A Productive Day

Yesterday was not productive. Today was extremely productive. The difference...getting out of the office. You see, yesterday I was at the office. I was working hard trying to get stuff done. At 10:00 in the morning one of our youth kids showed up with a friend and wanted my help with some stuff. So I helped until noon, ate lunch, then went and helped...

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Christmas in...well...December

Right now Gabriel is giving kisses to his sibling. Yes folks, he is kissing Pam's tummy. This after a fun night of opening yet a few more gifts. A football and a puzzle book. He even had a stocking even though Santa doesn't exist (I feel I have to add the "Santa doesn't exist" part so that Pam's family knows that I don't actually believe in Santa)....

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How He Loves

Last night we were playing "Boxers or Briefs" (its a board game) and someone gave me a card that said "I am going to sing my favorite song" (no time to explain the rules. Just go with it.). Until a few months ago I would have had to pick a song out of a hat because I didn't have a favorite song. I love a lot of music for a lot of different reasons....

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Ashley oh Ashley! Wherefore art thou, Ashley?

So does anyone else wonder why Ashley Lang doesn't have a blog? For those who may not know, she is the sister of Pam (my wife) and Emily (who's blog is in my blogging friends). She says she has a boring life and nothing to blog about. I think that is a terrible excuse. Just by blogging your life's boring quotient disappears. You officially have an...

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Kudos to Jase

This is a shout out to my super super super cool brother Jase. He is currently on his way to California and therefor wearing sandals, no coat, no hat, no mittens...completely ready to walk off into southern CA. He left his neato thick flannel jacket, arctic furry hat, and giant mittens so that I could use them. Yes, I used them to push Doug out of...

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Home Alone

99.999% of the time I would tell you that I have the best job in the world. I have a flexible schedule, I do a lot of different things, I work with people on a regular basis, I am cared for deeply by a special body of people, and I am allowed to have fun on the job. Tonight, I don't like my job. Just tonight. You see, I am stuck 4 hours away from...

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The Story of My Night

We went to a Go Fish concert tonight with Gabriel. It was weird how insanely involved he was in the concert. I don't think kids his age typically sit for two hours completely focused on what is going on in front of him.The Story of Gabriel at the concert in very short musings:The lights go off announcing the start of the concert, big pillars glow...

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Football Day!

Today at church we had a congregational meeting so we got home about an hour later than normal. We went to Doug and Nancy's house (good friends of ours) and had dinner. We had football on the tv while we ate. Then I got super sleepy and almost fell asleep on their couch when we decided it was time to go. So we got home and football went on the tv,...

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My Selfish Wish List Part 1

Okay, in keeping with the trend, here are my selfish wishes. In no particular order.1. A DVR with a HUGE hard drive.2. A new TV to watch my recordings from the DVR3. The keys to a mini-van with great gas mileage4. Season tickets to the Quad City River Bandits5. A heavy fleece lined zip up hoody6. An X-Box 360 with NCAA '097. A Martin Acoustic Guitar...

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State of the House Search Address

My Fellow Blog Watchers,As some of you may know, my family is in the process of looking for a house. We are in no hurry as we have a comfy apartment that is on a monthly lease. We have another family member on his/her way, however, and are thinking that we may be in need of more room. Especially since right now, visitors are stuck sleeping on a couch....

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To My Dear Brother Jase:

Okay, so this is getting good. This whole blogging thing is really bringing out the best in everyone. If you are interested read this. It's a blog by Jase in response to Jake and my conversation about Fantasy Football.Dear Jase,I that I would tell you the main reasons that I partake in fantasy.1. I can name 4 guys out of the 12 in our league that...

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To My Dear Brother:

I encourage you to read my previous post, and the response to the post at http://bluestarcowboys.blogspot.com/2008/12/fantasy-not-for-me.html before you read any further.Dear Jake,Personally I think that you took my post about fantasy football a little too...um...personally? I know that I had no intention of making you feel bad about not being a fantasy...

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Polite Children, Fantasy Football, and Stocks

So Gabriel is officially polite. Pam and I have wanted to teach baby sign language to Gabriel for awhile now and have failed miserably. Not because Gabriel hasn't picked it up but because we just haven't spent any time teaching him. So we decided that we should start teaching him now. We have begun with the word "please". Apparently kids who sign...

