Monday, December 28, 2009

I'm Not Dead

Since it's been so long, I thought I'd just do a list of the things that have happened since I last posted. No one reads this stupid blog anyways, but I thought I'd do this to make my wife smile (love ya' babe!).

1. Had a baby girl named Dallas
2. Celebrated my 4 year wedding anniversary
3. Went to Disney World for anniversary
4. Celebrated Thanksgiving
5. Celebrated Christmas
6. Becoming a deacon at church

That's pretty much the highlights. Maybe if I get bored I'll cover the lowlights.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Baggie Goes to the Doctor

After talking to Dr. Kelly ( our vet ) on Saturday evening, we've arranged for Baggie's amputation to take place on Wednesday. As soon as Angela gets home from work in a few minutes, we'll load Baggie up in the car and head to Leesburg. Baggie will spend the night at Dr. Kelly's house. In the morning, Dr. Kelly will take Baggie to work with him and perform the procedure.

First they'll x-ray Baggie's furry litte chest and stomach. If no other tumors are spotted, then Baggie's back right leg will be amputated. If, however, any tumors are found in Baggie's chest or stomach, then the amputation will not be performed. We really don't want to put Baggie through any extra stress or pain with only a little time left.

To all our friends who are praying for Baggie, as well as us, thank you. Please keep praying for Baggie. She has a hard road ahead of her. Pray that she will handle the pain well and pray that God will help her to realize that we love her so much and that we will take care of her no matter what. We really just don't want her to be scared. Thank you, everyone. I'll post an update on her status after the procedure.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Baggie Update

So I heard back from the vet, Dr. Kelly, who performed the biopsy on the lump in Baggie's leg.

Turns out that the lump that was between the 2 bones in her calf area is a tumor. It's the bad kind of tumor, too. Dr. Kelly said that this kind of tumor is not usually located on a limb, though. He said typically that he sees this tumor on the body of an animal and not on a limb. But this kind of tumor is an aggressive cancer and usually when they remove a tumor like this one they have to go deep to do it. They remove any bone or muscle touching it and even then that usually doesn't eliminate it.

The good news about the tumor is that it's not the kind of tumor that spreads, typically. It usually just stays in one place. It's also good that they can just remove the leg to get rid of it. If it had been on her body, it probably would be game over. But because it's on the leg, Baggie stands a great chance of coming out of this looking good.

So the plan for this weekend, as of now, is to head down to Leesburg and let them perform an x-ray of her body to make sure the cancer is nowhere else. If cancer is found, we won't do the amputation of her leg because we don't want to put Baggie through that stress and pain if she's not going to make it. If no cancer is found on her body, then we'll go ahead and do the amputation.

Everything I've heard regarding three legged cats has been good. Cats supposedly do very well with only 3 legs, especially if the amputated limb is one of the back ones, which it is in Baggie's case.

So just pray for Baggie, Angela, and I. Pray that the cancer is not anywhere else except for the leg and pray that the procedure to amputate will go smoothly with no complications. She's our little girl and she means so much to us. I know it sounds silly for me to talk about a cat like that, but she's been with us since we were married and she's a part of the family. Just keep Baggie in your prayers, guys. Thanks.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

I've Been Tagged! Gangsta Style!

Ok, not really gangsta style, but I have been tagged by my precious, pretty, pregnant wife. So here it is. I've been tagged to answer several series of 8 questions. Also, on a side note, I'd like to apologize to my loyal reader(s) for my lack of posting. I've been really busy at work, which isn't bad. It just takes away from my time for blogging. So on to the tagging thing.

8 things I look forward to:
1. Going to church on Sunday.
2. Going to work each day. I finally have a job that I absolutely love! I could not have ever hoped for a job like the one I have. I actually get to do what I originally studied for in college, which is graphic/ web design. Praise Jesus!
3. Holding my baby girl, Dallas, for the first time! There are not words to describe what a great day that will be!
4. Seeing my wife each night! I love to kick her butt in Phase 10, which I did tonight, by the way. :P
5. Squishing my kitty, Baggie! She's like a little, furry child of ours.
6. The start of the football season. Go Jaguars!
7. Watch Criminal Minds on Wednesdays. It's such a great show, even if it is scary sometimes.
8. The day my soda belly dissolves away and my rock hard abs are finally visible.

