It's On!

Ok, now I've done it. I got this wild idea to run a half marathon. My friend has introduced me to running...and I'm sort of hooked on it. A half marathon is 13.1 miles I believe which means I should be running for 1 1/2 to 2 hours to complete it. The longest I've ever run is 6.2 miles (3 times) and that has been in the last couple months.

A recent goal of our church has been to increase our faith and increase our love. I'm going to add a goal of increasing my endurance. I believe this will be another opportunity to see God at work and reveal himself to me. I will post more on it later.

The race is May 27 in Sun Valley. One cool thing about registering early, as I did, is that you can customize your racing bib. Mine will say "n2Jesus"

For those of you that don't know, my dba for video productions is "n2Jesus Productions" which now you should recognize my blog i.d. of N2J.

If you want to join me check out the website:

http://www.ushalf.com/sv.htm

Do you see what I see?

How's your faith? I thought I would briefly (yeah right) share some of the ob-stacles I have been facing in my personal journey lately. My uncle encouraged me to keep a journal and write about God's faithfulness so that I can turn to it when I forget. Do you ever forget that God is faithful...or is it just me?

My wife bought me a journal for Christmas, I finally made my first entry...there are now 3. My goal is to make entries of things I learn as well as a record of God's faithfulness. I don't have any desire to simply keep a diary of my day...I'm not that interesting...but God is.

I've been facing a number of challenges...it appears God has determined it is time to work on me a bit. I think it may have something to do with the fact that at the beginning of our building campaign at church, I raised my hand (when every head was bowed and eye closed) that I wanted to increase my faith and increase my love...and I meant it in the depth of my heart. All I can say is be prepared if you earnestly want God to do something in your life...because he will assume you are serious.

This post may get long so decide now if you want to continue.

Anyway, does your reality match your theology? Great question. I told a friend of mine a couple weeks ago that "I say my God can do anything, but my fear and my actions tell me that I don't truly believe it." To recognize that in myself devastated me. I mean to find out whether or not you TRULY believe that God can do what he says he can do. Be honest, do you TRULY believe? God used my friend at that point to provide me some of the most encouraging and inspiring words I have ever heard. It was like a coach's Super Bowl pep talk...awesome! I almost ran out of the place slapping the top of the door as I left, "Play Like a Champion Today!" (For those non-sports fans in the building, that sign is at the end of the stairs as you exit the Notre Dame football locker room) I had been foolish to fear that something could stand between me and God's plan. My eyes were opened to the strength of the Almighty God.

Faith that remains unchallenged ordinarily remains unchanged.

"Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6

I dare you to read that over and over until you understand what it says. If you do, it may change you.

So now onto my story. Sometime during the following week at one point this happened as I wrote in my journal...

"I prayed about a week ago for God to send a "legion of angels" on my behalf to fight off evil and prepare the way for me so that I may proceed as I believe God is leading me and to protect me and my family. This request I had forgotten until this morning. I don't know what a legion is...and I don't know with any assurance whether I have seen an angel, but this was the most powerful image I could comprehend...so I asked for it.

In retrospect, I guess my thought was I know there are angels and I have a need down here so if you have any "looking for work" send them on down..."

I woke up on "judgement day"...

"As I said, I forgot I prayed for this until this morning...

When I went into the kitchen, I looked out the window...it snowed? It's been in the 50's for a couple weeks and it's snowing now and everywhere I look is white?

It was at that moment a "legion of angels" came to my mind. I believe I was enlightened to its meaning. My son, I heard you. Your legion has been gathering over the last few weeks and they left this behind so that you may see there isn't a portion of this city that has been left unprepared. We have covered it in white like angels so that you may have faith in what you believe God has planned for you. Take peace in the knowledge that all you need to do is walk down the path before you.

It was just snow, right? Probably for everyone else today. For me, my eyes were opened to what God was showing me...a miracle."

It was the truth...everything had been prepared. Don't discount God's miracles. You simply need to recognize that God is showing you something you can't believe.

When I talk to a friend on the phone that has been in my prayers for years that he may come to know God and he tells me that he is going to a weekly men's Bible study at 6:30 am...that's a miracle. Don't tell me miracles don't happen anymore...I don't believe it and quite frankly...I believe it offends God.

That picture in the clouds, by the way, is an angel...surprised you didn't know that.

