrics and energetic live show quickly made him a fan favorite. He started out writing for the Continental Singers (anyone remember them?) while he prepared his first EP called I want to be a Clone. The EP sold well and led to three full length albums, Meltdown, On the Fritz, and I Predict 1990. His lyrics often employed sarcasm and satire to make his point, which was very different from any other Christian music of the time and often turned people off. He was not afraid to point out failures in the Church but he did it as an insider who held strong to his Christian faith. The strong Pro-Life stance that he held was one of the first things I noticed in his lyrics and one of the reasons I became such an ardent fan.<br />
<br />
After a successful tour for I Predict 1990, Taylor laid low for a short time before forming a band with some of his friends called Chagall Guevara. Their only album, released in 1991, was well received by both fans and critics, but they were unhappy with their contract through MCA and broke up while working on their second album.<br />
<br />
After laying low for a while again, Taylor released Squint in 1994. He followed it up with the Squinternational tour and recorded a live album called Liver (rhymes with McGyver). I was fortunate to catch his show with Guardian as the opening act and it was amazing.<br />
<br />
When he finished that tour, he stepped off the stage and behind the mixing board. He spent time producing the albums of Guardian, the Newsboys, and Sixpence None the Richer. When those artists started to see massive success, he formed his own record company called Squint Entertainment. It quickly became the place for Christian artists who wanted exposure outside of the Christian music industry but did not want to water down their message. Bands like Chevelle, LA Symphony, the Insiderz, and Burlap to Cashmere either got their start or grew bigger because of the record label. Sadly, right when Squint Entertainment was hitting its stride, it was sold out from under Taylor and folded soon after.<br />
<br />
Taylor continued to produce albums and direct music videos in the early 2000's but then got the bug to direct a movie. He made The Second Chance in 2006 and Blue Like Jazz in 2012. Neither movie made much money. I saw both of them in the theater and liked them. It seemed like he had a great movie inside him and needed a second chance for it to be created. (Pun intended.)<br />
<br />
When he finished Blue Like Jazz, he got back together with some of his former musical collaborators, started a Kickstarter campaign to fund a new album, and went on a short tour. The album is in the works and another tour will likely follow it.<br />
<br />
I have seen Taylor perform twice and actually got to meet him once. In the fall of 2000 I was in St. Louis at the National Youthworkers Convention where he was a keynote speaker. Earlier in the day I was wandering through the exhibit hall and walked past the Squint Entertainment booth where he was standing by himself. When I realized that it was him, I quickly raced over and introduced myself. We bonded over our shared experience of growing up in the Denver area I tried not to make a fool of myself. I had been told before how approachable he was but I was still surprised by how genuine and pleasant he was. After about 15 minutes of him asking me more questions than I could ask him, a crowd started to form so I took my leave.<br />
<br />
In summary Steve Taylor is a class act and if he does not book a show in Minneapolis, I may just have to cry. Well, maybe not cry, but be pretty sad.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0px !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-85076172415174128972014-04-07T21:48:00.000-05:002014-04-22T13:09:08.404-05:00A happy ending to our car searchThe time had come to replace our Honda Civic. It had served us well for many years, but it was a 1998 with 170,000 miles and it was tired. We sold it on Craig's List and started the search for a replacement. After receiving some input from friends, we decided that a Mazda5 would serve our needs well. It is a six seat, compact minivan that gets good gas mileage. We already have a full size minivan but wanted something that could handle all six of us if needed. It will be the car I use to drive to work and the vehicle we will use whenever Heidi or I need to go somewhere without the whole family.<br />
<br />
I found a few websites that were helpful in the search for used cars and started planning my strategy for making the purchase. Right away I discovered that Mazda5s hold their value and the decent ones were out of our range. Heidi and I don't finance anything (except a mortgage) so we had a set amount of money saved up. A relative felt the Lord urge her to give us some money toward a vehicle and that proved extremely helpful. As I searched, all the vehicles I found were either newer with a lot of miles or older with less miles but a newer vehicle with low miles was proving elusive in our price range. I took a couple of test drives but those vehicles felt kind of beat down and the salesman I worked with seemed somewhat uninterested in selling me a car. It was a bizarre experience. In all this Heidi kept reminding me to be patient. As usual, she was right.<br />
<br />
As the car search was progressing, I was getting tempted to reach past the amount we saved to buy a nicer car and finance the difference. Heidi kept reminding how that would be unwise and how we need to trust the Lord for our needs. I had been having trouble lately trusting God in the area of money. It is a blog for another day, but the duplex caused a financial catastrophe that wiped out much of our savings over the past few years. It is not smart to let circumstances dictate what you believe, but I was totally doing that. I ended up having a few discussions with people about money and my disordered attitude was laid bare. If I am to trust God for anything, I have to trust him for everything. The same week that I kept having discussions with people, a special guest, Dale Van Steenis, preached at our church. He talked about money and the role it plays in our lives. During his sermon, I felt the Lord say to me that He is going to use the car search to teach me to trust Him about money. It was clear to me that the Lord was going to take care of us.<br />
