Big Tators and Apollo 13

9 years ago today, I was completely a nervous wreck. I remember how nervous I was because those things stick with you. You see, this was my first date with this beautiful and very nice intern at our church. She had just graduated from ACU and I had been keeping my eye on her all summer. July 8th, 1995 was a our first date and I was nervous.

Somehow in one of our casual conversations prior to that day it came up that Kendra and I both like baked potatoes. I'm sure that's how I swept her off her feet !! :) So I decided to take her to this restaurant that had these huge baked potatoes. I just happened to be inside a hotel so it was "risque" to be able to tell friends that I took her to a hotel on our first date ! After we enjoyed dinner which I think included sharing a sundae (how romantic) we went to see Apollo 13, the movie with Tom Hanks. I'm sure I was still just as nervous which is why I've seen the movie more than once because I'm sure I didn't pay all that close attention with this cute girl next to me just waiting to hold my hand!

Can't believe it's been 9 years! It's hard to imagine how many dates we've been on together since then. But I know this... I've loved EVERYONE of them. My wife is wonderful and a blessing to me and so many others. I hear that all the time from people and I'm constantly reminded about how richly blessed I am to have a wife like Kendra. I praise God that I married a godly woman who loves me and is a great Mom to my boys.

Kendra, I'm not writing this because I know you are starting to read my blogs but then again, I'm glad I'm writing this because I know you are reading my blogs. If I don't tell you enough, I love you kiddo!! You are the best.

Thanks for saying "YES" to my request back 9 years ago. It's amazing how that one word changed our lives forever. Love you dear !!

God bless you all,

SJ

I like it, I love it, I want some more of it !

The title comes from an older Tim McGraw song and it's the first thing that popped into my pea brain when I was thinking about writing this blog. I got the idea from another fellow blogger, Mike Cope, who had something like this a few weeks back.

Here's what I like:

NFL over NBA
NCAA Football over NFL
NCAA BB over NBA
A&M Aggies over T-sips
Dallas Cowboys over anyone else in the NFL
Seinfeld re-runs over any sitcom out in the past 10 years
Trading Spaces over Extreme Makeover
Mexican food over Italian food
Italian food over Chinese food
Baseball at the ballpark vs Baseball on TV
Apprentice over Survivor
American Idol Tryouts over American Idol Competition
MWSmith Praise & Worship over MWSmith Christian Music
Braums over Baskin Robbins
Krispy Kreme plain over Krispy Kreme varieties
Watching DVD with subtitles over without subtitles
Cream style corn over fresh shucked corn
Can green beans over fresh from the garden green beans
Rainy days over hot sunny days
Mowing my own lawn over paying someone else to do it
Toilet paper rolls over the top over from underneath
JoJo's Circus over The Wiggles
Sean Hannity over Rush Limbaugh
Christmas over any other holiday
Taco Bueno Quesadillas over Taco Bell's
White meat over dark meat
Stand up tube of toothpaste over kind you roll from the bottom
Live Acapella praise over Live instrumental praise
Recorded instrumental praise over recorded Acapella praise (except Zoe)
Sonic breakfast over McDonalds breakfast
Sonic Vanilla Diet Coke over Sonic Diet Coke
Bush/Cheney over Kerry/Edwards
Fox News over CNN
Letterman over Leno
Email over a phone call
Planes, Trains and Automobiles over Sound of Music
Nerts over Hand-n-Foot (link for those who don't know what this is)
RISK over any other board game
Vacation in Colorado over vacation on the beach

That's about it for now !! More to come I'm sure ...

God bless you all,

SJ

Other Blogs

Here are some other blogs I know about to add to your enjoyment:

Brandon Scott Thomas

Toni Vaughn (my sister-in-law)

Ryan Williamson (funny thoughts)

Mike Cope

Judy Thomas (Brandon's Mom in Abilene)

That's just to name a few! Have fun in the blog web !! If anyone wants to add to the list, post a comment and I'll keep updating my list.

God bless you all,

SJ

Happy July 4th !! (or 5th)

Unfortunately I was traveling on the actual 4th of July so I could not do a blog entry on that day so today will have to do. This blog will be more lengthy than normal so I apologize up front.

I'm not known as the greatest history buff but I did find this website interesting for some details regarding "Independence Day" that you may not have known.

Links

• Independence Day Story

Our holiday weekend was lots of fun with my side of the family. Kendra and I packed Colby and Tyler in the van Thursday afternoon for our 6 hr. road trip to Lubbock. We had the day off Friday so that gave us a chance to have an extended weekend yet still be able to spend today at our house. I have lots of family in the Lubbock area including my brother, Gary and his family. Gary is married to Toni (congrats again on 12 years) and they have 3 great girls Laura, Hailey and Garyn. They are great nieces and cousins to be around. In addition to the Lubbock crew, my wonderful parents still live in my hometown of Littlefield, TX. That's about 30 minutes away from Lubbock so we got to spend time in both places over the weekend.

On Friday, Kendra and I loaded up the van with our boys and two of our nieces (Hailey and Garyn) to go to Littlefield. My parents are getting a home makeover so it was fun to see their renovated house even though it was not completely finished yet. It looked so great and it's fun to see my parents getting to have new things after all the years of sacrifice. Afterwards, we all drove out to my grandmother's farm which is about 10 miles outside of town in the country. Granny still lives there and has ever since she was married like at 14 ! (They did things differently back then she says!) My aunt Linda and uncle James live out there with her. While we were there, we had Papa (my dad) take us out to the pasture to see the cows and donkeys. This was a real treat for my boys. They watch videos all the time of farmers with animals so now they can associate them with their Papa. My dad has 2 donkeys (watch it with the jokes!!) out there for some reason that I'll never understand. However, it's fun to feed them. Papa drove all his grandkids in his truck so they can all be there when the donkeys come up to the window. Literally, they would stick their donkey faces right inside the truck. Papa feeds them lollipops and peppermints so their breath is minty-fresh!! :) I even took a stab at feeding them from my vehicle. Most interesting feeling to have a donkey eat something right off your hand. Glad I only get to do it once. I got it all on video and it's fun to watch in slow motion to see the big donkey lips !!

For time sake, I'll recap Saturday and Sunday as "family time". We had a great time at my brother's house doing some swimming, playing cards (Nertz is the best!!), and lots of eating. Toni, you did a great job with the spread all weekend. Thanks Mom for the great cookies!! I had a blast playing Nertz with my 3 nieces who had just learned the game this weekend. It's great to see them growing up so fast. The best I think was the entertainment. Laura, Hailey and Garyn like to do alot of entertaining of the family including karoke and skits from time to time. This time, they had an unexpected guest appear in their karoke song. My 3 yr. old son, Tyler, decided they should not be the only ones having that much fun doing hand motions to a song so, OUT OF THE BLUE, he decided to join them. One of those priceless moments that made me thankful that I just happened to be rolling tape on the whole thing !! It was hilarious and made me so proud to see my little boy come out of his shell like that. Extremely cute!

After our long road trip home on Sunday which included arriving in Ft. Worth about the time of their annual fireworks show (which Tyler loved and Colby only saw in his dreams), we had the day at home to ourselves. Did alot around the house and enjoyed a great dinner with my wife while Aunt Moni (my sister-in-law) offered to watch the boys. Now its off to work tomorrow. Too bad I can't declare my own "financial independence" from my job !! HA I'd sign as big as John Hancock did !! :)

(That last line will make more sense if you read that internet article)

God bless you all,

SJ