Saturday, April 10, 2010

Big month for Professional Sports

I have to say there is alot happening in the Sports world this month. First the most publicized is Tiger Woods return to golf at the Masters. I have not watched any of it myself, but I have followed the scores online. Tiger seems to be playing very well. I cannot say that I put too much thought into it prior to the tournament, but it does not surprise me that he is doing so well. He is simply one of the best golfers ever and probably will be better than before everything that recently transpired in his personal life. I say good for Tiger Woods for taking responsibility for his personal issues and working to save his marriage. There are many that have or would have just given up on their marriage and that being without the social status that he has and the money that he has. I hope Tiger continues to play good golf and win tournaments but more importantly I hope he knows Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. I believe he is Buddhist; however, I am not certain. I also hope that he is able to work his marriage out and live a life devoted to his wife and family. The example set would be greater than the failure revealed.

Next off baseball started. I have to say my passion for baseball fizzled after I finished playing in High School. I can usually tell you who is leading the pennant race and which teams are in the playoffs, but I do not generally watch many games. I have not watched any games this year either, but the Rangers seem to be off to a good start. Maybe Nolan Ryan at the helm, and the Rangers playing strong this season will reinvigorate my passion for the game of baseball. I enjoy all sports to some degree and have always considered myself an enthusiast when it comes to sports, but baseball might just be my favorite sport I ever played.

The Stars hockey season or at least their home games have come to an end. I got to go the Stars game last Tuesday on their next to last home game, but I wish I had been there for Thursday's game. It was fan appreciation night and the Stars paid tribute to Mike Modano. This could very well be his last season in hockey. He has truly been the best hockey player I have seen play since they came to Dallas in the 90's. I remember getting to see one of my first games at the Reunion Arena. I did not realize a hockey game could be so much fun until then. Mike Modano is a Hall of Famer and has given the Stars many years of solid leadership and outstanding scoring. Although the Stars are not going to the playoffs, Thursday was no exception to Modano's excellent play. From what I read, he assisted on a 3rd period goal that sent the game to overtime. He then scored in a shootout to help the Stars win their last home game. Congratulations Mike Modano. Even if you choose to not retire, you are truly one of the best the game and professional sports have ever seen.

Edit: If you have already read this post I had to come back and quickly add the exciting end to one of the most unpredictable March Madness tournaments I have ever witnessed. A classic championship where little mid major Butler took Duke for all the had and came up 2 points short. One thing that is interesting about Duke's championship team is that they really did not have a superstar. They were just a great team. I will be honest with you I cannot even name a player on their team (maybe that is what championship teams are all about).

Well, I guess that wraps it up for my blog today. I hope yall are having a great weekend and enjoying some good sports whether participating or just watching on TV. God bless you.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Cell phones

So what cell phone do you have? Do you like it? Do you want a new one? I currently have an HTC Fuze. It is actually my 3rd phone by HTC (www.htc.com), and if I had my choice I would have 10 others. I really enjoy reading about the new phones and the technology that they are putting into them. I know... pretty nerdy. If I had my choice, I would get a new cell phone every couple of months. Obviously, they are too expensive though if the providers aren't subsidizing the cost of them and for some reason they do not like to do that more than once every couple of years. Here are some of the phones that I wanted or still want.

1. Touch Pro 2 - actually the phone that replaced my phone about 5 months after I bought mine : ( It has a much larger screen and is very sweet.
http://www.htc.com/us/products/tilt-2-att?view=1-1&sort=0

2. HD2 - This phone was just released in the states as a T-Mobile exclusive. This is probably the number 1 phone I want right now. It has an amazing 4.3 inch capacitive screen. A 1Ghz processor. 1GB ROM and 576MB of RAM. This is by far the sweetest phone available right now.
http://www.htc.com/us/products/t-mobile-hd2#tech-specs

3. HTC EVO - Very similar to the HD2 and will be the first 4G phone when released this Summer.
http://now.sprint.com/evo/?ECID=vanity:evo

