The Cost of Discipleship

Is there such a thing as cheap and easy discipleship? Because in all honesty, my discipleship has been both cheap and easy by any standards. This makes me question whether or not it is discipleship at all. Let me share with you the fate of the initial twelve.

1. John died of extreme old age in Ephesus, but they tried to kill him by boiling him in a vat of oil.

2. Judas Iscariot, after betraying his Lord, hanged himself.

3. Peter was crucified, head downward during the persecution of Nero.

4. Andrew died on a cross at Patrae, in Achaia, a Grecian colony.

5. James was thrown from a pinnacle of the temple and then beaten to death with a club.

6. Bartholomew was flayed alive in Albanopolis, Armenia.

7. James, the elder son of Zebedee, was beheaded at Jerusalem.

8. Thomas, the Doubter, was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel, in the East Indies.

9. Philip was hanged against a pillar at Heropolis, a city of Phrygia, in Asia Minor.

10. Matthew was slain by the sword, in Ethiopia, Abyssinia.

11. Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows.

12. Simon died on a cross in Persia (now Iran).

I am thankful that it is unlikely that this will be the fate of any American reading this post. However, that does not mean there is no price to pay. I am one of the most comfortable people I know. Stephanie and I live without very little--sure we could have more, but we could have a whole lot less. Somehow the devil has convinced me that I am entitled to comfort--that I deserve the amenities we enjoy. In other words, my attitude would aptly be described as the antithesis of what it ought to be according Philippians 2:


Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Christ, who in fact created the world he came to visit, made himself nothing.
I, on the other hand, have never created anything and damage what I touch am convinced that it is my right to be comfortable, have what I want, and do what I wish when I desire.

God opposes the proud and therefore opposes me. Lord, break me of my pride.

Ohio, it is pronounced "ofn"

I miss blogging. Today, I was in the classroom of a very well qualified 6th grade reading teacher. One of the kids I was talking to while the teacher was out of the room said "ofTen". I corrected her and had to prove myself with the dictionary. When the teacher returned the students asked her to say the word spelled "O-F-T-E-N". What did she say? She pronounced it how everyone else in Ohio does, "ofTen". I would say 75% of MN, gets this right, but only about 2% of Ohio. Shape up Ohioans...

Back to School Jumping Through Hoops

I went back to school today. As is a common problem at regional campuses, the course offering this quarter were not adequate for my needs. If I waited for every class to come through Lancaster, I would be in school for two more years. So, for the next 10 weeks, I will be commuting over an hour each way to Athens, OH 5 days a week. In all honesty, it will probably be more like 4 days a week. Today I ran from corner to corner of the campus to get a parking pass, a TB test, a background check, opt out of their health insurance, and attend class in the different buildings. It is amazing the number of hoops education majors have to jump through!

Initially, when Stephanie and I decided that Athens was a must, I was imagining it to be the worst 10 weeks of my life. I am happy to report that this is no longer how I feel. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Typically (sadly), I rarely feel I have to call that verse into action. I am excited to lean heavily on that truth this quarter. I am excited to forget my own power and lean heavily on his. I know it is only day one, but I feel great, and am already a week ahead. Praise the Lord!

It has been forever since I posted. Hopefully, I am back.

Orange Peel Resolved

So I have tried getting a hold of Jonathan many times and things always fall through. I was worried that we weren't going to resolve things in time if I didn't hurry up and get the ticket info from him and call the park back. Well, I finally got a hold of Jonathan, and found out that the guy I had spoken with took the initiative to call Jonathan himself and tell him to tear up the ticket. Praise the Lord, all is resolved, and Jonathan is not broke.

