Date Night - One Part Testosterone / One Part Estrogen

Last night was Date Night. Well, it turned into a date night. Really, we just needed to get out of the house for a little while, but it didn't take long after we were out, that we decided this was a great opportunity to do some fun things and enjoy the company that is just us.

First stop: Testosterone

We headed over to Bull's Eye, in Tacoma to do some good ol fashioned shootin'. It really wasn't very expensive and you get to choose from all sorts of weapons and ammo. you even get your choice of targets. You can do the standard circle targets all the way up to pictures of terrorists holding children as human shields. We used the standard silhouette targets.




Bonus Picture: One of Liz's casings landed in the tray of ammo. Not only can she effectively place her rounds down range, she can also chose where the casings go!!

Second Stop: Estrogen

We left the range and headed to the movie theater to watch Sex and the City 2. I know what you might be thinking. How could I go from something so manly to something so unmanly? I think a lot has to do with shooting guns. I was so juiced up after firing some rounds that I could have worn a tutu and danced around the mall and still felt manly.

side note: Ladies, if you want your man to do something girly with you, take them to do something manly with them. Even join in with them. More often than not, they'll be putty in your hands.

There were a few reasons why I enjoyed myself at this movie. We arrived at the movie about 20 minutes early. Liz was so excited to see this that she didn't want to run the risk of not getting a good seat. Fortunately for us, we had our choice of any seat in the house. Minus the five seats at the top of the theater that were filled with middle aged to well aged men. Seriously. If Liz and I were early, when did these guys show up?

Now, I've never seen an episode of SATC, nor seen the first movie. All I know is that the Sara Jessica Parker character was supposed to marry a guy named Mr. Big, and for some reason they didn't get married. That's it. So I am a veritable blank slate when it comes to this movie.

The dialogue was super cheesy. Lots of one liners that had all the girls giggling and left me confused. However, I was entertained. BUT, I did not enjoy this movie because of the imagery or the filmography or the wit. I enjoyed this movie because every time I looked over at my wife, she was smiling. It was a smile of pure joy. At that point, I didn't care that I didn't understand what was going on. I didn't care that this was a silly girl movie. All I cared about was Liz and her enjoyment of the movie.

This might be the worst movie review ever (not that I write particularly good ones) but I don't care. Liz loved it. So, I loved it.

Now, I must confess that we didn't see the whole movie. Nausea kicked in and Liz wasn't feeling like she could contain it (see preggo tip). It might have also been the lady in front of us wolfing down whatever she could find at the concession stand. Hotdogs, nachos, licorice, small children, everything.

We high tailed it out of there, but not before the wonderful ladies working the front counter gave us two free passes to come back and see the whole thing. That's right. I'm willingly going to come back and see this thing through. Then I might have more of a review. But mostly because I know Liz wants to go see it with me.

BONUS side note: Men, take your ladies to the things that they enjoy and will make you feel awkward. They'll love you for it and you'll realize that it's really not that bad.

In my opinion, this was a pretty epic date night. There was drama, laughs, gun play, flirting, romance, and almost a little vomit.

I love my life.

Jesse

Take a Hike

Today turned out to be a pretty nice day. So we decided to take a break from our weekend plan of doing nothing and took Porter out for a walk. It was gorgeous out there. It seemed as though we were walking through the forest, right in our very own back yard.

I think it's called the Kent St Trail. It's around four miles long, with markers every half mile.

With all the wonderful rain we've been getting, everything out there is an amazing lush green. Porter was in heaven.

Yes, he's sitting in the stream. He actually laid down in it as well.

There's no way to be around this dog and not see what kind of things we can get him to do.

Some of the wild life we came across.

Mission accomplished. Liz and I had a great walk and Porter was worn out.

Jesse

Bad Boys, Bad Boys

Friday morning, I ran to the store to get some things for breakfast. When I got back, I passed by the house that was three doors down (no band affiliation) and noticed a guy standing by the garage with his hand on his hip. He looked like an old west gun slinger.

