thanksgiving

well it is the week of thanksgiving...a most wonderful time of the year. i love it. there's the three great f's....family,food,and football. the weather begins to turn a bit cooler. the christmas season that i love begins to kickoff...it's really no wonder that it's timmy duncan's favorite holiday. so i was reading my favorite talk this morning...elder dallin h. oaks' the challenge to become. he speaks of how most of our real growth comes from the times of hardship and challenge.i certainly witness of this principle and know that it's how we respond to adversity that matters. yet we have the promise that no matter how dark friday may get...sunday will always come. i love that. so it got me thinking about how i'm grateful for the challenges i've faced in my life,for they've helped me to become the man that i am...and they've helped me realize who the man is that i hope to be someday. so i'm thinking about being grateful...and i decided that seeing as how i'm fixin to celebrate my 27th thanksgiving, i'd list 27 things i'm grateful for. here they are:

• my Savior Jesus Christ
• the Book of Mormon
• living Prophets and Apostles
• the Spirit
• the Temple
• a mighty change of heart
• my family
• my heritage
• my country (United States of America)
• my home (the great state of Texas)
• my mission
• tim duncan,manu ginobili,tony parker,david robinson,gregg popovich,michael jordan,steve young,mack brown,vince young,colt mccoy
  
• 4 glorious 'ships from the fellas ('99,'03,'05,'07)
  
• university of Texas football
• friends (real ones and the tv show)
• good books
• tex-mex,steak,and other delightful foods
• funny movies
• country music (and all other types of good music)
  
• my shoes
• a good run on a crisp,cold winter morn
• the hot shower that follows that run
• Christmas time
• the feeling of competition
• cowgirl boots (seriously...very nice)
• those who've sacrificed so much for my country and my religion
• love,hope,joy,peace

comment if you actually read this far...longest post ever? good times y'all.

TGIF

so TGIF hasn't meant this much to me since i was a young fella lookin forward to homemade pizza, some pop, and full house/family matters on the telly. but i tell y'all what i am thrilled that it's friday. happy weekend to all. may it bring us spurs victories, a texas tech loss, and good times.

solid

well i finally got a job...today is day one for me at washington mutual. hopefully it won't be too painful. can i just say that it's been a good run being a waste of space since coming home from the mish back in january...you might say that this is back to the real world for me. but i reckon it is good to have a little responsbility in life.(and some $) but i suppose even a working man has good times,so it's all good. how bout this last weekend though? now that was some good times. kicked off w/ the food olympics,which were solid.(even though i under-performed)...then the fellas got a gritty win against the rockets.solid. i awoke saturday morning to a rousing game of football.(once again,i under-performed) then i enjoyed watching my texas longhorns demolish the kansas jayhawks.solid. i enjoyed a quality meal w/ family at alamo cafe on saturday night,always good times chillin w/ the fam. sunday was solid,more chillin w/ the fam...plus throw in a niners victory and you'd think i'm set. but then the fellas up and beat the kings for our first winning streak of the season! maybe i'm beginning to catch my break eh? this weekend was good times. solid.

America...the land of the free,because of the brave

well since i was a little dude i've always had a fondness for all things military. i do consider myself pretty patriotic and today, on veteran's day, i wish to honor the many brave men and women who have sacrificed much to serve our country. from the sacrifices made by our forefathers to achieve independence, to those today who are serving in iraq and afghanistan, i honor the patriots who have defended and are defending the freedoms we enjoy. i recently finished watching "band of brothers" which shows some of the challenges of E Company (Easy Company), 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment,101st Airborne Division during the europe campaign of world war 2...they went through quite a bit. i think a chosen generation really did carry our country through that tough time. i am humbled when i think about the many who have given all for the cause of this great nation that i love. i am proud to be an American. may God bless Her always.

tony le magnifique!!!!!

so i know the month of november has seen me rapidly posting new posts everyday...it's a little bit out of control. but i think tony parker's performance last night deserves a new post. and may i just take a moment to highlight the last sentence of yesterday's post..."i'm looking for a big night from tony parker." well i think the double-nickel he dropped on them fools pretty much classifies as "a big night"...a career high for tp. that's right...he scored 55 pts on them...including a bonito buzzer beating bunny that had me begging to scream but settling for rapidly pumping my fists as i dvr'd it and was watching at about 1230 in the morning...(i was busy knocking down my own game winner in some pickup run at the local stake center) i also would like to point out that tp9 dished out 10 assists and snatched down 7 boards...the last man to go for 55 pts and 10 dimes??? a fella by the name of michael jordan. tony and i's childhood idol. (tp is just a month older than me) just four players now have ever had a 50 pt 10 ast effort...tony parker, michael jordan, lebron james, and oscar robertson...for those of y'all who aren't as involved in sports as me...that's elite company. i would like to take this opportunity to personally thank tp for really giving me a nice lift. and let us not forget timmy d's ho-hum 30 pts and 16 rebs...or the extremely solid effort of new spur roger mason jr who had 26. good times!