Orange Peel Update

I just called the National Park Service and they connected me to the Law Enforcement Division. I began by telling him our story and interjected that in my opinion, $275 seemed awfully excessive for an honest mistake. After all, this wasn't an act of defiance, it truly was a misunderstanding of the law. I went on to state that the real issue I was calling was to address the mismanagement of out ticket by the ranger. He knew the ranger as soon as I said his name and did confess that he was quite the rookie. He empathised with us and more or less stated that the intent of the law is to fine campers who leave sites littered with trash and other more serious offenders. He was extremely professional and understanding. I did not have the ticket in hand, so we could not take care of everything, but he said that when I call him back with necessary info he will speak with the appropriate supervisor and see what he can do. he made no promises but certainly led me to believe that he would work something out in order to lessen or eliminate the penalty. I love it when I call some place ready to really fight and the people on the other end are so awesome that I don't even have the opportunity Enterprise is like that... I have had problems with 3 out of 4 rental experiences and every time I go in there armed to verbally destroy them they take care of it and then some before I get 5 words out. Mad props to good management!

Heaven and Hell

I was recently asked how I know that heaven and hell exist--how do I know that there is something beyond death

My short answer to the question is that a reliable source told me so.

If I wanted to know about how the cell functions, I would talk to a biologist. If I wanted to know what the strange growth on my elbow is I would go to a dermatologist. If my car is broken, I go to the mechanic. If I want to know about China, I will talk to someone from there or at least a well-versed visitor. There are few things I enjoy more than consulting experts. I am always so amazed when someone can spend 30 seconds with something and then tell me exatly what is going on. I love DIY projects, but willfully admit that if I can do it in 12 hours, an expert can probably do it in 2. It is true, that sometimes two experts disagree, or that someone who claims to be an expert is not. Angie's List, the BBB, and conversations with other experts help us discern who we can trust and who we can't.


So, if I have questions about the after life, where do I turn? Well, I am limited to people who have been there, or someone lives outside the physical realm to tell us about it. A few people do claim to have experienced heaven through NDEs (near-death experiences), but many of those can be explained biologically. A Christian, Din Piper, wrote the book 90 Minutes in Heaven. His experience is very different from the typical NDE. I have read the book and it is very convincing, but I am still a little skeptical.


Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." He also stated, "But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca', is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell."


It takes little searching to know that according to the Bible, Jesus certainly believed in both heaven and hell. This leaves us with a couple questions of validation. If Jesus indeed said these things, and if He is a reliable source, then I can trust that heaven and hell do exist. Here is where I can confidently refer to the work of others. I could regurgitate logical and historical reasons to trust the scriptures, as well as reasons to believe that Christ knew what he was talking about and had no motives to make the stuff up. But, we do what others have already done so well. Read Lee Strobel's book A Case for Christ for an excellent defense of these and other matters.

Orange Peel

I am currently at the Denver Int'l airport awaiting our flight home from the FLY Convention. It was an incredible week and many came to know the Lord. On Thursday, our church took a couple of vans into RMNP to enjoy God's creation. On the way down the mountain Jonathan began to peel an orange. He was going to throw the peel out of the window while we drove by a overlook, but I told him to wait until it was some place where no one would see it. He tried to throw it over a wall, but didn't quite make it. A few hundred feet down the mountain, we heard sirens and pulled over when possible. After 30 minutes, a dyslexic park ranger newb issued Jonathan a ticket. We all thought it was pretty ridiculous, giving a 15 year old who had never been in a National Park before a ticket for one small orange peel. As we drove away, Jonathan began to examine the paper work and discovered that he owed $275! He snapped. That boy has never had $275 in his life.

The story really got interesting last night. While at the Convention, I got called into the office. Somehow, the park ranger figured out how to contact me through the YMCA. I was told that we had something of his that he needed. I tried calling, but the number was apparently wrong. Since then, he has left voicemails on both Jonathan and my cell phones. It sounds like he forgot to keep his copy of the ticket. So, what do we do with this? I am committed to advocating for Jonathan through this whole ordeal even if it means trying to raise some money. My question is this: Do you think it is possible to use the ranger's mistake as an opportunity to get out of the fine? What is he going to do? Ask us to mail it to him? Would we (Jonathan) be obligated to comply? What do you think?

Discontinued IKEA shelves

Today I am starting something I have contemplated for a while. I am writing my first retrospective blog. Stephanie wanted to hang some shelves she found in the IKEA catalog but was disappointed to find out they had discontinued the brackets. They looked simple enough, so I made them! They are far from fine furniture, but if you like the slightly rugged look and can handle a dark stain (hides imperfections better), these were easy and inexpensive to build! I used standard 2x2s and 2x12s. The pictures really show about everything.