<br />
Heidi and I scheduled a chunk of time to take some test drives. I was exchanging emails with a private seller in Savage (a southern suburb of Minneapolis) to plan a test drive, but something just didn't feel right. The car was great, a 2009 model with only 35,000 miles and a clean title. It was far and away the best one we had seen but it was still $2,000 more than we had to spend. I felt a strong sense that going for the test drive and making a low offer was not the right thing to do, so I sent him an email and told him that we would pay cash but we were $2,000 short of his asking price. I said that if our offer was too low and he did not want to take it, I would not be offended and would keep searching elsewhere. He replied that my offer was indeed too low, so I moved on in our car search.<br />
<br />
A few days after our email conversation, the seller contacted me saying that he and his wife decided that they would take our offer. We had already scheduled a test drive in Hudson, WI for that afternoon and put a $100 deposit down for them to keep the car off the lot that day. So we decided to keep the appointment in Hudson and drive the car in Savage the next day. When we arrived in Hudson, we learned that the vehicle we had agreed to test drive had been sold a week earlier. Upon that unpleasant revelation, I called the seller in Savage and he agreed to let us test drive it that day. One hour later, after stops at Starbucks and McDonalds, we got to the seller's house.<br />
<br />
The vehicle was in great condition. An elderly couple owned the car and barely ever drove it. Heidi and I took turns taking test drives and quickly agreed to buy it. However, it was a Saturday night and our bank would not be open again until Monday. I anxiously waited until Monday evening when Dan, my brother in law, went with me to pick up the car. Our search was over and we were very pleased with the result.<br />
<br />
Someday the car will rust away and be gone like the rest of our earthly possessions. After a week I am still thrilled with our purchase but the point of all of this is not the car. Sometimes God needs to teach us things and He uses many creative ways. My disordered view of money needed to be dealt with and God decided to gently teach me through something as simple as buying a used car. This will be an ongoing lesson for the rest of my life but I feel that I am making progress toward trusting Him regarding money.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-38035155225058000342014-02-04T22:28:00.001-06:002014-02-04T22:28:43.155-06:00Thin does not equal beautiful.Any day now I will be the father of a daughter. I am pretty sure that she will have me and her brothers wrapped around her little finger. Heidi keeps gleefully pulling tiny little pink clothes out of boxes and showing them to me. All of this is making me think of what kind of woman our unborn daughter will grow up to be. I know that she will be beautiful.<br />
<br />
I have been thinking of how our culture has warped beauty and how the American beauty ideal messes up our daughters. Through history, beauty has taken many shapes and sizes and colors. Somehow America has decided that beauty is rail thin. Who decided this? No one seems to know. Somehow gaunt runway models with no visible muscles have become the ideal that all women are supposed to achieve. I don't want my daughter to grow up with this idea that is both not achievable and not healthy. I want her to be comfortable in the body that God gave her.<br />
<br />
So, daughter that I have yet to meet, I have a message for you. Thin does not equal beautiful. Don't get me wrong, there are thin women that are beautiful but it is not thinness (is that a word?) that makes them so. Beauty can be tall or short, thin or curvy, pale or dark. It can be red hair, blond hair, or brunette. Beauty comes in so many ways and I am sad that, as a culture, we have created so many problems for ourselves by defining is so narrowly.<br />
<br />
I will tell her every day that she is beautiful until she believes it. I will fight against all the messages that bombard her and tell her that beauty is defined by being rail thin. I will tell her to be herself and that beauty takes all shapes and sizes and colors. I am excited to meet her soon and tell her for the first of many times how beautiful she is.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-81234552762365488702014-01-05T21:28:00.001-06:002014-01-05T21:28:18.315-06:00Six obscure albums that I love.I love a lot of obscure music. Bands that no one has ever heard of and albums that you only find in the bargain bids at music stores. There are a few that I think deserved to find a greater audience but for one reason or another never did. Here are my top six.<br />
<br />
<b>XL & D.B.D - Sodom and America</b>. I found this CD in the bargain bid at the bookstore at Speak the Word Church in the mid 90s. The album came out in 1993 and was just too far ahead of its time. The vocals were done by XL, an African American rapper who also loved metal. He called himself XL because he was a large man. In interviews he would talk about how he loved mosh pits and metal as much as he loved rap. The band was D.B.D, otherwise known as Death Before Dishonor. The fusion of metal and rap would become huge a few years later, but at the time, no one really knew what to do with these guys. I would have loved to see their live show. They did make another album about six years after this one but it was not nearly as good.<br />
<br />
<b>Red Sea - Blood</b>. This was a project album where some guys from other bands got together to record an album but only saw it as a one time collaboration. The most well known member was Robin Kyle, of Joshua and Die Happy. The album was released in 1995 and featured a hard rock blues sound. The lyrics were consistent with most blues albums, looking at some of the more difficult aspects of life yet remaining hopeful. I am not sure if they ever toured but I would have loved to see their music played live.<br />
<br />
