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Launch Party Day 5

Wow! I can’t believe we made it to the end of the week already. It sure has flown by for me! Next week we will be back to regular posting and I already have some new projects to share with you all.

The party continues today with a gift for everyone because as of today there is another new feature for our blog! I have been wanting to offer some freebies and so I enlisted the help of my husband (again!) to help me set up a section for them. So far, the freebies I have ready for you are wallpapers that you can download to make your desktop awesome! I hope to be adding more types of freebies in the future but of course I will let you know when there is something new. The three wallpapers available are:

1024×768
1280×800
1440×900

1024×768
1280×800
1440×900

1024×768
1280×800
1440×900

Just choose which one you want by clicking on your screen size (currently 3 sizes available) under the picture and it will download to your computer. Since this is brand new, please let us know if you encounter any problems!

Now, our featured product today is the label tags! They will be on sale all day today and I will also draw for a winner of these tags and post it tomorrow. If you haven’t left a comment for me yet this week, make sure you do and you will be entered into the drawing along with everyone else.

And the winner from yesterday for the custom order is…

Elisabeth C.

Congratulations Elisabeth! I will contact you and we can start working on your custom order!

Thanks to everyone for partying with me this week!

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Tagged: Freebies

Happy Valentine’s Day

I don’t usually write posts extolling the many virtues of my wife but that’s what you’re getting today—it is Valentine’s Day after all. The following is a little love letter to my girl.

Sometimes you can tell the value of a gift by determining how much you deserve it. When you’re given something and you know you really don’t deserve it, it makes you incredibly thankful and the gift becomes that much more valuable to you. That’s what I have in you. I find my situation accurately described by Proverbs 18:22, which reads “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord.“ Thanks for picking a guy who doesn’t deserve you.

We sometimes always joke that I’m a stick in the mud and that you’re the spice in my life; well I know it’s true. You make my life so much better and I truly can’t imagine me without you. Thanks for being the spice in my life.

I’m also thankful that you have such passion for the things in your life. I may give you a hard time about your hobbies but it’s kind of cute that your love for photography, scrapping, sewing, designing and the like has taken over three rooms of our house. Thanks for enjoying life so deeply.

It may be shallow but I admit that I was first attracted to you because you were the hottest thing I’d ever laid eyes on. I still can’t believe I’m married to a cheerleader! But over the years I’ve learned how beautiful you are on the inside. I love your heart, your mind, your personality—all of those things that make you you. Thanks for having an inner beauty that matches your physical beauty.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the way that you love me. Your love for me is such a wonderful combination of the long, slow burn and the sharp crackle of a hot flame; endurance and excitement! Thanks for loving me so completely.

But most of all, I love the way that you love Jesus. I recognize that all of the things that I love about you come from your relationship with Him. You keep Him first, you serve Him with abandon and you love Him so very much. Thanks, above all things, for loving Jesus.

I love you sweetheart; Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Tagged: Personal

Crazy Times in Corvallis

I’m sure you all know how much Kellie and just LOVE to disco! disco! Well, when we got to Corvallis we wonderfully surprised to learn that the city has transformed itself from a green, outdoor loving college town into a veritable mecca for all things disco. Last night the city put on its first all night outside disco-fest and someone caught Kellie and I on video. Check out the clip below…

Actually, the clip was sent over by Clark and Maureen for my birthday. It looks like we’re having so much fun I might actually take up disco.

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Tagged: Personal

Construction Has Begun

Let the hammers fall and the nails, uh, nail! Construction has finally started on the church building. For the last year Calvary Cleveland has been leasing an empty building but hasn’t done anything with it. But that all changed on October 3rd when we finally started our remodel project.

One thing I love about this building is its location. It’s located just off the interstate at exit 25. That makes it convenient for just about anybody in town because it’s not too far south or too far north. Directions are easy to give because you literally make one turn off of a main road (25th/Georgetown) and the next turn you need to make is into our parking lot.