Try it for a week

OK, let’s cut to the chase. Here’s a menu that will lose weight. Don’t forget to drink at least 6 glasses of water a day (that’s 48 oz. Minimum). I list the food then in brackets (calories-fat grams, carb grams, protein grams). For a later discussion, you need a proper balance of fat, carbs, and protein…don’t start an eating program where they try to eliminate or skew one of these categories…balance is important. The orange items are my staple foods…pretty much every day. Based on the calories per meal, this menu ranges from 1450 to 1850 calories. Remember women burn about 1700 to 1900 calories and men about 2000 to 2200. So, without adding exercise, this gives you a daily deficit of about 300 to 400 calories a day. Add 20 to 30 minutes of exercise and that will burn about another 200 to 250 calories. A deficit of 700 calories a day for 5 days = 1 pound. I find that I have the best energy if I eat about ½ hour before and ½ hour after I exercise. I exercise at night so I eat some of my dinner calories before I work out and the rest after.

Breakfast (250 to 300 calories):
1 C Special K regualr (110-0,22,7)
4 oz. nonfat milk (40-0,6,4)
1 t. sugar (16-0,4,0)
4 oz. Fruit juice (56-0,14,0)
½ banana (45-0,11,0)
1 multi-vitamin

Morning Snack (150 to 200 calories):
8 oz. Fred Meyer Lite Yogurt (100-0,16,9)
½ Graham cracker Honey Maid low fat (30-0.5,6,0.5)
½ banana (45-0,11,0)

Lunch (400 to 500 calories):
4 slices Healthy Choice lunch meat, I like Honey Ham (60-1.5,2,9)
5 crackers Keebler Club Reduced Fat (70-2.5,12,1)
1 string cheese, I like precious (80-6,1,7)
1 apple, I like fuji (90-0,23,0)
1 serving (15 chips) fat-free ruffles cheddar cheese (75-0,16,3)
8 oz. Nonfat milk (80-0,12,8)

Afternoon Snack (150 to 200 calories):
choose from
1 high protein energy bar, Snicker Marathon Low Carb (170-6,19,16)
8 oz. Diet beverage, I liked diet coke with lime or Sobe No Fear diet (0-0,0,0)
1 apple/banana/orange (90-0,23,0)
1 oz turkey jerky, Oberto from Costco (80-1,5,13)

Dinner (400 to 500 calories):
6 oz. chicken breast or other lean meat (180-3,0,39)
1 or more vegetable of choice (only about 10 calories per ounce)
1 string cheese (80-6,1,7)
8 oz. nonfat milk (80-0,12,8)
room for another 100 calories or so of whatever you feel like adding

Evening Snack (100 to 150 calories):
choose from
¼ oz. square extra dark chocolate (45-3,4,0.5)
Popsicle, Fred Meyer melon pops, banana, or assorted (30-0,7,0)
½ serving of cold cereal (84-0,16,5)
1 Apple and 1 T. peanut butter (90-0,23,0) and (96-8,3,3)

I used an online program that tracked my foods through Apex/Gold’s Gym. I just found this website though that you can do a food search for those items you eat that don’t have a label. It’s in the middle of the page.

www.calorieking.com

I try to eat basically the same thing for breakfast through Afternoon snack, then I can modify my dinner and evening snack to round out my day and eating percentages. I’ll be back later to tell you how the beginning of my eating plan and exercise program was. Remember, adding exercise will either increase your calorie deficit for the day (more calories burned than eaten) in order to lose weight faster, or it will give you a cushion to eat more without gaining weight. Also, muscle burns more calories per day than fat so lifting weights not only burns calories through using energy, but it transforms your body from fat to muscle so that your resting metabolism increases as well. I like food so anything that makes my body burn more calories so I can eat more without gaining weight is a good thing.

Remember once you start losing weight and exercising more, you can eat more and still lose weight. When I was losing, I would eat between 1500 and 1600 per day. I also drank a lot more diet drinks then to give my taste buds a splash. I usually don’t drink much pop, I like milk and fruit juices.

Change the menu to foods you like, but I think you’ll find the protein foods are the harder ones to replace. The first 2 weeks are hard…you are changing some old habits…don’t give up. After you start changing your body and moving more…you will naturally have to start eating more. I probably eat between 2500 and 3000 calories now just to maintain my weight…I increased my muscle mass and I move a lot more so my body needs more “fuel” than it used to.

One other thing I did, was I would modify my Saturday and Sunday meal plans. I figured as long as I didn’t gain weight on the weekend I was doing good and that way I didn’t feel like I was dieting. You still need to plan and write down what you eat so you know the calories, but we would go to the pizza buffet on Saturday night for example. One slice of pizza is about 250 calories. Since I had about 500 extra calories to eat for the day, I could eat 3 slices of pizza (750 calories) along with my regular meal plan for the day and know I wouldn’t gain weight. Maybe I would have a few more snacks on Sunday, but I would still keep my calories in the 1800 to 1900 range. My motto, eat a little all day long so you don’t overeat. It takes about 30 minutes for your brain to know your stomach is full. If you’re a little full before you eat, then you are changing your eating from emotion to necessity. Emotion…I won’t touch that one. Try to learn to eat because you have to, not because you want to. Your body is a machine...give it the fuel it needs when it needs it.

Well, that was a lot more than I thought I would say, but if it helps one of you then it was well worth it. Like I said, I’ll write another of the beginning of my experience and trying to break down the calories by protein, fat and carbs later.

Did you know?

I decided to remove my week long losing weight campaign. Maybe I’ll turn it into more of a “did you know” series. Did you know 1 gram of protein or carbs has 4 calories, but 1 gram of fat has 9 calories? That means you can eat twice as much protein for the same amount of calories as something high in fat. Or, did you know the average man burns 2000 to 2200 calories per day and the average woman burns 1700 to 1900? So if you are a woman and eat about 1500 calories a day (or 200 less than you burn) you will lose 1 pound every 2 and a half weeks from your eating habit alone. Did you know you really need to eat in order to lose weight? Or did you know that if you exercise at a lower heart rate it burns fat, but if you exercise at a higher rate it uses other “fuels” in your body? That’s just some of the information I learned on my year and a half eating/exercise journey.

If I could give just one piece of advice it would be start your day with breakfast and eat about 6 times a day. You’ll only need to eat small amounts throughout the day and your tank will be full so you will have energy all day long and you won’t eat as much at the main meals. If you know how many calories you are eating, you will know if you are going to lose weight. Oh, and try to eat more protein. Fats and carbs are easy to eat, it’s the items higher in protein that are trickier to find and that is likely where you are under-nourishing your body. And, make time to exercise at least 20 minutes 3 times a week. Oh, don’t forget to read labels at the grocery store…”low fat” is not always the better choice. Don’t ever start a diet…if you use the “D” word you’re just setting yourself up for a short-term program to eventually fall away from and return to your old self.

I could go on and on because it gets me excited showing people what I have been taught and how simple nutrition can be and how important exercise is to your appearance and energy levels. Keep an eye out for my “did you know” list…maybe you will find a tip that helps you.

“Do or do not…there is no try.” - YODA

Have to...or Get to?

Where have I been? My last post was 9 days ago! Let's just say a lot can happen in a week and a half...especially when you puke off about 5 lbs. on a Saturday night. But that's another post.

So I was talking to somebody Wednesday after a hectic day where I hadn't eaten and I was going to need to run home, pick up the family and head to church for Bible study. I said again later in the conversation that I was hungry and they said, "Oh yeah, you HAVE to go to church, huh?"

I looked at them and responded, "Have to? No, I GET to." Now, stay with me for a minute. Understand that this just came out of my mouth...nothing premeditated or anything. But at the same time, when I am given an opportunity to indicate my enthusiasm for God, I want to make an attempt...especially in light of a negative outlook on church, etc.

So what's my point? No, I don't want a pat on the back for some witty comment (I make a lot of witty comments and that would just give me a bruised back). I just want you to consider the depth of that statement. Growing up...my parents made me go to church. Left to my own desires, I would not have gone. Were they right to do that? I think so. Is that a typical response from a teenager? I think so. So when did my HAVE TO change to a GET TO?

Before I answer that, let me wrap up the previous conversation. I went on to say the following. "You know what else? I don't HAVE to go to hell...I GET to go to heaven." Let me clarify, this was not a confrontational conversation. We both laughed and thought it was a good motto. But it is much more than that...it is the ultimate truth. Each of us has the same choice. Jesus came and shed his blood to pay for our sins. If you accept his gift, you get to go to heaven. If you choose to reject it, the Bible is clear, you will go to hell.

So when did my HAVE TO change to a GET TO? I've been a Christian as long as I can remember, but it took a move to Boise, Idaho before my HAVE TO changed to a GET TO. There are a number of people responsible for that as well as a number of people keeping that attitude alive in me on a daily basis. For those of you that know Jesper...give him my pat on the back.

My hope is that you live as though all you do for Jesus is a GET TO. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not (HAVE TO) perish but (GET TO) have eternal life." John 3:16

Share the good news with someone today...or accept it for yourself.

Lost in Translation?

How about that Super Bowl! For those that don’t know, I’m a Colts fan…I have both Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison on my fantasy football team…and the only football jersey I own is the blue #88, which I wore proudly on Sunday while carrying my Peyton Manning good luck figure.

With the satisfying victory secured, I sat back to watch the Vince Lombardi trophy ceremony interested to see if the Colts owner would once again give glory to God as he did after the AFC Championship game. Of course, all athletes “would first like to thank God” on the podium, right? It's become a cliche. Here’s what transpired…

Colts' owner Jim Irsay credited God with the victory as he held the sparkling Vince Lombardi trophy in his hands:

"Now there's an awful lot of shining glory, even more than last time up here," Irsay said. "But we're giving it all to God again because that's what got us here ... sticking together and believing that we could, and I know God has looked after us on this journey and bonded us into such a tight family."

I was thinking about this today, which prompted me to write this post. For those of you that are Christians, I have one question for you. Are you a Christian only when you are at home…or do you let the world know what God has done for you in public?

I admit for many years I was a “silent” Christian. Growing up as a kid, it wasn’t a sign of strength or considered cool to be the Christian kid on the team or in school. I didn’t have any Christian friends by my side to give me strength. So I just coasted along as the “nice guy” but never truly embraced or shared my faith with others.

Well, if you know me, that changed in recent years. No longer am I silent as to my faith. I proudly proclaim that I am a follower of Jesus Christ who paid the ultimate price to redeem my soul and I will forever be grateful. But enough about me. What about those guys on stage under the biggest spotlight in professional sports and possibly the single largest television audience in the world.

For weeks we had heard how Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith were the first African-American coaches to make it to the Super Bowl. Here’s what Dungy said after the game:

Here's Dungy's whole quote, responding to Jim Nantz's question about the "social significance" of the Super Bowl, the first with a black head coach (both Dungy and Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith): "I'll tell you what. I'm proud to be representing African-American coaches, to be the first African-American to win this. It means an awful lot to our country. But again, more than anything, I've said it before, Lovie Smith and I (are) not only the first two African-Americans but Christian coaches showing that you can win doing it the Lord's way. And we're more proud of that."

I’ve read a lot of stories about Super Bowl XLI that quote the first half of what he said, but leave out the second half. However, it cannot be denied that to Dungy, he places his greater victory in Christ. Dungy has had a close relationship with Bears' head coach Lovie Smith since 1996, when Dungy hired Smith to coach linebackers for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"My relationship, first, is with Jesus Christ, and he is the center of my life," said Smith when asked about his faith earlier this week. "I try to live a Christian life. I would like for players to know my faith based on what they see on a day-to-day basis."

As part of a pre-Super Bowl promotion, both men, and members of their teams, compiled a website to witness their common faith in Jesus Christ to the world. The site can be found at www.beyondtheultimate.org. I encourage you to visit the site and read what these two coaches and others who play and coach for the Bears and Colts have to say about their faith in God and the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives.

On the other hand, I have also read where one writer stated that, “Christians, and anybody who applauds his speaking out (Dungy), have to respect the possibility that his words will bruise other people's ears.”

In response to that, I can only I turn to the Bible:

* "With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak.” 2 Corinthians 4:13
* "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
* "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17

Bruise other people's ears you say? I respect the possiblity that his words will guide a lost soul to eternal life. And to that, I will applaud. For each of us has the individual choice of how we will hear the message. The responsibility of us as Christians is to simply share it. In a world where we Super Size professional athletes, yet are continually disappointed with revelations of infidelity, drug use, poor judgment and lack of wisdom, I am especially proud of the witness these men proclaim and example.

I concede that none of us are perfect and I recognize my lack of authority to cast judgment over anyone. Still, I challenge each of you to take a stand for God publicly and see how it will increase your faith and love. If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior…there’s no better time than the present. "Someday I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dying.”

"If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38

My Belly Hurts

Ok...my root beer taste testing days are officially behind me. Now it's back to trying a new one every now and then. So here's the final word on my root beer drinking game.

We baited two more people into our test-o-rama over the weekend. In order to protect their identities, let's call them Jesper and Betsy. Don't they sound like nice people? Jesper is a good golfing buddy of mine. Betsy is the mother of his children...that's a joke Betsy, we know you are so much more than that. You also do his laundry, not to mention scrubbing his floors on your hands and knees. But let's get back to the root beer.

