I watched the Olympics, and like you I was blown away by Michael Phelps.  However, the entire time, I kept thinking to myself, this guy looks familiar, and now I know why.  It’s Screetch from “Saved By the Bell!”

I guess his time on Celebrity Fit Club did the trick!

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?

We got a new copy machine here in the office.  Apparently it’s a big deal and really complicated, because it required special training for the entire staff.  We’ve been having a lot of fun oohing and ahhing over this thing and aside from a few questions asked multiple times, I think we’ve got it.   

Not sure why this is taking an hour and a half, if it’s this simple, but I’ll probably be the one asking questions in a week.  I probably shouldn’t be blogging while the training is going on, but everyone’s so enthralled, I’m not sure they’ve noticed.

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!

As many of you are aware, Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, lost their youngest daughter, Maria, in an accident in May. The three youngest girls were playing when the Chapman’s son, Will, was coming home. Maria, excited to see her big brother, ran out to greet him and instead, ran into the path of his car and he accidentally ran her over, killing her.

The Chapmans had not spoken publicly about it until this morning when they were on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer. It was amazing to see this family come together and love one another even in the midst of grief.

Hearing the entire family share their hurt and loss with the world was amazing, particularly as they shared of the hope that they have that sustains them. They spoke of their faith and how it held them together, but at the same time, shared that they had a lot of questions and that more than wanting people to be touched by their story, they wanted Maria back.

It’s hard not to see this family and be touched. They’ll be on Larry King Live on Thursday for the entire hour sharing their story. Please continue to pray for their family as now they share God’s love through their grief.

Today in Washington D.C. the congress adjourned for their regularly scheduled 5 week recess.  When the Democrats adjourned without voting on high gas prices, the Republicans protested by refusing to leave the house floor.

 At the risk of getting all political on you and telling you my take on this whole thing (I think it’s awesome), I’ll just highlight one of the coolest parts of this whole story that may just make you want to sign up for a twitter account (totally free by the way).

After adjourning, all of the lights went dim, the microphones were turned off and so were the TV cameras which capture every minute of the goings on of Congress while they are in session.  With the blackout, there was no way for Republicans to get the word out about their protest so Peter Hoekstra, a senior republican member of the House Intelligence Committee used Twitter to update the media and others about what was going on.

 That’s right, a protest that is almost entirely word of mouth was lead by Twitter.  Awesome.  Maybe cooler is that the Congressmen and women who remained invited tourists to come down onto the House floor and sit in Democratic congressmen’s chairs (totally not allowed while congress is in session).

There are a lot of reasons for this protest, again, which I’m not going to get into, you can read the article.  I just think it’s pretty awesome that politicians who I normally think are pretty ok with not getting stuff done would actually protest.  And to think that one of the primary ways of letting the world know about it happened via twitter.  Awesome!

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.