<b>Velocipedes - Sane</b>. This band consisted of just two guys. The first was the drummer and the second guy was the guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. They submitted a demo to REX Records and got a deal. After a week of recording, they were told that they were done and never heard from REX again. The album was released in 1995 to almost no fanfare and sold a few thousand copies before going out of print. The album's production was pretty bad and I wonder what could have been if they were given a shot at another album with a bigger budget. The sound is hard to explain other than it was a modern metal (modern in 1995) sound with loud guitars and even louder vocals. I found the lyrics to be encouraging and when I am feeling low this album tends to find its way into my Ipod playlist.<br />
<br />
<b>PK Mitchell - All Hail the Power</b>. PK was the bass played from Neon Cross before he struck out on his own. This album is unique in that it consists of 10 old hymns put to metal music. The words to the hymns were not updated or changed, just recorded right from the hymnal. It was released in 1993 but had been completed a couple years earlier. Therefore sound was more 80s metal than the grunge that was all the rage in 1993. He just released All Hail the Power 2 a month or two ago and I am excited to check it out.<br />
<br />
<b>38th Parallel - Turn the Tides</b>. This is probably the most well known band on this list. They put out one album in 2002 on Squint Entertainment (after Steve Taylor left the label) and broke up after touring to promote the album. Their sound was rapcore with two lead vocalists and their live show was extremely entertaining. Sadly, Squint did a poor job of promoting them and then went under soon after the album was released. I held out hope that they would make another album but a few years ago the band said that they are done for good. The song Horizon remains one of my favorite songs of all time.<br />
<br />
<b>Dogs of Peace - Speak</b>. One of my favorite concerts featured Dogs of Peace opening for PFR on their farewell tour in 1996 (before PFR reformed and broke up a couple more times). The production on this album was so good and the band was so talented that I could not wait for them to record another album. I had to wait a long time. A friend told me that they are working on another album with the same lineup and I hope I am not disappointed. In my humble opinion, their song, Necessary Pain, is one of the greatest songs ever made. The guitars in that song blow my mind every time.<br />
<br />
Now I am wondering how many of my friends out there know about any of these albums.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-78978415532368658922013-09-05T08:41:00.001-05:002013-09-05T10:26:35.332-05:00NFL Season Primer: Five Ways to Improve the Game<br />
As much as I love watching the NFL, I am convinced that there are a few ways to make the game better. Some of these ideas I did not come up with myself and I'll try to give proper credit if I can remember where I heard them. They are as follows:<br />
<br />
<b>Get rid of the extra point.</b> The extra point is worthless. There is rarely an drama with it because they are so seldom missed or blocked. If the extra point was gone and teams always had to go for the two point conversion after a touchdown, the game would be more exciting. Fewer ties and slightly higher scores would only make the football more popular.<br />
<br />
<b>Expand rosters.</b> Right now a team can have 53 players on the active roster, with seven inactive players each week. Each team also has an eight man practice squad. Those numbers were set a long time ago before the game became more violent with bigger, faster players. If team rosters were larger, there would more players for special teams and substitutions, and that would almost certainly lead to less injuries. Last season the Patriots lost Gronk, the second most important player on the team, to a broken arm when he was blocking for an extra point. That would not happen with larger rosters.<br />
<br />
<b>A special IR/Reserve designation for each team.</b> This idea came from Bill Simmons of Grantland.com. He was talking about Bob Sanders, the brilliant safety who played for the Colts a few years ago. When Sanders was on the field, he was an unstoppable force who elevated his defense dramatically. The problem was that Sanders was injured all the time. His fearless play and small frame made for a bad combo. Simmon's idea was to have a special IR/Reserve designation for a player that can be brought back any time a team wants. With Sanders, he probably was not going to last a full regular season, and since the Colts always made the playoffs in the years he was active, the team could hold him in reserve until the playoffs. It would only apply to certain situations but would only make the game more fun. It would also drive Fantasy Football owners crazy if the player was on offense. <br />
<br />
<b>Replace the coin toss.</b> Remember the XFL? The crazy minor league football league with unique rules and funny names on the jerseys? (Hehateme was my favorite.) One of their rules that I liked was that they did not use a coin toss. At the beginning of the game they would line up a player from each team next to each other. At the whistle, they would race 25 yards to a football. Whoever came up with the ball got to decide if they wanted to kick or receive to start the game. Their logic was that something as important as the first possession of a game or overtime should be decided by something football related, not a coin toss. If a race between players would expose them too much to injury, then how about each kicker lines up with a holder but no defense against them and kicks a 50 yard field goal. If both kickers make it, then they move back to 55 yards and continue like that until one misses. That would add much more intrigue to deciding who gets the ball in overtime. However, if entertainment is the goal, go back to the two players racing 25 yards for the ball, but require the two players to be nose tackles. Two 300 lb men running after a football? Pure entertainment for everyone but those two players.<br />
<br />