These 2 jumped right in with the round 1 taste test. Betsy liked A&W, Mug, and Big K. Jesper also ranked A&W #1 followed by Barqs and Mug.

So for the finals we had 9 contenders. We were each testing on an empty stomach at the start, getting hungrier by the minute. I admit, however, that by the end of the test it sounded like the bubbles scene from Willy Wonka. You know the one where they are flying up to the fan and have to burp to get back down to the ground. That's how my stomach felt...and pretty much how the rest of me sounded.

Without boring you with further details, here is my statistical analysis of the results of the final test.

Now before I get to the results, let me just say that after conducting these experiments, I have concluded that root beer falls into 1 of 3 categories:

1. Frosty mug tasting creamy types
2. Root beer with added specialty flavors to change it up a bit
3. Beverages that should be removed by the FDA

I prefer those that fall into category 1. Now for the results. In a complicated mathematical analysis I conducted using algorithmic permutations and combinations of trigonometrical effervescence's, combined with a patented probability ratio derived from a sampling of scores in my golf handicapping system..I naturally reached the following conclusion based on the preferences of the testers in question. After smoothing the data for outliers as well as out right liars, the scoring is (lower score=better, 1 being best possible and 9 being worst possible):

1. Stewarts 2.0 (one 1st place vote) very good classic frosty root beer
2. A&W 3.5 (one first place vote) "has that frosty mug taste"
3. Sprecher 3.5 Wisconsin Honey and Vanilla
4. Happy Valley Old Fashioned 3.5 (one questionable 1st place vote)
5. Henry Weinhards 4.5 Vanilla
6. Rat Bass-Turd 6.0 (they spell it differently, I spell it like it tastes) Molasses, Jasmine, Clove and a large list of herbal blends
7. Virgil's 6.5 (one very lonely first place vote) Licorice, Clove
8. Boylan 6.5 Sweet Birch, Cinnamon, Sassafras
9. Natural Brew 9.0 (three #9 last place votes and one #8) Cane Juice, Licorice Root, Sarsaparilla

For me, I'll drink any of the top 3 anytime (or #5)...the rest will never see the inside of my refrigerator again. Let me know if you have a favorite I should pick up and try. Sioux City is next on my list to sample and I need to find a bottle of Hires.

What about these guys?

It ain't over! We went to the Boise Co-Op last night and guess what we found? You should already know because I put a picture at the beginning of this post. There WILL be another drinking game this weekend! These are the challengers to the reigning kings...Sprecher and Henry's. Let me know if you have tried any of these before.

By the way, they had Sprecher creme soda there for only $1.10...I got a bottle. I'll let you know what I think of that on it's own.

Oh yeah, I've gone overboard...but "I'm Livin' Like I'm Dyin'!" Ain't it cool?

What Say You?

I like root beer…a lot! So imagine my excitement when me and the Mrs. settled in to watch a show on the Food Network a couple months ago and they made their way to a specialty root beer brewery in Wisconsin. Good root beer! And not just root beer, but they use the recipe in their BBQ sauce and they make vanilla and orange cream drinks, etc. Well, after checking around, I couldn’t find it anywhere out west. So I went to their website to buy it http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/. A 12 pack is only $10.20…sweet! Ok…add to cart…proceed to checkout….uh-oh...$19.30 shipping and handling…so $29.50 for a 12 pack…not too bad really, but what if I don’t like it? At $2.50 a bottle, maybe not worth it…end of story…or is it?

So my wife takes me to this new candy shop, Powell’s Sweet Shoppe. This place is awesome…all kinds of “old school” candy and they have a t.v. that plays Willy Wonka all day long. You can look around there forever and you don’t need to be a kid or take a kid to appreciate it. First thing I see though when I walk in is a refrigerator on the side wall with all kinds of colored and specialty drinks…so I said to myself, “Self…see if they have any specialty root beer.” You guessed it! My eyes focused in on that yellow-beeked bird on the bottle like the mother ship was calling me home! I swear the rest of the room went dark and the bottled glowed, while in the background you could hear the beginning of 2001 A Space Odyssey….dah…dah…dah…….dah-nah!

I grabbed 2 and went to the clerk, “How much, sir?” He said, “2 bucks a bottle.” I couldn’t get out my debit card fast enough. Then I said, “Wait, I gotta try it and make sure I want to buy more than 1.” Now I wasn’t thirsty and there was no way I was going to drink 16 ounces, but it was the moment of truth. One sip…and I bought 2.