I know I have really awesome MS Paint skills. I am not sure if it was the best call, but since my walls are super thick (sheetrock over plaster) I used 4" toggle bolts to secure them to my wall. The shelves are heavy enough that they don't need to be attached. Stephanie, Thor, and I leave for the FLY Convention tomorrow, so we will be writing to you all when we get home!

Coffee Table

A long time ago, our friends the Staffans bought an old table, chopped the legs off, and made it their coffee table. We really liked it, and the design seemed simple enough, so I decided way back then to make it. I never found the time, until Stephanie's birthday was around the corner, and I didn't know what eles to do. So, I snuck over to the Staffan's one night to take some recounassaince photos. They aree below. I took more than this, but this was really enough information.




The next day, after the paper route, Jonathan and I went on a secretive lumber hunt and winded u p at Menard's where they had an incredible selection of pine. They blew Home Depot and 84 Lumber out of the water. We hurried to the Hall's house and began working. Stephanie was sleeping upstairs thinking that I was working on my car.



We routed grooves about 3/4" deep into the legs, and used a chisel to square the bottom s of the grooves. I enjoyed using an old hand tool. I bet Jesus used chisels. We simply glued the 1x6s in and clamped everything really tight. We did put brad nails through the 4x4 on the inside to help.





In order to fasten the top, we layed the 1x10s wrong side up on the saw horses and then layed the table on them. centeres the table to the top and used strips of 2x2 that were sitting around to fasten the top, as well as glue.

I sanded the crap out of it using the sander from my previous garage sale post. It worked awesome.


Here it is ready for varnish! I was working late into the night!

Our camera lend broke... So, I had to stand outside to fit it into a picture--not to mention that is is huge. It looked normal until we put it in our living room. Stephanie wants me to shop a few inches off of the legs. That may be a good idea.

Happy Birthday Stephanie!

Haier Air Conditioner Makes Watery Noises (fixed)

Most of the people who currently read my blog are immediate family members. I don't imagine any of them being entertainedby posts like this one. This is for the people out there who bought the same air conditioner and are wondering if they can make that awful water noise stop. You can. It is far from rocket science too. I dismantled the thing and as I suspected, the water that condenses on the coils is caught by a pan on the bottom and then when it gets deep enough the fan blade splashes through it endlessly. Most air conditioners drain the water. I don't know why Haier doesn't. Initially, all I did was drill a hole in the bottom to let the water out. That worked, but the water was continually dripping on my sill and I thought that over time it could cause some damage. So, I purchased a grommet and some tubing at the local hardware store ($.69) and piped the water away.

Voila, no more puddle for the fan to splash in, and a tube that constantly provides me with distilled water!

The "Next" Button

I have only recently begun appreciating (and contributing to) the blogosphere. I initially managed subscriptions with MS Outlook, but it wasn't pretty. I was soon converted to Google Reader and thought it was awesome. I tried to share its joys with others but people had lots of objections, especially Bobby. He noted that Google Reader sterilizes everything. I couldn't disagree with him. Below is a comparison of a blog in original form and the reader version.Well, while Stephanie and I were visiting her relatives in San Diego, her cousin introduced me to Google Reader's "Next" Button. It is pure genius. Simply log into google reader, click setting and then go to the Goodies tab. Not just click and drag the highlighted "Next" into your favorites bar. From now on, all you have to do is click next and it will take you chronologically through your blog subscriptions one at a time and you don't have to miss a thing. It has revolutionized my computing experience. Multiple times a day I walk up to the computer to do two things; check my email, and click the "Next" button. When you are out of new blogs to read, it kindly informs you that you have reached the end of the internet.