4. The next gen iPhone. I would imagine Apple will come out with some very nice enhancements since the 3GS was a marginal improvement over the 3G without any changes to the cosmetics.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/?cid=OAS-US-DOMAINS-iphone.com

5. The Nexus One. I have heard things about this phone although the marketing and sales is not the norm and therefore it hasn't done that great. However, it looks really nice and I would enjoy trying out the Android OS.
http://www.google.com/phone

I personally am I Window Mobile fan. The platform gets knocked quite a bit, but it is very customizable and has plenty of apps (contrary to the belief that the iPhone has all the great apps). I have used Melanie's iPhone several times and although it has great features and apps that are very useful and well made, it would just get boring to me after a while. I like to change how my phone looks and modify things that the iPhone does not let you do unless you jailbreak it. I would be interested in the Android platform, but it is almost too open for me. I like the idea of widgets but many of the Android type themes on Windows Mobile bore me after a while. I think that Windows 7 will probably bring Microsoft back into the game as one of the more consumer friendly phones to buy. I am not sure though that with the restrictions they are putting on it that I will want one of them more than a very nice Windows Mobile 6.5 phone. They are almost taking an Apple-esque approach. I bet it will do well with alot of people though since it should be easy to use, integrate nicely with Facebook and other social media, and also be something new. That seems to be the winning formula in "Smartphones" these days.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Spring is here

Wow, so a new year has come and we are already in Spring. Guess it is time for some spring cleaning. I do not have any cleaning per say but instead want to try to blog more often. It is funny how people who have blogs and don't blog always blog about wanting to blog more often : ) I will try not to do that too much in this blog. I did revamp my blog a bit the other day with a new look. I got an email saying blogger was offering more default templates and I checked them out. This one caught my eye so I am going to use it for a while. I hope you enjoy it.

Spring started in a different fashion this year with snow fall covering the ground here in Texas. That was something else. I think it would have been even more awesome had we not had record snowfall earlier in the year. I really love it when it snows. Some of my most memorable childhood times were playing in the snow. We even played some hockey on the streets when they were covered with ice. I didn't get to play much this year since I was not feeling the greatest when we had the biggest snowfall. I did get out with Melanie and Brice though and take some pictures. It was absolutely beautiful. Snow covering everything makes me think of purity. Just how the blood of Jesus has washed us clean and white as snow. That is an awesome thought to know that we are cleansed by His blood and made pure again. Easter is just a week away. It is definitely a time to reflect on the sacrifice that was made by our Savior. If you happen to read this blog, and do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Please comment on my blog and I will gladly pray with you and share with you how you can accept Him as your Lord and Savior. Have a great weekend!

Friday, October 9, 2009

A minute to reflect

I have some time this afternoon so I thought I would go ahead and do another blog. I just wanted to take a minute to reflect on how much God has blessed me. I think too often I take for granted the things He has blessed me with and believe it is important to just reflect on these things.

First and foremost my salvation is the best gift He has given me. One day I will be in Heaven with my Father and Savior for eternity. Although I am not ready to die and I do not fully grasp exactly what Heaven will be like. I know that it will be perfect because He is perfect.

Next, I am very grateful for my family. Beginning with my wife, Melanie. We are growing every day and learning more and more about having a relationship with one another. It is definitely a challenge at times, but if marriage was easy the divorce rate would be much lower. Although it is challenging, it is also very rewarding. Melanie is a wonderful wife and mother. She does so much for me and Brice. Of course, Brice is amazing and near perfect. He makes Melanie and I smile and laugh more than I think we ever thought he could. He is such a genius (seriously). He continually picks up on things and learns more and more. Then of course, my parents. They are always there for us and doing things for us. They are tons of fun to hang out with and always willing to share their time. They also cook really good ; ) The rest of my side of the family is amazing as well. We do not get to hang out with them as much as I like, but when we do it is always fun. My in laws (or as my mom would say in loves) are awesome too. They really accepted me from the beginning as their own and treat me very well. I am blessed to have such nice and loving in loves. I only wish we lived closer to one another so we could all hang out more often. Finally, there is my church family. Our church is small so we really are like a family. Everyone is very serving and gives so much to the church. I couldn't be blessed with a more serving and loving church family.

