The Youtube Video from the Office Wedding

In case you were wondering, like I was, what youtube video Jim was talking about during the wedding this past week on The Office…I found it.  Pretty good stuff.

High Low for the Week

The Winner is…

One of the great things about being an American living in Canada…2 Thanksgivings!!  Nothing like it, we have our Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, which means turkey, pumpkin pie, and hanging out with friends.  It’s a great time for us.

The Loser is…

Just thinking about my nephew Trevor, he is in Michigan recovering from a part brain surgery.  It is so tough to see a little one go through something so difficult…check out his blog page, and say a prayer for him.  http://trevorshope.blogspot.com/

Marriage Makeover (Part 6)

One thing most married couples talk about is starting a family.  I think the decision to have kids is one of the best decisions you will ever make, being a dad is one of the greatest things in the world.  But with or without kids you are already a family. The moment you got married you became a family, and kids add something amazing to the equation, but you have to remember that your were a family and you had each other before you had kids.

• Make each other a priority

Far too many couples spend their lives focusing on parenting, and I think that is important.  Just remember that we raise our children and one day they WILL move out and have their own families.  They will always be important, but if you don’t have a life as a couple while they are home you are unlikely to have one after they are gone.

So make each other a priority NOW, don’t talk about a date-go tonight.  Don’t talk about a trip-take it this year.  Focus on each other, make sure that you are investing time in building a loving and lasting relationship. And remember that you are modeling for your kids what marriage looks like.  I have a daugther that I love dearly, and my prayer and desire is that the way I treat her mom is what she is going to be looking for when she is old enough to marry…at like 62.

High Low for the Week

The Winner is…

Kendall lost another tooth bringing her total to 2.  The other day we were wrestling and all of a sudden she stopped and reached up to her mouth and said, “my tooth is gone!”  She has been ready for them to start coming out for 2 years, many nights at bed time I have had to pretend to be the tooth fairy.  The fairy part comes easily to me.

The Loser is…

Our softball team played in a Provincial Tournament this past weekend and we had great time and did well…until Sunday morning.  On Sunday morning we lost our first game of the tournament and with that loss we were eliminated.  It was so disappointing to play great for 2 days and with only 1 lose to be heading home.  There were 214 teams and we finished 50th…

Music really does make the world go ’round!

This clip is amazing, what is amazing to me is to watch the people who are NOT involved.  This brought smiles to the faces of everyone in the train station.  We never really know how our actions can affect the people around us…

Marriage Makeover (part 5)

There are basically 2 kinds of people…lovers and fighters.  For the lovers, you want peace and aren’t obsessed with always being right, you are willing to let things go.  For the fighters, being right is very important to us, even if it’s something as silly as how many times it snowed last year.  We are okay with arguing and sometimes we argue about the silliest things…but the reality is whether you are a lover or a fighter, I think it’s important in our marriages that, at times, we disagree. I think some marriages in need of a makeover need to develop:

• The courage to conflict.

Now I don’t think we should argue about everything under the sun, but there are some things we just need to disagree about.  There are somethings where conflict can bring us to the best decision.  Jenn and I disagree quite a bit…usually cause she’s wrong.  But we have found in our relationship that there is enough trust that we can disagree, and appreciate each others perspective and work out something we are both comfortable with.

Now I am a fighter and so I have to remind myself #1. that I am NOT always right, and sometimes the wisest decision may not be mine, and #2 we don’t have to argue about EVERYTHING…sometimes the wisest decision is to not say anything at all.

The conflict is important when it brings out a better result than what we started with. It’s like a caterpillar in a cocoon, what makes it a beautiful butterfly…is the struggle, is the conflict, without the struggle nothing better can happen.  It’s through the conflict that the caterpillar emerges as a butterfly…no longer bound by it’s limitations, but free to fly. In our marriages, maybe the biggest need we have is to conflict and allow that to take our relationship to new heights???

Next week I will give my thoughts on what to do with the conflict…how to resolve it.

Marriage Makeover (part 4)

I have been thinking about one of the things I see couples FAIL to do that can really hurt any attempts to “makeover” their marriage, and that is:

• Accept the attempts made by your partner.

When we find ourselves in a troubled relationship we begin to expect our partners to let us down. We go and meet with someone to try and get help, and then when our partner makes an effort to change…we resist it, think it’s insincere, or question it.  Then we sit back and wonder why they don’t try.

I have found in relationships that everyone deserves a chance, a second chance, a third chance…and so on.  In my marriage, it’s not my job to question the motives of the kind things Jenn may try and do for me.  We don’t mean to, but when we resist the attempts made by our partners we further sabotage the relationship…what could be a step in the right direction is met with resistance which further divides us as a couple.

So ladies, if your husband comes home with flowers or picks you up at work to take you to dinner…accept it for what it may be, an attempt at sex an attempt to make things better.  And guys if your wife offers to get you a drink, or make your favorite dinner accept it for what it may be, a ploy to get some money a gesture that she wants her marriage to work…

High Low for the Week

The Winner is…

The kids are in their bunk beds and loving it.  The first few nights were rough, and I was informed that I wind them up at bedtime and don’t really help them settle.  In fact, I was laying with JJ the other night and he told me I couldn’t stay because, “you make me hyper”…The nightly routine has settled in, and they are doing much better than the first nights.

The Loser is…

JJ falling off the table and cutting below and above his eye…for some reason he “needed” to be standing on the table, and then lost his balance and came tumbling down.  He wasn’t hurt too bad, just 2 small cuts and his swelled a little.  Classic JJ…

Have a great weekend.

The Office…TONIGHT BABY

Can’t wait to see them “youthanize” that place.

Patrick Swayze

It was sad to hear that Patrick Swayze passed away this week, he was a fighter who gave it everything he had.  I am gonna list my Top Five Patrick Swayze moments/movies as my tribute to his life and career.

5.  Dirty Dancing.  Major hit, just not my kind of movie, but Jenn would kill me if I did not include it.

4.  Ghost.  Great movie…other than the pottery scene, that just creeped me out.

3.  Point Break, “If you want the ultimate, you’ve got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It’s not tragic to die doing what you love.” -Bodhi

2.  Chippendale’s scene with Chris Farley…laughed so hard I kinda wet my pants.  I will never forget that great moment.

1.  Without question, his role as “Dalton” in Roadhouse.  For a few years I wouldn’t even refer to him as Patrick Swayze…he was “Dalton”.  I would see him in a preview for another movie and say, “Hey Jenn, Dalton is starring in…”

**Some of his forgettable moments include Black Dog, Tall Tale, and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights .