Daddy’s Boy

For those of you who know Noah at all, you know him as being full of energy and usually bouncing off the walls with excitement. Yesterday he was watching the Fox & the Hound (my favorite animated movie of all time, by the way) and at the end when Copper (the hound) stands over Todd (the fox) so the man won’t shoot him, Noah starts crying and said the end of this movie makes him very sad.

So for those who know Noah well, you know he has a gentle, soft heart that many people may have never seen. I love that about him. Whenever someone is sick in our family, he will try to do something to help out or cheer us up. When his sister gets hurt, he’ll run upstairs to get her doll or bear and bring it to her. Or like when I was really sick laying on the couch recently, he went in the kitchen to get me a bowl so I didn’t have to get up to puke in the toilet – (what a thoughtful gesture!)- and then went on to bring me one of his favorite HotWheels cars for me to sleep with. I think the softie gene must get passed down on my side of the family - he gets it from his Grandpa (pa) and great grandpa (granddaddy) who are both big softies at heart too.

Philippians 2:5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Make Me Laugh Monday

I’m starting a new one today – may need you guys to help with some material, so let me know if you have anything good.

For today, on the heels of my Memorial Day post on fighting for our freedom, I went to my buddy Gary Lamb’s blog. Gary is a pretty funny guy but this had me rolling on the floor – partly because I went to college in Arkansas, and its dead-on accurate. So I stole this from Gary (since I wasn't sure if a certain few of you, who will reamain nameless to protect your identities, have learned to follow links yet - Hope you're having a great trip - I will give you a tutorial when you guys get back in town :)

New Elite Fighting Force


The Pentagon announced TODAY the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces (USRSF). These Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia boys will be dropped off into Iraq and have been given only the following facts about terrorists :

1. The season opened today.
2. There is no limit.
3. They taste just like chicken.
4. They don't like beer, pickup trucks, country music or Jesus.
5. They are directly responsible for the deaths of Elvis & Dale Earnhardt.

The Pentagon expects the problem in Iraq to be over by next Friday.

Happy Memorial Day

"It is the Soldier, not the Reporter who has given us the freedom of press.It is the Soldier, not the Poet who has given us the freedom of speech.It is the Soldier, not the Campus Organizer who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.It is the Soldier who salutes the Flag, who serves beneath the Flag, and whose coffin is draped by the Flag, who allows the Protester to burn the Flag."

Having served in the Army, I think there is kind of an unwritten, unspoken covenant that soldiers make with their country. They say “I’ll risk my life, maybe even lose it, in a cause I may not fully grasp or agree with. I’ll do it for you because I am one of you and you have asked me to do it – It’s my duty, this is my country, and my country has called upon me. I will answer the call wheneverand wherever it comes and I will fight for you.
My dad gave me a quote (not sure who its from) when I graduated from Officer Basic that has always stuck with me – “For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know.”

Unfortunately, I think its often easy for us to lose sight of the soldiers (and the airmen, sailors and marines) as the battle wages on. Its like a favorite team that has gone on an extended losing streak. When they’re winning and in the hunt for a championship, we are there cheering for them. When things get tough we don’t even think of them or read of them in the newspaper or watch to see how they did on the newscast. So many of our military men and women in uniform sacrifice so much for our country and they deserve our support and prayers at ALL times – whether we support the conflict/administration or not, we should always support our troops.

I talked to a gal at church this weekend (with her 2 young boys hanging on her leg) who’s husband is in Iraq for a year. As she walked away, I thought of the sacrifice he and their whole family is making for ME, and it brought tears to my eyes as she walked away. The sacrifice of a soldier effects him/her, their spouse, children, family and friends in ways that we seldom stop to think about.

Take some time to remember and pray for our troops, not just on Memorial day and Veterans day, but on a regular basis. Don’t forget that our freedom is not free. Thank God today for the freedom that he has given us all in this great country. Happy Memorial Day.

Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

For any History buffs, go to this link for the Smithsonian Military History Museum’s The Price of Freedom Online Exhibition

Win At All Costs

Ok, I know its not a great lesson to teach your kids, since its all about having fun and the love of the game. But we all love to win, and I love it more than most! I think that Noah, who is 6 has inherited my competitive streak - so I am working on trying to teach him that its ok to lose and not to get so upset and just have fun. And what better way to learn how to be a good loser than to lose repeatedly, right??

