March25th
I’ve decided to freshen up our site for spring. The weather is starting to get warmer and I wanted the site to reflect that. I’ve always thought that my last name is quite unique, so I wanted to make a play off of that by changing the site name to “Pick*nic.”
The new theme’s layout is based on Brian Gardner’s Vertigo theme, but as you can see, I’ve changed it up quite a bit. Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments. If everyone hates it, I’ll scrap it and start over!
March4th
My father-in-law and I woke up early this morning to go run the half marathon. It was about 32 degrees as we waited by the starting line to begin the race and Mary Beth, Lindsay, and Allan even braved the cold weather to come cheer us on. Our goal was to finish all 13.1 miles in under two hours, which would be about an average of 9 minutes per mile.
Everything was going great for me until about mile 9. My stomach started acting up and I had to slow down the pace. I told dad to keep going so he could reach his goal. He finished in under two hours with a time of 1:58 and I came in behind him at 2:08.
I didn’t meet the goal that I had set for myself, but I’m still proud of what I accomplished. I averaged less than 10 minutes a mile and despite feeling nauseous, I didn’t quit. For me, that’s nothing to be ashamed of.
I think I’ll probably take the next couple of weeks off from running, but I plan on running consistently for a long time. We’ll see, I might even want to run another half marathon next year!
January20th
This morning I ran the farthest distance I’ve ever run in my life: 10 miles. For some of you that might not seem very far, but this was a pretty big milestone for me. For the last five months, I’ve been training for a half-marathon that I will be running in March.
I’ve been a casual runner on and off for most of my adult life and I’ve even run in a few 10k races, but for some reason this seems so much more difficult. 13.1 miles is a long way! I’m hoping to be able to finish in under two hours.
Wish me luck as I continue to train over the next few weeks!
October15th
On Friday night, my wife and I had the rare opportunity to venture out and see a movie. So, we looked at what movies were showing at our local theater, only to be disappointed by the terrible movies that were showing. Then, I saw a movie that I had not heard about nor seen any previews for. I commenced to “google” the movie’s title: “One Night with the King” and stumbled upon the official site. After watching the trailer, my wife and I decided that this would definitely be a movie worth watching.
“One Night with the King” is about the biblical story of Queen Esther and the courage she showed in order to save the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of the King. The movie itself was very true to scripture and didn’t have any major inaccuracies that I noticed.
I was very impressed with the quality of acting in the movie, and very surprised to see some big name actors starring in the movie (ie: John Rhys-Davies). All of the scenery really tricks the viewer into believing that they are witnessing this story unfold in ancient Persia.
If you haven’t yet seen this movie, I would HIGHLY recommend going out to support it. As Christians, if we expect to see more wholesome, quality movies in the future, then we should support movies such as this one.
Leave a comment if you’ve seen the movie, or plan on seeing it soon!
October20th
I was never much of a baseball fan growing up. I spent most of my energy playing and watching basketball as a kid. Of course, just like most other kids, I would occasionally go watch the local major league team play. For kids like me growing up in Houston, TX the team to watch were the Houston Astros.
I have many good memories of going to the Astrodome with my dad, friends, or my church youth group. It was always a good time! I remember one such occasion when I was a senior in high school. My dad just showed up at school one day and told me we were going to see the Astros play in a playoff game that afternoon. Not only was it great to spend time with my dad, but I also got to see the ‘stros compete in the playoffs. To this day, that remains my fondest baseball memory. The Astros didn’t end up winning that series and they haven’t had much playoff success since then, but all of that changed last night with their 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
This is a big event in the city of Houston. The Astros have never made it to the world series in their 50 year existence as a team. I’m excited for Houston and for the Astros. Hopefully they can win it all!!
July25th
What a great weekend! Me and the guys went to the Annual FIS Golf Tournament on Saturday and had a blast! Despite the extremely hot temperatures, we still managed to stay out of last place. 
The two high-points of the day would have to be my father-in-law sinking a 72 foot putt during the putting contest to win $300, and Billy chipping one in from 20 feet off of the green to give us a birdie on the last hole!
Overall it was a great weekend with many close calls and high fives…
July20th
I got some new golf clubs this weekend. My wife decided that she would buy me a new set of clubs because I’m a (and I quote) “great husband.” I was hesitant at first because we’ve been trying to save a lot more money lately to pay off my wife’s car, but I ended up getting them in the end.
After searching around on Saturday, I decided to get the Wilson Pro Staff Multi Metal clubs. I got a really good deal on them at Academy and took them over to the driving range. It was amazing how much better I could hit the ball with these clubs! I’m really excited to see how well our foursome does on Saturday at my company’s annual tournament. I’ll keep you guys posted…
