No Way!! at 11:31 PM

To see more of my Xbox 360 stuff/interests... check out my Xbox blog over in the right hand area.

NEW Xbox 360 Blog at 2:33 AM

I have a new blog now... look under my blog links on the right. It's everything about my 360 stuff and xbox stuff that interests me!

It lists what games I currently have, what additional things I have for the system, what I'm interested in getting and so forth.

Smithfield Pottery Shopping at 5:00 PM

Today was a long and hot day. It was nice to get out and go do something different for a change. We stopped just before we got to the shopping outlet to get Karen a salad with cajun chicken on it from BoJangles. Then we moved on to the outlet (there's a reason I told you that).

We walk around for a while in the very thick humid air/heat constantly stopping at random stores just for the sake of cooling off. Then out of nowhere a small storm rolls up with thunder, lightening and rain. Kind of cooled things down but made it more humid. Finally after shopping all day (and spending way more than we should have), we go back to our car where the ranch dressing from Karen's salad has cooked and filled the car with its aroma. Very gross.

On the bright side of the day... there were hardly any other people here. Felt like we kind of had the place to ourselves. Much better than black friday's trip.

Then off we go to head home and then we stuck in traffic, pretty much sitting in place for about 20 minutes (no joke) which felt more like an hour. There ended up being a wreck blocking up both lanes on the freeway.

Finally we got home though. It was a fun trip. I'd do it again. I got some clothes and shoes at some really great prices... so, yeah... it was a success.

Just thought I'd fill you in on my trip today (as if you cared).

Oh, and today was my brother's birth day (29 years old).

Happy Birthday Corey!!

Michael Jackson Dies at 6:35 PM

Michael Jackson. Died at 50 years old.

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

A source says Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived. A cardiologist at UCLA says Jackson died of cardiac arrest.Once at the hospital, the staff tried to resuscitate him but he was completely unresponsive.We're told one of the staff members at Jackson's home called 911. La Toya ran in the hospital sobbing after Jackson was pronounced dead.Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.Story developing...

Reference Link

Text Twist at 5:58 PM

Just played Text Twist and got my highest score ever. 70,200 points!! On top of everything else I went out on the word "tyrant." I so should've got that!

The way you play is... you have 2 minutes and some jumbled letters. On the left you'll notice how many words are left that are possible to find. You will go to the next round "only" if you find at least one six letter word. The other words are just for points!

Want to beat my score (for real... no cheating by photoshopping numbers...), here's where you play:

Text Twist

comment and let me know if you beat it...

Peppermints at 3:05 PM

Okay. So I've been told that peppermints help pregnant women with their nausea. This is interesting because if you think about it, most restaurants have a big basket of mints on the way out the door. I used to think this was for fresh breath. However, maybe its because you just got through eating and the peppermints will help settle the stomach.

Here's some quick facts about peppermints that I've looked into (yes, I'm that bored right now):

Peppermint has been used in Eastern and Western traditional medicine as an aromatic, antispasmodic, and antiseptic in treating indigestion, nausea, sore throat, colds, toothaches, cramps, and cancers.

Because peppermint improves appetite and digestion and relieves intestinal gas, it is used in the treatment of disturbed digestion, flatulence, colic (severe abdominal pain), cholera, and diarrhea.

I'll stop here before I bore you to death... but just as an FYI of the day... now you know why you should eat a peppermint at a restaurant and why they even offer them instead of other candies, flavors or gums?

Permitted to Build! at 2:57 PM

Today I went and picked up my permit (or my "go flag") to begin working on my upstairs at my house. We will begin pretty much ASAP! I'm planning on going up there tonight and preparing. First step is contacting a place to purchase my AC/Heating unit. I have a place in mind.

I went to pick it up and they gave me a DVD (even the lady behind the glass told us how boring its going to be). The DVD is supposed to help us out with regulations and stuff. Here it is:

Upstairs!!! Here we come!

Graceway at 10:36 PM

Today was awkward. First off, today was my first day ever singing with the worship team at Graceway. Ironically, it was the last day the worship team would be there as they are all leaving. Second, after showing up early for stage setup and practice... I realized at 10:15am that I had Karen's (my wife) keys to her car in my pocket. Therefore, she couldn't come to church to hear me sing. Church starts at 10:37am. So, I had to rush back home and pick her up and head back and pretty much jump on stage (after prayer).

