getting fit or losing money

Chris Guess and I have had our gym memberships for quite some time. We use to be consistent in getting to the gym every morning at 4:30 in the morning but managed to fall asleep for a couple months. This time we have rematerialized the plans of our morning workout. Here it goes. Its 5am now, so not too early and If somebody misses a day, they pay! That's right 5 big ones! So the first week Chris lost lbs and I lost 15 bucks! but don't worry about my finacial situation because I quickly inherited it back. You see upon losing some money Bethany started setting extra alarm clocks. Now at 4:45am she is up and out of bed like a drill sargeant, "hup hup hup" "Get out of bed Lazy", "time for the Gym!!!". So all it took was a little bits of the honey's help, and I'm finally seeing signs of a muscle in my body. By the way, beth goes back to sleep at 4:55am - and she doesn't budge when I try to get her up at 7:00 - whats up with that?! Chris is definitely committed to this and I could see him repossesing my car if I dont stick with it. I too have been wanting to, the 5 dollars is just a bit of encoragemnet. So pretty soon, you'll be able to call me "Arnold".

New Job, New Place, New Car

EMPLOYMENT

I gave my dad an hour notice when I found that ServiceMaster was going to higher me on as one of their marketers. I liked my dads but was looking for something different in which I knew I could be more accountable to working more hours. The job, to talk to Insurance Agents, Commercial / Residential property management, Companies, and Government Agencies about using us in a time of disaster seemed like fun! I can also work on things like newsletters, websites, emails, etc.. I'm really looking forward to being able to practice conducting myself a bit more professionally in life. I can work from home or leave to market. They've even included allowances for things like my cell phone and the corporate gas card. A couple nice perks!

HOME

So we're out the Parents. It was incredibly nice of them to give us the time there and moreover all the help with AnnaBelle! And we're out! we searched all over town for a new place and only had to do one walk in. The first apartment we went to visit was perfect! So now we've found ourselves in downtown La Mesa enjoying the conveniently close stores and restaurants. We go on at least one walk day a around town, and cant miss the farmers markets on fridays.... its great!

VEHICLE

Our camry was about to expire so we decided that we were going to need to take it in. A good friend of ours let us know of a great sale that Jeep was having.. My personal interest was the Grand Cherokee.. but they are a bit costly. They start at 28500 but after the sale we would be able to drive off with the Jeep at 20777. Alan, our good friend picked out the sales person, the financer, and the appraiser for the old car. He spoke with all of them personally and the end result was the best car experience of our life! The Jeep is standard, but to us it seemed fully loaded with cruise control and so many other features! It was great! Now we're cruising all day in a brand new 2007 Grand cherokee! Yes!

So we've found too many of God's Blessings on us-
We are truly grateful for all of them as we really we're
expecting any of them!

Big Bear Retreat 2007

Free lunch for 25 and Tobasco in my Lemonade

I won a free lunch for up to 25 people at Chipotle recently. I always throw my card in their fish bowl for the raffle, and I have been fortunate to win twice within a couple months. I had invited all my friends when our intial angel tree group decided not to show. During my meal, my wife called me(she was sick at home) and I left the table to talk. When I came back I found that someone had been up to trouble! I took a sip of my lemonade, immediately finding that this wasn't my drink... oops, did I drink from pats cup by mistake?! but wait! what is that burning?! It taste like Tamarindo, but they don't serve that here! It sure isn't Dr. Pepper... and why Is it burning?!?! I looked up to see Chris Guess Crying in laughter and caught him literally red-hand by the stains of tobasco sauce! Well this was especially funny for everyone at the table, and I admit I was laughing too... Of course, the fun never ends there, and I wasn't going to be the last person to be messed with... so deeper into the meal... I did a couple switch-a-roos. Pat Jabbour looked away for a moment and I swapped him drinks. Immediately he takes a drink, ponders the sensation and swallows glaring over at me! HILARIOUS... I was crying! Two down (me included) and now it was Jen Jabbours turn... A stranger had her attention focused on her car, she had low air in a tire.. we made a quiet exchange in front of her and she must of been in a moment of deep thought because she subconsciously picked up the tobasco filled cup, shook it around a little and took a big drink! Immediately she spit it into my empty plate and repeatedly assaulted my left arm. sure, I deserved it, but it was definitely a moment that mastercard couldn't buy! Its nice to have good friends with a good sense of humor :) In turn we all had a good time and a Free Lunch, just a little hotter than usual. Tiffers, Julie, Ken, Jen S, Chris, Mihaela, Pat, Jen J, and Noah... thanks!