8 things I did yesterday:
1. I played Guitar Hero 2, after pestering begging my wife to let me buy it. Thanks, babe!
2. I worked out in the morning on my Total Gym 1500. It's the one Chuck Norris endorses. I mainly chose to use that one because its cheap, easy to store, and I really want to be able to round house kick bad guys in the face while wearing cowboy boots.
3. I worked on a new website for work, called http://www.developeridol.com/. Its a contest my company, Pragmatic Works, and http://www.sswug.org/ are promoting. You can check out the site to get the rundown on the contest, but let me just say that the site is a work in progress so its not %100 functional yet. So don't email me and say I misspelled something or a link is broken.
4. I watched the last 30 minutes of the Bachelorette with my wife while trying to convince her that I needed to sleep. Let me just say that the Bachelorette is a sad, pathetic show. It's hilarious that people think they can go on a tv show to find true love.
5. I attempted to give Baggie her pain medicine. On the first attempt I missed and squirted it all over my shirt and my wife's hand. Second attempt was a bit better.
6. I ate sushi for lunch. My boss is a vegetarian so we eat at a lot of seafood places.
7. I laughed at how our VP Joe Biden revealed the location of a secret bunker. It's like him and Nancy Pelosi are competing at who can be the dumbest.
8. I ate Steak and Cheese hot pockets before leaving work to go to financial counseling. Turns out we have so much money we don't know what to do with it.

8 things I wish I could do:
1. Fly
2. Get season tickets for the Jaguars.
3. See my family more often.
4. Hold Dallas right now.
5. Heal Baggie's leg.
6. Make enough money so Angela wouldn't have to work anymore and could stay home with the baby.
7. Buy more guns.
8. Play darts all the time.

8 shows I watch:
1. Criminal Minds
2. Myth Busters
3. The Mentalist
4. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
5. The Office
6. 30 Rock
7. Anything on the History Channel
8. Seinfeld

So that's my tagging thing I was supposed to do. Angela tagged me so I guess I can't tag her. I don't really have any blog friends that aren't my wife's blog friends so I guess I don't have anyone to tag. So I think I'll make up a new tag list for Angela to do, since she likes easy blog posts. So here you go, babe! You've been officially tagged! Here is what you must do!

1. Post a picture of you making the happiest face possible.

2. Post a picture of you making the saddest face possible.

3. Post a picture of you making the angriest face possible.

4. Post a picture of you making the sleepiest face possible.

There! You've been tagged, Angela! And because I know you'll not want to do this, I, too, will do the same thing after you have completed your post in a satisfactory manner. I love you, babe!

Friday, May 1, 2009

Pray for Baggie

So for the past few months, Baggie has been battling an injured back leg. We've been praying for her and giving her medicine but nothing has seemed to work. So earlier this week, we took Baggie back to the vet to have them look at her again because her limp does not seem to be improving. The vet recommended we take her to a pet surgery specialist that has the technology to really look at her leg.

So at 8:00 a.m. this morning, I took Baggie to the specialist. The good news is that Baggie's fracture has healed. The bad news is that she has some kind of lump in her calf on that backright leg that has caused some serious nerve damage which is preventing her from using that leg. Baggie cannot extend her leg fully or work her ankle. So this morning, to the tune of $250, the vet did a biopsy on that lump and we should find out next week if its malignant, benign, or just some swelling in there from some kind of soft tissue injury. If its malignant, her leg will need to be amputated. If the lump is not malignant, she'll start medication and we'll let it heal over time.

Please pray that its not malignant because its very expensive to perform an amputation. The good news is, however, that if she needs to have her leg amputated, its not the end of the world for Baggie. Cats do really well with 1 back leg, so she'll still be able to live a very normal life. So pray for me, Angela, Baggie, and that the lump is not malignant. We love our little kitty, and we can't stand to see her suffer.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

My Sleepy Family

So here I am, 11:29 pm at night, doing some last minute laundry so that we'll have actual sheets to sleep on. The news is playing quietly in the living room and I'm listening to a new CD I bought off Amazon for $1.84: Scary Kids Scaring Kids. Funny name, huh? The silly name was behind probably 80% of my motivation to buy the CD. That and it cost less than $2.00. But anyways, on to the real topic of this blog. My cute, precious pregnant wife and my fuzzy, little, gimpy legged, little kitty are passed out in the living room. Angela is sleeping like a rock on our couch, as is her nightly custom. Baggie is curled up in the litte, white bag we received from the maternity store the other day. With everyone sleeping so soundly, I couldn't resist a few pictures.

Every single night since we have had this bag in our house, Baggie has slept INSIDE it. I am not exaggerating one bit. A couple times I've had to take it from her at 1 in the morning because she likes to make it crinkle and I can't sleep with any kind of sound. I'm a paranoid sleeper.


That can't be comfortable.Here you can see the two sleepy girls snoozing together. Aren't they so cute? How did a guy like me end up with the most amazing woman ever created and the fuzziest, cutest, little kitty in the world? It's a miracle!Angela loves me too much to be mad at me for this. Besides, she puts silly pictures of me on her blog all the time. I love you, babe!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

My Fav 5

It's been a little while since I've done a post, but I've been super busy with a pregnant woman in the house, work, school, side jobs, and a pregnant woman in the house. But considering how I spend a good portion of my time on the computer (at least 8 hours a day Mon - Fri), I thought my growing mob of loyal followers would enjoy checking out my top 5 favorite websites!

In no particular order, they are:

1.) http://icanhascheezburger.com/
A website solely devoted to silly pictures of cute kittehs and puppehs with funny captions! Since Angela introduced me to this website a couple weeks ago, I've really enjoyed it. And to make things even more fun, you can submit your own cute pictures of your pets. The site is also updated multiple times a day.

2.) http://www.drudgereport.com/
The Drudge Report is basically a list, compiled by Matt Drudge, of news articles from various news websites from around the world. It's so nice to be able to get all the top stories in one place without having to bounce from page to page.

3.) http://www.woot.com/
The only way to describe this website is that it is COMPLETELY AWESOME! Every day Woot sells only a single item at what is usually a ridiculously low price. Every day the item changes to something new at midnight. The item could be anything from a computer, bug zapper, boardgame, or who knows. Occasionally Woot will have a Woot-Off, which is when an item will be posted for sale until Woot sells out of it. After that a new item will be listed, and the process continues all day long. Its a very cool idea. One of the first things I do each day is to see what is for sale on Woot!

4.) http://www.jaguars.com/
This is the home page of the Jacksonville Jaguars! Now I know this site will probably not appeal to any of you out there who are not avid Jaguars fans. If you are, however, I suggest you check it out. Vic Ketchman, senior editor for the Jags, does a daily blog called Ask Vic where he answers questions from readers. You can also find the latest news pertaining to the Jaguars, as well as the NFL.

5.) http://angelas-notes.blogspot.com/
This is my wife's blog! Angela is a very talented writer, I think, and I would like to see her actually try to make some money out of her hobby once she has more time to devote it. I check her blog at least several times a day to see if there's a new picture of her cute, baby belly!

So that's it. Those are my top 5 most frequented websites, not counting the one's I go to for work. I hope you guys will enjoy them as much as I do!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Tales From the Crypt!

My wife, Angela, recently wrote a new post on her blog with these questions so me, being the overworked individual that I am, decided to answer them because its been a few days since I've posted and also because I'm really tired and still have to edit a 4 chapters for a book my coworkers are writing as well as do a school assignment. So here it goes:


1. Did you date someone from your High School? I did date one person from my high school, who shall rename nameless, for a little over a month I think. We are still very good friends to do this day and my wife absolutely loves this girl. Funny, huh?