As I got closer to passing him, I saw a gun in his hip holster. Then as I realized what he was doing, he was taking a defensive posture behind the garage door. There was also a cop at the front door. I could tell if he was trying to get in or waiting to bust the door down. Regardless of what was going down, I'm just glad the event didn't end in gun play.

I snapped this picture before I got out of the car.

Here's a blown up view of the same picture.

Jesse

Hard Work

How did you spend your day at work today?

Jesse

A Hunting We Have Gone

Unfortunately, as we were about to meet with our realtor to get paperwork going, we were informed that someone had just submitted an offer for the full asking price. Our only option would be to offer more. And that's just not going to happen. We were planning on asking way less as it was.

Oh well, back to the drawing board, but at least we have a better idea of what we're looking for and how much work we're willing to put in to making our dream home.

Jesse

Giggles of Pregnancy

Hey there everyone!! It's Liz.

So I decided to do a little blogging myself along with my amazing husband (Who is probably at the store buying me pasta salad, peaches and Koolaid...I love him).

Anyhoo, As I think of them, I thought I would start adding little tid bits of my pregnancy that make me giggle. And after struggling over wether or not to be ashamed at my doings or just giggle, the encouragement of my sister in law, Katie Mayward, has helped declare my current situation as a giggle factor.

So there you go! Forget the slicing! Just go for the block! And yes, this is after some time of eating on it! :)

LOST - The End

That's it. It's done. There will never be another new episode of LOST on TV. I suppose they could create a TV movie or something ridiculous like that, but why would they run the risk of giving us too much of a good thing.

There are a lot of negative things floating around the net right now. About how there weren't enough answers and that it just didn't make sense. But really, why did anyone watch it in the first place? Because we loved the mystery. As much as we all wanted to know what was going on, we were just as intrigued by what we didn't know.

I loved the finale. I wouldn't change a thing. I love that I don't know everything. This reminds me of something I read in a book called, Deadline. I won;t get into the whole detail of the book, but in part of it, a man is in heaven walking around with his guardian angel and getting acclimated to heaven. He stops and asks his guide why he still has questions. Now that he's in heaven, why aren't all the answers known and easily available. The guardian responds by telling him that to assume to know everything is to assume to be God, since He is the only omniscient being. Everything is not meant to be known. It never has been.

Now, I'm not implying that Damon and Carlton are like God. Not in the slightest. But who cares that we don't know everything? I love that because of the unanswered questions, people will be talking about this for years. I mean, people are still wondering who really shot J.R.

I could go on about what I liked specifically about the show, but I won't. Just know that I was smiling when the credits started. I felt as though there was significant resolve and plenty of redemption to go around.

In any case, I applaud the creators, producers, directors, and of course the actors, in a job well done. I laughed. I cried. I even scratched my head a few times. What a great ride.

My pallet is satisfied.

Here are a few pictures from the mini LOST party we had in the man cave.




Liz made us some great food. As always.

Namaste

Jesse

View From the Keeper Box - Collison

All I'm going to say about this picture, is that they didn't score. I spent the rest of the game looking quite "gangsta", but I think that just helped my intimidation factor.

We had a great game against the Ninjas last night. We pretty much dominated with a score of 9-3, which helped put us at a 6-0 for this session. It also helped that the first game of our double header, against the Chilli Peppers, no-showed.

I don;t remember much from the game besides passing was great, Sarah scored 3 or 4, Tyson scored an handful, Travis got one, and I think Connor also headed one in. In any case, great teamwork and a fun time.

If any of you readers get a chance, our team, the Emerald City Smoothy FC, have games just about every Sunday evening and we'd love to have the support of some fans. Come check us out. We always play at the YMCA in Puyallup.

Come one. Come all.

Jesse

Mission 51

Mission 51: Be a missionary one week out of the year and live a missional life the remaining 51 weeks.

In preparation for this summer's youth mission trip to Mexico (SERVE), our team headed to Lake Retreat for a jam packed SERVE Orientation. Any time that we go on SERVE, we gather up all the youth participants to get them pumped up and excited for the work that God will be doing through their lives while in Mexico.