<b>Get rid of the Preseason.</b> There are two guarantees with Preseason football. Boring games and injured players. At the start of the 2010 season Heidi and I went with Brad and Karyn Carlson to see the Broncos and Vikings play the fourth preseason game at the Metrodome. The fourth preseason game is where coaches almost never play starters and most of the players on the field are going to be cut from the team the next day. The Broncos coach at the time, Josh McDaniels, decided to play his starters for part of the game. After a quarter of play, his starting running back and his starting right tackle were both lost for the year with major injuries. Fans hate the preseason because in every game an important player on their team goes down with an injury. On top of that, the NFL charges fans for these meaningless games. There has to be a better way to prepare teams for the regular season without putting their start players at risk. It would be better for the game. Get it done, NFL!<br />
<br />
Tonight the 2013 season kicks off in Denver. Go Broncos!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-41678487572659187192013-08-28T09:43:00.001-05:002013-08-28T09:43:13.122-05:00NFL Season Primer: Why do I care so much?<br />
The NFL season kicks off next week with the Broncos vs. the Ravens. Fans will remember that those two teams faced off in the playoffs last year. Everyone expected the Broncos to win, except for the Ravens, apparently. With 34 seconds left in the game, the Broncos led by a touchdown and the Ravens need to travel the length of the field to tie the game. Much to my dismay, the Broncos defense found themselves out of position and allowed a 70 yard score. In double overtime, our QB, widely considered one of the best to ever play the game, threw an interception and the Broncos lost. I was watching the game with friends in the basement and trying hard not to say something naughty in front of my children. It took a long time to get over that game. Who am I kidding? I am not over that game at all. Thinking about it makes me sick.<br />
<br />
So my question is, why do I care so much? I am not on the team. I am not a coach. None of my relatives or friends play on the team. The players make more money than rocket scientists and brain surgeons to play a game. Most of them would also switch teams in a minute for more money or playing time. (See Dumervil, Elvis.) The following are some thoughts about why people like myself care so much about a game:<br />
<ul>
<li>I moved to Denver from Guam when I was three years old and left Denver for college in Minnesota when I was 18. When I went off to college I did not plan to stay in Minnesota. I figured I'd get my degree and then move back to Colorado. Somewhere along the line I decided to stay in Minnesota, with a two year foray into Wisconsin in the late 90s. I think that part of my football fandom comes from wanting to keep my Colorado roots alive. Since I do not live in the place where I grew up, following the Broncos allows me to keep that connection. My parents and brother still live in Colorado and it is nice to talk with them about the games. People in Denver love the Broncos in a way that a lot of other sports towns do not and I guess that will always be a part of me.</li>
<li>People look for connections, things they have in common. I remember an airplane ride where the guy in the seat next to me complimented my Broncos hat. We talked for much of the flight about the Broncos, music, and our shared faith in Jesus. Football fans have an immediate connection and something to talk about. Often that starting point allows people to move on to deeper subjects.</li>
<li>Watching football is a great social activity. Unlike baseball, basketball, or hockey, there is only one game a week. In the previously mentioned sports, if a team loses, they will play again in a day or so and can make up for the loss. With football, every game matters and that makes it fun to watch with friends. The cheering, high fives, and groans of agony all create shared experience with friends or even people you just met.</li>
<li>I did not play organized football but I love to play a game of pickup football. Flag football, touch football, and snow football, I love them all. I am not all that good but I am better at football than basketball or baseball, two sports that I do not enjoy playing. When it comes to sports on TV, I like to watch either sports that I enjoy playing, ie Track and Field in the Olympics, or sports that amaze me, ie ski jumping in the Olympics. I can imagine catching a pass from Peyton Manning or kicking the winning field goal but I cannot imagine dunking over Michael Jordan or hitting a 90 mph fastball. I could be wrong, but I think most people think the same way.</li>
</ul>
Perhaps none of these reasons explain why I care so much about something that does not directly impact my life but perhaps some things just cannot be explained. Go Broncos!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-59309726215895699382013-08-21T08:44:00.000-05:002013-08-21T08:44:45.578-05:00NFL Season Primer: Game Watching EtiquetteWatching football, specifically the NFL, can be a great social activity. You can talk to your friends, eat snacks, and yell at the TV. However, like everything else in life, it can be ruined when people do not follow the proper etiquette. Fortunately, you have me to guide you through this process.<br />
<br />
I am a lifelong fan of the Denver Broncos, having grown up in Denver. Like many fans, I also have a second favorite team in the other conference, the Minnesota Vikings. Even as a kid, I liked the Vikings enough to be sad when they failed to advance to the Super Bowl after the 1988 season. I will cheer for those two teams with the Broncos trumping the Vikings when they play each other every four years. This background information is important as I set several scenarios for football watching etiquette.<br />
<br />
Scenario #1: The 2013 season kicks off with the Broncos hosting the Ravens. If I host the game at my house, then the people coming to watch should cheer for the Broncos. The exception, of course, is if someone is a lifelong Ravens fan. They should feel free to cheer for their team but not be too obnoxious about it since they are at someone's house. As the host, as long as I am not being a jerk to the Ravens fan, am free to be as excited about the game as I want.<br />