Homebrew Series: The Barley Crusher

This past week, I brewed my first lager with and for Andy. I documented most of the process and will use this opportunity to introduce much of our fancy equipment. Today I highlight the homemade barley crusher. I merely mentioned to Andy that I wanted to build onee so that I could savee the $120 or so that they retail for online. Within a week he had a pretty goodd working machine. He continued to refine it for a few weeks as we tried it out and I better clarified what we needed it to do. Below are videos of it:

Financial Scheme #2

Back in April I finaggled some money through the US Mint and my credit card. I later applied for a credit card to do this again, but my activation attempt failed. After agreeing to give her 80% of the proceeds, Stephanie came with me to the bank to activate the card. I then ordered $9750 worth of Native American $1 coins. That is more than three times the amount pictured here. Last time, the bank was a little annoyed, so I am going to keep them packaged this time.

Nice toes huh? This direct ship program is a perfect example of why the US government is broke! They sent me just about 200 lbs worth of package next day air! I went to UPS and used precise measurements to calculate how much the shipping charges would be. According to UPS.com, to ship 200 lbs from Indiana to Canal Winchester via next day air, it would cost over $600! This makes me feel a little guilty. Also, why on earth didn't they use the Postal Service!?

Anyway, we already are able to claim $100 from Capital One, and over time should be able to earn interest on the money for the next 9 months!

Alarm Clock

I need one of these!

Saving Money at Garage Sales!

Over the past year I have acquired some excellent equipment at incredible prices! Garage sales do require patience, but they sure are worth it! If you really want something, but cannot justify paying full price, start looking! Below are my best four finds in the last year.

1. Air compressor. I thought I paid $40 for the thing, but jealous friends just reminded me that I got it for $25! From what I can find on the internet, it retails for around $150.

2. Coffee Grinder. 50 cents! True, we don't need one, but when you are a man who sells whole bean coffee it is worth giving away a 50 cent grinder to secure a good customer.

3. Bike Trailer. $50 is all I paid for this pre-assembled, never-used bike trailer. It retails for $130. I used craigslist RSS to be the first one to get this sucker.

4. Sander. $2! It wasn't working when I bought it, but the man selling it was pretty sure it just needed a new cord--a gamble worth taking. He was right. Retail value over $50 I am sure.
Here are my tips for good garage saling.

1. Look for community garage sales. You can really maximize your gas milegae this way.
2. Know what you are looking for.
3. Know how much you are willing to pay ahead of time.

4. Bargain! It never hurts to ask. People often times don't know how much their stuff is worth.

5. Don't feel obligated to look at everything. Sometimes you can size up a sale within 1 minute. Don't waste your time on sales that don't interest you. Walk away and move on!

Craigslist RSS

Have you ever been looking for something on craigslist, but whenever you find something, it is two days or two hours too late? Well, if you use use RSS technology (google reader, outlook, etc.), you can have the right craigslist posts sent straight to you!! Simply perform your search like you normally would and scroll down to the bottom, right click the RSS emblem and copy the shortcut.
Then, paste the shortcut into your RSS manager. Now, whenever someone posts something that meets your search criteria, you will be notified right away and you can be the first one to jump on the great deal! This is how I secured our bike trailer on Saturday, as well as the air conditioner I am picking up this afternoon! I also have one feed set up that notifies me whenever anything free is posted in Canal Winchester. I love this technology. I hope it helps you snag some great deals this summer!

Ho Ho Sheet Cake

Usually a person would take a picture of the whole cake and then one of a nice fresh slice. Hindsight is 20/20. Oh well, this captures how good it was. We bought a piece of this many moons ago at the little bakery in town and Stephanie found this "Ho Ho Cake" recipe on allrecipes.com. I took a picture of the last morsel right before I devoured it.
The bottom is just a box cake, but the top is glorious. It was quite a bit of work, but it was totally worth it. This recipe is a keeper. One step in the process was too add 5 Tbsp. flour to 1 1/4 cup milk and cook stirring continually until thick. It became a really neat goop. I thought it was cool.
Anyway, if you are looking for some good dessert to make, give this a try!

Bike Riding

On Saturday, Stephanie, Thor, Jacob and I went on a 9 mile bike ride. It was awesome and we hope to log many miles this summer. Yesterday, Bobby, Thor, Perry and I logged a few miles during Probitous. Bobby wrote a nice post about it here. There is a cute picture of Thor.