After nursing that one down over the rest of the night and the next day, I thought to myself, do I really like it because it is better or because I want it to be? It’s hard to make this long story short…so let me sum up…I had to do a taste test.

So, Sunday night I went to the store to round up the usual suspects. Here were the participants, introduced by price/prestige:

• Big K (59cent 2/liter), less than $0.01/ounce
• Barqs, $0.02/ounce
• A&W and Mug, $0.023/ounce
• Thomas Kemper $0.063/ounce
• Henry Weinhard’s $0.064/ounce
• Sprecher $0.125/ounce

I tip my cap to the Mrs. for humoring me and setting up the taste test. Actually, I did stumble a bit out of the gate. As I started to take all the root beer out of the refrigerator and line up the glasses, my son asked me what I was doing. I immediately responded with a smile, “Mommy and Daddy are going to play a drinking game!” Now some things you don’t clearly think through when you say them…and my son loves games so I was only trying to make it fun for him too. Let’s just say as soon as the words had left my lips, I heard my wife from the other room, “Don’t tell him that! It’s a taste test!” I think we cleared that obstacle, but if you hear him say we played a “drinking game” when you are at church this Sunday…please give us the benefit of the doubt.

With that behind us, I gave each of the competitors an equal chance. I rinsed and chilled 7 small “drinking mugs” (I wised up and didn’t call them shot glasses) and placed them in the freezer for a couple minutes so each beverage would be welcomed into a frosty glass for maximum results. Here’s how it went down.

I sipped the first glass…pretty good I thought. The 2nd was very good as well (I was pretty sure it was the Henry’s). Although, after 2 that I liked I was thinking, “I’m a retard.” I was afraid I was going to like all of them and began to worry a bit. I have always thought Henry’s made a great root beer and the Sprecher I had a few days earlier was my new “pretty little pet.” Now I was going to prove myself a dingbat.

Then a sip of #3…my faith restored again…this one was terrible! #4…ok, but not near as good as 1 & 2. #5 about the same as #4. It was then I drank #6…as I sit here tonight writing this I still maintain that glass did not contain root beer! Terrible, does not do the name of the beverage justice. Finally #7…oh yeah…that’s a good root beer!

I then went back through the lineup one more time to confirm what I liked. Truthfully, I wanted to know what I did like the best and let the chips fall where they may. Yep, I still rank them #7 and #2 best followed by #1, then by #4 and #5, and #3 and #6 should be removed from all retail shelves immediately!

So what #’s were which ones? Here are my results from favorite to “not fit for human consumption”:

1. Sprecher (oh, I still love my pretty little pet)
2. Henry Weinhard’s
3. A&W
4. Mug
5. Big K
6. Thomas Kemper
7. Barqs

Naturally, I then set up the test for my wife and here are her results:

1. Henry Weinhard’s
2. Mug
3. Big K
4. A&W
5. Sprecher
6. Thomas Kemper
7. Barqs

I clearly love the Sprecher root beer. Obviously, my wife isn’t sophisticated enough to appreciate the full taste. That being said, Henry’s was a clear favorite and although the night before when we went out to pizza I had a Henry’s and my wife had a Barqs because she “likes it”…it is clearly an inferior root beer. For the record, our son liked A&W and Mug the best when he played the drinking game.

In my opinion, if you are down and out and need a shot of root beer, stop by Fred Meyer and get yourself a 59cent 2 liter bottle of Big K. For “every day” consumption A&W makes a good choice along with Mug. If you’re going to throw a Super Bowl party and want to get me something nice to drink, spring for a 6-pack of Henry’s. And if you forgot to buy me something for my birthday…stop by Powell’s and load me up with a Sprecher’s.

I’ve still got a lot of root beer in the fridge so feel free to stop by and join us for a drinking game some time!

It's simply known as "The Invitational"

So this is for all my golfing buddies out there. I have had 2 golfing trips that have to be near the top of any “live like you were dying” list. If you haven’t noticed…I reference the name of my blog where I can.

So now to my story. Bandon Dunes opened in 1999 on the Oregon Coast and has become rated as one of the top 2 golf resorts in the United States, along with Pebble Beach. Well, I started taking a group of guys there back in 2000 and have gone back at least once every year since (two years I made 2 trips). That first trip was 4 of us in 2000. Since then I have held the “Bandon Invitational” every year from 2001 to 2006 with between 8 and 12 guys. The 2007 Invitational is set for April 20 to 22.