<br />
Scenario #2: I am invited to my friend Zach's house (difficult since he lives in Florida) to watch the Chiefs play the Chargers. Zach is a MO native and a lifelong Chiefs fan. I can't stand the Chiefs since they are a division rival but I also don't like the Chargers for the same reason. If either the Broncos or Vikings were playing the Chiefs I could feel free to cheer for those teams. Since they are not, I feel that I should rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. For the sake of my friend, I should cheer for his team to win. Even if it is the Chiefs. (Did I just write that?)<br />
<br />
Scenario #3: The Raiders are playing. There is no scenario where I could cheer for the Raiders. Let's move on.<br />
<br />
Scenario #4: I invited some friends to watch the Broncos vs. Raiders. One of them comes in and asks who everyone is cheering for. When we say the Broncos, he responds with "ok, I am going to cheer for the Raiders." That fan is the worst. Don't be that guy. He is not going to get another invitation to watch football.<br />
<br />
The most important thing to remember in football watching etiquette is that friendship always trumps football. Except for Raider fans. Nobody is that good of a friend. <br />
<br />
Two weeks before the start of the season! Go Broncos!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-34557460902861965112013-08-15T16:21:00.002-05:002013-08-15T16:21:52.151-05:00My 5 essential Christian Metal albums<br />
Heavy Metal music started in the 1970's when a few band started to experiment with heavier sounds and really hit it's peak in the 1980's. Metal bands were all over MTV, playing arenas, and selling millions of copies. All of that came to an abrupt halt when Nirvana released their Nevermind album in 1991. Metal became uncool almost overnight. Bands that played arenas suddenly had trouble filling a club and their albums stopped selling. They either had to change their sound, break up, or soldier on as best as they could. From that wonderful time period, I give you my five essential Christian albums.<br />
<br />
<b>Stryper - To Hell with the Devil</b>. These guys were the first and biggest of the bunch. They did stuff no Christian metal band had ever done, like touring with mainstream bands and having their albums sold in large music stores. Their energetic live show, that included tossing Bibles out into the crowd, grew their fan base. To explain their cultural reach, even my stoner lab partner in 10th grade Biology class loved Stryper. To Hell with the Devil was their best selling album and probably the peak of their career. Their Against the Law album, which might have been their best album musically, came after Metal fell out of favor and did not sell well. The band broke up shortly after but reformed 10 years later and still tours today.<br />
<br />
<b>Mastedon - Lofcaudio</b>. Mastedon was the brainchild of John and Dino Elephante, who are mostly known for their work with Kansas and as music producers. The band, which was mostly studio musicians and special guests, released two albums, It's a Jungle Out There and Lofcaudio. Both were brilliant. As far as I know, they only played one live show, at the Cornerstone music festival in 1991. Almost everyone that I knew who liked Christian Metal had those two albums in their collection.<br />
<br />
<b>Tourniquet - Psycho Surgery</b>. This was Tourniquet's second album and probably their best. They combined heavy music with melodic vocals in a unique way while also having a lead singer that actually enunciated his words. In their lyrics they tackled social issues that a lot of other bands did not want to touch yet somehow managed to not come across as preachy or controversial. Ted, their amazing drummer, wrote intense medical terminology into many of the lyrics but did not come across as pretentious. The band has continued to make great music but none as good as can be found on Psycho Surgery.<br />
<br />
<b>Holy Soldier - Holy Soldier</b>. The debut album from this Southern California band was amazing. Their live show, anchored by their incredible drummer and his solos, was so much fun. They followed their self titled album with Last Train, which was also excellent but they soon fell victim to the musical trends of the day. After touring to support Last Train, they disappeared for a couple of years. Without much warning, they burst back onto the scene with a new album, Promise Man, that was pretty much grunge. Somehow it was also awesome. Their original lead singer, Stephen, had moved on and he was replaced by Eric, who had filled in for Stephen on the band's first tour. A couple of years after Promise Man they released a live album featuring both lead singers on the same stage. That album also had new songs featuring each singer and a re-recorded version of a song from their first album with Pat Boone (yes, that Pat Boone) on lead vocals. It was a fitting end to the band's career.<br />
<br />
<b>Rage of Angels - Rage of Angels</b>. This group recorded one album, promptly broke up, and saw the album sit on a shelf for two years before it was released and became a cult classic. When people like myself finally heard them for the first time, the band had been disbanded for years, and these songs were never played live after they were recorded. The story goes that only the lead singer of the band was a Christian and an outspoken uber conservative pastor decided that Rage of Angels was going to be the focal point of all his pious rage. The band broke up and two of the members joined Steelheart, leaving their fans to wonder what might have been.<br />
<br />
Honorable Mention goes to <b>Whitecross - In the Kingdom, Bloodgood - Out of the Darkness</b>, and <b>Guardian - Fire and Love</b>. It was really hard to leave any of them off of this list. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-28997514694080676192013-08-08T08:55:00.002-05:002013-08-08T08:55:18.932-05:00My five essential Christian rock albums from the 80's<br />
I started high school in 1987, which means that the music that I listened to in those formative years will always be a part of me. The music I loved the most was rock and heavy metal. Metal will be covered in another post. I picked out five albums that I loved as my most essential rock albums from that time of my life. Everyone's list is different. Mine is biased toward the second half the decade since that it when I took the most interest in music. They are as follows:<br />
<br />
<b>Petra - Beat the System</b>. This 1985 album was the last one to feature lead singer Greg X Volz. He would be replaced by John Schlitt, who still tours with Petra. The songs featured classic 80s keyboards, loud guitars, and Volz's amazing voice. This was probably the height of the bands popularity although they did continue make some great music in the late 80's and early 90's. <br />
<br />
<b>Amy Grant - Lead Me On</b>. What? Amy Grant? I thought this was a list of rock albums, not pop music! Sadly, most people only know Amy Grant as a pop star but she made some genuinely great rock music in the 80's. I saw her perform the songs from Lead Me On live at Fiddler's Green in June of 1989 and it was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. It was loud and the crowd was totally into it. She followed up Lead Me On with Heart in Motion, which became a huge hit. Heart in Motion was a vastly inferior album to Lead Me On but it was pop music and sold a ton of albums. From that point on, all of her music followed the weak pop formula and everyone forgot that Amy Grant used to play actual rock music.<br />
<br />
<b>Michael W. Smith - The Big Picture</b>. Now I know you think I am crazy. Bear with me. MWS first two albums were solid keyboard based 80s light rock. The Big Picture put more edge into the music than any MWS album before or after. The tour for this record was a rock show, much different from a current MWS concert. He followed up this album with Eye 2 Eye, which was also very good. Sadly, he followed the exact blueprint as Amy Grant at the same exact time. His next album, Go West Young Man, was nowhere near as good as the albums that preceded it but it still sold way more copies. He has followed the pop music formula with every album he has made since.<br />
<br />
<b>Steve Taylor - I Predict 1990</b>. Steve Taylor entered the music scene in the early 80's and was known for his energetic live shows. His lyrics were deep and often he used satire and sarcasm to make his points, very different from the other Christian artists of the time. He made an EP and two full length albums before I Predict 1990, and while they were great, that album was easily his best work to that point. After touring, he formed a band called Chagall Gueverra, which broke up after one great album. He recorded one more album, Squint, in 1994, before he stopped performing and focused his energy on producing other bands and directing two feature length films.<br />
<br />
<b>WhiteHeart - Freedom</b>. WhiteHeart was not poised for greatness before Freedom hit the shelves. The band had released five albums, but had already lost half of their founding members, and were on their 3rd lead singer. (Rick Florian was their roadie/bus driver when they let him audition for the gig.) The two albums before Freedom were not bad but they were not great either. Freedom is, in my humble opinion, a nearly perfect album. Deep lyrics, a great mix of hard and slow songs, and really great musicians made it an instant classic. WhiteHeart's live show was also amazing. They sounded so good live. After Freedom they would continue to make some great music but it was never as good as that album. <br />
<br />
Feel free to comment and let me know what yours would be. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-37954657626881260492013-08-01T08:56:00.000-05:002013-08-01T08:56:13.061-05:00Tough MudderOn Saturday, July 20th, I completed my first Tough Mudder. For those who do not know, the Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge. It is a 10-12 mile obstacle course that is best completed with a team. There are a few obstacles that cannot be completed alone. There were six of us that completed the course, including three guys I did not meet until that morning. We stuck together the entire way and I really enjoyed the experience.<br />
<br />
Some of the obstacles were fairly easy, from climbing over a huge pile of hay bales to crawling through mud under barbed wire. A few required help from your team, including walls too high to get over alone and some very slippery mud hills that required a helping hand. I had a hard time with the monkey bars (I made it across but only barely) and the jump off of a platform into water. I was surprised by how hard it was for me to jump into the water. It was not very high but it took several minutes to get the courage to jump. The trails were incredibly uneven and hilly but that did not bother me much. Overall, I expected it to be harder. I guess my training paid off.<br />
<br />
Here are a few tips for successfully training and completing for the Tough Mudder:<br />
<ul>
<li>Train for endurance, not strength. It takes some strength to complete the TM but endurance will win the day. I followed the training plan for a half marathon, getting up to 12 or 13 miles on my long runs. that worked well for me.</li>
<li>Hills. Hills. Hills. Runs lots of hills to find success in the TM. I found a nice long hill about a mile and half from my house and would run it pushing the double jog stroller. Usually it was Jackson and one twin along for the ride and they liked going fast. I tried to run it at least once a week in the three months leading up to the TM.</li>
<li>Run trails as often as possible. The TM course is uneven and it is good to be mentally prepared.</li>
<li>I wore sunglasses during the TM and came to regret that decision. A mile or so into the course you have to submerge yourself in ice water. My sunglasses got soaked and fogged up and I could not wear them for a while. Later the got covered in mud and I was afraid of losing them jumping into the deep water. A few people wore hats but I would not recommend it.</li>
</ul>
I don't have any pictures from the event right now. If I get any, I'll post them.<br />
<br />
