The Pain of Love

When you love somebody you must learn to overcome the knee jerk reaction to be annoyed by each others quarks. What's more, you must overcome the same for each others families. I was raised to believe that your family is one of the greatest gifts God ever gave us and should be treated accordingly. Likewise, the people you love were given a great gift in their family, and like any other gift you should try your hardest to enjoy it with them and be excited for what they have. My parents endured gifts I received (some they brought upon themselves) such as drums, guitars, guns, CD's and Movie's they did not personally love, but they enjoyed them with me. I guess what I am trying to say is this: You may think that your significant others families could use some work and you may HATE the movie "Weekend At Bernie's 2", but the person you love loves their family and you should try to do the same. As far as the movie selection goes...if they love "Weekend at Bernie's 2"...get out now!

Today they laid carpet and tile in our new home and I am VERY excited!

I got a really sweet Variable Speed Jig Saw for my birthday. Things will be created and also destroyed!

I am thinking about taking my gauges out and letting the holes in my ears close up. I loved the since of freedom I got from getting them, but they no longer represent freedom to me...I suppose because I don't have anything I wish to be free from. It's a nice place to be. We'll see if I actually take them out or not.

At this time on Friday I will be either in Chicago or Dubuque. Either way it's gonna be cold and I am extremely happy about that.

If you like sitting by a fire and talking and laughing over drinks...we should be friends, because I like that as well.

Brown-Chicken-Brown-Brown!

26 Days and Counting

Until Kimberly and I move into our new home! I can not express in words the joy I feel when I think about having a place to share with my wife that we can call our own! Amazing.

Tomorrow I will go to Dallas to be with Kimberly extended family and celebrate Thanksgiving with them. I am glad we get to spend time with her family. I have never stayed over night at her grandmother's house and I am a little weirded out by the idea. I am sure it will be fine, but I am not a huge fan of old people with all their strange smells,abundance of medication,mindless ramblings about the way things used to be, and all that.

I feel a little bit guilty about this, but I am really hoping that OU beats Texas Tech this weekend.

I finally got my contacts. I can once again look like my normal self.

Stuff I am thinking about right now

I have a beard. It's not spectacular, but it's a beard. I haven't been able to trim it in a while because my beard trimmer is packed and yesterday I plucked a hair from my facial fro and measured it. Just under 2 inches. I picked one of the longest ones I could find.

As I get older time seems to to speed up. I can't believe Christmas is next month. I think I like time moving fast right now.

I lost 6 pounds. 14 more to go until I make my goal. Billy Blanks is a mad man and his 8 minute cardio is brutal. I love him for that.

I asked a friend of mine who is a great artist to draw a charcoal image of my dog Rovy. It will be properly matted, framed, and hung in a place of honor in our new home...unless it sucks.

Eating right doesn't taste very good. It's also more expensive. If you made a pros and cons list for eating...I have a feeling there would be more cons. I have to be illogical in order to stay focused with my eating habits. That's weird.

I really want to go fishing soon. Also, if you saying fishing really fast it makes the noise of a pirate or a musketeer pulling his sword our REALLY fast. Also...isn't it weird that the Musketeers used swords? I would have for sure guessed muskets.

The TV shows being made when my parents where kids are way better than what is being made now. There are a few exceptions, but in general I find the previous statement to be true.

Do you ever wish you could be a little kid again? You really shouldn't. It's a waste of time and now that you're an adult...you don't really have time to waste on stuff like that.

I really would like to have original art from all of my artistic friends. Photos, paintings, drawings, sculptures, writings, and anything else you can think of. If you are my friend...you will give me art.

I could win on Jeopardy. Maybe not, but I do well playing along at home.

*insert clever title here*

I am going to Iowa next week for a wedding and I keep checking the weather online to see what it will be like there. I have never seen snow that stuck to the ground and really looked like winter or anything and I have been very pleased to see that we can expect to see snow falling when we arrive. I'll be flying into Chicago and then driving down to Iowa. I am excited to have the opportunity to see a type of winter I have never experienced.

I have been working alot lately and it has been physically taxing. My back hurts like never before. I am thinking about getting those orthodics or whatever they are called. I have heard they work miracles, but I don't personally know any one who has used them. Have you? Tell me about your experience if you have. I need to be able to make an educated decision on whether or not to purchase these things.

Technology is hilarious. I can't help but take pity on all the people who buy the latest gadget to come out only to have to purchase a newer BETTER gadget 6 weeks later. Smart move! I wish that we, as a people, could understand that materialism is an addiction and can do just as much damage as drugs or alcohol...accept it usually strikes your bank account and credit rating first. Wanting things is not bad...blurring the lines between want and need is very dangerous.

I will finally be getting contacts this Friday and I am very happy! I don't mind wearing glasses now and then, but I got contacts for a reason and having gone nearly a month with out them has reminded me that I still very much need to wear contacts. I knock my glasses off of my face approximately 7.31 times a day at work and with glasses I can't wear sunglasses...so my morning commute becomes considerably more dangerous. I am not exactly Mr. Sunshine in the morning to start with, but mix in a 20 minute commute through 4 school zones being blinded by the sun and I am not the first guy you want to deal with.

My wife and I will move into our new home December 17th and I just soiled myself because of the sheer excitement. Be happy for me. Also, hope that I can convince every one that I run into that I spilled something all over myself. I am gonna say it was Gatorade. I'd buy that.

Hardback books and Hard decisions

I love to read. That may not seem like anything special, accept that I was held back a grade in large part due to my very poor reading skills. I am the type of person that thinks in a circular pattern...and today...this way of thinking brought me around to appreciate, yet again, a lesson I have been taught my entire life. Sometimes you have to make hard decisions in life. That is to say, that it is God's will that you go through hard times so that you can really more on him and less on your own understanding. What hard decision did I have to make in repeating the second grade? None. It was my parents who made the tough choice to do the right thing and force me to repeat a grade. I was embarrassed and ashamed at first, and begged them not to make me go back to second grade, but my parents lead by example and made the taught decision. Today I realized that had my parents taken the easy way out...my life could be entirely different. For one thing I doubt that I would have learned the self-confidence that I have. It is unlikely that I would have gone to the college I went to if I had gone to college at all. Which leads me to this conclusion: Had my parents not made the tough choice of sending me back to repeat second grade, I would never have met my beautiful wife.Reading really is good for...and so is making the taught choices in life. I am grateful that my parents have raised me to do both.I am blessed because of their obedience to God.

That being said, I really like the idea of owning my favorite books. I have started my collection, but here is a list of books I would really like to have in hardback:
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Giver - Harper Lee
A clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - C.S.Lewis
The Pearl - John Steinbeck
Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn
A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking
A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers
The Color of Water - James McBride
High Fidelity - Nick Hornby
1984 - George Orwell

I am sure there are a ton of others, but that's all I'll list now. Tell me what books you love and which ones you wish you owned.

Birthdays and such

Well...I am now 26 years of age. Yes, Monday was my birthday and I have to say it goes in the books as one of my favorite birthdays ever. It was very laid back and relaxed. I didn't do anything crazy or hugely exciting...I just had a good day.Thanks to everybody who helped make it the day that it was.

I had a wonderful time last night walking around Home Depot with my wife. Yep. That's what we did with our evening off. It was a lot of fun to look at things we hope to add to our new home and talk about our little projects and stuff. I know that this is the age of technology and all that crap, but I for one still really love working with my hands and can't wait to start adding things and upgrading our house.

Ever wonder what it would be like to be the opposite sex? I don't.

I realized this last week that as much as I have grown in self confidence and not trying to impress people...I still want to look good and feel out of sorts when I am not looking my best. I don't really think it's a bad thing to want to look your best, but I was a little disappointed in myself for letting physical things affect my view of myself. I'll work on that. We all should.

I am reading, for the very first time, Catcher in the Rye. So far it is really interesting, but doesn't make we want to be crazy or anything. It is written very conversationally, which makes it easier for me to read. I appreciate when people write like they speak. I also have an appreciation for well worded literature. I am easy to please as far as reading is concerned.

Holidays are coming. I am happy.