I think things went well but I (for some reason) was a bit more nervous than expected (probably due to the fact that I didn't know the lyrics to anything). Karen says that I stared at the lyric prompt the whole time like a statue (the exact opposite that I wanted to appear to be doing). She said I looked nervous... oh well. That's that. I'm sure that in time I'll loosen up more and more as I get the chance to do this type of thing. I guess its just been a while since I've sang in front of folks. Also, we were in a completely new environment than usual (new room) where a circuit had already blown during practice in the middle of a song, shutting everything down. Just another factor to the nervousness. In the end, it was all good though. It was fun and I couldn't think of a better group of people to be doing it all with.

Farewell Graceway.

Too Hot!! at 4:32 PM

Today I shot a wedding in a place called Creswell (Lake Phelps). The lake was beautiful and the water (believe it or not) was clear like Caribbean water. The sand was even white. Weird. Didn't know we had that around here. The wedding was out on a peer with a gazebo. We did have to travel about 2 hours to get to it but we're finally back and exhausted (traveling itself exhausts you). On top of everything... the heat was terrible. The sun was shining bright (which was great for the wedding) and man was it hot out there. Everyone was sweating away. Even the bride was pouring sweat.

So now, I'm back home getting ready to go to practice for my (most likely) last Sunday at Graceway. Tired and sticky (from sweat), I guess I'm about ready to keep truckin'.

Airbags! at 4:28 PM

You can tell from the picture I made what I'm about to question here. Isn't it strange that the horn is in the same place that the airbag comes flying out. We press horns when we are trying to scare a deer out of the road, or trying to stop someone from driving out infront of us (or when we are ill). But what if honking the horn didn't work and while honking it, you hit something. Wouldn't the airbag fly out either spranging really badly your wrist of more likely, breaking it?

Scary huh?

Just a random thought.

New Laptop!!! at 3:50 PM

I finally have my own personal laptop to do what I please with. Mine, MINE, MINE!!!

Got it for $450 (plus tax of course)

Here's the specs:

Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor

(not quite as good as the Dual Core 2 processor but still a good processor. For a GREAT process, the Quad Core Processor would be good to get... however, that boosts the price of the laptop into the thousands). 2.16 GHz speed.

3GB of RAM (memory)

This is pretty good. I'm trying to determine if I want to max it out and add another GB of RAM. DDR2 type of memory which is better than DDR (without the 2).

15.6" Monitor

Its big enough for me. It appears to be a widescreen more so than a typical screen.

160GB Hard Drive

(I can never have enough space which is why I will probably use all of this up easily and still along with my 200GB external and 500GB external hard drive.

Vista obviously comes on the machine.

The rest (and probably what you have read thus far) is just boring stuff to most. Here's some more pics.

The Lion King at 3:49 PM

Here's a game I've beaten a million times. I started playing it now and to my surprise, it was very difficult. I think its because game consoles today are so precise in gameplay controls and movement. These games back then, they don't do half the things you tell it to. It gets aggrivating.

Here's a screen shot after you defeat Scar (the evil uncle lion). This is Simba roaring in victory atop the cliff that he just through his uncle from.

This is the closing shot (just before the credits roll). Its Simba standing on Pride Rock looking at his land that he saved (everything that the light touches...).

Do Sperm Have Brains? at 1:34 PM

This is a strange topic, I know. I used to think that a sperm was a brain with a spinal cord attached (giving it the shape it has). This was obviously wrong. But then I wondered, do sperm have brains?

I've heard that they don't have brains because they have not develeped yet. However, how do they no how to swim? How do they know that they are supposed to go to the egg? How do they know how to get there? How do they know how to fertilize the egg? How do the rest of the sperms know to back off once one sperm gets into the egg?

How do they "know" anything if they can't think? How can they "think" without a brain?

Just something I've wondered...

I guess a similar question to relate to would be... "how does a plant seed know to grow" is a seed alive or dead. Is a seed like the egg and water/sun like sperm? How does a plant do what it does without a brain? I guess its all a similar concept. I dunno.

TMNT IV: Turtles In Time at 10:52 PM

No, I'm not just naming games from the past. I'm actually playing them and beating them all over again. Games now days take several days to beat (most of them). The old games like this one takes about half an hour at most.

After beating the game you see Splinter complimenting the turtles.

Next you see the one last look of Shredder laughing (indicating that he's still alive and got away).

