This past weekend was my 2 year anniversary at Clovis Hills.  It doesn’t seem like I’ve been here this long, but I suppose that’s a good thing.  We got to do one of my songs for our Lord’s Supper service and so for my anniversary, I got to do, what is my favorite part of my job, play music with great people.

It was great that this weekend was the Lord’s Supper because it is one of those services that, when we do it (4 times a year), reminds me of the kind of family we have here and how lucky I am to be a part of a church that, while it is reasonably large, feels really small.

 Thanks Clovis Hills for so quickly becoming our family, for teaching me what it really means to love people and for paying my salary (that helps!).

I have loved every minute of the last 2 years and look forward to many more.  I’m hoping to have some video of this weekend up here tomorrow.

Forgive me if I get a little political for a moment (and I will do my best not to tip my hand or try and sway you one way or another), but John Mccain announced his running mate today and it is Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

This is pretty significant because now, we will either have the first African-American President, or the first female Vice-President.

While I remain hopeful, yet skeptical that either candidate can bring about the “change” that they’re both talking about, this definetely says something about how far our country has come.

Whatever side you’re on, you’ve got to admit that this Obama vs. Mccain is more interesting than people thought it would be.

Before you get too excited, this is not a celebration of my entrance into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory.  While it would be nice to have a ticket issued by the “Candy Man,” my golden ticket was issued by “the man.”

I was heading out to pick up lunch and meet my bride for a quick bite and was pulled over doing 52 in a 40 zone; not my finest moment.  I was multitasking, trying to take care of details for this weekend and for the upcoming weeks and was on the phone while not exactly using my hands free device.

Fortunately, the officer either didn’t see me on my cell phone or didn’t tack it on to the whole thing, but either way, it was not the highlight of my day.  I was speeding.  I deserved the ticket, but I was still hoping for a warning that never came.

So now here’s the question; Where do I go for traffic school?

This weekend, some of the band and I got to participate in the Christian Music Awards at Warnors Theatre and it was a blast!  There was a lot of chaos surrounding this whole thing, from a last minute change of venues to call times that weren’t exactly accurate, but all in all, it was a great experience.  We came in third place, which we’re all pretty happy about and got to meet a lot of really great people!

Here’s a recap of the experience, including the song we played (one of my originals) in about 8 minutes!

For those of you interested in seeing the entire event, it will be broadcast on the Gospel Music Channel at 9 pm on Saturday, September 20th.

My wife and I were married on August 12th, 2005.  For you math majors out there, that means we just celebrated our 3 year anniversary.

We went camping in Big Sur and had an amazing time doing a little bike riding, smore’s making, and scenic view viewing.  It was a blast.

Our friends, Micah and Erica were married the day after us and so we decided it would be fun to celebrate our anniversaries together.  This is where husband of the year action kicks in.

Jenn had never been in a limo or to Teppanyaki and since I’m all about making her dreams come true, I got us a limo and the four of us rolled out to “a meal and a show” at Tokyo Steakhouse.  We sat with another group, which wound up being Micah and my highschool choir director, which was unexpected, but fun nonetheless.

We had a great time and it was a blast to see my wife so excited about experiencing all these new things.  I’m lucky that I get to be married to Jenn.  She makes me better in everything and she’s pretty fun to hang out with too.

Happy Anniversary Jenn!

On August 6th I blogged.  It was a good post about Steven Curtis Chapman being on Good Morning America.  Apparently, I thought it was my difinitive work and so I stopped blogging.  That’s about to change.

The real reason for the lul is my increased work load and fatigue.  I have been in training for the big run in October, producing weekend services and preparing for a big gig this weekend, all while my wife has been out of town on various trips; it’s been crazy.

However, what’s a blog for if you can’t use it to share all of that with the world (or at least the 4 of you who read this…hi mom!); So I’m back.

I’ll be putting up a more content in the coming days, starting with the announcement that we’ve won a spot in the Chrisitan Music Awards finale on Saturday August 23rd.  It was originally slated to be at the Save Mart Center, but instead will move to Warnor’s Theatre downtown.  It will be televised on the Gospel Music Chanel (I’ll find out when) and should be a blast. 

Sorry for the long absence, and come back tomorrow for some updates!

This week I’m bored.  I know what you’re thinking; how could someone with as bubbly of a personality as me be bored? 

 I’ll tell you how; my wife is visiting her parents in Montana.  Over the last couple of years I have really grown to value those rare times of solitude where the time is mine to do with as I please. 

This however, is not a couple of hours by myself, this is boredom.  Jenn and I have been married a little under 3 years and dated for 4 before that.  That means that for the last 7 years I always had someone to hang out with and if you know my wife, you know that she’s pretty awesome to hang out with.

Now, I’ve been reasonably productive in my wife’s absence and the house has not burned down (not yet anyway), so I’m not a total waste of space, but without my wife around I’m just a little, well, bored.

So hurry home sweetie, there’s only so many reruns of prime-time soap operas that I can watch before I start going a little cooky.

The last time I vomited was 1994.  That’s right, 1994!  It was Thanksgiving and not only did I not get to miss any school because we were on Thanksgiving break, but I did miss all of the amazing food.

Since then, I have been the model of vomit-free living, rarely sick, uneffected by trips to Mexico and Africa and after 14 years feeling pretty untouchable.

That is until Nora and Clara got a hold of me.  We walked into my sister’s house at around midnight on Monday and the girls had just thrown up.  Aw poor babies right?  I felt bad for them, I really did, until Wednesday afteroon that is. 

We were ready to head home when I started feeling really nautious.  I laid down, couldn’t get comfortable and then it happened.  The streak was over.  I’ll spare you the details (let’s just say I won’t be eating all-meat pizza for a while).  Over the next few hours I made up for the last 14 years and then some.  Finally, I was in so much pain from dehydration that Jenn had to take me to the hospital at 12:30.

4 hours, three holes in my arms, two liters of saline and some anit-nausea meds later I was ready to go, still feeling a little shaky.  The plan was to take our time getting up on Thursday and have Jenn drive home while I slept so that I could make it to rehearsal last night.  Unfortunately, Jenn got sick as well and so I had to drive.  3 hours of driving when you’re tired and not sure if you’ll be able to hold anything down is not fun.

The final total?  By the end of the three days, the two babies and all four adults had spent a significant amount of time giving our insides some fresh air.

Let’s just say, we aren’t planning another trip up to Sacramento anytime soon.