I have officially moved to a new address.

It’s here. Feel free to visit any time. Just take your shoes off at the door.

Yes, it has been a while. Judging from the mass amounts of comments I receive, I don’t think anyone really cares though.

I am working on setting up my own blog…Corrie and I will be seperating(in blogs, not marriage). Until then, take a minute and try out this awareness test. Keep your eye on the ball!

Why is it that this is the only blog site I know of that does not have some sort of picture in the sidebar? Seems simple. I have always thought of myself as fairly handy with computers but I’m somewhat baffled. Not so much that I’m losing sleep at night over it or anything…

I just cannot seem to locate the “how to”, the step-by-step instructions if you will, anywhere in the WordPress library.

Is there anyone who can tell me how? anyone…Beuller?

I have always had a high tolerance for hot sauces and spicy foods in general. After all, I was born in Cajun country where bottles of Tobasco sauce are prevalent in every home; more so than table salt. I have never met a hot sauce I did not like. I can put it on whatever I eat and it does not really bother me.

Along comes Endorphin Rush, a force to be reckoned with.

Notice the ”danger” label. Trust me. It’s there for a reason.

A friend of mine said, “Dave, I know how you like hot sauce. Try this one out.” Of course my response was “whatever, let me taste it.” Next thing I know, I’m gasping for breath with a tear literally running down my cheek as I’m chugging a cup full of milk(best thing for hot sauce. the worst is water.) Meanwhile I was laughed at for being such an idiot.

Hell may be hot indeed, but Endorphin Rush is a close second. I challenge anyone who reads this to give it a try and let me know about your experience. As for me, I have met my match.

Texas Pete, you ain’t nothin’.

We had a family get-away/soccer tourney last weekend in the great city of Charleston, SC. I’m telling you right now, if I could pick any city other than Charlotte to reside in, Charleston would be on a short list of choices. As a matter of fact, here is that list:

1. Flagstaff, Arizona. I have loved this city since I first went there about thirteen years ago. Of course I was only eighteen at the time so I was not exactly career/family minded and I had no idea what “cost of living” meant.
2. San Antonio, Texas. Great city. Good food which equates to a good culinary field. A championship NBA team worthy of admission price.
3. Charleston, SC. Historic. Breathtaking scenery. Perfect sized downtown area. Lies on the Atlantic Ocean.

There’s the top three. Recently bumped from the list…New Orleans, LA and Jacksonville, FL.

Anyway, when visiting Charleston it’s an absolute must to hit the aquarium. “It’s most lovely”. At least that’s what Greta said about it. Ticket prices? FREE.

There’s also an observatory deck where you can supposedly spot dolphins if you look out long enough. My ADD would not allow for it. I did however stumble across a giant frog. We conversed for a bit and exchanged blog URLs, but then I had to hop up to go hit the carriage rides.

Since the ocean this time of year is about 14 degrees, the carriage ride around downtown was probably the highlight for the kids. They surprised Corrie and I in how well they behaved for the whole hour and kept their hands to themselves. Ticket prices? Again, FREE. I’ll share with you three readers later on how all that was worked out.

This pic was taken just after the tour was over. Don’t you just love Gracie’s shirt?

“I put ketchup on my ketchup”

Fort Sumter is also a must-see when you are in town. It was my first time seeing it and I have to say it was an awesome sight to behold. Gavin, the history buff, was loving every minute of it.

  Oh yea, about the soccer tourney… That’s the main reason we went to Charleston in the first place. Well the boys went 0-2 on Saturday, but I plan on launching an investigation. I think many of the other teams were experimenting with some Human Growth Hormone to get the upper hand. Oh well, the boys finished with a bang on Sunday morning and got the victory. So all in all, they went 1 for 3. It did’nt seem to bother the team at all. Gavin especially had a great attitude about the tournament which surprises me because he has a highly competitive nature. Hmmm, I wonder where he gets it from!

I did not get many shots of the team in action as I was too busy watching and asking the referee if he was blind. Here’s Gavin and a couple buddies from the team just after losing a game 6-1. I guess there’s nothing a good homemade cupcake can’t fix.

My kids do not believe in the Easter Bunny.  We have chosen to focus this holiday on the power of the risen Lord, Jesus Christ.  The power that He has to save to restore and to heal.  The power that He exhibited at Elevation Church on Easter Sunday when over 4800 people attended and over 500 of those people experienced a touch from God and gave their lives to Jesus.  I love that stuff!!!  He is Lord MY God!!!  Pastor delivered an amazing message from the Gospel of John.  It is to me one of the most powerful passages in scripture….check it out here.  Gotta love a church where the pastor says “Ho” during the message.

So with that being said here are a couple of conversations that we had with our kids on Sunday morning…

As they came down the stairs to see what they had gotten for Easter, I stopped them on the stairs and read the story of the resurrection, afterward the conversation went a little like this:

Me:  Okay kids isn’t that story amazing.  You do know that Easter baskets and eggs are not the real reason we  celebrate Easter right?