Archaeology

I borrowed Andy's edger the other day to spruce up my sidewalks. It led to an archaeological dig. I carefully and meticulously unearthed 8 feet of sidewalk I never knew we had! Again, I would give anything for a before picture. I used to think they just quit pouring. Nope. The sod monster had been claiming inch after inch for only God knows how many years.

Coffee Roasting Honed

Stephanie took it upon herself to photo document the entire coffee roasting process a few weeks ago. Both the machine and the process have been highly refined since last time. Andy got an old grill for free so he cut it down and mounted the roaster semi-permanently over the existing burners. We upgraded to a 5/8" shaft and reinforced the shell. It now dons a hopper with a valve, and the fanciest modification is the adjustable drum. This way, we can manipulate the location of the drum on the fly.

Here it is in all of its glory. It will comfortably roast a pound of coffee in under ten minutes.Here is a close up of the fancy adjuster. The end of the shaft is threaded and is free to move within the bearing. The cylinder extending from the bearing is secured to the shaft collar on the bearing as well as the nut on the threads. Therefore, if you hold the shaft and turn that collar, the shaft will be adjusted in our out by the threads. This allows us to adjust for the expanding and contracting of the drum. The weight of the door is the only thing that keeps the beans in while they roast. You can see the chaff resting on the machine. Maybe one day we will install an after-burner, but for now it is just a messy process.While roasting, I continually assess the progress by the sound of the beans cracking, the smell of them roasting, as well as continual visual inspections using the tryer shown below. The difference between a light light roast and charcoal is only about 120 seconds.

Here is an action shot of the beans being dumped! You can see the flame below! They look perfect!

This last photo is of my beautiful mother overseeing the high-tech cooling process. It actually works remarkably well. Note that the fan is blowing down. If it was blowing up, the coffee beans would be everywhere! That's it folks! If you want a pound send an email to bumblesboast@hotmail.com We should have a label soon!

Summer Projects

I am not quite positive why it has been so long, but I am going to blame it on summer projects. I have a huge list of things I want to get done this summer, and it is never too early to start. I already have checked one off of the list and am kicking myself for not taking any before pictures. I NEVER remember to take before pictures! My north gutter has had problems since day one. The home inspector even told me that the gutter sags in the middle. He misspoke. The house sags in the middle. In fact, it sags 3 inches in the middle of a 30 foot span. Since the gutter was essentially an elevated pool, it would drip for a good 4 days after every rain. The drops were eating away at the pavers below, carving out the grout in my footer, and slowly eroding the substrate beneath the pavers. The continual moisture and lack of sunlight also make that side of the house prone to mossy walls. one fix would take care of everything.

I took the gutter down and tore off everything down to the rafters. A lack of drip edging had allowed lots of moisture to get back in there and rot away quite a bit. Andy came over the following day and we made pretty quick work of the whole deal. We had to get creative with the flashing but I am pretty happy with it all. It functions perfectly.

The only problem is that it looks kind of silly. My roof is low in the middle, and my gutter needs to be high in the middle. My brain plays a trick on me and makes me think that the gutter is super sloped, but the gutter only slopes a half an inch on both sides. The stupid roof is the problem. Anyway, it was exciting to accomplish and it was nice to scrub the siding and know that the moss won't be back in 6 weeks.

Literal Video

Apparently this has been an internet fad for awhile, but I just learned of it today. Someone simply rewrites the lyrics to a song to match what happens in the music video. We thought that it was quite hilarious. All other literal videos we looked up were quite disappointing after this one though.

Crafty Husband :)

I have never been known for being the creative or even resourceful type, but today a vision I had about a year ago finally came to fruition. It is sad that such a simple idea took so long to materialize. While playing "Bigger & Better" with the kids a long time ago, I found a candle stand in someone's trash and had a great idea. I converted it into a plant holder! Well... There really was no converting to be done other than sticking little terracotta pots on it. The hard part was finding the right plants for it. Below are pictures of the porch (for context), and the candle holder turned plant stand.

