20 Years of Marriage

Today my bride and I celebrate 20 years of marriage. 20 years!

I'll never forget the first time I saw her in college... asking her out on our first date... the first hand-hold... the first lip lock.

I'll never forget her walking down the aisle or our honeymoon in Tahoe.

And I'll never forget her giving birth to our two blonde boys.

Some people ask how we've done it. I usually respond - jokingly - with, "Well, divorce has never been an option for us. Murder? Yes. But not divorce."

But in all honesty, it comes down to commitment. We just plain refuse to quit. If you've been married for any length of time, you know that at some point, you just have to work at it. You work through the times when you're not feeling it. You work through the times when everything isn't bliss. You do it because you made a commitment and because you love the other person.

So today, I once again renew my love for the one who has never left my side - in good times or in bad. Thank you, my love, for giving my life an incredible depth of meaning. Thank you for giving me two incredible boys and for being an incredible mom.

I love you with all my heart.

This post is a part of Watercooler Wednesday hosted by Randy of Ethos.


tags: anniversary | Watercooler Wednesday

The Leadership Toolbox 3

So here's week #3 of the bumper that Randy and I did for the sermon series at our church.



Check out week 1 and 2 HERE and HERE (and the outtakes HERE).

RSS: Embedded video


tags: message bumper | New Covenant Community Church | NewCov | Fresno | funny video

He's a Smooth Criminal

Gotta love those moves!

RSS: Embeded video

Get 91% Off Microsoft Office Ultimate!

A Microsoft student promotion that slashes 91% off a copy of Office Ultimate applies to anyone with a .edu email address. Microsoft Office Ultimate, which retails for $680, is available to students for only $60 until May 16th. But if you can snag a .edu address, you too can cash in on the deal—all you have to do is get yourself an alumni email address at your alma mater. The promotion's web site says you have to prove you're enrolled in coursework, but the New York Times reports that a senior VP at Microsoft confirmed all you need is an .edu email address.

This post is a part of Creative Chaos, hosted by Los at Ragamuffin Soul.

UPDATE: Microsoft says you have to carry at least a half-credit course load to get the deal. Microsoft’s site says you have to pay the full price if they find out you are not. You can get the full details from Microsoft's site HERE.

HT: The Ultimate Steal via NYT via LifeHacker


tags: Microsoft Office | 91% off | Creative Chaos

A Foodie's Delight...

In a previous church I worked at, there was a dear old lady who had the coolest "Christian cuss phrase" I ever heard. You know what I mean. It's the way Christians throw down without saying anything bad.

Her exclamation of awe and wonder was: JesusMotherMaryJoseph! All one word. Said real fast.

And that is just what I said when I found the recipes on this website. JesusMotherMaryJoseph!

Go to Confessions of a Pioneer Woman right now.

No, I mean it... RIGHT NOW. Read some of the recipes. Then go to your local grocery store, buy the stuff, and make the tasty goodness.

Don't just sit here reading my blog. Get outta here right now and make some of Pioneer Woman's recipes.

Call me when they're ready.

This post is a part of Watercooler Wednesday hosted by Randy of Ethos.

P.S. The Pioneer Woman also has a blog.

Really Amazing Video Resource...

I just found this amazing video resource. On it, you can watch FREE (and they are really good).

So check out VideoCopilot.net. And also check out their great video tools that you can purchase. They are also very good.

This post is a part of Watercooler Wednesday hosted by Randy of Ethos.


tags: video how-to | Adobe After Effects | Watercooler Wednesday

Quote of the Day...

Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

Colin Powell

HT: BiggieFries

tags: quote of the day | Colin Powell

Quote of the Day...

I was reading Heather's blog this morning about her daughter and J.T. and left a comment about how I am SO GLAD that I have boys.

My sentiments were summed up perfectly over on Stuff Christians Like:

"When you have a boy, you have to worry about one boy on the planet. When you have a girl, you have to worry about every boy on the planet."

Why You Should Blog...

Blogging Statistics:

• 12 million adults maintain a blog.
• 57 millions Americans read blogs.
• 89% of surveyed big dawgs think blogs will be very important in businesses... more so than websites.
• 120,000 blogs are created every day.
• 22 out of 100 of the top websites in the world are blogs.
• 51% of bloggers purchase things online.
• The average person spends 23 hours a week online.

So why are you not blogging yet?

HT: Pied Piper... Piping?


tags: blogging | Web 2.0

Mothers Day Tips for Mothers and Others...

1. If you're choking on an ice cube, simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat. Presto! The blockage will instantly remove itself.
2. Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold the vegetables while you chop.
3. For men: Avoid arguments with the females about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink.
4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure on your veins. Remember to use a timer.
5. A mouse trap placed on top of your alarm clock will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.
6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives. Then you'll be afraid to cough.
7. You only need two tools in life: WD40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.
8. Remember… everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
9. If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.
10. If you want to save money on haircuts, use Nair. It is about half the cost of a cut, and it will last for several months.

HT: Kem Meyer on Less Clutter & Noise


tags: Mother's Day | tips

Are you ready for Mother's Day?

tags: video | Mother's Day

Ways to Succeed...