Gracie (so serious):  Yes Mommy we know, it is about the death and RE-ERECTION of Jesus.

Me: um………………..

The other little conversation went something like this, as Greta was running to clubhouse.

Greta:  Bye Mommy!

Me: Wait Stinky come here and smooch my face.

Greta (running over to me):  Mommy JESUS IS ALIVE!

Me:  Yes baby he is! 

I had to change the blog look again this afternoon but not by choice. After all, I do not particularly care for the current one. I was trying to check my “stats” when much to my shagrin, the blogroll had vanished along with the calendar in the corner. It’s bad enough Corrie and I do not have any pictures posted here for your viewing pleasure(coming soon), but to have the blogroll vanish somewhere deep into the blogosphere is beyond me.

Truth be told, my old blogroll is probably hiding in a corner somewhere pointing at me, laughing, and sharing some sweet tea with my TV remote and car keys.

Upon my log-in to WordPress I noticed just how long it has been since I have graced this website with my presence. Three whole weeks have slipped on by without a single blog poured from my overflowing cup of nonsense. You see, the problem has not been a lack of material but simply motivation.

Then along comes the NCAA basketball tourney which takes first place in my heart every March. Even though it comes in second place this year due to an early Easter, the brackets still make me glow like a child receiving a brand new bicycle.

I’m sort of a freak when it comes to filling out my bracket. I tweak it five or six times until I have made sure it is absolutely flawless, picking upsets in the first couple rounds, then going with my gut the rest of the way. I guess the part that my dear wife loves though is when I make the entire family fill one out. No one eats dinner until their bracket is inked with a champion. It’s a bit anal I know but that’s just how it is. My daughters just guess after asking me what the mascot is which is very cute. I then keep track of all sheets until the nets are cut down and a winner is finally declared. It’s been six years running however and I have yet to win. Corrie earned bragging rights last year with Gavin taking honors the year prior.

This is the year I finally win it all though, unless of course Xavier ends up as NCAA champs, in which case my five-year-old daughter Greta will be victorious.

Watching the games becomes the real challenge due to a busy work schedule but that’s where TiVo comes into play…

After all, you can’t spell motivation without it.

That little ray is my sweet little Greta.  Today she turns 5 and I am so blessed by her.  She is the sweetest and most precocious little girl I have ever met.  Sometimes I feel like since she is the youngest that she gets the short end of the stick.  I mean there is not one video in our house of her….not a lot of pictures…..she got dragged out of preschool because we couldn’t afford it…. but then she loves on me and “smooches my face” and I know that she will always be my little “Stinky Feet”.  She has been thrown, over the past week into a new season and she has taken it like a champ and has even kept my spirits up.  God really knew what he was doing when he made Greta!  Right now she is at her friend Victoria’s house celebrating her birthday and I know she is having a great time. 

Oh, I did promise in a previous post that I would explain the whole stinky feet nickname.  I really do try hard not to call her that in public but sometimes i just slips out and she never seems to mind….right now at least.  When she was a baby and we were laying on the bed playing she started to put her feet in my face, so I went,  ”sheeeeew stinky feet”.  It made her laugh so hard and from then on it just stuck.  She even named her pig Webkinz , Stinky Feet.

Happy Birthday Stinky!!!    

Thank you all for your prayers and hugs.  I am sorry for the depressing post but those are the things I was feeling at that moment.  Right now I just want to punch a couple of people in the throat….but  God is working on me!  I have other options and I am thoroughly enjoying this time with Greta.  New things are being revealed to me everyday about my personality and forgiveness.  I am so much less stressed now that I don’t have to put up with the drama and the gossip.  I think the Lord was behind this.  He can be a sneaky fella!

 Today has been an emotional and trying day.   Here are some thoughts to express what I am feeling:

1. I feel picked apart
2. I feel like everything that is wrong with me and my personality was shoved in my face all at once with no opportunity to stick up for myself.
3. I feel betrayed
4. I feel like I fooled myself into thinking that people who really didn’t care for me did.
5. I feel like God is pruning me.
6. I feel like I put a lot of stock into an organization with Christian in it’s title and it let me down.
7. I feel sorry for little Greta and her friends that she will miss.
8. I feel angry, and this is righteous anger that will demand that I finally stand up for myself
9. I feel frustrated
10. I feel scared
11. I feel embarassed that when I get mad I cry
12. I feel like I would never sacrifice friendship for a part-time job
13. I feel like Greta and I will have fun together but I know she is going to miss the only friends she has.
14. I feel like I need prayer

Sometimes when I and hurt I have a distorted view of things so maybe these feelings are a little off center but they are the way I feel right now.  My friend Brandi prayed for me today and I felt at peace in that moment…..I just realized that my worth is not in a building or a paycheck,  and that if I seek my Lord I will find my peace.  I pray that for others…