color test

Who knew paint colors could reveal a lot about your personality?

So I had this forwarded to me at work and thought it was pretty weak. I mean how could paint colors tell me about myself? Especially when there weren't any off the wall colors to choose from? I'm not that cut and dry. Besides, what does Glidden know about me anyway?

Apparently they know a lot...even a few things I may not be too excited to admit about myself...

Anyway, the link to the color test is below...let me know if it was right on with you or not...my results are posted below...although you should probably take the test before you read my results - don't want to subliminally influence your choices...

http://glidden.com/colorgame/gldn0120.jsp

chicago

Who knew you could spend an entire weekend in Chicago, with friends, and only have a ton of fun?

**********I've actually posted 2 entries in the same night, you have to read the second one about our fun evening. Just didn't want people to miss it...back to Chicago**************

Went to Chicago for a quick weekend trip and met Jeff and Jodi down there. We also got a chance to see Pete and meet his girlfriend which was a total bonus. We hung out, went to Navy Pier, Millenium Park, the Magnificent Mile, American Girl store, ESPN Zone and much more.

I'm such a HUGE fan of chi-town...I totally loved it. We were on the 14th floor of our hotel and had the greatest view. Some pictures below of our fun outing. Can't wait to go back. The only downside was getting totally killed by the girls playing bowling at ESPN Zone. Jeff and I thought we could handle it, but were totally rocked by them...guess we all get our chances to be humbled...sniff.

Thanks to Jeff and Jodi for meeting us there...

Taylor at the American Girl Store for our special lunch.

View from our hotel room.

Jeff being Jeff.

Millenium park.

Jeff and Pete

Buckingham Fountain

My next car.

Our favorite mailbox.

david crowder

Who knew David Crowder Band totally rocks?

Actually, we did...and that's why we all went to the concert tonight at Northridge . It was J, Tay, Nadia and I. Our seats were ok...we were in the fourth row - so close we could see everything...they were the best seats ever! Tons of fun was had by all and Taylor really loved her first concert. What a blast.

We had seen them as the cover band for Third Day (which was totally awesome to say the least - went with Amy and Phil which made it even better), but it was fun to see them as the only band. David even hung around after the concert and talked, signed autographs, and took pictures with anyone that wanted to wait around and see him. It was a very fun night and we had a great time.

On a side note, I sort of skipped White Castle small group to go to the concert...told people we had cancelled it and such...and then I ran into Garrett there also - my co-leader. Kind of funny that we both ditched to go to the concert. We also saw quite a few other Vineyard people so that was really fun...

If you look at the concert ticket, you can see his autograph...as Nadia pointed out in the car on the way home, it's kind of cool that it is a self portrait.

Proof that we actually went below...how cool is that...us and David Crowder...and he told Taylor he liked her glasses...

toast

Who knew toast could make you feel old?

Sunday morning, I got the wonderful priviledge of sleeping in (yes, I was thrilled to still be in bed at 8:15am). J let me rest while she was getting ready for work. As I was laying there, I heard some noise in the kitchen - some one was making toast. I'm thinking to myself, "What's Nadia doing up so early?" I get out of bed, stumble into the kitchen, and see Taylor at the counter putting butter on her toast. She says, "Sorry to wake you, I was getting hungry."

First she doesn't need me to make toast, then she won't need me to check her homework, then she won't need me to provide a home for her...time sure does fly...and I feel really old having a daughter that can make her own toast.

happy easter

Just wanted to take the chance to wish everyone a Happy Easter! I hope you all have an amazing day and get the chance to spend time with family and friends. Also, I hope you are able to reflect on why we have this holiday in the first place - correct, without this holiday, there would be soo many hidden eggs it would be a problem.

As we think back to the story of Jesus and his life, it's hard to believe he came back just for me (and you). Who am I that he should come to earth, go through all he did, and die? It is very humbling and also very amazing to feel the love coming from our heavenly father.

Again, hope you all have an amazing Easter...

Easter Story

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

referees

Who knew you could actually learn something playing basketball?

Ever notice how nothing is ever our fault? This was revealed to me while playing basketball. After every shot I missed (or made), I would look at the refs and ask why they didn't call a foul. It's their fault I missed the shot right? They should have called a foul and bailed me out - that's why I missed it. How can I live under these conditions? As I thought back over the game, I realized that I was using them as my excuse for every error I made - and in most cases, they had nothing to do with it...I just made a mistake. Don't get me wrong, they are human and miss some calls, but to put the blame on them for all of my mistakes, or hard times in the game, just isn't right.

Let me give another example from my day to day life...have you ever wondered why the person driving in front of you is allowed on the road? Why are they going so slow? Don't they realize I am in a hurry and need to get somewhere fast? I'm meeting some one and these other drivers around me are going to make me late! It was at that point when again I realized I wasn't placing the blame in the right spot...I never thought, "Gee, why didn't I leave just 10 minutes earlier, then I wouldn't be rushed and could have been on time."

I have noticed time and time again that it is easier to blame the things and people around me for decisions I make instead of placing the blame on myself. Not that I think we should be hard on ourselves, I just don't think it's right to take out my bad decisions on those that choose to be around me (I'm sure J would agree with that logic). As a society, we have trained ourselves to look elsewhere for blame when things don't go our way. In some cases, that is totally acceptable because there are outside influences and activities that affect us. For most of the day to day decisions, this isn't the case.

I'm trying to start looking at my decisions and actions before placing blame - and in most cases, blame isn't necessary at all. When I realize where I went wrong, I can work to correct it next time a decision comes my way - isn't that what it's all about? Steady progress? Taylor's basketball coach would tell the girls at each practice that the goal was to get at least a little better after each practice. When you add up all the little improvements, they turn into leaps and bounds of advancement - and by the end of the year, the girls were so much better it was amazing. That is how I'm going to try to walk this out...get a little better at something everyday...

about time...

Who knew Taylor would have to wait so long to be on a winning team?

Yes, it has taken 8 long years, but she finally made it. Taylor finally was on a winning team. I guess it's really the first real team she's ever been on, but I was starting to lose hope. She was on the school team that won the state title for chess (for pictures see previous post). Story in the Ann Arbor News...

Oh yeah, she is playing in the championship game with her basketball team on Saturday. They lost the first game and haven't lost since - currently in first place playing for the title this weekend. Man, we thought another chance at a title would never come...it's been a few months already...

Enough bragging about my kid - if you can't tell, I'm a little proud. God is amazing, we've been fortunate to have two incredible coaches (chess and b-ball) that have really worked with her to help her improve - while having a lot of fun in the process. She has had incredible teammates that have really been amazing. Doesn't get much better than this...

Jordan's jordans

Who knew Tay would ever have better basketball shoes than I do?

So after a rough first game for Taylor's team, they have now won a game (by 20 points) and tied a game. The game yesterday was a close one and with under a minute to go we were down 4 points. The girls hung in there though and tied the game with 8 seconds left. We were so proud of them. Tay had a steal and a rebound, along with multiple passes (as she is playing point guard or SMALL forward when in the game). It's fun to watch them out there trying to figure out this game called basketball.

I think the best part for me is watching Taylor enjoy something I love (most days). It seems like another connection I have with her that will allow her to understand a part of me - and me a part of her. We'll see how long this lasts - I'm hoping for a long time whether she keeps playing competitively or not. It's going to be fun this summer playing with her outside at our hoop - and teaching J a few things in the process...

chess tournament?

Who knew I'd ever be at a chess tournament...on purpose? Who knew it would be so intense, competitive, and entertaining also? There's a first time for everything...

Just a quick bit of business since I'm sure I'll be running on and on and on and on and on for this post. I have posted a few others lately - including some great new pictures of Tay...

Anyway, onto the chess tournament...

We went up to Lansing for the tournament (I know, I was at Michigan State - and I survived - barely), and had to be there by 8:30AM...which means we left a little after 7AM. Once we arrived and entered the building, there were kids everywhere! The helpful thing was that her team had very easy to distinguish t-shirts which made it easier to find them. We spent the day there and left around 7PM that night. There were 5 matches and Taylor played in 3 of the 5. She did very well (although lost 2 and had one draw) and each of her matches lasted a long time (she was always one of the last people in the room) which made them more exciting. This was also her first year on the team, so everything for us was new...and intimidating, but we managed our way through it.

You can see her team, the room we played in, and the room we hung out in below. There were so many kids there it was crazy...they were coming from all over the state and it was fun to see so many of them playing chess. One of the most fun things was watching the woman coordinating the event and seeing her lose control and yell into the microphone time and time again. She was a legend and all the parents that had been there before were ready for it. Let's just say we all stayed in line, didn't talk - and certainly didn't use our cell phones in the room.

All in all, it was really a fun time. We were able to spend quite a bit of time together as a family, eating snacks, lunch and dinner together so that was a positive upside. We also were able to spend a lot of time playing with Taylor's friends - playing cards, chess, gameboy - what a lively crew. At the end of the day, they were selling the chess sets the kids had played with all day for very rock bottom prices so we picked one up. It's always fun to have a 'travel' set to take with us when we go places.

Guess we'll just keep practicing until we get to do this again next year...

The whole team...

Tay, Jaz and Owen

Playing our first game...Taylor is sitting straight ahead next to the person in red (that's J)...

Our 'quiet' room - we hung here between matches...

More 'quiet' room shots...

Game #3...

Playing cards...

Just enjoying our time...notice my cool Erickson (her school) shirt...

Playing chess...

Tough to handle the stress...

my teenager

Who knew they grow up so fast?

I was waiting for Tay to post about this - so not to steal her thunder, but we're still in process of getting it done...so here is a sneak peak of what she will be posting. Her blog will have a few more pictures when done...