7 more days of bachelorhood

Here it is: one week remaining until my wedding day. I’m excited. Nervous. Stressed. Joyful. Curious. Ready?

Yeah. I think so.

Amanda is sick at the moment. I’m treating myself as if I am: Emergen-C shots and neti-pot sinus flushes. I just wish I could get the sleep I need. Time is moving faster than I want it to right now and there’s so much left to be done. This moving thing is daunting. The way I see it is whatever isn’t yet packed by Thursday, just grab it and throw it in the truck. If it doesn’t break, then God still wants us to have it! We just need everything out of Amanda’s apartment, whereas we need most everything out of mine, but if I forget anything or need to leave something small or trivial behind, I’m sure my good ol’ roommate would be okay with it and hold onto it until life settles down a bit for us. I have sufficient help from a couple of my groomsmen on Thursday and then my dad and brother (another groomsman) will be joining us around mid-day to finish it up. I think we’ll make it.

What’s left on my list…

Finish the playlists for the ceremony and reception (gotta have the right music and enough of it!)

Finish writing my vows (which I should’ve been doing above writing this…oops!)

Pack everything and then get rid of other things like my bed (anyone want a nice bunk/loft bed?)

Move (like I said…)

Clean Amanda’s apartment

Finish up the gifts for my henchmen (groomsmen) and get something for my friend who’s emceeing the reception

Make a second Costco run the day before the wedding

Print out the programs at the church

Finish my gift for my bride (probably shouldn’t have made it a project, but I did, and I think she’ll like it 🙂

Take care of Amanda and her sinus cold (praying to God it doesn’t turn into an infection and that she’ll kick it in under a week!)

Make sure everyone from out of town who has contacted me or Amanda about housing has a place to stay

Bachelor party (yeah, it’s a “to-do” item, but I’m really excited for this one!)

Rehearsal dinner and make sure everyone is given enough attention and happy with OUR day (sorry, didn’t mean to caps that one, it just kinda happened…)

Last, but not least….

Sleep.

Getting up crazy-early tomorrow. Wish I wasn’t.

G’night.

The 100-Mile Diet

Yeah, I was skeptical too. I saw the book Plenty: Eating Locally On The 100 Mile Diet at Barnes & Noble, snapped a picture of it with my phone, and when I got home I looked it up on the Seattle library database. “Huh. It’s got a different name: Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally. Same authors, same book! This should be good! But what does “raucous” mean?” Either way, here it was: *click*. I put it on hold along with a few other books I found and went on my way. A week later, at the most, I stopped by the Ballard library and picked it up along with another book and a couple of DVDs. I still had some time left on my parking meter sticker, so with nowhere to go anytime soon I sat in my car with the February sun warming my face and cracked open the book.

March

The year of eating locally began with one beautiful meal and one ugly statistic.

First, the meal. What we had on hand, really, was a head of cabbage. Deep inside its brainwork of folds it was probably nourishing enough, but the outer layers were greasy with rot, as though the vegetable were trying to be a metaphor for something. We had company to feed, and a three-week-old cabbage to offer them.

As I’m reading this first chapter, all I can think is that they’re not going to be able to do it. Put me down for ten on Epic 100-Mile Fail! As much as I’d have loved to know then that they succeeded (notice I didn’t say “survived”) and lived happily-ever-after, I just couldn’t believe that it was possible for just anyone. She was a hunter-gatherer who was forced to dig for roots if she was going to survive toddlerhood, right? He could catch a fish with his bare hands in a raging river…am I close? Nope. They were a couple of journalists, boyfriend-girlfriend, and he was just that much more adventurous than she was. That’s why he came up with the idea: “I think we should try eating local food for a year.”

That’s what started it all. I don’t want to ruin the book for you, because as informational as it is, it’s really a story. A true story, yes, but we never want to ruin the ending or the surprises of a true story either. Their experience of eating locally from March to February developed a wave of interest that splashed all across America. Many people are trying to do it now — and succeeding. 