There are now 3 courses at Bandon Dunes and in Golf Magazine’s 2006 Top 100 courses you can play, they consider Pacific Dunes #1, Bandon Dunes #5 and Bandon Trails #10. In a 2006 issue of Golf Odyssey they quoted, “Bandon Trails cements Bandon Dunes’ position as the single best place to play golf in the world.”

That gives you a little perspective of where I’m coming from. I’m not the only one that thinks this place is pretty special. Since I have been in their reservation system since near their opening, I have received special invitations to play Pacific and Trails on opening day. Needless to say, I accepted. So 12 of us went down there in 2001 to play Pacific Dunes and I took another group of 12 in 2005 for the opening of Bandon Trails.

It was a pretty awesome experience. You get your group picture professionally taken on the tee box with the owner and course designer along with a commemorative opening day coin. We all signed an opening day banner at Pacific, but I have yet to see where this has been stored.

Now the quality of the course can only make a golf experience good to a point. If you have nobody there to enjoy it with…it isn’t nearly as special. So imagine going on one of these trips with guys like this. First off though, the journey begins with us out-of-towners flying into Portland. We used to play a “practice” round in the Portland area on Friday and then drive down to Bandon and play Saturday and Sunday. Since they added Bandon Trails, we now play all 3 rounds down there.

So now back to what makes this trip so unique. First of all, you definitely need a core group of guys that go every single time. There are 2 guys that go all the way back to 2000 and have gone every year. In order to protect the names of the innocent, let’s call these guys "Mike and Brian." These are two cool cats. Take a guy like the one I call “Mike.” This guy is admittedly one of the poorer golfers in the group…hey, let’s face it, he’s the worst…and it’s not a really close second. So get this, he plays once a year and shows up every year to the Invitational… “cold turkey”…with only the dried sweat on his grips from the prior year’s tournament. He’s likely to tee it up on Day 1 at Bandon and go 7, 3, 11 on the first 3 holes (par 4,3,5)…all the while smiling and laughing down the fairway. Now mind you, the first year we went it was $30 a round…he now shows up and pays $150 to $200 a loop for the “love of the game.” We play 3 courses over the weekend and, believe it or not, you actually want him as you partner at Bandon…the other 2 courses…not so much. Let’s call the other guy who’s there year in and year out, “Brian.” This dude is as tall as a Redwood, and nearly as smart. Through all my efforts to handicap the tournament appropriately, this guy has still managed to win about 3 times. Of course it helps that he comes from a climate where he can play year-round and he owns the best foot-wedge in the game…bar-none. What stands out about this Phil Simms look-a-like…other than his size 14 feet…is he adds a much needed level of comic relief and an ample supply of movie quotes to which I am always a fan. In reality, I plan the trip to see these 2 guys more than the golf itself…which is why I always look forward to the 4 hour drive from Portland to the resort…we get to relive the previous trips all over again.

Then there are those guys that are there nearly every trip. Let’s call these guys Jon, Ron, and the other Mike. I like these guys because they aren’t as good a golfer as me…it’s the perfect recipe for a tournament in my opinion. Jon and Ron are brothers and tough to tell apart since they were born within hours of each other. These 3 are all “sneaky fast” though. By that I mean, they may shoot 108, but then again they may shoot 92…so I’m never sure if I want them as my partner. I don’t fear any of them in the putting contest, however…which is nice. Jon always has a new putting routine, which I enjoy. Ron always has a new car…I mean oversized, all-terrain, self-defense, high priced, platoon mover for guys to ride in. Mike is one of the few guys I don’t have to strain my neck to look up at and always has enough cash in his pocket to cover his bets when the first Mike is dealing Acey Ducey.

Now, what about the guys with the nicknames? You always need 1 or 2 of them. Let’s call the first guy Harry or “H” for short. I don’t know how 1 guy can have such a big impact, but this is the 1 guy that can. He starts psyching you out on the drive down as he takes phantom practice swings in the gas station parking lots. Be aware if you hear, “Be careful guys!” on the course…you could be directly in the path of a low screaming slice. He’s the East-coast influence in the bunch. By that I mean, he’s round, Jewish, and thinks he’s all that…on the basketball court, that may be true…on the golf course…mmmm…you can get in his kitchen. Oh, and he’s a lefty. He was the original homey hat trend setter. The new reigning homey hat king, however, is "Foosh." I love having this guy around…I’m so much taller than he will ever be. Foosh sported the homey hat in his inaugural Invitational last year and followed it with flip flops during the Survivor Putting Challenge…that may be a fashion statement, but on a sleet filled, 50mph wind aided, 45 degree evening…I’d go with the shoes. After 6 years of 4 guys to a room with 2 king beds, we found our first solo act. Not only did he cover his portion of the group room, but he then plunked another 2-bills a night for a separate room so he could fly solo under the sheets. I guess when you’re that small you’re easily spooked.

