Flatlined

Apparently eating is important if you want to lose weight. I have managed to not lose a single pound (or gain) since last Tuesday. I neeeded a few more calories in the ol' diet I guess. So this week I revamped my eating habits a little bit, and I'm back at it. Hopefully I'll get down a few more by the weeks end.

Every now and then I look at the "stats" for my blog. I don't know if its a self esteem thing or just curiosity. For some reason they are just fun to look at. Especially since someone from Alaska reads my blog. I'm pretty sure I don't know anyone from there. Except Sarah Palin, and I doubt she has time to read my blog. I'm probably not high on her radar at this point. Not that I want to be... And not that I don't want to be. I guess I wouldn't care either way.

If anyone knows anyone (hah) that wants to buy a house, fix it up, and sell it (or live in it) let me know! I think I know of a house that could soon be for sale.

One of my favorite parts about blogger is that it auto saves everytime you stop typing. Its the greatest thing ever. I've never had my browser stop working while I was blogging or anything, but I imagine if I did, it'd be nice to not have to retype everything.

Is it ok that I've already picked out the 7 jobs that I hope to get one of in the Air Force? This is what I am thinking would be fun:
1) Munitions Systems
2) Fuels Apprentice
3) Security Forces (Military Police)
4) Fire Protection
5) Missle and Space Systems Electronic Maintenance
6) Nuclear Weapons

There is one more that I can't remember right now. 4 and 5 are probably my top two choices. They sound like the most fun to me.

Thirteen to go.

Pipes or Guns?

The other day while I was driving, I began to think about whether its nicer to have your arms referred to as "pipes" or "guns". I guess pipes could be good. Like the lead pipe in clue. If someone was comparing those two that would be nicer than guns I bet. But usually when I think of pipes I think of copper, or PVC, or corncob. Nothing that really says "I am gonna blow you away with my massive arms". But when someone says "nice guns" or something to that effect, its like...whoa. Guns...those will knock you down and blow you away. (not trying to be vulgar here, stick with the metaphor.) So I think that "guns" is a better way to describe arms than "pipes" But I'm somewhere still in the pistol range, so I'm not quite a gunner yet!

In other, more serious news. Allyson and I have been making some future plans for our lives. Since about June we've been discussing me joining the Air Force. We've gone through our lists of pro's and con's and sought out some good advice. So, we decided that it'd be a good fit for us. Unfortunatly in order for me to get signed up I have to lose 25lbs...now down to 13, so I am halfway there! Hopefully I will meet the requirement by the first week of January. I most likely won't be off to BMT until May or so. But we are very excited and can't wait for me to lose some weight and get things in motion!

Thanksgiving week..

Also, if I did have a bagel shop, I'd have my friends work with me. And my wife, of course. That would make it the most fun. But, before I let them work, I would interview them and ask them werid questions like, 'why do you want to work here?' and 'where do you see yourself in 5 years?' See if they would sweat or not. Because those questions really have no good answer in an interview. Then after I finally gave them the job, that is if they still wanted it after having to answer said questions, I'd let them know that the first customer in the store in the morning gets a free bagel and coffee. That way we'd always be busy right when we opened and that would make the employees grumpy. Who wants to be busy working at 5 or 6 in the morning? I like to ease into work, so I'd stay by the cash register and watch them work fast. That would make them more mad I think. And after they found out they were only making minimum wage they'd walk out and I'd have to work all by myself. So in the long run, I guess its good that I don't own a bagel shop. But I still think it'd be fun, someday.

I work out at the YMCA 3-5 times a week. And when I get there, its usually just a bunch of elderly retired people walking, and the guys do some light lifting so they can still feel strong and try to impress the elderly ladies that are there. It's nice for me. Then I can feel strong because I do more than all of them. The Y is kind of a wimpy gym as I see it. Its not where the big strong guys go to get bigger. Its where people like me go to try and get strong. So I fit right in. But all these elderly guys, when they are in the locker room, just strip their clothes right off. There's always an old man butt in the locker room. This morning, I walked into the locker room after my workout, turned the corner to get to my locker and whammo...there it was. There's not really a way to get around that I guess. So I pretend like there isn't a naked man standing there, which makes me self conscious, and just go shower. But I suppose that's how I'll be when I'm old too. Because when you are old you arn't self conscious. You're wiser than that.