The porch needs some color, but it will be there in a week or so when a couple budding plants finally bloom. The front only looks so nice because my wonderful mother put mad effort into cleaning it up with me this afternoon. Hope you enjoy.

Growing Hops

I planted 4 hop rhizomes a few weeks ago and as of Wednesday one of the plants was already taller than my fence. According to what I have read, hops grow as tall as 20 feet. So yesterday I set out to build something for them to climb high for cheap. My total price tag was well under $40. Selling for $2/oz. I should be able to recapture my costs pretty quickly.

In dreaming up my design I had to come up with a way to get the hops down every fall without a 16' step ladder. My final plan was to run a cable between to poles that could be lowered. The pictures below should show my plan better than I can explain it. I purchased 2 16' 2x4s, 50 ft. of 1/16" cable, two eye bolts, string, and a couple other miscellaneous parts. I originally planned on using pulleys but decided that they were unnecessary.

The Envelope System

I love personal finance. My first financial mentor was John Commuta, and am currently tutored by Dave Ramsey 3 mornings a week as I deliver the paper. I also read fivecentnickel and get some good stuff from him. Stephanie and I are around 1/4 million in debt. We aren't good targets for identity thieves. A couple months ago I worked out a very detailed and disciplined plan to be completely debt free in less than 11 years "on just the money we already make". (Commuta uses that phrase in his ads all the time) Hopefully, our income will increase and that number will shrink.

The problem is that my plan depends on Stephanie and I sticking to our budget. It is tight but realistic. Our dedication vacillates constantly because there are always special circumstances that justify fudging the budget just a bit. Those little exceptions in multiple budget categories really add up. According to our budget we are supposed to have around $800 to add to our smallest debt every month (up from $400 because we paid off the Honda! YES!). This month we barely paid our bills.

We were out of credit card debt quite a few months ago, but we funnel everything we can through our discover card in order to maximize our cashback bonus. We have not carried a balance in months. But, Ramsey confronts this mindset often on his show and insists that statistics show that people spend more when they use a credit card than they do with with cash or debit. Although I could not deny the stat, I have insisted that we budget well enough and track our expenses well enough that the credit card does not influence the amount we spend. Today, I publicly confess that I was wrong.

So, with hardly any resistance Stephanie agreed to the change. Today, my friend Walter passively convinced me to go the extra mile and convert to an all cash system. The aforementioned statistic further states that people spend even less with cash than they do with debit. So, I just emailed Stephanie and informed her that I want to switch to the envelope system. I remember my brother and his wife reading Larry Burkett and using this system as a result in their early married life. Here is how it works.

For all expenditures that are discretionary like groceries, entertainment, recreation, clothing, hobbies, dining out, and even gasoline, we take the budgeted amount of money at the beginning of the month and place it in appropriate envelopes. Throughout the month when we want something, we go to the envelope and use the cash for ALL purchases. When the cash is gone, guess what-- you are done. The system is beautifully simple, but certainly the best way for all but the extremely disciplined.

I am nervous but excited, because I know that the end result will be totally worth it.

When Children Die

This is a touchy subject, yet I must speak my heart on the issue, and again beg for responses.

There is a very popular belief among Christians in "The Age of Accountability". In essence, it states that until a certain age, children are not accountable for their sins and in one sense or another are innocent until a certain age or level of maturity. It is a very nice idea, and a wonderfully comforting way to assess the fate of children. But, I have never found a shred of Biblical support for this notion. It is clear from Psalm 51:5 that we are sinful from birth!

The other common way of dealing with the death of children is through infant baptism. Accordingly, we can somehow impute righteousness unto a child through the sacrament of baptism. This does not hold much water either.

The death of children is an uncomfortable subject, and one for which we want answers and I believe that in response we have dreamed up some pretty good sounding ones. Nonetheless, I believe Scripture is silent on the issue. That being the case, I personally have simply resolved that it is in God's hand to trust that he will do what is right with his own. It does seem consistent with his character that there would be some provision for those of a certain age, but I can with no certainty make that claim.