on a different note...

well i thought i'd get a new video up as soon as possible since i'm done thinking about the whole proposition 8 thing. i forgot i had this sweet (i meant that as in "cool" but can see where some might think i was referring to something like "precious" here)video of essie and summer singing, i thought of it as i was walking into the temple this morning. this second video post on my blog is infinitely better than the first one. i must say that i have some awesome neices and nephews, and these little gals will always hold a special place in my heart because of a memorable trip to mcdonald's. i am still anxiously awaiting the spurs first win of the season...they'll get another chance to put a mark in the win column tonight against minnesota...i think tonight's the night. i'm looking for a big night from tony parker. good times y'all.

not my typical kind of post

well i hate to get political, but it somehow happened...someone sent me this video and said it was airing in california...don't know if that's true,but someone did take the time to make it.it was a bit appalling to watch...yet so ridiculous that i found it to be comical. what's not funny is the mockery they're making of mormon missionaries. for two years i walked and biked who knows how many miles...sweated in the summer heat...sloshed through the winter snow and ice and left everything that is familiar to me behind. i was yelled at and made fun of, even threatened at times. i interrupted my schooling and even missed a spurs championship...i left my family for two years and missed my little sister's wedding...and i did it all out of love...for my Heavenly Father and for His Son Jesus Christ...and for my fellow man. i consider those years and experiences to be sacred and was a bit disgusted to see this radically inaccurate depiction of what representatives of Jesus Christ really do. on a lighter note...i definitely made that white shirt and tie look a lot better than the two hosers in that video, and the spurs are gunning for their first victory tonight against the mavs and fabricio oberto should be returning to the lineup. go spurs go.

okay...un-happy november

so i am what you call a "we fan." it means we go above and beyond that of "fan." "we fans" have an emotional investment that just seems to make games mean even more. tonight i am heartbroken and i have no breezy's shoulder to weep on...i'm mad and i have no where to go to vent...so i must come here to the blog. i'm not blaming the game's outcome on the refs here,just a funny pic from the party last night. i am indeed devastated. the passion i have for sports makes the highs really high, and the lows really low. but that's what i love about competition and about sports. the feeling i get inside when my team is in a tight game coming down to the wire can't be replicated...my heart beats,my stomach churns, my feet constantly move, my legs tremble,my knuckles pop, and i absolutely love it. as weird as that may sound to y'all. i guess you have to experience pain to know joy."...having no joy, for they knew no misery;" (2 Nephi 2:23). i guess misery would kinda describe my state of being right now. i won't sleep tonight. i'll stare at the ceiling and think about how blake gideon (poor kid's a true freshman) let a game ending interception slip right through his hands with under ten seconds left. really my mind has constantly replayed that scene over and over in the last hour. i'm pretty much devastated. where can i turn for peace? we battled back and responded to so much adversity in that game...it felt like it was destiny to win when we took our first lead of the ballgame w/ 1:29 left...it wasn't so. this moment is pretty much the opposite of good times...but hey, "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." HOOK 'EM HORNS!!!!!

happy november!!!

well i'd like to begin the month by saying hook 'em horns. today is a huge game in lubbock against texas tech...a victory today would just light up my life. so here's the pics from last night...i was a texas football coach for halloween. i look at myself in the coach's getup and it looks very fitting. back in high school it was my dream to become a coach...maybe i dropped the ball somewhere? i must say that sports are my passion. the fellas lost a tough one when michael finley missed a bunny at the buzzer...we lost by one. fin-dawg is good for that shot 8 times out of 10...still...it kinda sucks to start off the year 0-2. we'll get this deal goin though. oh yea angie and i ran a 5k this morning...it was to raise money for a thanksgiving dinner for people...it was pretty cool...i ran it in a little over 23 mins...oh another interesting tidbit form my life...i voted on the last day of early voting yesterday...had to wait about 45 mins...but as i was nearing the front of the line i recognized a dude walk by and i realized it was my 3rd grade teacher mr. brown...he was always my favorite teacher and obviously touched me in some way if i still recognize him...didn't get to say anything to him though. on a sad note, carrie underwood appears to have found a new boyfriend,and it's not me...just like harry and lloyd say..."we'll get our break someday." well,good times y'all.