From Tom Peter's blog post, 100 Ways to Succeed, #117...

Job One: Cherish and Excite the People Who Have the Opportunity to Cherish and Excite the Customer and Induce Her-Him to Recommend Us to Others Which Is the Premier Path to Growth and Profitability. Forever and Ever, Amen.

Axiom: Only excited people can excite customers over the long haul—i.e., again & again.

Corollary: To cause our colleagues to be excited we must put—and keep—the maintenance of their well-being and their opportunity structure at the top of our agenda.

HT: tompeters!


tags: leadership | success | Tom Peters

Gotta Love a Moustache...

That's funny, my friends!

HT: Joshua Blankenship

RSS readers: post contains embedded video


tags: moustache | Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival | funny video

Outtakes!

On Saturday, I posted the message bumper that we used last Sunday at NewCov.

Here are the outtakes. You can tell by my laugh (or is that a cackle) that I thoroughly enjoy shooting Randy repeatedly. My favorite line from Randy, "Why do you have to shoot me?"



This post is a part of Creative Chaos, hosted by Los at Ragamuffin Soul.


tags: video | New Covenant Community Church | Creative Chaos

Quote of the Day

"A hundred years from now, church historians are going to be studying how folks like Randy, MarkDRoberts, Joe Carter, John Mark Reynolds, Al Mohler and others transformed the practice of evangelization by embracing, improving, and popularizing blogging and new media. Carlos and his generation, which includes folks like Alex Chediak, a young faculty member and blogger at CBU, are simply following their lead and extending the reach of the Gospel via the new medium. "

Hugh Hewitt
(My blogfather)

HT: Ethos (my blogbrother)

Lifework 2.0 Seminar

Thanks, JVo for broadcasting (with permission) Randy's Lifework 2.0 conference on your Mogulus account!

Four Words

Seth Godin had this to say in a recent post:

Make big promises; overdeliver.

If you can define great marketing in fewer words than that, you win.

"Big promises": treating people with respect, improving self-esteem, delivering results, contacting as often as you say you will but not more, including side effects in your planning, delivering joy, meeting spec, being on time, connecting people to one another, delivering consistency, offering value and on and on. Caring. The stories involved in your promises matter. That's often what people are buying.

This is the first place that the equation breaks down. Marketers often make big promises that appear to be unrealistic or are delivered in ways that don't match the worldview of the prospect. Marketers get carried away with themselves and focused on their greatness and forget to tell a story that people enjoy believing.

And sometimes, they make promises that are too small to get our attention. Boring promises are hardly worth making.

"Overdeliver" means doing more than you said you would, which is the secret to word of mouth.

Here, of course, the pitfall is obvious. You made too big a promise and you did your best, but no, you didn't overdeliver, not really. You didn't amaze and delight and yes, stun me with the incredible results of your offering.

Wow! You said a mouthful, Seth.

HT: Seth's Blog

Musical Kitchen

Very nice.



HT: The Ballad of Mr. Fun


tags: video | music | kitchen

Xobni is here!

You may have remembered me posting about Xobni a while back. It is finally out of beta and available for download HERE.

I am installing it as I type and will let you know what I think.


tags: Xobni | e-mail organization | social networking

Pat and Randy Video Fun

This is Randy and my 2nd message bumper for our church's latest sermon series, The Leadership Toolbox. We decided to go old-school with the audio. It didn't turn out so great, but it was too late in the week (and I was feeling to lousy) to worry about re-doing it.

Have fun!

Unbelievable Christmas Opener

Click HERE to have your world rocked.

Or visit the blog for the technical details.

All I could say when I watched it was, "OH MY DEAR LORD! We have GOT to do that this Christmas!!!"

HT: Worship


tags: Christmas | video | God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen | Trans-Siberian Orchestra | amazing

All I Can Say is, "Mommy, make it stop!"

Being the singer on Rock Band at home does NOT make you a singer elsewhere.



A word to the wise.

HT: The Ballad of Mr. Fun


tags: video | terrible singing | off key | pitchy | bad | terrible | needs singing lessons | Final Countdown

$199 3G iPhone?

If rumors are to believed, then just maybe Apple is set to rule the world using the same tactics that Microsoft used to.

When I worked for Microsoft, it was not uncommon for us to enter a market, under-price everyone, take the hit because we had deep pockets, then own that market segment. A great example of this was Microsoft Access. When every other database company at that time was selling their DB for $300-$500+, Microsoft sold Access for $99. Genius.

Now there is a rumor that Apple might be doing the same thing:

Everyone seems to think that Apple will be announcing a 3G iPhone this coming June, so now it is time to start rumormongering about something else. Fortune is reporting that, according to sources close to the story, AT&T is planning on taking a $200 hit on every iPhone sold (with a 2 year contract, of course). That's right, AT&T is going to knock off $200 on the 3G iPhone to ensure that everyone and their toddlers have (and use all the wonderful features that AT&T's network has to offer) an iPhone or two in their pocket.

Read the entire article from The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW.com) HERE.

This post is a part of Creative Chaos hosted by Ragamuffin Soul.


tags: Apple | iPhone | rule the world | Creative Chaos