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Recap Thanksgiving

So has come and gone another Thanksgiving. I can honestly say that I can not remember a year that I have actually been so deeply thankful. My life is good. I am well taken care of.So it was a smaller crowd this year at the Eekhoff Thanksgiving Extravaganza. We had a huge lunch and it was delicious. Kudos to Grandma E. for a wonderful meal and endless...

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Lunch

Okay, so Pam has had the "Taste of the Holidays" put on my google calendar for a while now. Apparently Sam's club has a few days where they get all fancy with their samples and they have a whole ton of them. Pam made sure to instruct me not to plan anything on those days so that we could go to Sam's and eat. So yesterday for lunch we had Sam's.I have...

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Guilty Pleasures

Okay, so my wife just did some "confession time" in her blog. She challenged her readers to confess their own guilty pleasures. Here are a few of mine.1. I drove Emily's car home from Waterloo the other night after meeting with the in-laws for pizza. She was coming to our house and I thought it would be fun for her and Pam to spend some road time...

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My Wife

My wife rocksShe makes really really really good food.She looks really really really good.She smells really really really good.She is a really really really good mom.She is really really really smart.She is really really really awesome.I love her.Guess what. Even if she didn't do any of those things, or wasn't any of those things, I would still love...

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CD

Sunday was fun. I love Sundays because by noon I've put in eight hours and I can usually relax and hang with the fam. Anyway, Sunday we went to a CD release party at Calvary. Marcy Each released "Gravel Road". It has a strong blue grass feel to it and of course the vocals are beautiful. It was fun. I saw a lot of people I haven't seen for a long time...

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Ring Tones

Okay, so the only problem I ever had with my Palm Centro phone was that its stock ringtones suck and they didn't allow me to use mp3 files. That has all changed. I downloaded software called MiniTones to my phone which allows you to pull songs off of your computer, edit them, and use them as ringtones. So the following is a list of the ringtones I...

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Straight to the Truth

Thanks to my sister-in-law I was pointed to a transcript of a White House briefing that took place two days ago. I want to first describe my experience while reading it, and second share with you my favorite part of the briefing.As I read the briefing I was reminded of "The West Wing" and the briefings that took place with C.J. Craig. Thanks to that...

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How can we be so blind?

We think that we've come so far. We think that we have finally been able to look beyond race. I seriously for a moment thought that this election actually wasn't about race. However, if you were watching NBC tonight when they announced Obama the winner, they would not stop talking about the "victory over racism." We have been blinded by color? We...

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Election Night

A poem, by Joel RohdeTonight is the electionBob Dole has an erectionWe're waiting for ballot collectionMcCain would give us protectionI could not vote for ObamaHe kills babys and toasts OsamaHe resembles a mexican llamaHe is fake and creates shameless dramaBut no matter what happens in votingNo matter who will end up gloatingNo matter who to the white...

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This will take approximately 5 minutes 16 seconds to read.

Disclaimer: After reading over what I had written I realized that it gets quite harsh. I recognize we are ALL broken. I'm at no point meaning to attack any specific person or people, or church. I am in ministry and I am extremely thankful to be where I am in the church family that I am in. If God gave me the opportunity to judge and choose each person...

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3:55 am

So my son has not been feeling well the last couple of days. He's been running a low fever and has just not been his normal playful self. We had his 1 year well-baby appointment yesterday and everything is fine, he is just going through some discomfort. It amazes me, however, that no matter what kind of discomfort it is, I can't stand knowing that...

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Comedy

Okay, so I had to post this. It made me smile and laug...

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Dear Mr. Obama

Thank you mom for pointing this out to me. One day Iraqi boys and girls are going to sit in classrooms and learn about the freedom of their country. A freedom brought to them and given them by men and women from the great country of Americ...

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Real Quick

Pam is teaching a spiritual gifts class in 1/2 hour. We had church today. It went just fine despite Doug and Nancy being gone. I must say this though. However well church goes on Sunday without them, I hate when they aren't there. It just isn't as much fun. Church is supposed to be fun. I need Doug to make fun of me for something on Sunday...

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Central College

I like Central. I don't like paying Central most of my check each month, but I like the school. Pam and I got a wild hair and decided to go and help Emily move into Central today. I'm glad we did. She was genuinely excited to see us I think, and I genuinely excited to have a day with Pam and Gabriel. Pam and I talked about spiritual gifts all...