There is one passage that gives me lots of hope. After David's son dies he explains his peace in the situation by saying, "I will go to him, but he will not return to me". David clearly believes that his son is in heaven waiting for David to join him. Here lies my theological question of the day. I believe the Bible to be true. Therefore, I believe that David truly said what he said and believed what he did. But, David was fallible. So, just because David believed it, is that authority enough for me to?

Before I close I would like to emphasize the goodness of God. We can trust his will completely, for his ways and thoughts are infinitely above our own. So, just because I believe that neither infant baptism nor "The Age of Accountability" sufficiently deal with the issue, I am fully confident that we can trust our Heavenly Father to do what is right with all that go to meet Him.

I again look forward to comments on this post! Please justify for me either of the two popular notions or address how much faith we can put in the true words of David.

My Media Center

This post may not be of particular interest to my few and faithful readers, but I write it for the sake of people like me. I looked intently for information on using an HDTV as a monitor and for recommendations on hardware and software for a media giant pc. My set up is not complete, but I have learned quite a bit along the way and highly recommend combining tv and computer, especially if you live in a small space. In order to complete the set-up I need a Blu-Ray burner and a wireless keyboard mouse combo.

The first piece of equipment I intently researched was the tv. If you are thinking of a similar set-up, I only have a few pointers. HDTVs either have 720 or 1080 lines of resolution equating to total resolutions of 1280x720 and 1920x1080 respectively. Within each group, the size of your tv is not going to affect how much stuff you can fit on your monitor, it is only going to affect how big individual pixels are. Total resolution matters more than size and therefore insist that you don't even consider 720. Furthermore, I would go with a smaller 1080p as well. I purchased a 37" Insignia (LG) from Best Buy and could not be happier with it. At full resolution, my vista start button is still smaller than a dime. If I would have went with a bigger tv, it would only stretch things out.

As far as response time, brightness, and other technicalities go, I would do your own research. Depending on what you intend on doing with your tv/monitor and where it will be, your answers to those specs will be very different. The resolution allows for very comfortable viewing of two programs side by side. I have posted images below.

Here you can see how much you can fit at full resolution.

Here you can see the tv in the context of the room. I should have cleaned the desk.

If you have any question, please ask. I love to help.

Music & Memories

Music is awesome. Tonight I was calling up Tree 63 for Nic and somewhere in some tag a Damien Rice song contained the word tree, so it joined the play list. It happened to be a song I hate because of the f-bomb so i deleted it. But it inspired me to call up the album "O" and I have been listening to it for about an hour now. I am not sure if Stephanie had just purchased it or what, but this CD was very present in the foundational months of Stephanie and my romance. Images of her visits while I painted houses, late night drives, and cemetery walks flashed before my eyes. I could almost smell that summer sitting here listening to the music. All the while, Thor is lying in my arms, drinking his bottle, and gentle touching my face. Talk about bliss. I sure love my wife. I was in love with her then and she is ten times better now. The album is still playing and only has two songs left. I am sad that my reminiscent journey is coming to an end. In spite of looming lesson plans and a long night and longer day tomorrow, I am in temporary bliss--loving this moment, allowing God to show me how blessed I really am. All good gifts come from God and I am thankful for every moment.

Minor Manipulations

We had a tough time finding a magnet beefy enough to hold the calendar to the fridge. I eventually harvested a magnet from an old hard drive that works great. Anyway, Stephanie wanted me to get rid of the leftovers. I played with them for a bit and made the face below. I thought it was pretty sweet and reason enough to keep them on the fridge.

Last night I walked by the fridge and noticed that my dude was ticked off! Someone had simply moved the eyebrows... Maybe this is nothing to any of you, but I thought it was pretty awesome that such an insignificant movement could change so much!
Doesn't this following one almost look worried! After today I will no longer take my eyebrows for granted!

Crafty Wife

My wife would not consider herself a crafter by any means, but she comes up with some good ideas. For some reason, I love this one. She made super cute fridge magnets by hot gluing buttons to magnets. It helped that her dad has been collecting buttons since he was a child and has a huge collection. But, I just thought I would share the idea in case your fridge

needs some...