There is the usual talk of the Mexican culture and how we're not going as Americans, but as Christ followers. All of this is great and much needed, but I was pleasantly surprised in the fact that we spent the majority of the time talking about how we need to be reaching our friends and family first.

"Nationals are better equipped to reach nationals." Brian Aaby, Youth Mark Speaker.

We know how to talk to people from our own culture. It's our culture. It's our language. We know how to reach our neighbors better than someone from a different country. So why aren't we doing it?

The main challenge for the weekend was learning how to look for an entry point in a conversation to begin speaking spiritually. Beating people over the head in the name of Jesus tends to do more harm than good. We need to learn how to listen to what our friends and families are saying and be able to respond in a way that points to Jesus and not to us.

Aside from the workshops and sessions, we were able to experience some great worship in singing, led by Joe Poppino.

Despite the rain, the view over the lake was gorgeous.

Everyone loves the massage train.

We ended our time together with an exercise used to illustrate our role as Christ followers. All of the students were asked to line up against the perimeter of the gathering center with one hand placed on the wall. The leaders were then asked to join together in the center of the room and enter into a time of worship, led by Joe and the band. The students were told that they were not allowed to sing or participate in worship. Only the leaders were allowed to.

The leaders were the "believers" and the students were the "unbelievers". So often we expect people to come to our church and to meet with Jesus because we look great out the outside. Because we offer great events. Because we have a new, huge church building. Because our band rocks. This is wrong. And, in fact, probably sinful.

We were told that the only way the students would be able to join us in worshiping, was to go out from our little group, find one student, ask their name, pray for them, and then invite them to come join us.

We cannot expect to show people Jesus, if we're unwilling to leave our church walls.

I'll admit that I was a little bit nervous for this exercise, but what a great opportunity to see what it should look like to be the church, and not just go to church.
For more information about ways that you can be challenged to open spiritual conversations with your friends and family, check out http://fofchallenge.com/fof/.

Jesse

Preggo - Week Six

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have reached week six in our pregnancy. Of course, all of this could change after we've been to the doctor and find out we're either further along or not as far a long.

But for right now, using Liz's calculations, we are in the sixth week.

side note: I find it funny that as I type about the pregnancy, I am quick to say things like "we this", or "we're that". So, I am going to go on record, right now, and give all credit to my lovely wife. She is stronger than I'll ever be and I am so thankful that she is the one carrying our child. She truly has the hardest part of this pregnancy. I love you babe.

Anyways, back to the announcement. According to http://www.babycenter.com/, our baby is the size of a lentil bean. If you're like me, you might be asking, "A what?!"

Here is a picture:

The little thing next to the quarter is the lentil bean. So, our baby is basically the size of George Washington's brain, if he was only as big as his depiction found on the quarter.

Prayer Request: Please continue to pray for the safe development of our child. We know that it is in the womb where were are fearfully and wonderfully created by our Lord. Please also join in praising our Father for being so awesome.

Also, the nausea is getting pretty bad. It's becoming more of an all day sickness, rather than just the morning. She is also really tired. In What to Expect When You're Expecting, Liz found this, "In some ways, your pregnant body is working harder when you're resting that a non-pregnant body is when running a marathon - only, you're not aware of the exertion."

Prayer in these areas would also be very much appreciated.

Jesse

What A Weekend!!

I am still attempting to recover from a jam-packed weekend. We had a SERVE Orientation Friday and Saturday, church on Sunday, two soccer games, five and a half hours of LOST, and a battle with nausea the whole time. Liz sure is a trooper.

I'm actually not entirely sure the purpose of this blog post. Besides to say that this was a pretty busy weekend and I'm tired.

I have an actual blog planned for each of the things we experienced, so maybe this is my attempt at foreshadowing, building suspense, or just trying to stay conscious.

In any case, I think I might start on the actual blogs now.

Jesse

A Hunting We Will Go

For a while now, Liz and I have been doing some serious debating on buying a home. Asking the normal questions; Can we afford it? What if we move? Can we expand with our growing family? Where should we live? How close/far should we live to family/friends?