Okay, okay. So I’ve probably given away the ending: They succeeded and liked it. They haven’t really gone back to their way of eating before they started the experiment either. So it’s possible. I’d like to try it. However, it isn’t easy. Most grocery stores don’t carry too many whole foods that are as local as 100 miles. Most Seattle grocery stores consider local as being from Oregon, Washington, or Idaho. It’s pretty good, but that’s still quite the traveling distance! I’d have to go to the farmer, to the fisherman, almost every time, if I was going to find a local product and really know that it was local. I can only imagine how difficult something like that could be, especially here in Seattle.

But maybe someday I’ll be able to talk Amanda into doing a 100-day, 100-mile diet. I’ll make sure we plan a good chunk of it out since she’s the planner, but I refuse to plan it all out, since I’m the adventurer. I think we could do it. Maybe not for a while, but we could do it. We would sure learn a lot about the people around us! I already plan on frequenting Ballard’s Farmer’s Market come spring, so that can be our way of getting our feelers out. I want to be able to think of the people I buy my produce from as I’m preparing it back at home, knowing it was from their farm, sown by their hand, plucked by their hand, reaped by our content bellies. 

I like food and I like this planet we’ve been given to use. For so long I’ve been disconnected with it. I’ve never known where my food comes from. Like, really known. Sure, these organic bananas were grown in Mexico. Never been there. Never seen the person who harvests them. Never really known. Think of how the word “know” was often used in the Hebrew Scriptures: “Abraham knew his wife.” Translation: Abraham had sex with his wife. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to make any trades with any farmers for corn this summer, but I do want there to be some intimacy when it comes to paying for food that is going to nourish my and Amanda’s bodies. I want to shake the hand that feeds me. Get it?

I’m also really excited to try and garden on the apartment balcony. It faces West. You think I could grow a tomato plant and enjoy some flavorful tomatoes on a West balcony? I don’t know either. I remember when I was in my pre-teen years and we had some raised beds in the backyard where we’d grow tomatoes and cucumbers. We would be giving them away we’d have so many! I want to get back to that. I want to sink my hands in the soil and not complain this time. I want to weed and till the soil and create a place where new life is ready to grow. Amanda and I can only do so much with pots on a balcony, but we’ll work our way up. I’m excited to create life with her……but for now, we’re just going to start with flowers and tomatoes. Nothing, yet, that poops.

{Check out the 100-Mile Diet on my Blogroll. It’s a neat website!}

Resolution(s): Update

I can’t believe it’s only been a little more than two months since the Big Oh-Nine showed up. Oh, gosh….and I can’t believe it’s already 1:17…nope…1:18am. I’m tired, but I can’t sleep and I hate taking anything to help me fall asleep because I can never wake up in the morning. I have got to shake this…

But for now I want to look at the resolutions I placed before me at the budding year only 68 days ago that I have worked on since then. I separated them into two different categories: Short-term (ST) and Long-term (LT). I’ve finished one of the STs and I’m making some excellent progress it the LT. Let me tell you about it all…

ST3. Finish the Colonix/Toxinout programs | either Feb 13th or March 18th

I had already been doing a colon cleanse program with the products from DrNatura.com. I won’t go into detail, but through a variety of vegetarian and all-natural capsules and some fiber powder, I attempted to flush out my colon in a safe and healthy way. It wasn’t cheap, but I believe it was worth it. I never thought I’d enjoy bowel movement until I did Colonix. As silly as it sounds, a part of me describes the results of the program as “liberating”. My energy levels shot up, I wanted to eat healthier, I took it seriously, followed the directions, and I’m still feeling great. If you have any questions about it, I’d be more than happy to talk about it.

LT1. Read at least 6 books this year

I haven’t read all six just yet, but I finished one around the beginning of February and I’m about to finish another–probably by tomorrow. The first book I finished is entitled In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. This is the first book I’ve read of his and I love what he has to say. It’s all about food. Real food. Whole food. You know, the stuff that grows out of the ground, and the stuff that lives off the other stuff that grows out of the ground. It’s the stuff that isn’t adulterated by industrialization and manipulated sciences. FOOD. It’s an excellent read and a book I would recommend to anyone who is serious about taking care of the one body they’ll ever have. While my mom was a great cook and always provided a well-balanced diet for me, my brother, and dad, outside of the home I was never very good at eating food. (Remember my description above?) Because of all the soda, candy, fast food, and other processed, food-like products I consumed growing up in my pre-teens and teenage years, I believed it was a matter of life and death to change my eating habits and try to clean out my body of the fake-food buildup. Reading about food and nutrition has taken up my leisurely reading time and I love it.