2. Did you marry someone from your High School? Nope, I did not meet Angela until a few weeks before I began going to college. She had already finished a year at college and I was just so excited to be dating a college chick!


3. Did you carpool to school? The only person who road to highschool with me was my brother since he's only a couple years younger than me. I did occasionally carpool to college with my friend, Brent, during the our freshman year.


4. What kind of car did you have? My first car was an '89 Dodge Dynasty.


Thats what it looked like in the picture, but a whole lot rustier with a lot more broker parts. I bought it with my own money for $600 from a neighbor who lived down the street from my parents. It was a good first car. For my highschool graduation gift, my parents helped me upgrade and purchase a 1998 Honda Civic! That car was my pride and joy! I loved that car so much and to this day I regret ever trading it in.

5. What kind of car do you have now? Today I drive a 2007 Honda Fit. It's a little Blaze Orange Metallic hatchback that reminds me alot of my Civic. I absolutely love driving it and I couldn't have asked for a nicer, more practical car.

6. It's Saturday night now you're....Wishing my pregnant wife would wake up to spend some time with me or playing some darts with some friends.
7. It is Saturday night then you're....at the movies with some friends or cruising the streets in my 2.0 Liter Civic looking for some poor, unsuspecting Mustang to ambush.
8. What kind of job did you have in high school? When I was in highschool, I worked at a nearby Domino's Pizza for 2 years. I also did some time at a sportsbar in a Holiday Inn working as a bus boy and doing room service. 1 month I worked at Sweet Tomatos but that job stunk so I quit there and got a job at an Italian Restaurant. That job lasted for 6 months before I was fired for refusing to take undercooked shrimp to a patron. I was glad I was fired though, because it turns out that my boss there was arrested later for kidnapping 30 + men from local gay bars, raping them at gunpoint, and then blackmailing them with the videos. What a psycho path. And for those of you wondering, that IS a true story.


9. What kind of job do you have now? I have the stinking greatest job in the world! I thank God for my job every day. I work for a small consulting firm that does business intelligence work for other businesses. We also sell software. The reason my job is great is because I'm finally doing something I love! I design and build databases and have also built a few web applications. Occasionally I do some graphic design work, which I really enjoy. Graphic design was my first love but I gave that up as my program of study in college because I thought I could not get a job in this town doing graphics, but look at me now! I wear jeans and a t shirt to work, shave when I want to, play darts during lunch in the conference room, and listen to music while I work. I have a great boss and work with a bunch of guys who are all very nice. The fact that I'm making the most money of my life now doesn't hurt either. I give God all the glory!
10. Were you a party animal? Well, lets just say I've never smoked or drank alcohol in my life. I have been known to toilet paper the occasional house or car, though.
11. Were you considered a flirt? I'll admi that I flirted when possible. Ask my wife. I flirted with her from day one. She just probably didn't recognize my overt flirting. She thinks most guys are "just being nice." Yea, right.
12. Were you in a band, orchestra, or choir? While in highschool, gangsta rap was my passion. I loved to hit the streets, rapping about life in the projecks, hustlin' the hoes, and such. JK.

13. Were you a nerd? During my first 2 years of highschool, I could probably have been classified as dorky. I had a small group of friends and I wasn't popular. During my junior and senior year, I became more popular. I was a cut up and liked to make jokes, which earned me some cool kids points, as if it mattered. My senior year I was voted "Most Caring." Is that a joke or what? But my friends all thought it was funny.
14. Did you get suspended or expelled? Nope, I was too smart for that. One time I did have to go to a parent/ teacher conference because I wrote a story in english where this guy strangled his psychologist with a piano wire before killing himself. What can I say? I have a vivid imagination. I guess they thought I might be trouble in the future.
15. Can you sing the fight song? If we had one, I didn't care enough to learn it.