Obviously money is going to be the biggest question. I mean, the whole problem with the housing market started with people not being able to afford their loans in the first place. With that being said, we've started looking at short sales. Homes that were too expensive to own and are foreclosed or drawing near to that dreaded word. Banks want to get as much as they can out of the home before bankruptcy is the only option left. If a bank has been holding onto a house that is not making money and no one is interested in buying it, the price falls. That's where we come in.

We've found a house in Federal Way, just a few blocks from Brigadoon Elementary School. The banking asking price is low enough that it's quite a bit under our max pre-approval amount. This is a good thing. Bad thing is that there is some inevitable work that needs to be done. Fortunately, it's not work that is crucial to being able to live there. We could repair/replace while we lived there. There is also a tremendous opportunity to upgrade just about everything.

Here are some pictures from the website:

The roof has never been replaced since the existence of this house. It's not going to last much longer. But there is a great layout for both the front and back yard.

What's unfortunate about this picture, is that you can't see the bright orange counter tops to match so perfectly with their white cupboard counter parts.

The most up to date part of the house minus the lights. They're the old school ones hanging from copper chains.

This will be a deal breaker if the spidey blanket doesn't come with the house. No spidey. No saley.

If the bank agrees to go as low as we're hoping, this becomes a great bargain, even with the inevitable repairs and updating. There's also the option to add some money onto the final price of the home and use it towards the repairs.

There is a lot of prayer that needs to happen with this. Of course, we always want to make sure that we're operating inside the will of God and we want to make sure that we're being good stewards with what God has blessed us with.

Will you join us in prayer that we will be able to discern the voice and direction of God in regards to this house? As well as all the financial pieces that will accompany such an investment. We feel that He has allowed other great homes to fall through for preparation for the one He wants us to have. We just want to make sure we're still listening.

Jesse

Movie Review - Defendor

Monday night, Liz and I rented Defendor from redbox. I wasn't really sure what to expect, based off one preview I had seen at the beginning of a different rented movie. All I could remember is that I thought it looked silly, in a fun way and I've always liked Woody Harrelson, so I suggested that we rent this one. Redbox wasn't really steaming with hot new titles, anyways.

And since Liz is such a wonderful wife, because she wasn't particularly thrilled about this title, and because she loves me so much, we got it.

I'll admit that the beginning of the movie was quirky. Strange scenes of a man dressed up like a superhero using things like marbles and angry wasps to defeat bad guys while using the cheesiest of one-liners. Now, I like quirky movies. I find a certain amount of childish enjoyment out them. Liz, not so much. But she hung in there.

As the story progressed, we learned that Arthur Poppington (Harrelson) lives his life with child-like wonder. Most likely this could be attributed to a slightly diminished mental state brought on by being abandoned by his prostitute mother at the age of four. His mixed up child hood mixed with a love of comics leads him to create his alter ego, Defendor. Not Defender. He really doesn't like when you mix that up. His destiny is to defeat Captain Industry, who he blames for all the evil in the world, and stand up to the strong to protect the weak.

That may not be enough to draw you in (I want to save most of it for you to see for yourself). Even with the $1.00 price tag. I must admit, I truly enjoyed this movie. There was action, comedy, plenty of heart felt moments, and even a few tears (shhh...don't tell anyone).

Liz and I finished the movie with the warm fuzzies. Although the beginning was slow and hard to get into, once it got going, it did a great job of keeping you in the story. Woody Harrelson is a great actor. I never once thought that he was acting like this weird man who never grew up.

This is a feel good movie and I recommend it, with a few reservations for the more sensitive movie-goers. This movie includes a fair amount of swearing, sexual situations (in the form of prostitution and one indecent act - not seen), heavy drug use, and some violence.

Overall, I give this movie an A-.

Jesse

Last LOST Tuesday

Today marks the last time we'll see a new episode of LOST on Tuesday night. This up coming Sunday night will air the final two and a half hours of LOST ever. It will be sad to see such an intriguingly frustrating show go off the air, but you better believe that I am excited to see how it ends.

I'm thinking of hosting a party. I have a small house though. So it might be a small party. But a party none the less. Of course, I might have to let my office know that I'll be coming in late after a night of crying myself to sleep.

If you would like some behind the scenes information about the last season of LOST, Jorge Garcia, Hurley, has a podcast that he does with his girlfriend. I've been following it for the last half of the season and it's really been fun to hear some of the things that you never would have known about how the show is made. Go check out their blog here or search Geronimo Jacks Beard on iTunes to download the podcasts. Trust me, it's worth it.

Jesse

Our Cute Hairy Kids

Here are a couple of our newer pictures of our "kids".

This is Samson. He really enjoys owning the end of the bed. There really might not be a cooler cat than this.

I put this on Porter wanting to see how he'd react. I think he likes it. Maybe I can find him some muscle shirts.

When he's really concentrating, he closes his mouth and his bottom canine teeth grab his jowls and give him this goofy grin. I love this guy.

Jesse

New Trick - Surrender

We, ok Liz, taught Porter a new trick.

He's the smartest dog I've ever owned.

Jesse

Double Lines

We're going to have a baby!!

It's still pretty early, so we don't have exact due dates or anything like that, but we took three of these bad boys, and have learned that it's not very common to get a false positive. False negatives happen a lot, but this is the real deal. Liz and I are VERY excited about this gift God has blessed us with.

We had been debating back and forth, for a while, how to determine the difference between being good stewards with what God has given us and how to actually trust God to really only give you what He knows you can handle. About a two months ago, we agreed that birth control was our way of declaring that we know best and that we know what God has planned for us, and that if He wants us to have a baby, then He'll find a way to make it happen. So, we decided to take God out of the tiny box we had Him in, and let Him actually have control. We came off birth control and trusted God to provide perfectly for us, just like He has promised He would.

side note: we are in no way condemning those who use birth control or who are waiting for more clear direction for God before starting to have children. God works in each one of us differently. This just happens to be how He worked in our lives.

Well wouldn't you know that about 3 weeks ago, He was ready to demonstrate His great plan for our lives and the beginning of our family. Liz had been feeling pretty nauseous and her nose was like a blood hound. I swear she was smelling things from the next county. After a particularly nauseous day, she decided to take a preggo test that we had laying around from a few months ago. Knowing that God was in control and whatever the results were would be a part of His plan, she prayed a little prayer that God's will be done, and she joined me outside with Porter. It wasn't until a few hours later, as she was getting ready for her night at small groups, that i heard quite a commotion coming from the bathroom.

I ran in to see her holding a stick and sporting an expression that would be classified as a cross between bewilderment and pure joy. The result...DOUBLE LINES!!! We both stood there for a minute, kind of in shock. So unexpected and so awesome all at the same time. Needless to say, she was a little late to small groups that night.

It took us a few weeks to get the word out before we blasted it out over the internet. Of course will a lot of things, there are some people that won't find out until they see this or hear someone else mention it. For that, we are sorry. You are still loved.

Because the miscarriage rate is much higher for the first trimester, we invite and encourage your prayers for safety and good health for Liz and our child. We couldn't be happier and are so excited to be able to share this new life with you.

Jesse

Attack of the Brides

Yesterday, Liz was invited to participate in a photo shoot that my friend, Jeff Marsh, was putting together. He was gathering as many brides as he could, who still had their wedding dresses. How often do brides get to don their wedding dresses more than once? this was a great opportunity.

Jeff took us out to a spot on Vashon Island where there were acres of green houses that were abandoned back in the 20's. The overgrowth was beautiful. And speaking of beautiful, check out this picture;

My bride was glowing. This could have been the nausea from the baby fighting back her white blood cells. Regardless, she is beautiful. I'm smiling just thinking back to her beauty. I'm a lucky guy.

Ok, back to the blog.

We had a great time and look forward to seeing the final results. You can see a little preview of the pictures by visiting Jeff's blog by clicking on his name above. You can also follow him on Twitter here.

Thanks again Jeff for including us.

Jesse