(Soon to come, my reaction to the second 2009 book: Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally.)

LT2. Do the Daily Reading plan that my Bible App gives me on my iPhone, but read from my actual Bible whenever possible

I was doing great the month January, but once February rolled around: Bible fail. I just clicked out of it. I didn’t want to read anymore and while I felt the guilt now and again, I still didn’t try and pick up where I left off or just skip ahead to the present day’s reading. “It’s not the end of the world….” Yeah, yeah. I know. It’s all the reading above in LT1 that’s holding my interest, but I know I need to keep it up. I already know that I won’t be able to read the whole Bible in one year, now that I’ve given up so many days, but I can still hop back on and do my best. I have noticed a difference in my everyday outlook: reading the Bible everyday, I’m doing great! I’m more upbeat and everything. Not reading the Bible: I’m sluggish and everything opposite. True story.

LT3. Eat/Buy organic whenever possible -and/or- Eat/Buy locally grown food whenever possible

I try! Sometimes I just can’t afford the $5 half-gallon of organic milk, but when it comes to produce, the cost really isn’t that bad. I love the flavor of an organic Fuji apple. Nothing compares. Except maybe an organic, locally grown (within 100 miles kind of “local”) Fuji apple, but I can’t say that I’ve ever bought one. It’s hard to know nowadays at grocery stores. That’s what the book Plenty is all about. This is why I can’t hardly wait for the farmers’ markets to open up! Oh, Summer, won’t you hurry up?!

Well, I think that’s enough for tonight. More updates to come.

How are your New Year’s Resolutions coming along?

Oh, this feels good…

 

11.22.08 - 276.8 lbs. | 03.04.09 - 250.8 lbs.

“…and to another, one talent–each according to his ability.”

Tonight at youth group, Suzanne spoke on how we should do something with the imbalance with the world. How can we help those in need? So often we make the assumption (more often we make the excuse) that we can’t do anything to better another person. We announce to ourselves and anyone around us that we don’t have enough money to help the poor; we don’t have enough food to feed the hungry. We lament that we don’t have the clothing to cover the naked; we don’t have the resources to help the helpless. I’m guilty of it too, but let’s be honest here…

We’re then reminded of Matthew 25 and the Parable of the Talents (or the Bags of Gold). We’ve all been given an abundant gift: one talent was about 15 years worth of wages for a common worker! One man received 5 talents, another 2 talents, and the last received 1 talent. As an exercise, as an experiment, we filled several envelopes of money containing either $5 or $2 or $1. I was the money keeper tonight. I made the decision, “each according to his [or her] ability”, which amount of money they were going to receive. Honestly, it was pretty random, though I planned to take extra care in who would receive the five $5 envelopes, but about half way through as I got scoffs and rolled-eyes as I handed out the $1 and $2 envelopes, I realized something very important: $1 isn’t any less important than $5! 

If you think about it, giving someone $5 and expecting them to multiply this gift to better the life of someone else for the glory of God means that you trust them with more money (versus giving someone $1). However, giving someone $1 shows that you have faith in them that they can take a supposed measly amount of money and multiply it for the better of someone and for the glory of God because, let’s be honest, nowadays it’s a lot harder to stretch one dollar than it is to stretch five! Blessing someone with one dollar is tough, so being given that amount shows a faith that the person can handle such a challenge! I thought this was very important and I hope these kids will come to that conclusion. After discovering this little truth, I took great care in the person receiving whatever the amount was in the envelope because it’s really all about the person receiving the gift, more than it is about the gift that is being given.

God gives different gifts and “talents” because he knows what we are able to handle in life, but He expects that we multiply the gift! No matter what it is, take it, do something with it, bless others with it! Don’t hide it! Don’t be afraid of the gift or the One who gave it to you! Share it with those around you. Better the life of someone and reveal to them the reason for why you show such great and abundant Love with them! I mean, c’mon! Is it that difficult to love?

At the end of the night, I took the one-dollar envelope.

I like a good challenge every now and again 🙂

Happiness Is Temporary; Joy Is Forever

Whenever anyone suggests that I do “whatever makes me happy”, I always take it with a grain of salt. Happiness is great and it’s good to do things that make one’s self happy, but it can be so meaningless and even wrong sometimes. If I always did things that made me happy, I’d end up being a very empty person because happiness is temporary. I would always have to be doing certain things over and over and over again in order to make myself happy–or to make other people happy. We don’t like sad people, so we always try to make them happy. However, I want joy in my life and I want to bring joy into other people’s lives. I know it’s possible to make myself happy by different means, but I don’t think it’s possible to make myself joyful or to bring joy into my own life. Having joy in my life is almost always up to other people. I can help with keeping people in my life that give me joy by being one who gives joy those people!

Happiness is great, but it’s meaningless without Joy.

Let’s put it this way: In my opinion, Happiness is caffeine for Joy. It’s a chemical boost to the existence of Joy, so if Joy doesn’t exist in one’s life, Happiness will just be this chemical upper that will then give you the downer and the need to get that upper again. Got it?

God gives me Joy. True Joy comes from God and as long as I’m doing my best to follow God’s plan for my life, I know Joy.

God gave me Amanda. Amanda brings me Joy. We were both tired and pissy last night talking about wedding stuff and even with our lousy attitudes fire-cracking back and forth between each other, I still know that Joy was there in the midst of our frustrations. Because I wouldn’t have wanted to be there all tired and pissy with anyone else but Amanda! That’s being in the company of Joy.

Last night (before the pissy fire-cracking) we watched the Oscars. Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture along with 7 other Oscars. That made me happy 🙂

In the midst of my tired and growing pissy nature last night, we spent the evening with Garrett and later his wife Rachel (who was visiting the ER with some major questions for most of the evening) and everything that happened that night completely changed from our original plan. Yet with all that changed and with the concerns of Rachel’s health and with how difficult it was to make my planned meal for everyone….I found Joy amongst my fiancée and our friends Garrett and Rachel who love us and still wanted to spend time with us last night even with all the ER complications!

I’m listening to the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack (which one an Oscar) and it makes me happy 🙂

I’m marrying Amanda 67 days. Planning this wedding is exhausting, but I’m marrying Amanda in 67 days! JOY! JOY! JOY!

My roommate just walked in the door and we’re going to watch a movie right now and that makes me happy!

I’m in a “small group” with some friends and acquaintances that is still very young, but it’s great to come together and talk about God and Life and each other and how the hell we live life in accordance to how God wants us to and with people around us who often make living freakin’ difficult! That’s Joy 🙂

I love reading about food and American culture’s relationship with food and nutrition. It makes me happy.

I love learning about God’s creation and how to treat it with respect and savor the plants that come from the earth and how we treat creation that isn’t rooted to the earth, but lives off the creation that is rooted to this earth. Learning to live in that balance and to be at the top of the food chain gives me Joy. I feel a green thumb coming on 🙂

Happiness is good. Joy is necessary.

Find Joy. Accent it with Happiness.

30th Day

Well, today is day 30 of my colon detox program. I just weighed myself in at 261.2 lbs. Yes, that sounds like a lot, and it still is, but do you know where I once was? Let me tell you…

11.22.08 | I found the LIVESTRONG application in the iTunes store and added it to my phone. This was it. This was, for some reason, the last little shove for me to start actively working on my health and my weight. It enabled me to count my daily caloric intake, log whatever exercise I did each day (honestly it hasn’t been much until recently), record my weight everyday and show a little graph of my progress (which, unfortunately, has way too many glitches in their app), and their website provides a lot of great information. It was actually fun to use this! It made me want to live healthier and that’s exactly what it did!

That day, November 22, 2008, I weighed in at 276.8 lbs.

Today, January 9, 2009, I weighed in at 261.2 lbs.

I’ve lost (roughly) 15.6 pounds! I say “roughly” because our body’s weight fluctuates about 3 pounds, so I can’t guarantee that number until a few days from now if my weight continues to drop or remain the same. Either way, I feel great, I have more energy, and….well….I look good.