X-Country : Palm Springs

Finally got this flight done! This was really the only objective that I needed to complete for my pilots license. I have just a couple hours of touch up for the test. Here's how it went; I left Gillespie, flew over Julian and Borrego. I landed in thermal, filled the tank and took off over Palm Springs. I flew toward riverside, and down to Hemet. Landed at Hemet and Flew Home via temecula and Ramona. It was a great trip without incident. It built my confidence in leaving the home base, and really assured me in knowing that -I'm a Pilot!- In Thermal I was actually very unimpressed at how the CHP's plane was landing, I was even thinkng about pullng him over and asking to see his license!

when your kid has the flu. [its trickier than dodgeball]

(this one is kinda gross)--------------------------------------

AnnaBelle came down with something good this week. She slept for two days straight inbetween throwing up on all of us. We'd asked her if she was feeling well, and she responded "yeah", than out of the blue "blaaaaaaaaaah", it was all over us. The first sneak attack came late one night when I heard her crying. In the goodness of my heart I went to rescue her, and I embraced her only to find myself covered in her last meal. The most memorable attack came in a Starbucks with Friends, Beth saw it coming and put out her hands only to be holding soup and beans for the next two and half minutes while I retrieved rags. I was sooo bummed I didn't think to take a picture with my camera phone! The helpful baristas at Starbucks didn't even bring a mop... and we'll make sure we get free coffee out of there willingness to watch us. Yep. This flu was a nasty one. She covered Beth, Grandma, and I probably about two times each, She continued to be sick every thirty minutes that first night. She slept most of the next day...and the next, only waking up to throw up. Its day 5 now and she is throwing up once a day... She passed it along to grandma for a day, bethany a day, aunt laura(current), aunt jen and uncle adam... Its an epidemic - one nasty bug. [I'm terrified]

Dead Sea Scrolls in San Diego 06/29/07 to 12/31/07

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SCROLLS dated 250 B.C. to 70 A.D.

While the importance of these documents is multifaceted, one of their principle contributions to biblical studies is in the area of textual criticism. This is the field of study in which scholars attempt to recreate the original content of a biblical text as closely as possible. Such work is legitimate and necessary since we possess only copies (apographs), not the original manuscripts (autographs) of Scripture. The Dead Sea Scrolls are of particular value in this regard for at least two reasons: (1) every book of the traditional Hebrew canon, except Esther, is represented (to some degree) among the materials at Qumran and (2) they have provided textual critics with ancient manuscripts against which they can compare the accepted text for accuracy of content.

-Buy Tickets Here-
(they'll be going fast!)
-See Video Here-

Merry Christmas!

Sooo00oO00OooO0ooo much FOOD!

This year our plans entitled giving thanks with four families... and our intentions were to give thanks for the FOOD at all four dinners, but the food was ALL just too good to stop and think about rationing. so we ate. Our Itinerary began with the Jabbours, then to the Halls, the Rays and concluding with the Tiffany Family. We didn't make it to the last one :( So what are we thankful for? a Good God, a Hope in Heaven, Our Marraige, Our Kiddo, our supportive family, our awesome friends, life plans steadily coming together, a couple good Churches, two working cars, paid off bills, and too much FOOD. AnnaBelle of course was fed plenty of pie by all participating grandparents... It was a Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Playstation Adventure

(Updated: This video was edited to exclude vulger language not endorsed by the videographers)