That means when I am old I'll have a bagel shop, and strip my clothes off in the locker room. Hopefully I'll be self conscious enough not to do it in my bagel shop. I wouldn't get many customers if I did. Maybe just some elderly ladies.

bagels

There was just one bagel left in our house this morning. I wasn't particularly hungry at 7am, so I toasted it for Allyson upon her request. But as I began my drive into town, I thought how nice it would be to have a bagel with cream cheese on it for breakfast. I had pondered getting a BK breakfast sandwich, or a Mcgriddle. But that was just too much substance. I just needed a little light something to sit in my stomache. I thought about all the places in Alexandria that I could have breakfast at, and I couldn't think of one that would meet my needs. It was then that I missed Times Square. Just a plain bagel with strawberry cream cheese, please. Upon racking my brain some more, I remembered that Caribou sold muffins. French Toast muffin it is. It did its job, just a light little breakfast. However, it did not satisfy me nearly as much as a plain bagel with strawberry cream cheese would have. If I was smarter, or wealthier, or had more equity in my house, I suppose I would open a bagel shop. What could be more fitting than a bagel for breakfast?

The end of a work week.

I am so glad that today is Friday. I am looking forward to a very fun and relaxing weekend. First excitment of the weekend? Meatloaf at the in laws. Its delicious. Especially with the sauce Karyn makes. Mmmm....
After that its off to see unstoppable. I think the agenda for Saturday is pretty open, but I feel like there is something going on that I am forgetting about. I guess we'll see. And Sunday...its off to church and then down to the cities to see Donald Miller and the Robby something band. It should be a pretty good time. I'm looking forward to it!

Me and Allyson and our friend Katy went to a 'spinning' class at the Y on Thursday, oh man, it was pretty intense. I don't think I've sweat that much in a very, very long time. My knees still are sore. It was kinda fun...in a kick my butt sorta way. I think we're going again next week...and then I'm gonna sit in the hot tub and relax.

I'm hoping to hear back from WASP, Inc next week. I applied for a position and I think that I will at least get an interview. But, it'd be a great job to have. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my prayers going. The Lord knows what I need and where I should be, so I will trust him to bring me to the right places.

And...

The elections have come and gone. I don't think anyone I voted for won. Thats always kind of a disappointment. The WCA school referendum passed, which means I'll have higher property taxes to pay for things I'll never use. But life goes...and now I can think about the more important things in life. Like the Vikings. And just football in general. Hopefully Childress will be fired by the end of the year. :)

I was reading Galatians this morning. Chapter one. I was planning on reading through the Bible from beginning to end since I just got a new NLT, but I only made it as far as Gen. 26 before I got bored of the old testament. So Galatians it is. The last verse of the first chapter was my verse of the day. "And they praised God because of me" So Pauls situation was pretty drastic...I mean he went from killing Christians to Evangelizing and discipling, so no doubt people would praise God because of that. But then I thought, 'will/do people praise God because of me? I don't think so...not so much anyway. Spotty at best. The Lords really been hammering home the Romans 1:16...not being ashamed of the Gospel and all that. I guess you'd call it boldness. Living with intentionality. etc... Here's to that! May you remember to praise God today. Simply just because He is worthy of our praise.

Soo

Since the last time I posted I have 1) gotten married 2) had jaw surgery 3) [&3a] made two trips to PA for my cousins weddings 4) made a trip to VA to move my sister back home and 5) done lots of house projects. Its was a crazy busy summer. I should also mention that one of my sisters got married inbetween the two trips to PA. Now things are starting to settle down and I can relax from the summer rush. I'm actually going to take my wife on a date tonight! Just the two of us....(busting into Will Smiths song)

I guess I don't ever get into to much detail. The last three months I just summarized in one little paragraph. How infuriating that would be to my wife if we were having a conversation. :)

I've always wanted a little bible. Not the new testament only, but just a smaller sized whole bible. Yesterday I did just that. I bought two. One for Allyson, and one for me. Also, they are in a different translation(NLT) than what I usually read(NIV). Now I can read through it and mark it all up! I'm actually looking forward to it.

Pastor Mike did a sermon series not too long ago about growing up spiritually; he started off every week with the quote "You can't put earthly things before spiritual things and expect to grow spiritually". So I can't watch tv instead of reading my bible and grow spiritually? It mostly speaks about intentionality. If you don't want to do it, then you won't, and you will live like it. But as the Lord works in my life and I learn new things, I want to live as intentionally as possible. So here's to a little less tv and a lot more bible. A little less sleep, and more God. A little less music and some more worship.