But this isn’t all about LIVESTRONG or eating healthier or working out. A piece of the credit goes to DrNatura and their product called Colonix. It’s an all natural “formula” that helps promote healthy colon function. I started this 30 days ago on December 11th along with my roommate who surprisingly did it even though he wasn’t willing to entirely follow the rules. Oh, well. It’s his money 😛

The “rules”: In the morning, I tookk 4 Paranil capsules. These are vegetarian pills that contain 18 high-quality herbs that are used to purify the liver and the colon. 15 minutes after taking the Paranil VegiCaps, I mixed up a drink with the Colonix Intestinal Cleansing Fiber. This is an all natural, vegitarian, “fiber supplement that cleanses the colon of accumulated toxic build-up and prevents the formation of new build-up through the use of herbal dietary fiber.” This was the hardest for me to get down because it doesn’t mix too well. I’ve found it bearable to blend with 8 oz. of Rice Milk or Soy Milk and half of a large banana. I upped the 1 scoop to roughly 1.5 scoops, where I then chased it with 12 oz. of water. 

By this time, I’m full and just about ready to go to the bathroom!

At night, I’ve taken 2 capsules of FloraProtect, which is “a high-potency, stable freeze-dried, professionally formulated probiotics supplement… It contains 8 different species of beneficial bacteria with a minimum of 4 billion cells per capsule.” Basically, this these capsules shoot right through my non-digesting stomach and enter my intestines where they then break down and release the probiotics that make my intestinal cells all squeeky-clean after flushing them out during the day. And after the pills, I put the kettle on and make a cup of KleriTea, which I really enjoy, but my roommate gags almost every time he takes a drink of it. This tea is “a combination of 12 specially selected herbs that assists the body in the detoxification process while helping to restore normal bowel function and regularity”. I’ve come to steep the tea for 10 minutes, which is the max time to steep it. If you know tea, the longer you steep the tea bag (leave the tea bag in the hot water), the stronger or more potent the cup of tea will be. This is the case for KleriTea, but not just for the taste–it causes the tea to have a stronger effect on the body.

And for each day, I’m supposed to drink 64 oz. of water a day. Total. However, on some days I’m just really thirsty and emailed their customer service (which is so good! they respond within 24 hours!) and they said I could drink up to 80 oz. a day, but more than that would dilute the fiber and capsules too much. On top of drinking the water, we’re supposed to eat foods as often as we can that do not have any preservatives in them (primarily as little sugar and salt as possible). DrNatura.com states that over time, if we stay away from foods loaded with preservatives, then we’ll begin lose our desire for them. This isn’t just because we’re abstaining from them, but it’s because of what the Colonix program is doing: Our intestines are more than likely filled with not only crap, but this stuff called plaque. It’s definitely crap, but it doesn’t come out of us as easily. This plaque actually absorbs a lot of the food and nutrients that we eat rather than our body absorbing them. Preservative-filled foods don’t have a lot of nutrients in them already, so when we eat a lot of it, our body ends up getting loaded with more plaque, which then makes us want more food because our body isn’t absorbing the entirety of the food–it’s just storing it in the nooks and crannies of our intestines.

That’s a lot of info….does it make sense?

Whether or not all that info above makes sense to you, this will: this stuff works. My love handles are almost gone, my stomach is flatter (but not that flat), I don’t have much of a desire for sweets, but my mouth still waters for Arby’s. I’ve had it once over the last 30 days it was just one chicken club sandwich with a few fries off of Amanda’s plate. 🙂 I’ve had only about 5 or 6 beers over the last 30 days (another thing people need to avoid while doing the program) and I’ve had, I think, 1 Thomas Kemper Ginger Ale, which really is the most soda I drink on even a quarterly basis.

After today, I have a 5-day resting period. I think I may make it only 4 days for me since the last day of the second 30-day phase I’m going on a winter camp with the youth group I work for. The second phase will be a little different as I introduce the Toxinout program along with the Colonix program. Even though these “programs” aren’t cheap, I really believe it’s worth it. I haven’t experienced the drastic results as this testimony will show you, but that has everything to do with the individual’s current state of health and their past lifestyle (ex: Did you eat fast food once a day for at least 5 days a week? Did you drink astronomical amounts of alcohol during your college days? You’d have more extreme results than I have.)

So take a look at Colonix if you dare. I think it’s worth it, but it’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself. Don’t be afraid of poop. Everybody poops. We should poop more than we actually do, but we’re afraid to because it’s yucky. Or if you don’t want to even bother looking into it, all I ask is that you rejoice with me in my new-found health and passion in life…..because it really has everything to do with life.