16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? Probably my 2 favorite teachers were from my senior year. My web design teacher, Mrs. Gustafson, really got me interested in graphic design. My english teacher, Mrs. Slater, was just a dang good teacher and really cared about her students.
17. Where did you sit during lunch? We had a courtyard at my highschool so I usually sat out there eating my peanut M&M's.
18. What was your schools full name? My highschool was Ridgeview High School. I'm not worried about interent stalkers like my wife because I have a .45 auto that is very convincing.
19. When did you graduate? "We're the best! We're better than you, because we're the class of 2002!" That was our little cheer. Pretty gay, huh?
20. What was your school mascot? We were the panthers.
21. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Maybe for a week or so, but not longer than that. I'm very happy with my life now and could not have asked for the Lord to bless me more than He has.
22. Did you have fun at Prom? It was okay, but prom is overrated.
23. Do you still talk to the person you went to prom with? Nope. She was hot but not very smart and maybe slightly psycho.
24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? That is to be determined. I still see all the people I went to high school with that I care about.
25. Do you still talk to people from school? All the time. I work with a few of them now. One of my best friends from highschool, Devin, helped me get my current job. Thanks, bud!
26. School colors? Blue and silver.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Bizarre!

It’s a late Friday night in the Philippines. After a long day's work of breaking up fights, suppressing riots, and stopping gang rapes, the prison staff has gathered at a local bar for a night of fun and recreation. With the beer and liquor flowing freely, the following conversation ensues between the Warden and a few of the guards:

Warden: “Violence in the prison is just getting out of hand. We’ve got to figure out a way to keep the inmates from hurting each other. This is just unacceptable.”

Head Guard:”You know, you’re right boss. I had to break up 12 fights today. That’s just too much!”

Guard 1:”Hey! I’ve got a great idea! Now I know you’re going to call me crazy, but hear me out on this. What if we had all the prisoners dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller?”

Everyone: “That’s a great idea!”

And thus the stage is set for the following video:



And just because I know some of you out there think this isn't real:

Friday, February 20, 2009

HOLY FREAKING COW I CANNOT WAIT

Every day that passes by, I become more exciting about meeting the little critter growing inside my wife's tiny tummy. I've always liked kids and I've always known that I wanted to have at least 2 or 3 kids of my own, but now that we've actually got one on the way I can barely stand myself.

The other night Angela and I were watching TV. Lately we've been watching the show House. It's a series about this doctor, Dr. House, who is a very smart doctor but kind of lacking in the social skills department. He always treats these very strange medical cases. It's almost like CSI in the fact that they're solving some kind of mystery. Well the other night on House, there were these newborn babies in the hospital. All 6 of them had 2 different kinds of viruses that were making all of them very sick. The doctors only knew of 2 kinds of medicine that would cure the babies but for some reason the medicines were not working. If the doctors could not figure out what was going on soon, the babies would die. They didn't have a lot of time, but they figured out that the 2 medicines were maybe having some kind of conflict with each other. As their final resort, the doctors put 2 babies on both medicines A & B, 2 babies on the medicine A, and 2 babies on the medicine B. They knew that at least 1 baby would die but they didn't have a choice because if they didn't do it all the babies would die. When one of the babies died, they would be able to do an autopsy and figure out what killed that baby and use that information to save the others. The doctors couldn't just go and tell the parents of the babies what they were doing but they tried to at least give the families some hope, even though there was a chance that at least 1 family was going to lose their child.

With a baby on the way, Angela and I just could not help put ourselves in the position of the parents. Needless to say, we were stinkin' bawling. I'm not afraid to admit it. Yes, I cried like a girl. I'm just so excited about meeting this little baby for the first time that I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him or her.

Oh yea, I forgot about telling you guys how the show ended. Well, sadly, 1 baby did die. It was so freaking sad. I can't even describe how I felt as they showed the doctors trying to revive that tiny little life. They tried to shock the heart over and over again but it just didn't work. Of course all the doctor's were just devistated and the parent's were just broken. So the camera zooms out, showing Dr. House just staring at the tiny baby's body lying on the metal table before he did the autopsy. With tears in his eyes, he gently undid the baby's diaper, carefully handling the baby's little legs. Because of what he learned from the autopsy, Dr. House was able to save the other babies. Is that a sad show or what? I'm about to cry just sitting here at work. Don't tell me coworkers. They'll call me names.