It was a great event and I cannot wait for next year. Tough Mudder! <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-6094920458378058872013-05-13T21:08:00.003-05:002013-05-13T21:08:42.292-05:00Spring Pictures<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghu768xKaLML2tKwfHzB0emPf0ANXpOj35Uc20b2s0QDql2Db_ADiROhkmjIDW63bU5jJtbAtRLfwCcAY60NLBvbGz32EuibOGhJY-vkkSn99BwXd4Fim6n4luJVQlgEQ52avnLA/s1600/1366469094491.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghu768xKaLML2tKwfHzB0emPf0ANXpOj35Uc20b2s0QDql2Db_ADiROhkmjIDW63bU5jJtbAtRLfwCcAY60NLBvbGz32EuibOGhJY-vkkSn99BwXd4Fim6n4luJVQlgEQ52avnLA/s320/1366469094491.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beck and T-bone</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisX1ibEh8dhFM-xc6hcOM6I_PeEyK0gZJ9p5zJ0Tc95bh1UR2ZxzMvMQFs4d-s01suN7UXkcCuMzmJEdB5VgCCA7hOgP5H1PLiPBSsrSvd-UmyJqI8M8t6lGKNRU2mh8_8IUWs2A/s1600/1366729759425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisX1ibEh8dhFM-xc6hcOM6I_PeEyK0gZJ9p5zJ0Tc95bh1UR2ZxzMvMQFs4d-s01suN7UXkcCuMzmJEdB5VgCCA7hOgP5H1PLiPBSsrSvd-UmyJqI8M8t6lGKNRU2mh8_8IUWs2A/s320/1366729759425.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The boys and their friend, Caitlin.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfFoLyu-vpDmuUikSJTn6Nm_zT4Mgeix02V9mURZD6mRk6HLip3HKzf9SUwKgBUN1N6hx0Np2UX9d9TKbeOhkIHPIpq1aPBORSWrdPXPXa40AYcmJM7sNUkfal3BsN00nc_32Ww/s1600/1367106423819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfFoLyu-vpDmuUikSJTn6Nm_zT4Mgeix02V9mURZD6mRk6HLip3HKzf9SUwKgBUN1N6hx0Np2UX9d9TKbeOhkIHPIpq1aPBORSWrdPXPXa40AYcmJM7sNUkfal3BsN00nc_32Ww/s320/1367106423819.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was finally warm enough to eat outside. The boy's friend Malachi joined them.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rnSH68nDnVdNEN6ZMfPa4j1Ysj87TJZKkDEhkQfDClL023m-X8pfOEL-Bd5NOrFN65lSFYwNtqq6rzqchHMNHey4Kej2bVWz-8hy0_AFbWLONNYJ1I7O3OIVRv2KLd5E_ehaxg/s1600/1367680227662.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rnSH68nDnVdNEN6ZMfPa4j1Ysj87TJZKkDEhkQfDClL023m-X8pfOEL-Bd5NOrFN65lSFYwNtqq6rzqchHMNHey4Kej2bVWz-8hy0_AFbWLONNYJ1I7O3OIVRv2KLd5E_ehaxg/s320/1367680227662.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackson made his mama a craft at the Home Depot. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZkq0QchbYdQ-x-UrzrXRWtuUFn3Cj3WSWI3tMZJS049UkvQMJ-JTlQvy-ZDITQ6PrHFZhjpArJ5T2fAMW7L-k5HyQxofBcJS2ZV1Ezq4zXV3-IxNnlhfxox8f3axDTIcGxeUfZg/s1600/1362237524560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZkq0QchbYdQ-x-UrzrXRWtuUFn3Cj3WSWI3tMZJS049UkvQMJ-JTlQvy-ZDITQ6PrHFZhjpArJ5T2fAMW7L-k5HyQxofBcJS2ZV1Ezq4zXV3-IxNnlhfxox8f3axDTIcGxeUfZg/s320/1362237524560.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackson. And Beck. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhh9vq9BXX8ONjAl0BlA7IRaYejL3g8HAxNNPTUCJdqYHmWlQ4DS4c7P0LtElZOmmBOLl8CbycYDs0e151ISlN-w4caxb8Xiv6g5ai1ViHi-hAFAA4vNKnrJXjarA_g3wAV4MzUA/s1600/1364077895327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhh9vq9BXX8ONjAl0BlA7IRaYejL3g8HAxNNPTUCJdqYHmWlQ4DS4c7P0LtElZOmmBOLl8CbycYDs0e151ISlN-w4caxb8Xiv6g5ai1ViHi-hAFAA4vNKnrJXjarA_g3wAV4MzUA/s320/1364077895327.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The little Broncos love their Nana.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3-cxJHZSYBUfghFCHWuuXywas_CDM_lC3pC2YakLx-OdK2NOcUK3hbJe_nBgAFt58bmZqDjEKDJSKg3wAitMzptKHGFRQMnKPmbX8BE2S7Ok9ZDYtg8SbTwvpxXIBrPJG7rqBA/s1600/1364258294264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3-cxJHZSYBUfghFCHWuuXywas_CDM_lC3pC2YakLx-OdK2NOcUK3hbJe_nBgAFt58bmZqDjEKDJSKg3wAitMzptKHGFRQMnKPmbX8BE2S7Ok9ZDYtg8SbTwvpxXIBrPJG7rqBA/s320/1364258294264.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When we were replacing the tile in the upstair bathroom, the boys had to be washed in a bucket. Jackson does not seem to mind too much. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjct47j5W7yGhs0UrLIbyM-0a6FPb__9qv8c8GLq5dKldd64HCmfuIj-SfYyZRR3QIycJcCPudCoLMvYdi3vi-IC5nJFNuL2_KoGSwkMIGHQKsz5zP4nF_Hs2EJit_9nrvkWqiFEQ/s1600/IMG_20130327_171157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjct47j5W7yGhs0UrLIbyM-0a6FPb__9qv8c8GLq5dKldd64HCmfuIj-SfYyZRR3QIycJcCPudCoLMvYdi3vi-IC5nJFNuL2_KoGSwkMIGHQKsz5zP4nF_Hs2EJit_9nrvkWqiFEQ/s320/IMG_20130327_171157.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Costco. They love that place. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-51737868724452982702012-12-19T20:29:00.005-06:002012-12-19T20:29:59.304-06:00Fall Family Pictures, Part 1Our friend Sierra took some pictures of our family in October. Here are some of them.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_l_Q9rOZo92hAVPPLGb3d9BKstFqIE8oxUpQPdC3uFulsq0CTtqdszQGe3WdduJN5xRJHp25BxGl9mqtAUx3j7OjiJ76I-OKSWuBnmFca_UUyzvIXegLP2FqWYRPmIt-ium6HA/s1600/IMG_1169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_l_Q9rOZo92hAVPPLGb3d9BKstFqIE8oxUpQPdC3uFulsq0CTtqdszQGe3WdduJN5xRJHp25BxGl9mqtAUx3j7OjiJ76I-OKSWuBnmFca_UUyzvIXegLP2FqWYRPmIt-ium6HA/s320/IMG_1169.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beck. He spent much of the time running off to explore.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOebr0uTfSFe9gl7Qy5gPdPyQe09sHqbKrcXZpPfm2OgsOsSBhKvJ3UiOFKq3g2W2JH7bTZsqk0j2M0n-FOQV8o3Ri97Y4ocFIEBU208NPOvSlWWWUEklir8fq5kjhKdu9dXukg/s1600/IMG_1162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOebr0uTfSFe9gl7Qy5gPdPyQe09sHqbKrcXZpPfm2OgsOsSBhKvJ3UiOFKq3g2W2JH7bTZsqk0j2M0n-FOQV8o3Ri97Y4ocFIEBU208NPOvSlWWWUEklir8fq5kjhKdu9dXukg/s320/IMG_1162.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The family at Shingle Creek</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Nj35_FXA7sINj54S-5l19HEqGQu9h1b-ccmXlNAtgKnqYYgxMGuo4Lr5VaRxGu5K0vcr-3VrqOG7WsIPWvN9gkbveGM3Ntzc1mC9kzu937oK7-ba6FXEjRMTtEUzNgyUZUwVRQ/s1600/IMG_1163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Nj35_FXA7sINj54S-5l19HEqGQu9h1b-ccmXlNAtgKnqYYgxMGuo4Lr5VaRxGu5K0vcr-3VrqOG7WsIPWvN9gkbveGM3Ntzc1mC9kzu937oK7-ba6FXEjRMTtEUzNgyUZUwVRQ/s320/IMG_1163.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-HLxA0u9BxqFpWzCfRA9zlx9wHrrkOY7JhERp9EYN_xILTJOWbVxOjVery67eesFp78eyh3bIKmKMTTBHGpz25Ix5H3MJSK_F_YuLhFFxfNK1KhQMxgDT5wtkSkDiTBLs2rZlqg/s1600/IMG_1171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-HLxA0u9BxqFpWzCfRA9zlx9wHrrkOY7JhERp9EYN_xILTJOWbVxOjVery67eesFp78eyh3bIKmKMTTBHGpz25Ix5H3MJSK_F_YuLhFFxfNK1KhQMxgDT5wtkSkDiTBLs2rZlqg/s320/IMG_1171.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">T-Bone. Kind of looks like an elf. A really cute elf.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3j1n1J25E8uAm54TCWZ5rejRLSTyrnM7gVqGgv_L3WAEldp3I6tpwPATX3IaBVLxtwmKhm1Vx9M4_jmcKQqhEGDUKDh3jRT5Y4xyU_OKdf61bC9TNe494Ww_13h5ebZyIxonqlA/s1600/IMG_1192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3j1n1J25E8uAm54TCWZ5rejRLSTyrnM7gVqGgv_L3WAEldp3I6tpwPATX3IaBVLxtwmKhm1Vx9M4_jmcKQqhEGDUKDh3jRT5Y4xyU_OKdf61bC9TNe494Ww_13h5ebZyIxonqlA/s320/IMG_1192.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Twins!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixi8pxtBYDOJmbpd-E0Yb8xbn-0qulpThEpiGiIC0tuHJFcjDEmYjxTF9F9f0IakWECi1pJTovmpRAh9p4Zh57k6r2vtHr9znCss0rTZCC2bgaynObS2Yn4hdSKYWZLBt4zoO4cQ/s1600/IMG_1211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixi8pxtBYDOJmbpd-E0Yb8xbn-0qulpThEpiGiIC0tuHJFcjDEmYjxTF9F9f0IakWECi1pJTovmpRAh9p4Zh57k6r2vtHr9znCss0rTZCC2bgaynObS2Yn4hdSKYWZLBt4zoO4cQ/s320/IMG_1211.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, that is all three boys running away. This picture does not show how long it took to round them up.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEtH9eCY0Y4USMt324tiM3YXeh2g-4xjZ7mic611cOzxZT_iNgAfSwxjos1OP1M5ZurXR3ZhMYVOCaFWd5I9OAvVhnTEfH0wQbmsfsL0gEdRMjjEupU8D5gvJ_0FnSEhh8-JUp9g/s1600/IMG_1260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEtH9eCY0Y4USMt324tiM3YXeh2g-4xjZ7mic611cOzxZT_iNgAfSwxjos1OP1M5ZurXR3ZhMYVOCaFWd5I9OAvVhnTEfH0wQbmsfsL0gEdRMjjEupU8D5gvJ_0FnSEhh8-JUp9g/s320/IMG_1260.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young and in love. Well, in love.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaE1XNNwWeRVstNm1_KbJaxPAsMnJDyZcZaQ8zuZk63m7cnCh_viZ2vNSSOgdgQ-0YSx9asoI0n4Xgk_7fwsBpI_PCuVbTegOjt9MlhbPFahMCv2p_TmTKROwsmdMHDT8vaCWoZg/s1600/IMG_1189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaE1XNNwWeRVstNm1_KbJaxPAsMnJDyZcZaQ8zuZk63m7cnCh_viZ2vNSSOgdgQ-0YSx9asoI0n4Xgk_7fwsBpI_PCuVbTegOjt9MlhbPFahMCv2p_TmTKROwsmdMHDT8vaCWoZg/s320/IMG_1189.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackson.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px !important;" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15010796.post-5878875860705263992012-10-30T21:29:00.002-05:002012-10-30T21:29:39.173-05:00Even more pictures from my phone<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTG-0ERwielwTO3WXL7QzaHwLVjmQtQtfUidSYzVKRDwdlhxkBnaWvfT1eZAzVHlX-uGrkU4AMH8awTeG14-BmbKJgbHpfc1yxnTIH_7Pjc4VXZM8YvvzUzCqB3tx5xXVAFjWYQ/s1600/Fall+2012+026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTG-0ERwielwTO3WXL7QzaHwLVjmQtQtfUidSYzVKRDwdlhxkBnaWvfT1eZAzVHlX-uGrkU4AMH8awTeG14-BmbKJgbHpfc1yxnTIH_7Pjc4VXZM8YvvzUzCqB3tx5xXVAFjWYQ/s320/Fall+2012+026.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is T-Bone is his natural state. Yelling. He yells and runs around. That is what he does. Thankfully he is a happy child. Those are happy yells.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilp0tIEN05mvVghfDwsUVdJuRi_mPCGgEvGGcvULCOv9_dXWEeygB7wlT4oD3VCJxubWZhHC25QaEzRshUcOBP-AaPgpsHp7IiZabKJBK657u3fRzvtZQ4TER4cPCH4ZR-RUxggA/s1600/Fall+2012+023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilp0tIEN05mvVghfDwsUVdJuRi_mPCGgEvGGcvULCOv9_dXWEeygB7wlT4oD3VCJxubWZhHC25QaEzRshUcOBP-AaPgpsHp7IiZabKJBK657u3fRzvtZQ4TER4cPCH4ZR-RUxggA/s320/Fall+2012+023.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our friend Marlyse made this hat for Jackson but Beck took a liking to it. Now he wears it all the time. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdM2Qdia80AAPBVQ5yhS-Sv0000DvK0J2EMTxHfwsHvIg0ICL25WyYtvVaxVLo-oOxI02iGSBxi6-VLvBVGZ-ww3M-WLtFxqZ45WttlD7CtY1wZ-MG2h3nuFBIlrpTsT10cdAiaQ/s1600/Fall+2012+031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdM2Qdia80AAPBVQ5yhS-Sv0000DvK0J2EMTxHfwsHvIg0ICL25WyYtvVaxVLo-oOxI02iGSBxi6-VLvBVGZ-ww3M-WLtFxqZ45WttlD7CtY1wZ-MG2h3nuFBIlrpTsT10cdAiaQ/s320/Fall+2012+031.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Beck in a dump truck.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeEEyB9JEPDFlCLDop1EnkpiXDxXhHDy6h_fZtHEipKcQtjdISZA9E4eQSmvFiqsNG2WTDy76zg6nu-43gF3b-vj0dpF_vtCRuQD4STAcwTM606e3DmJ_1rrq-fIvTX4qtzcbBg/s1600/Fall+2012+041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeEEyB9JEPDFlCLDop1EnkpiXDxXhHDy6h_fZtHEipKcQtjdISZA9E4eQSmvFiqsNG2WTDy76zg6nu-43gF3b-vj0dpF_vtCRuQD4STAcwTM606e3DmJ_1rrq-fIvTX4qtzcbBg/s320/Fall+2012+041.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our friend Glen built this box window with a bench and the boys love it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyV5P5RC6UUePNACmAYBM01J_Bu9v_5YMDChFA3eap2Ftsh19iGfB7P5jQVIxVgWdlQjwaqCE4Qr1Nt-NT7bkqie8W4HY7HNgXZ-FqEPzR8AWfGY5HL4znlpz-htw9hzJm0wHwYA/s1600/Fall+2012+036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyV5P5RC6UUePNACmAYBM01J_Bu9v_5YMDChFA3eap2Ftsh19iGfB7P5jQVIxVgWdlQjwaqCE4Qr1Nt-NT7bkqie8W4HY7HNgXZ-FqEPzR8AWfGY5HL4znlpz-htw9hzJm0wHwYA/s320/Fall+2012+036.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackson had a flair for the theatrical. So does T-Bone.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNWhUvVl2MIGWManqsbgH0YeVPVvngfDe2HhfC9ZsvJSi56AwxlogzdOfumsDtMMGMi5Y485iVjiinXtaNEpKyfrA4JI9FFOsAQ2BLdmhVid9LTm6I66w6lvvK74pJngfl0K6KyQ/s1600/Fall+2012+045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNWhUvVl2MIGWManqsbgH0YeVPVvngfDe2HhfC9ZsvJSi56AwxlogzdOfumsDtMMGMi5Y485iVjiinXtaNEpKyfrA4JI9FFOsAQ2BLdmhVid9LTm6I66w6lvvK74pJngfl0K6KyQ/s320/Fall+2012+045.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A boy and his leaf pile.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7faKP32ID6kejPsR2QXki4k0MPao738qubq1NAQdeMKOS_quwI-uPNLu05rkOu-6VjdwYpsuObQyisbJJLE36XLeyhRx9yQbQiVngKmuTt6FZP6m2uITV0CMj_zfWJPcJ9yy5A/s1600/Fall+2012+018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7faKP32ID6kejPsR2QXki4k0MPao738qubq1NAQdeMKOS_quwI-uPNLu05rkOu-6VjdwYpsuObQyisbJJLE36XLeyhRx9yQbQiVngKmuTt6FZP6m2uITV0CMj_zfWJPcJ9yy5A/s320/Fall+2012+018.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We took a lot of bike rides this summer and the twins fell asleep almost every time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/204/00176B4ECE6DE2AF27BB0731F6E69D74.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17088432546437119552noreply@blogger.com0