Oh! Nine

I’ve always had a running joke where I say something to the effect of, “I don’t set my sights too high, so I rarely fail.” I say it so seriously just waiting for people’s responses and I think with the frequency of my saying it and the seriousness in my voice, people have believed my sarcasm–including myself! I’ve also brought up that joke in the past regarding New Year’s resolutions….

But no more!

This is a big new year for me and I’m gonna do this right! The resolutions aren’t necessarily just things that I’m going to force myself to do in order to induce change in my life. These are things that I really want to see happen and I’m excited to do it. I have a lot on my list and some of them are necessary to do, while others could go either way, so if I don’t succeed in every single one, I won’t hate myself or see myself as a failure because I know that I’ll succeed in the others. I’m not a perfectionist, but I will do the best that I can. So here is the long and short of it for Twenty Oh! Nine…

SHORT-TERM LIST

ST1. Plan a personal, unique, and meaningful wedding with my best friend that everyone will remember | now thru May 1

ST2. Get married | May 2

ST3. Finish the Colonix/Toxinout programs | either Feb 13th or March 18th

 

LONG-TERM LIST

LT1. Read at least 6 books this year

LT2. Do the Daily Reading plan that my Bible App gives me on my iPhone, but read from my actual Bible whenever possible

LT3. Eat/Buy organic whenever possible -and/or- Eat/Buy locally grown food whenever possible

LT4. Exercise at least 3 days a week

LT5. Try and take a walk with Amanda everyday–especially once we’re married and when the weather is agreeable (which might not happen for a little while)

LT6. Finish school (working on it as long as I can 4-5 days a week)

LT7. Go camping or backpacking more

LT8. Eat out less; cook more

LT9. Finish AFI’s 100 Best Films list with Amanda (this year it’s gonna happen! no more slow-pokin’!)

 

Gosh, I’m sure there’s more than that, but it is a start. Give it a couple of days and there might be more on here.

Have a great 2009 with all the ups and downs it will bring!

The Curious Face of Bearded Brandon

Okay, so that title was just for kicks and giggles, but the point of this post is because I saw a beautiful movie last night: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The experience is still settling in me, but after less than 24 hours from leaving my theater seat, I can easily say this is one of my favorite movies. The warmth of the picture and the soundtrack, the engaging performances by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, the depth and weight of the entire moral behind the story, and the demand the film gives to the audience to wrestle with the conjoined and avoided topics of Life & Death: this is a must-see classic.

Let’s take a quick look back to another one of my favorite films starring Brad Pitt: Fight Club. That film looks at life and death in a completely different–yet important–way from Benjamin Button and challenges the viewer to look at what their life is like and evaluate the way that they live it and evaluate the society that tells them how to live it. Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) creates this legion of henchmen who forsake all of their past in order to follow him and live a life of meaning and purpose (mainly wreaking havoc, which in turn makes CCoBB more applicable to how we should view life and death) and see death as the inevitable final hoorah!

As for Benjamin Button, this film reminded me that life will never go as planned and that’s the way it should be. We can plan and prepare and have everything in a neat order and then life turns backwards and we almost always have no choice but to keep going the way the path turns out.

And that’s okay.

It reminded me that not everything in life will last forever. People change, things come and go, we fail and succeed, life throws curve balls and sometimes life throws a ton of bricks.

And that’s okay.

It reminded me that with keeping the first too reminders above close at heart, we must always enjoy and savor every sunrise, every relationship, every experience, every everything. Typically life flies by us and we forget to STOP or even SLOW DOWN. Perhaps we don’t forget, but choose to not stop or slow down. We’re always wanting to get to the next thing, the next day; the progression never stops. Realistically, progression won’t stop. The hours won’t slow down, stop, or even go backwards, but we can make the choice to slow our own selves down and truly appreciate the ones we love and loving them so much every day as if it’s the last day you’ll ever be able to love again.