At bedtime we sometimes play rock, paper, scissors for who prays 1st. He always go scissors and then gets upset that he lost again - dad has his strategy figured out - one of these days he is going to suprise me and I'll have to think a little, but for now Rock is undefeated! Please don't let him know my secret :) He is actually taking the losses (I think I'm up to 11 in a row) a lot better.

You know what they say - everything you need to know you learned in Kindergarten. Don't we wish all life lessons could be taught as easily as playing a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Friday Five

Ok, whoever thought up the Thursday Thriteen thing has way too much time on their hands and way too much left-over brainpower at the end of the day - I always get stuck around #7.
So I'm starting something easier.

5 things I'd like to do on my day off
1. I sleep in - that would be til at least 10 unless...
2. I play golf
3. I spend some quality time playing with my kids - (trampoline is often a favorite, although Noah really likes anything that involves shooting, and Natalie likes playing roller-coaster on the couch)
4. I go on a date with my wife - usually its dinner and a movie, but she is awesome and doesn't drag me to the chic-flicks (just for the record, so I don't get in trouble here, this list is not in rank order!)
5. We come home after the date and ........................... go to bed (Ok, definitely not rank ordered :)

I tag Julie, and Matt

Avoiding Stress & Burnout

This is a great post for all of us - it was originally written for people in ministry but I think a lot of the implications and suggestions are something for anyone no matter what your age or occupation (and I'm sure for full time moms!) . Be sure to read the "signs" and "suggestions".
I will follow up with a post on priorities, once I get mine straightened out :)

DaVinci Debate

Some good sites for anyone looking for truth about the DaVinci Code
http://www.thedavincichallenge.com
http://pcgmedia.org/davincianswers.html - Download free audio podcasts about DaVinci code answers

A Child's Prayer

During bedtime prayers last night, Natalie (3 yrs old) stopped in the middle of her prayer and said, daddy, I don't want Jesus to have to die on the cross. So we had a long talk through all the doctrinal concepts of the atonement, grace by faith, the New Covenant vs Old Covenant (just kidding), and then she finished praying and she was in tears that Jesus had to die for us, and doesn't want to wait to see him because she is sad about the scars on his hands. I really wish I recorded our kids prayers on a regular basis - they are so precious and so deep and thought provoking at times.
Anyway, so it reminded me about the importance of praying for our kids, which I try to do on a daily basis and of teaching our kids how to pray. Below are some tools that have been helpful to me and I hope you find them useful as well. Take them for what they're worth and adapt them as you see fit.

Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Proverbs 22:6Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Jesus Teaching his disciples to pray - Matthew 6:5-15
40 Ways to Pray for your Children
Monthly prayer guide – 31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Kids
Develop a personalized prayer plan for your child’s unique needs
teaching your child how to pray
Good book on teaching children how to pray
Developing a specific prayer guide
12 Ways to Pray for Your Children - From Motherwise

Greatest Gift

What is the best gift you have ever received? I remember some of them as a kid - the new bike or big-wheels (yes that dates me somewhat, but all you 30-somethings are having flashbacks), and when we finally got a b-b gun (I loved shooting the pigeons off the telephone wire in the backyard). I remember the cabbage patch craze in the 80's when they 1st came out and how you couldn't find them in stores - my sister finally got one and was ecstatic, and my brother and I tormented her by hanging it from the curtains (Sorry Jenners, but we loved to make you scream - Mom, now I know how it must have felt as Noah does it to his sister and it drives me crazy!) How about your most memorable gift & prized posssion, then & now?

God is the source of every good gift - James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights". God gave us the greatest gift of all in His son Jesus, who he sent to die for our sins so that we might have eternal life (John 3:16).

Aside from that, the next greatest gift is that of my 2 kids. What a joy they are to me. In a world where we choose everything from the car we drive, the house we live in, the job we work at, even the person we marry (Yes Julie, you are a keeper gift too, but I already posted about you), some of the only things we dont get to choose are the family we are born into and the kids that God blesses us with. What a joy my 2 children are- unique in every way, full of love, personality, energy!!, wisdom (a good future post). Although I sometimes wish they could stay a baby forever (I sure miss falling asleep on the couch with my little boy as we watched a baseball game together or holding and rocking my baby girl to sleep at night, I look forward to continuing to watch and help them as they learn and grow. Thank you God today for the special and wonderful gifts of Noah and Natalie. Take some time to thank God for the special gift of your kids on a regular basis.