I also love the size of the building. We’re leasing about 4200 square feet which isn’t too big for our group now and it allows us room to grow for a while. As the architect and I worked together on a set of plans we thought it best to limit the total occupancy to 299 people. By staying under 300 people we were able to keep our plans at the local level. If we had to take our plans to the state the whole process would have become very expensive and it would have required us to install fire sprinklers, another large expense we wanted to avoid. So, 299 people in 4200 square feet fits just right.

Starting a church building project in my third year as a pastor was never my intention but a little tweaking was needed to make the building as functional as possible. We’re adding two bathrooms (handicap accessible), two classrooms and a small sanctuary space. When construction is finished we’ll be using a little over half of the building and the other part will be designated a large storage area. That area will eventually become our sanctuary when we’re ready for the final phase of the construction plans.

Over the last year the Lord has really stretched my faith and has caused me to trust Him one step at a time. Along the way there were plenty of chances to back away from this building but the Lord would always point me to a Scripture that put me in remembrance of His faithfulness. This whole process is more than I can handle on my own but it’s nothing for the Lord to accomplish. I’m looking forward to the day when we open the doors and the people recognize that God made it happen.

I’ll try to keep posting pictures to our Flickr account to document the process and I’ve posted the floor plan below. The first picture is the building before construction started, the second shows the work we’re doing now and the third picture is the long term plans.

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Tagged: Personal

Headphone Review

A while back I wrote a series of three posts on running, the last of which had some thoughts on using an mp3 player while running. Well, I’d like to add a little review of some headphones I bought to use instead of the basic Apple-supplied headphones.

The Problem

At first there was no problem. I was happy with the headphones that came with my iPod and they worked great. After I figured out my little headphone hack (see the end of the third post) they worked great. But the days began to get warmer and as a result I began to sweat more when I was out running.

This caused the Apple headphones to cut in and out during the run. Apparently the moisture was messing with those tiny speakers. The problem would resolve itself after the moisture had gone away but, of course, that would only last until my next run.

The New Headphones

So, I started looking for a pair of waterproof or water resistant headphones. I read a few blogs, looked around online and found a pair of Sennheisers that could be had for a reasonable price at Amazon. They were billed as “sweat and water resistant” and promised “powerful neodymium magnets for detailed sound.” I plopped down a couple Hamiltons and the headphones were headed my way.

(Image taken from the Amazon listing.)

The Good

The Sennheisers worked like I had hoped they would. No matter how hot it was they wouldn’t quit working. On days that would have rendered the Apple headphones useless the Sennheisers kept the hits a comin’. This is a good thing, seeing as that’s the main reason I bought them. However…

The Decent

Even though the Sennheisers keep working during my runs their sound isn’t as crisp as the basic Apple headphones. I’m no audiophile so I don’t speak as an expert but they don’t seem as bright or as clear as the regular headphones. This is kind of a bummer but not a deal breaker.

Secondly, the headphones fit in an odd manner but this is by design. You place them in your ear and give them a little twist upwards. This lodges them in place, so to speak, and is intended to keep them from slipping out during a run. It usually works but the weight of the cord actually tugs at the headphones, working to undo the twist you put on them earlier.

The Lame

The thing I dislike the most about the Sennheisers is the cord. This is a weird complaint, but it’s true. The cord that leads to your right ear is literally twice as long as the one leading to your left ear. It must have seemed like a good idea to somebody at Sennheiser but in reality it’s totally lame.

If you put the provided clip (which is effective but more bulky than my headphone hack) in the middle of your shirt the weight of the cord rests solely on the left earbud. Of course this continually pulls down on the left speaker and makes it slip out of your ear. To counteract this you have to clip the cord to the far left side of your shirt and twist the excess cord from the right speaker into the clip. I think I’ve mentioned this already but it’s totally lame.

The Conclusion

On the whole these are decent headphones. They do the important thing and press right through a sweaty run. But the large clip, the weird fit and the lame cord drag down an otherwise functional set of headphones. If you’re looking for a pair of water resistant pair of headphones I recommend looking elsewhere.

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Tagged: Personal