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Another Post Because Pam's Not Home Yet

This is post 2 tonight.A poem for the one I love.She cleans the houseShe mops the floorShe cooks the mealsAnd so much moreShe's way too goodFor a guy like meI'm glad I madeHer marry meI'm not as badAs I make me soundI do things tooWhen I'm aroundBut without herI'm a hat with no billI suppose that would make meA skull capThat last stanzaDid not rhymeTony...

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Guys Night

Tonight was guys night. What that means is this, mom was working and dad has Gabriel. Here are my thoughts and observations.Gabriel's tongue is obviously hurting. He bit it pretty hard this morning while at a play group that he is a part of. He held it, touched it, and stuck it out all night. The play group was fun for him, I caught a little...

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The Dark Knight

Yes it is 3:30 a.m.Yes I was foolishly young again and went to a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight"Yes it was amazingYes the Joker is the greatest villain of all timeYes I am finally tired and going to b...

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Tasmanian Devil Invasion

So yesterday Pam worked her rear off and got the apartment looking super nice and neat and clean. So when I left for work today I left a sparkling apartment. It was great! Three cheers for Pam. When I returned home from...

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Lesson from the John Deere Classic

So I had the honor of working the John Deere Classic last Wednesday as a "hole marshal". Let me assure you, it sounds way more important than it is. Basically I was the guy that held the quiet please sign before each shot. We were located on the 12th hole which is a par 3. It was fun and I learned a lot. First, most pros are really pretty nice...

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Take Me Away

Feeling overcastCompletely incompleteDon’t have it all figured outAll the answers to believeThis world has lost its wingsBroken by the one who singsDepravity has pushed me down againSo take me away to the place that my heart knowsThe place that I call homeSo Take me away to that peaceful shoreWhere I will long no moreTake me awayWhere has mercy gone?Everything...

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The Word is Relieving in So Many Ways

I am blogging right now because of a few things. My in-laws are in town. Which is cool. They take Gabriel whenever I need an extra hand or something. They clean the house, take out the trash, etc... It is like having a midget. It is a dream come true. We went to the pool yesterday and they even went on the slides with me. I was like a little kid again....

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Pam 43001X

What is there to write? She is so cool. She is like a tropical sno on a hot day. She refreshes me, makes me smile, makes me laugh, makes my mouth water, makes me have to pee! She is as beautiful as rainbow, but tastes like melonberry. Sometimes she asks me to carry her jugs from the car to the building. No guy could ever be so lucky. EVER!...

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Sharing Toast Sticks

I'm really excited. This coming week, my brother and his wife will be arriving for a visit. Jake and Elizabeth live in Denver and we haven't seen them since January. I miss Jake and think often on how good it would be for me to hear him laugh again. Jake is one who has always brought joy into the lives of people around him. Not only that, but when...

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1 Timothy

okay, so I am failing so far at posting. I just had a great accountability time with my pal. We are reading through First Timothy. If you ever want to read something that will kick your butt give it a shot. There is a lot of responsibility in being a leader of Christ's Church, and I need Jesus a lot, but I am so thankful for His grace. He has...

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Bad Blogger

I'm going to try to be a better blogger. I read my wife's blog, my brother's blog, my former worship leader's wife's blog...with them as my models I am promising to blog more. So to all of you who currently read this blog, never fear. I am blogging again and often. Thanks a lot for your loyalt...

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One of my favorite parts of my job is creating graphics for our message series. The upcoming one is my favorite as far as graphics go. It is the symbol for eternal life (the ring wrapped around the trinity) with some...

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I'm Such a Rebel

It is past 1:00am and I am up with Gabriel. He is pretending to sleep on my chest. I know he is pretending because I've tried to lay him down six times after extensive rocking and cuddling. Alas, he has decided that he is only going to sleep while in my arms. On the bright side I've only been able to spend a brief few hours with my child today...

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Grace Under Fire...Extinguishers?

So there is this little cafe in downtown D-port that I just love to sit in. It is called Mojo's and everyday at noon they have live music. So I've decided to make it my office. There are a ton of interesting people that come in and out of there. And grace flows in and out like liquid. Like today a man stopped by with a fire extinguisher in a...

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