Then the whole issue of death comes up. We have Life: “Yes, I can slow down and enjoy a sunrise or two. I can love people today better than I did yesterday.” But once the issue of death comes up, most people tend to get really uncomfortable. Have you seen a dead body? Outside of an open casket? I have. That helps a lot, I think, but most people avoid the issue of death and even more so a dead body! We can’t be afraid of something that is inevitable. This is why we must live our life the best we can to the absolute fullest, so that once death creeps up on us (whether we know it or not), we’ll be okay with that reality. Sure, I don’t know what’s going to happen afterward exactly. I know where I’m going, but I haven’t been there before, and that’s what makes me a little uneasy, but mostly…..well….curious 🙂

We’ll never cheat death and we’ll never get any younger.

So enjoy what God has blessed you with.

It could be gone any day.

Really live life …because you are going to die!

____

From Fight Club: 

Tyler Durden: (after holding a gun to a young man’s head threatening to shoot him and after letting him go) Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel’s life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted.

From The Curious Case of Benjamin Button:

(loosely paraphrased quote) Everybody dies. That’s the only way we can truly appreciate someone.

Christmas come & gone

It’s the third day after Christmas here in Seattle and the snow and ice is finally almost melted away. I really like the snow and I really enjoyed the stormy week we had before the 25th, but with every Pro there is at least one Con: people in Washington cannot drive in the snow–as a general rule. They’re as bad as southern California drivers in the rain (so I’m told). Another Con: snow melts…(ta da!)…and when it does–especially in large quantities–it turns to a terrible consistency of half slush and half ice. This is when the driving gets even worse….even for me and my Subaru, I’m ashamed to say.

However, the snow is almost gone and nearly every driver is back to normal again. Now it’s the Christmas spirit that people are still working their way out of. Many people are going to be less friendly, while other people are going to be more friendly….or just less mean. The shopping malls and grocery stores are going to return to their normal daily customer count that most of the 11 months resemble. The Christmas music is going back in storage to gather dust until next year. This is something that I’m weaning myself off of. I feel I’m doing pretty good, but I’ll be sad to move my Christmas records to the back of the modest pile I have collected with my fiancée over the last year or so. (But I’m already excited for next year: we’ll be married and we can enjoy the classic Christmas tunes through the dust and the scratches on each vinyl together!) And I’ll move my iPod selection off of Sufjan Steven’s Songs For Christmas and return to the usual Needtobreathe or the new Kings of Leon.

There were big changes for the actual day of Christmas: my dad and my brother came up on the train Christmas day and stayed at my tiny apartment for a couple of nights. We didn’t have a traditional Christmas meal in any way, shape, or form. Due to the weather, my fiancée and I couldn’t travel down to Portland for my family’s Christmas get-together we have the weekend before or after Christmas. Amanda (my fiancée) had to work Christmas day, which put a spin on any traditional holiday plans. And we weren’t able to go to our church’s Christmas Eve service because we were busy getting everything ready for my dad and my brother to come up to visit. I was doing loads of laundry and cleaning up my apartment. Amanda was wrapping last-minute gifts we bought that day and cleaning up her apartment since that’s where we were going to be doing the gift exchanging. (I can’t wait until I’m married.) And to top it all off, I strayed from from my healthy eating habits. Sure, it’s Christmas and I was planning on making some tiny breaks in the rules, but, geez, I was bad!

Despite all the differences and changes and as much as Amanda and I wish we could have had our past family traditions and tendencies this year, we survived. We enjoyed our time being together and with what family we were with. We watched some Christmas movies (but not enough :-)) and enjoyed the snow while it was here. Most of all, we learned a lot about one another during this Christmas season and grew closer to each other because of it. Oftentimes we were tired and cranky, but we survived, and now we’re looking forward to a New Year, a couple new resolutions to boot, a wedding to plan, and a marriage to excitedly prepare for.

2008’s December days traveled too fast for me. Many days were lost in the cold and snow. Many days were lost being alone. But many days were slow enough to actually enjoy them and savor all that came from them. The majority of the days were snowless and, honestly, not as pristine and unadulterated as the snowy ones. Then, many days, but not enough, were spent with the love of my life. And while I enjoy my bachelorhood to some degree, I’m excited for the spring to break through the cold ground and present to me a new life together with Amanda and to eventually enjoy another Christmas where neither one of us will have to spend an hour of it apart from each other. (Let it be so!)

Christmas has come and gone and a new year is on the horizon. 

(*copious amounts of laughter*) This is so exciting!