In our efforts to further our capitalist endeavors, Chris Guess and I thought we'd go on a little camping trip at the local BestBuy. Sure people had been camping out a week prior at other local stores, But this BestBuy was different! This store wasn't going to have any loitering on their property until the day of the big sale. It was an attempt to arrive after the police had escorted the final group off the property 26 hours before any ps3 sales. We instead found 500 cars parked in the parking lot with similar intentions. There were probably a thousand people simply parked outside for a camping spot! Chris and I soon found that instead of documenting our ps3 story we would document everyone elses. We started with interviews and "sell it or keep it" polls just before all the chaos happened. It was 15 minutes before midnight and the legal time to find a plot of land when a single man made a rush for the doors, immediately an anxious 400+ people dashed in the same manner, many getting hurt in the process. The mob now occupied the front of the store. There was no legitimate way of recognizing a line, BestBuy was in trouble. One Joker decided to take matters into his own hands, he ran to the otherside of the door and shouted "the line starts here"...two hundred people immediately followed! Now there was two lines for the Management to choose from, and what looked like two armies waging war!! In the End the second line seemed to be the final line to their glory...You'll also see on the tape a Bestbuy employee pleasantly inviting the friendly customers to go back to their cars, and they politely declined. All this for an announced 26 playstations! In the end there were really 108 gaming systems... and our footage, it hit the channel 10 evening news, as the headline story!

Dress Up.

Halloween was a blast this year... we dressed up on multiple occasions. First we dressed up in Asian outfits from our China Town visit for Brian's Party. Then We put on our old Starbucks Aprons to use for Amber Tiffanys party. We liked Matt and Missy Mcguiness' Hershey Bar outfits far better! Finally we dressed AnnaBelle up as a Cheetah on Halloween Day. We decided to go to Shadow Mountain, they put on a huge Carnival full of rides, animals and booths. We had a great time there with the Guess' and the Jabbours, especially in the fun house! It was good to see some of our favorite faces again too ( Barbara Boucher, Jenine Lewis, Troy Leeman, and the Wickens...we miss you! ) AnnaBelle was a great cheetah, but she didn't do such a good job at flirting for our candy. opps, "her candy".. I guess she knows she always has a grandpa around with chocolate in his pockets. :)

the truth about our futures.

I've often neglected telling my plans of our hopes for a certain future in efforts to keep people happy. In covering the truth about what we really would love to do whole-heartedly, I have simply diminished the plans at hand. I've even made myself somewhat miserable in the process. Our plans are by no means glorious or prestigious; they are simply, what we feel we were made to do. To anyone that has witnessed my pursuits down other paths, you have found me less than satisfactory. It is for the simple reason, that NOTHING in my inner-being can justify the attempts to succeed at anything other than bringing a lost people to Christ. I hope that has remained evident to those close to me despite my following this life's distractions.

God has never spoken to me audibly, but he has never ceased to make clear what He has for me to do. It is in the person He knitted together within the infinity of His mind before the foundations of the world. He has put in me certain talents and desires that guide me in the direction I am to go! He has arranged family and friendships to mold me into the person I am to become. He sends trials to shape my character more "set apart" for a new day. By His Word and by the blueprints of Creation, He speaks to me. He says Go.

So, here is the "gameplan" everyone has been asking of us. It is not appealing to most of you, and as I am human, there might be changes. Beth and I must abandon the parts of our lives that do not adhere to these goals, and resurrect the faith to believe we can achieve these objectives. It is because of your constant concern for direction in our lives that I disclose this to you, and am confident that you will only assist us in achieving these goals from now on.

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We would like to serve on the Missions Field as a Missionary Pilot and Nurse.

Pat is going to attain His Pilots License and all appropriate ratings.
Pat is going to train by way of Apprentice for an Airframe and Powerplant License.

Pat would also like to master the following areas for ministry, provision, or survival:
Car mechanics, Carpentry, Guitar, Construction,
Pat would like to finish school too, Biblical Studies.

Beth is going to obtain a Bachelors degree at SDSU via the Nursing Program.
Beth is going to be a mom and wife forever. (that is enough :P )

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The start of the "gameplan" has already been initiated and is in practice. I have nearly obtained my private pilots license and Beth is currently taking the necessary classes for her Nursing Degree. Please take us seriously in encouraging us by helping us in these areas. Keep us accountable in running toward these goals. Use us as a resource if you need any help in the areas listed above - we understand we are insufficient in the listed items, and its experience that will make us proficient.