But the show ended on a happy note because they showed the parents of one of the babies who lived leaving the hospital. The mother was holding their little boy and his arms and legs were just wiggling around like they had minds of their own. I can't wait for that day. I cannot wait. I just can't wait to hold that little baby, smell that baby smell, feel those miniature fingers wrap around mine, and listen to him/her breath as they sleep. That will be the best day of my life. I have no doubt about that. Man, is God good or what?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Blog Designer Pro!

Ok, so maybe I'm not quite a pro at designing blogs, but I'm not completely retarded either. My wife and I have recently had the pleasure of designing some blogs for some friends and I thought now I'd take the chance to showcase some of our designs!

Angela's Blog!
Angela did this design all by her cute little self.

Erin's Blog!
Angela also did this one!

Leah's Blog!
I mostly did this one. Angela did the installation. Thank's babe!

Nikki's Blog!
Angela also gave me a hand with this one. I did the background while Angela did the header and the install.

I am also currently working on another blog design as we speak! I just thought I'd take a break from designing to put up a blog post. When the new design is complete, I'll put up a link to the blog so everyone can check it out.

Also, since I'm nearing completion of my current blog design project, I'm thinking about hosting a give away for another FREE blog makeover by none other than your favorite cute, married couple, Dustin and Angela! Stay tuned!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

We'll Miss You, Fred.

Yesterday afternoon the Jacksonville Jaguars released their star running back, Fred Taylor. Freddy spent his entire 11 years in the NFL with the Jaguars, which is very rare for players today. He was drafted as a rookie in 1998 and finished his time with the Jaguars with 11,271 rushing yards. He was 16th all-time in the NFL in rushing yards!

Its kind of sad to see Fred go, although it is time to pass the torch to Maurice Jones-Drew. I remember when he joined the team when I was 13 years old! Back then Fred was just a punk with gold teeth and lots of newly aquired money. But Fred quickly matured and became known as the leader of the Jaguars, trading his gold teeth for the "C" patch on his jersey.

It was a good run, Fred. You have the respect and love of the Jaguar Nation. Thanks for the hard work, the inspiration, and the leadership. We'll miss you.

Friday, February 13, 2009

I'm a Dad!

Yep, you read correctly. I am going to be a father! Boy am I excited. I look forward with great enthusiasm to seeing my wife's belly grow, laying in bed at night and feeling the little baby tumble around inside her, and finally holding that tiny life that God has blessed us with!

While I am incredibly excited about the fact that my family is growing, I have become quite nervous and anxious about the fact that I will be completely responsible for that little baby in every way! That is a heavy burden not to be taken lightly! It seems that every day we grow closer to the birth of my child, the impending responsibility becomes more real. Don't get me wrong, I am excited about having the baby. I'm just a little overwhelmed about the responsibilities that come with being a father. I think the thing that I am most specifically nervous about is the spiritual condition of myself, my family, and my child. As the father and husband in my family, its my enormous responsibility to ensure that I am as close to the Lord as possible so that I may lead my family down the straight and narrow path that leads to Christ. If I fail to do that, and my child fails to accept Christ as his/her Savior, I will be responsible for the fact that I let my child go to Hell.

That is a huge responsibility that I must embrace with the help of Christ. Recently, I've tried to become more consistant with my daily quiet time each morning. During my quiet time I take a few minutes in the morning to pray to Jesus, ask His forgiveness of my sins, and ask Him to make me the kind of father and husband that would make Him smile. I know that with the Christ's help, I can be an effective, encouraging, thoughtful, and loving father for my child.

With that in mind, I embrace the challenge of being a parent! I look forward to all the sleepless nights, late night feedings, skinned knees, runny noses, and crayon on the walls! I look forward to spending time with my kid as much as possible. I look forward to football practices (or cheerleader camps) and taking my baby to school each morning. I will cherish every moment with my baby and will thank God for such a blessing. Thank you, Jesus, for blessing my wife and I with a baby! We won't let you down!