The End!

Baby Update! at 8:39 PM

My baby is now almost at 11 weeks (over 1/4 of the way cooked in the ol' oven). He/she weighs about 1/3 of an ounce (about the weight of 2 small packets of sugar). His/her length is about 2 inches long (about the length of a sugar packet too).

Beavis and Butthead at 8:33 PM

Now here's an oldie goldie from my early teen years. I used to love this show (however I now know that I probably shouldn't have been watching it). This game was extremely hard. But its now in the "beaten" category. Cheesy. But interesting. It was too repetitive in gameplay. But then again, how much can expect out of the old Super Ninetendo (SNES). Anyways... here's the credits rolling. The goal was to get to a GWAR concert for free. Mission accomplished.

Aladdin at 3:05 PM

For old time sake (I don't know whats up with me lately... all of these old-school games), I just played and beat Aladdin straight through. These old games are so much easier now than they used to be back then. Its crazy how simple they are. This used to be one of my favorite SNES games.

If you've seen the cartoon or played the game before, then you know the ending. But here it is. It was fun. Brought back some memories.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors at 9:07 PM

Does anyone out there remember this old school game? I'm talkin' Sega Genesis days... Super Ninetendo Days. Anyone???

I just played this game and finally (after all these years) beat if for the first time (with the help from some codes that don't allow me to die...).

Remember, it had this little dude and chick...

Good times... brings back memories! Here's the big grand finale' winner's screen after you work your way through 48 levels...

How disappointing is that? Seriously... that's it. After this, you press start and see credits. Then, back to main menu. All that work to see the word "Winner" and watch fireworks burst beside it. Still fun though. I think I'm going to go back in time and play a bunch of old games. I'll keep posting my victories!!!

I'm Sad! at 7:22 PM

I'm Sad! That's all I can really say right now...

IntelliGender at 7:00 PM

Something else you "Parents-To-Be" may be interested in getting is something called the "IntelliGender."

This is a little pastic container-like cup you can purchase that comes with a little bit of powder. The name comes from its ability to determine the gender of your baby by using urine.

The way the process works is... you put the powder in the cup, urinate in the cup. Allow 10 minutes and if the color is orange... then it's a girl. If it's green... it's a boy.

Accuracy of this test? Well according to studies and reviews... it's about 80% accurate at home and 90% accurate in a lab.

What was our result.....? It was green as green could be. No doubt about it. So, if you're reading this a long time from now... look ahead and see if I'm having a boy to determine if it was accurate or not.

Just another cool invention out there these days. Thought I'd share!

Pocket Doppler at 6:48 PM

This little gadget is quite neat. It's a device that allows you to hear the heartbeat of your baby as early as 8 weeks but usually around 10-12 weeks. We heard our baby's heartbeat at 8 weeks (however it took 30 minutes to find it because its so tiny). We listen to it every day.

The cost of this device is around $100. The further you move into your pregnancy, the quicker you find the heartbeat (the heart gets bigger and easier to find). We can now (at 10 weeks) hear the heartbeat within 3-5 minutes or so (time till we can find it in there). Once we find it, we listen to it constantly!!

At first I was skeptical about buying this device. I told Karen... "How will you be able to tell the difference between you heart sounds and the baby's? What about body noises and stomach churns and so forth? How will you know that it's truely your baby's heart beat?"

Well, it turns out that your baby's heart beat is way faster than mommy's. You'll hear mommy's heartbeat several times while searching but you can CLEARLY tell the difference between the two. No mistake at all. The baby's heartbeat sounds similar but much much faster. If you're debating on what you're hearing... hold your fingers to your neck while listening and see if its your heart beat. As far as other sounds... it doesn't pick any of that up. It's weird. You either hear nothing... and a heartbeat.

So, if you have the mulah and you are as exicted as we were.... you should pick up one. We got ours off of eBay and it works great!

I'm Gonna Be a Dad!!! at 6:43 PM

I'm gonna be a daaaaaaddy! I'm gonna be a daaaaaddy!

That's right! I'm gonna be a dad! Here's the details.

• Due on January 2nd, 2010


• If a boy - name will most likely be Hayden


• If a girl - name will most likely be Zoe (pronounced - Zoey like "joey.")


• 10 weeks along right now


• Already seen the heartbeat and hear it everyday (thanks to the PocketDoppler)

Pray for us as we enter parenthood!!