A meme
Ok, Julie tagged me on this, but I have to confess, I have no idea what a meme is (yes I'm kinda new at this whole blogging thing). Is that like when your 6 year old keeps yelling Dad, look at me, look at me? Or is it when your 3 yr old wants you to try swinging her like a monkey and says ME,ME?
Anyway, here goes...

Accent: None - but for those that do, it always helps if you put the correct em-phas-is on the right syl-lab-le
Bible Book that I like: Ephesians, James, Matthew
Chore that I don't care for: Hm... truthfully, that would probably have to be all of them - but I think the worst is doing the dishes when Julie stacks them up with food and water and it grosses me out and I gag at all the squishy stuff I have to scrape off into the disposal - the world would be a much better place if we could go back to the good 'ol old days and scrape our leftover food into the garbage and rinse our plates. (Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now and go hide while she reads this one).
Dog or Cat: Dog - truly man's best friend - miss having snickers around to lay on the couch and watch basketball with me (although she does snore - and has bad gas too, but she pretends like she's sleeping). Besides, I'm allergic to cats and they are way too snobby to be a real pet anyway.
Essential Electronics: Laptop, iPod, cell phone
Favorite Cologne: haven't worn cologne since high-school I think it was Drakar
Gold or Silver: Aluminum - much cheaper
Handbag I Carry most often: laptop case - (the only one I carry by the way)
Insomnia: Never - I'm out when my head hits the pillow (except in a car or on a plane)
Kids: Two - Noah 6.5; Natalie 3.5
Living Arrangements: No kids or pets allowed in mom and dad's bed - except after they wake up if dad is already out of bed and then mom gives in, mostly because she's too tired to fight with them - not a morning person)
Most Admirable Trait: Not sure, ask my wife. Some people have told me its not the gift of mercy or patience.
Naughtiest childhood behavior: Contained in a veggie tales episode...
Overnight hospital stay: Knee surgery (very painful - not recommended) & twice for childbirth... I think... It was all a blur to me after the epidurals... those were some big honkin needles!
Phobias: Car payments. and bugs crawling on me - I remember leaning against a 6 ft ant hill at Fort Lewis Washington (no, really, you have to see these things - I plan to take Julie there some day to show her) during a night ambush at ROTC camp - they were all over me.
Quote: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Phillipians 4:6-8
Religion: Christian = a personal relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ who died for my sins and yours
Siblings: 1 older brother (aka, dude) - just had his 5th child - way to go bro!; 1 younger sister (aka, cooterhead) - she's 30 today!!! and lives with Hubby Rob in England (love his accent by the way - its cool to just listen to the Brits talk, but we have real football)
Time I wake up: 4:00-4:30 - (except for saturdays)- thats a.m., by the way, for all of you recent high school or college grads
Unusual Talent or skill: I can do Taco Tongue - I once ate a dozen donuts in under 3 minutes.
Vegetable I refuse to eat: Peas - just the smell of them makes me gag
Worst habit: Have to ask Julie- probably tuning people out while I've doing other things even though I seem to be listening - I'm sure there are many others
Yummy stuff I cook: Cheese crisps (whenever Julie is gone), Gourmet Pizza (DiGornio), and pretty good omlettes on rare occaisions.
Zoo animal I like most: orangutang - those guys are the craziest, funniest animals around - remind me a lot of my kids
X-rays: Lets see, wrist, ankle, knee, chest, leg, arm, teeth (those are the worst), foot, shoulder, collar bone, thumb, spine, neck, I'm sure there were others. I'll have to ask mom.

Thursday Thirteen - Thirteen things I love about my wife...

Today is Julie's 33rd B-day, so here's lookin at you babe.
1. She is very independent, and let's me be the same
2. She is the world's best mom (sorry mom, I need some brownie points, but you are definitely up there at the top with her - Can we call it a tie :)
3. She makes great chocolate chip cookies
4. She makes the best german chocolate cake (usually 2 of them on my b-day; 1 for the party and 1 me all to myself)
5. Ok, so she is just an all-aroound great cook (from her 6 year old "Mom this soup (campbells chicken & stars) is awesome)
6. She is a the most multi-talented person I've ever met - from web design & graphics to building a playhouse, to interior design and landscaping, she gives wonder-woman a run for her money!

7. She goes to action flicks with me and doesn't drag me to the chick flicks
8. She is a frugal shopper and loves to save money
9. She can read a 400 page book in 20 minutes :)
10. She is lots of fun to be with - I love to hang out or go on vacation with her
11. She is a great planner - takes care of all the details for everything and I just have to show up - like our wedding, our vacations, our date nights (ok, just so you don't think I'm too lazy, I usually have to pick the restaurant and the movie)
12. She loves, supports and encourages me even when I fail to be the person she deserves
13. She is a a Proverbs 31 woman! (Follow link for full reading)

Proverbs 31:10-31 selected verses (NIV)
10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Dunked in the Desert

When I think of the desert, I think hot, dry, no water. Here's a picture of life in the desert for some of our troops in Iraq. Where there's a will, there's a way. It was cool to see this, especially after an awesome weekend of baptisms at church where we saw over 80 people come forward to publically profess their faith in Christ. I was brought to tears as people stood up and came outside to be baptized - what an awesome experience with my church family.
Baptism is an expression of our commitment to Christ, but the way we live our daily life is a real indicator of our true commitment level to Christ.

Romans 6 (selected verses) 4 We were therefore buried with him (Christ) through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin
11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

When the Going Gets Tough...
Grandpa had a quote in his office and above his bed that said, "Circumstances don't make a man, they merely reveal him". That has always stuck with me - from a motivational and personal perspective. It would come back to me time and again in tough or challenging situations. As I was reading back through Psalm 34 again, this quote from grandpa took on a whole new meaning to me. Its easy to praise God when he has done great and awesome things in our lives - when we see the miracles, and when he answers our prayers the way we want him to. But what about when things are really hard? What about when we don't understand or something devastating happens in our life? I was thinking about this as I was giving thanks to God for my wonderful family and pondered what could have been in the accident yesterday. How would I have responded to a devestating tragedy? Could I have praised God in the middle of that storm (love the song, Priase you in the storm by Casting Crowns - someone gave that to me after our difficult Katrina Reflied trip to Mississippi). In everything, it should be a comfort to us to know that we have a sovereign God who loves us and cares for us. The stories of Job and Lazurus reaffirms to me that for those who know him, nothing happens that he does not allow, or that he cannot use to grow us in our faith and to bring glory to His name. (See Romans 8)

In psalm 34, we read, "1I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Thats a tough one - at all times, in every situation. I challenge you to read through Psalm 34 and let it resonate in your heart today.

God is in control

Yesterday after church, I was tearing down equipment in the gym when someone came in to tell me that Julie was just in an accident leaving church. Thoughts ran through my mind, and I raced to my car to go check on her and the kids. As I approached the scene and saw the fire trucks and the demolished front end of the van, it really shook me up. I walked past the other vehicle, a full size truck that apparently ran a red light and hit Julie as she was turning left. Then I saw a truck on the side of the road with firemen huddled around (it turned out to be people from the church that stopped to help out and gave Julie and kids a place to sit and decompress - it was really cool to see all the people from church that were there on the scene helping out - I love my church family!). I ran across the street and could hear my kids crying frantically as the paramedics checked out Julie for injuries. As we worked through all that happened - and saw the aftermath, it is evident to me that God protected my family, as well as Pastor Greg and Pastor Dave's sons who were in the van with Julie - it was only by a miracle that all the kids walked away ok, and Julie with only minor injuries (a big bruise on her left leg and a severe sprained ankle that may have ligament damage - she is on crutches with an aircast, a pretty entertaining site :). I think of the devestation that could have come to our 3 families, and I thank God for his protection.

As I was laying in bed last night, Psalm 34 came to my mind: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them." This was definitely the hand of God at work in our lives. Take time to praise Him today for who he is and for what he has done in your life.

WWJD
While I was away this week, in the airport, hotel room, on the subway, at the coffeeshop - I enjoyed many of the technological advances of our day and experienced all the business/busyness and excitement of all this there is to do and see (yes, I stayed up til 2 am EST to watch the Suns beat the Lakers last night!). DC was a busy place - packed with people at all times of the day, and everyone had an iPod, laptop or palm pilot to keep them busy on the subway, in the station, at the coffeehouses. Didn’t see anyone reading a bible the whole time I was there (except for Darius on the plane – D you’re the man!). It was so easy to get distracted and my eyes off the author perfector of our faith, Jesus Christ and spending time with Him, in prayer and in God’s word – whether rushing off to a conference in the morning, too tired to really concentrate on what I read, too many people around to be still and alone. When this happens, we often can open the door for Satan or selfish desires to creep into our lives. We haven’t put on the full armor (read Ephesians 6:10-20), and he comes ready to pounce on us or sin comes knocking and can entangle us when we get busy and let our guard down because we’re not focused on being like Christ.

What would Jesus do today… Would he have a cell phone, email, ipod, Tivo, laptop computer, video games, and all the other things that make our lives so fun and convenient, yet so busy today? Jesus was a pretty busy guy – always on the road and always a full day of activities. I’m not sure of all of the technological distractions of His day, but as I read the Bible, he repeatedly made it a priority to get away from everything and spend both quality and quantity time with His father. What a great example for us.

I can remember growing up – we never had a computer or a cell phone or a video game or an ipod or TIVO, or ________ you fill in the blank. Life was a lot less busy, and probably a lot easier to prioritize. I can’t wait to be back home tonight and to a place where I can shut the door and be alone with God and get back into my daily routine with Him (not to use this busyness as an excuse – I’m just glad to be back to a normal routine.)

Don’t let your life get too busy for the most important thing in life. Set aside your best time for Him 1st, your family second, for other believers who need your support and encouragement, for non-christians who need your witness. God has given each of us enough time in every day to do ALL that HE has planned for us – it just may be that some of the things WE have planned or want to do need to be scrapped for the greater good of HIS will in our lives, and for spending time with Him. These things aren’t bad, but they shouldn’t take priority over our time with God.

Hebrews 12:1-4 (NIV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. [2] Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. [3] Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. [4] In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

My Star Trek
I used to watch Star Trek as a kid. My brother was a huge Treky. I loved to use the spock death grip on kids at school, but whenever we played Star Trek, I had to be Captain James T. Kirk. How is it that we could turn any object (a stick, some lego blocks, a bananna) into a phaser. My son Noah cracked me up last week taking a bite out of 2 potato chips and proceeding to shoot his sitster. I digress from my Star Trek post... I remember my 1st flip cell phone a couple years ago - I know you 30-something trekies drive around in your car and pretend its your communicator.

I took a quiz to see which Star Trek-er I am most like (I never watched the newer shows and am glad to know that the TV we watch impacts who we are - makes me a little concerned for what our kids have as role models today.
My results: You are James T. Kirk (Captain)

James T. Kirk (Captain) 70% Geordi LaForge 60% Will Riker 60% Chekov 50% Worf 50% Deanna Troi 50% Beverly Crusher 45% Jean-Luc Picard 45% Mr. Scott 40% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 40% Data 38% Uhura 35% Spock 32% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 30% Mr. Sulu 20%

You are often exaggerated and over-the-top in your speech and expressions. You are a romantic at heart and a natural leader.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test

Live & Learn
My Grandpa was a smart guy. One of his best quotes... He used to always say"Do what you do best and hire out the rest". I've learned this the hard way too many times in life - partly because I'm cheap, and partly because I'm a guy and don't want to admit I can't do something. I am getting wiser as I get older and now I hire out a lot of stuff - probably more because I don't want to waste the time to do it - rather be playing golf. $60 for the garage door opener installation was a good call for me - and hiring painters and movers. Some of the best $ I've ever spent, and made the princess happy too :)

Was reminded of this principle at a conference today - won't get into the details, but suffice to say that we need to focus on what God calls us to do individually, vocationally, relationally, and corporately as a church body and not get sidetracked by trying to do what other people are doing or what other people want us to be doing. Have a vision and stick to it - change is good but only if is accomplishing the vision that you have.

Best quotes of today - Ed Young Jr (not his conference by the way - he's a great pastor, communicator and leader, and they do a great conference in Dallas) one of his pet peaves is "Christians that talk the smack but don't do jack".
Erwin McManus was quoted "Don't let an arrow pierce your heart unless it passes through the filter of scripture" I've learned that we need to distinguish and take to heart criticism that is meant to build us up and conform us to Christ's likeness, but if it is to tear us down or just to be negative, then don't even listen to it.
Worst quote of the day (not Ed Young) - Its time to get busy in the hizzy??? Whatever - must be an east coast thing.

(Thursday Thirteen) - Things I don't eat
Julie got me onto this, so I thought I would post my 1st. Its a lot easier than coming up with something original to post.

1. Onions
2. Garlic
3. Mushrooms
4. Olives
5. Tomatoes
6. American cheese on my burgers (This for a future post on biggest pet peaves)
7. Deviled eggs
8. Cranberry sauce
9. Soggy cereal
10. Browned or crispy toast
11. Meat that is still red/pinkish (If its not blackened, put it back on the grill)
12. Leftovers more than once
13. Sushi or any other slimy foods - see also #3 & 8

The Long Way Home
Hooked up with some church planters from Atlanta area. Lots of laughs with some them. Walked to dinner tonight (probably like 2 miles? and then to the Capitol "mall" area, up and down the subway steps, past the white house, 1st time to the WWII Memorial (very cool), back to the Lincoln memorial (hasn't changed, but well worth the walk since they had a public restroom and I had 3 Pepsis at dinner) - by now my feet are killing me (should have packed my reeboks) and my arthritic, 17 year old surgically repaired knee is ready for an allieve and an ice pack... then back past the reflecting pools past the Korean War Memorial (my new favorite - more than just arcitecture, very meaningful especially to someone who knows anything about the Korean War). Past all the other big buildings that pretty much are like any other in D.C. (Treasury, Agriculture, Holocaust Museum, blah, blah, blah museum, etc).
We must have walked 20 miles today. I'm not out of shape and if that had been a day long golf outing, I wouldn't be complaining (though I would've been in a cart, not walking mind you).

Ate dessert at a coffee shop across the street from the hotel (nice, but can you believe a 4 star hotel only has wireless B 11mbps?? What's up with that. ) Best apple pie I've ever had. I think we'll go back there for dessert tomorrow night.

DC, Day 2…

Ok, I know that’s a lame tag line, but I was up til 3 am and got up at 7 and walked across DC today, so my creative juices are non-existent.

D.C. is not as exciting the 2nd time around – I think we saw all the cool stuff the 1st time around – want to do the WWII memorial and the American History museum before we go home. We did a tour of the Capitol today – had an intern from Sen Kyle’s office that showed us around and it was cool to get some inside stories and history – interesting stuff – I highly recommend it over a self guided tour – Just call ahead and setup a tour with your senator’s office. Big Jon was apparently too busy for us. Saw a few cool things that we didn’t see last time since this was a guided tour. Found it interesting that there were only 3 senators in the senate floor voting on amendments that were being presented. Our tax dollars at work – pretty boring stuff – save your money and watch S-span. Much more security and the capitol police had some really cool guns – they were loaded up. I thought the underground senate trolley car was the coolest thing, but a pretty big waste of money… it’s a pretty long walk that they have from their offices anyway, and the trolly can’t be more than ½ mile – maybe they figure they’re all old geezers or Kennedy’s and can’t walk that far. One tip: Be sure to leave your hand lotion and perfume at home if you plan to come (luckily I left my purse behind on this trip).

We went to the International Spy Museum. It was pretty cool, all the guys thought it was awesome, but it pales in comparison to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin. That has to be the coolest museum I’ve ever been to. Berlin was awesome – maybe a future post on best touristy vacation spots.

Subway system here is much easier than in London or Berlin. There’s another future post there about traveling with navigationally challenged people. Lots of cool shops in Union station – more like a mall than a train station, complete with food court and AMC movie theatre. That’s where the church conference is (movie theatres).

Good intentions...
seldom get things done. Julie setup my blog for me several months back. Finally getting around to my 1st post. Guess I need to change the title of my blog. I don't know how Julie does it all, but if you know her you know she's pretty amazing.

We got away with some of the staff to DC this week for a conference - nice to be out of the office for a short break. Not used to all the greenery and trees. People sure do honk a lot here - a lot of angry drivers... and lots of joggers. Wonder what their hit and run stats are here? Its a fun time with the guys and lots of laughs. A long walk for some below average Chinese for dinner. The Suns game doesn't start til 10:30 EST! Gonna hit some of the sites tomorrow.

Not sure exactly what my Blog will evolve into - you may have to check back in a couple months for my next post to find out.