For the Trails opening, I was able to attract some fresh blood from my new hometown of Boise. Let’s call those guys, Jake, Todd, Dave, Rob, and Josh. In that group we had our first real golfer in Jake as the only participant to carry a single digit handicap. What does that mean? He has NO chance of winning the tourney with this group of sandbagging hackers. I admit, it was strange to play a round with a guy that wasn’t in the deerbrush or unintentionally launching a drive into the ocean every other hole. He didn’t see near as much of the course as the rest of us…and his $ per shot was way more costly than the rest of the group. Dave and Rob are the 2 permagrin guys. They walked those 3 courses…along with Witch Hollow at Pumpkin Ridge, smiling like a new daddy all day long. Todd circles that single digit handicap area so he is really overmatched as well. He prefers to measure himself against other golfers by his height…who can blame him. Josh found out that you can’t muscle your way around these courses. The wind does what she wants with the ball and you just gotta hope it finds grass every know and then.

The rest of the crew you may see every few years. Let’s call them Phil, Don, Scott, Tim, The ROCK, Aaron, John, and Jim. We hope to see them again, but they utter excuses like, “I can’t afford it”… “I’m out of vacation time”… “My wife is wearing my pants this year”… or “It’s a long way from Canada.”

So with that we have another trip upcoming, the field is still being set. Let me know if you want in! This year we have a new slogan almost like those guys on the PGA Tour…

“These guys aren’t good.”

What would you do with it?

So let me hear from you out there. What would YOU do with it?

Imagine you go to the doctor and he says, “I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news.”

You say, “Tell me the bad news, Doc.”

He says, “You’ve only got one year to live.”

You say, “Then what’s the good news?”

He says, “You’ve still got one year to live.”

Are you with me? Now don’t get all depressed with me here. Remember my first post? We’re all going to die…it’s just the when that we don’t know. So now assume you find out the when. What are you going to do?

The song says, “I went sky diving…I went Rocky Mountain climbing…I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu.”

Tell me what would be on your list. “I’ve only got one year, I gotta do _____.” Or tell me something that you’ve already done that is a list maker.

Here’s some things that a few of my friends have done recently:

• He played golf at Augusta National
• He watched his beloved Anaheim Angels play live in Yankee Stadium
• He drove from Idaho to Arizona to watch Boise St. win the Fiesta Bowl in person
• She ran the Portland Marathon before she turned 40
• She became a mommy
• He bought a new Mustang…the red one with white racing stripes

Here’s a couple things that I checked off my list recently:

• I took a group of 12 guys to play golf Opening Day at Bandon Trails
• I took my family to Alaska
• I bought a trailer and took my family camping
• We took our son to his first visit to Disneyland
  

I’ll share some more with you later…for now, let’s hear your list.

So this is bloggin'?

Ok, so I'm the last one on the block to have a blog...not really news when you consider I don't own an i-pod, or a flat screen HD tv, and I still have one of those monitors that is about 3 feet deep on my desk. Of course, that monitor is my wife's...I bought a 19" flat panel last month.

Anyway, I guess I didn't get the point of having a blog. Why would I want people to know anything about me...especially if I don't know who's reading this. To a certain extent, I still feel that way. You probably won't learn too many personal things about me here...but maybe you will.

I guess the reason I started a blog is this...to encourage you to think a little more, love a little more and maybe even live a little more. Now for the flipside...we're all going to die. Yep, I said it. I don't see anyway of getting around it. So, since we can all at least agree on that...it makes since to me to live like it. And, that's what I want to do. So I made that the name of my blog...after the title of a great song..."Live like you were dying."

For me, it boils down to Hebrews 9:27-28, "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people..." Are you prepared?

"And he said someday I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dyin'. Like tomorrow was a gift and you got eternity to think about what'd you do with it...what did you do with it...what did I do with it...what would I do with it?" Tim McGraw

Living for now is only part of it...I encourage you to take the time to consider the eternal perspective. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16...it's a famous verse in the Bible for a reason.

Thanks for looking around my blog!