theory proven truth?

steve has this theory. it goes something like this:

when i travel to AZ, the weather at home always gets crappy.

well, since it started turning winter like in cincinnati (about mid-october), i've been to AZ 7 times. only once can i remember the weather in cincinnati being fairly decent.

the most recent trip to AZ is the most telling though. i left on monday at 2:30...it started precipitating about 4:30. the next 2 days brought several inches of snow and ice.

it's tough skipping the cold, snow and ice, but somebody has to enjoy the 65 and sun!

epic conquest

it was a night like any other, and a morning no one saw coming.



we spent new years with some friends, some of who wanted to take over the world. i politely declined (ok, here's the real deal. i last played risk 7 years ago with steve, his roommate and my roommate. it ended with me losing horribly and throwing a temper tantrum. i vowed never to play the game again).





steve is an expert strategist, along with chris and a couple of the other guys, and they adhere strictly to the rules of the game.




a few rounds in, the red team, lead by ryan, was dwindled to 3 armies total, one in each country in vodka-land. ryan decided it was time to mingle, and he let me start rolling the dice for him. i can handle dice rolling for others. there isn't much attachment to that activity.



and this is where the photos stop. before i know it, ryan had given me the reigns and was nowhere to be found. i unexpectedly discovered myself leading the red army against a guy who plays the game so much that he has an e-trophy for the winner. steve would later tell me he didn't think i was a threat, so he let me hang out for a while.


four hours and many military moves later, sometime around 2:30am, chris waved the white flag. i had won a game of risk against 2 people who could literally work for military intelligence, and be successful at it. now, i do owe some credit to steve, james, nathan, and dan. they provided some guidance during my global domination.


i think i'm going to retire my title, although, i may have to defend it at some point.

new years resolution

i've never really liked resolutions, especially at new years. they always get broken, and let's be honest, they are typically for things that will never be achievable anyway. last year was the first time i really made resolutions, and i actually kept them, so i decided to make them again this year, in the same spirit of last year.

1. i'm going to stop accepting things at face value. i'm going to ask the question "why?" a whole lot more. i've always been the person to just accept an answer for what it is, whether or not it is correct or even the truth. in essence, 2009 will be dubbed the year of searching.

2. i'm going to read the entire bible this year. i've never done that before. sure, i know all the key verses, but i have no clue what happens in leviticus. i'm also starting to realize that if i am to be a light in a dark place, it might be good to actually know what the bible says. it's hard to say "well, the bible says..." if i'm not really sure what it says.

3. i'm going to adopt 2 children from russia. come hell or high water, i will meet my boys in 2009!

4. i'm going to become an advocate for adoption. i'm all for people wanting to have a child that is of their own flesh a blood, but there are also children who want parents. not to sound like a cheesy song, but children are the future, and if we show them that a life of neglect, mistrust and abandonment is all there is to look forward to, i can't say that their or our future is going to be much to desire. i could go on about this one, but i'll save that for another post.

5. i'm going to support the charities i strongly believe, and not just by sending a check or wearing a pink ribbon. i am a huge supporter of the ronald mcdonald house and susan g. komen for the cure. both of these charities, or reasons for these charities have impacted my life in a huge way, and i want to give back. i'm going to volunteer my time and energy to these groups, and hope that is some small way i might be able to impact the lives of others.

6. i'm going to be healthier. i'm not just going to lose weight (of which i lost a grand total of 12 pounds over the last year), but i'm going to exercise, and eat healthy foods, in healthy portions. it's not just enough to lose a few pounds and call it a day. being healthy is a lifestyle, a paradigm shift from the typically. weight loss is what happens when you are ill and can't keep anything down for a week. eventually you gain it back when you return to normal.

that's the list. it should keep me busy for a while, and hopefully these will continue into 2010.