Finally, my job. Sort of the reason I even have this opportunity to blog right now. I was blessed with a day off today by my supervisor. I truly work for the best supervisor anyone can ask for. I have had some rough experiences with supervisors in the past. However, I believe God provided this job and blessed me with the opportunity to work for such an awesome company and an amazing supervisor. He has taught me so much in programming and truly cares about my success. As much as he strives to excel, he takes the time to make sure I excel too. That is a very important quality in a supervisor in my opinion.

There is so much more I am grateful for. I am in good health and my family is as well. I have been blessed with a nice comfortable house. Two vehicles that work (most of the time : ) ). Plenty of electronic gadgets (I am for sure a tech nerd). And so much more. Praise God for His provisions. I pray that God has blessed you as much as He has blessed me.

Wow, it has been a while

So it has been quite a while since I have blogged. I think I am going to try to pick it back up and do a little better this time. Maybe I can work on blogging once a week or maybe twice a week. I am impressed how some are able to blog everyday.

Today I think I will blog my opinion on social networking. I have to say I was not really big on it at all. I never had a myspace and just recently created a facebook account. To be honest with you, I think it is a great tool. You are able to connect with so many people that you knew and know. It allows you to see what is going on with people that you would otherwise not even hear from except maybe at High School reunions. What is really awesome is that it really gives you an insight into people's lives and different situations they are going through. This of course, is great because you can see exactly what things people need prayer for in their life. A good friend of mine posted something earlier on Facebook just asking everyone to share with what God is doing in their lives. I thought that was an awesome post. What better way to be encouraged than to read about how God is moving in other people's lives. You would be surprised that if everyone shared how similar our situations are. The enemy wants us to believe that we are the only ones going through the things we are going through so we feel sorry for ourselves and wallow in our misery. However, it is very likely that someone is going through the same things you are and possibly even someone you know. This can give you the opportunity to see that you can weather the storm so that you will have a testimony that will benefit others. Look for God in the situation you are in instead of always looking for God to take you out of the situation. He is always with us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. God is good all the time. Continue to look for opportunities to bless others. Thank you to those who have shared with me and given me encouragement in my times of need. Thank you for sharing things in your life that might make you vulnerable so that I can be encouraged. Have a great night.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Thought I would give blogging by text a go. Lets see if this works.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Golf season is here

It is has been quite some time since I have done any blogging. I figured I post something to anyone that is interested in reading. Yesterday I was able to get out and enjoy one of my favorite past times. I went golfing with my Dad and my good buddy. None of us scored our best by far, but we had a great time. There were moments of amazing golf, i.e. 2 birdies and a par on the same whole. Then there were other moments of not so great golf, i.e. I have already forgotten the scores since they were so bad but I am sure something like triple bogey or even quadruple bogey could be mentioned.



Sometimes our walk with Christ can be similar to the game of golf. We have moments of brilliance where things are just going great in all areas, but there are also times where things are not so great. In golf, if you have a bad hole or a stretch of bad holes it can easily get you down and if you do not have the right mindset it can effect your entire game. If you allow yourself to be negative and get discouraged about these few holes you might quickly find that a bad whole or two ends up being a bad nine or even entire round. However, if you forget about the bad whole as quickly as it ends and have a positive attitude about the next hole you most likely be able to improve your situation. You might not necessarily score well on the very next whole, but mainting this outlook will increase your chances of improving your score. Life often has a few bad holes here and there. Alot of times these things are caused by something that we do not have much if any control of. What we can control though is our attitude about our current situation. If we keep a positive attitude and trust God during these times of struggle, once the things that are beyond our control start to improve our situation will likely improve as well. However, if we get all upset and allow these difficult situations to affect our life more than they should then when things could be getting better we will most likely be caught up in our own attitude that a few "bad holes" will turn into a bad round. The next time life presents you with some adversity be optmistic about your situation. God is in control. Know that whatever you are walking through is only for a season. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Trusting in him and maintaining a positive attitude will help limit the "bad holes" in life. Let God bless you this Resurrection weekend. Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter.