A few BFC photos...

Here are a few photos from Bulldogs FC from the past few games courtesy of the Girls team coach, Heather.
(I don't know how to make some of these fit, so you can see the whole photo if you click on it)

At the end of every practice, before games, sometimes at half-time, and after games, BFC circles up with our arms around each other, and I essentially say the same thing every time. I remind them how we are so blessed to be able to play soccer, and that the main reason we work hard at it is to glorify God. He is the ultimate reason we go out on that field, and regardless of the score, if we work our hardest for Him, we can bring glory to Him.

We say a few jokes sometimes, too.


Coach D-ram and myself. One of my favorite parts of having David be my assistant coach has been the fact that I get to hang out with him more often. He and I have been able to have some good talks after practices, on the way to games, and it's been really good for us to be together in light of the recent events in our lives.

Here are the guys! (most of them, anyways. Some of them are behind each other, like the crazies they are)
They are a great, great group. That's all I'm going to say without getting too sentimental or emotional.


Whew. I am blessed.

If you have a blog,....

...do you ever sing Dashboard Confessional songs in your head when you click the "Dashboard" link?

I do.

Today is my Dad's birthday!

...and we are celebrating by going to see Ducks vs. Sabres on Monday! I'm very excited. Going to Ducks games are kind of our "thing" we do together. So I'm looking forward to bonding Father-Son time.

Here are things that have gone on or things I've learned in the past week:

-Making new friends is a great thing to do. Hanging out with the old ones is great, too.

-Bulldogs FC is a team that is fun to be around.

-Playing a night soccer game under the lights is so fun! Hats off to BFC for their effort this past wednesday night. They made me proud.

-The Word of God is living and active!

-Free-dress Fridays are so joyous! Not only is it friday, but everyone is wearing clothes they chose to wear, conveying themselves a little better.

-Some days, you may approach situations where you anticipate one ending, but come into another. The two general choices for response are, "ok, I guess I'll do something different," or "I guess I have to try harder to do better next time."

This was the case for me 4 and a half years ago, when I tried out for The Master's College Chorale. Many people assured me I would make it, but I did not. I was devastated, as I had planned on "making it," being with my brother and friends, and going on tour to Israel. However, all those plans were quickly washed away as I walked over to the music rooms at 10 p.m. one night to see the list of who made it.
I could have tried for a different music group, or decided to keep practicing in order to make it next time they had auditions, but I didn't feel that would be for me.

I decided just to trust that God had something else in mind, and He did. I had an amazing first year at The Master's College, and a lot of the things I did and friends I made probably wouldn't have come into place if I was in Chorale, what with their rehearsals and performances and the like. I thanked God I did not make Chorale. Not only was it a humbling experience, but I got to experience that which I would not have if I were in Chorale.

So, if you encounter a trial like that, perhaps you should evaluate and see if it's a "try, try again" situation, or a "try something else" situation.

p.s. I need to get more photos on here, but my camera battery dies every minute and a half. sorry.

p.p.s. I'm looking forward to seeing Phantom of the Opera this Tuesday, and then seeing Rain on April 5! (Both at the Pantages Theater)

Happy January 26th!

Here's something to celebrate the "Great One's" birthday.



Gretzky was better at hockey than any other athlete in their sport.


Yes, I just said that. Or wait, do any other athletes share or hold 61 of their league records? (nope)

January 24th

January 24th is not only two days prior to a very special day (Jan. 26th-Wayne Gretzky's birthday), but it is also Saturday.

Here are a few noteworthy things:

-3 games in 3 days for Bulldogs FC this past week. We went 0-2-1 in those games against some very good teams. That's a very tiring schedule, I must say.

-I reunite with my old roommate Chad White today, as he moves in with me. (And then we move out again, coming soon).

-A few of us are going to see The Cutout Casuals, our friend David's band, at the Whiskey in Hollywood.

-I went to Amoeba Records again last night, only buying two cd's (Dashboard and Jon Foreman) for $10. That's self-control.

-Bo threw up at least four times the other night. Something did not agree with his stomach.

-I watched another episode of Planet Earth today. *speechless*

-How are you?

That thing going around FaceBook, and if I could only own 5 records.

I copied and posted that thing going around facebook, "25 or 16 or whatever number of things about You." Don't be a hater, it's fun, and you can get to know more about each other. Just look at it that way.

1. I mostly wear Adidas Samba shoes.
2. I wear two pairs of socks with my soccer cleats.
3. I wish I knew my Grandpa's. (they both died when I was super little)
4. I like Kermit the Frog better than Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny.
5. I'm really disappointed they haven't released seasons 4-7 of Boy Meets World.
6. I've had a birthday in Uganda, Ukraine, and Tanzania.
7. I picked the Anaheim Ducks to be 'my team' before their first game. I based it on my affinity for Disney, but am very glad they are not associated with Disney anymore.
8. My two current 'dream' occupations are Astronaut and pro hockey player.
9. I want to be like Mr. Rogers (in most ways, not all)
10. I was accepted to, and really wanted to attend University of California, San Diego. God wanted me to go to Citrus and Master's, though.
11. I'm not really into 'action' movies anymore. (Except for classic Harrison Ford stuff)
12. Five Iron Frenzy is my favorite band. I relate to them in many a way, and I once saw them 3 times in 3 nights (Santa Ana, San Diego, and Hollywood). I also drove 18+ hours with some friends to see their last show.
13. I once went to a minor league hockey game by myself (Long Beach Ice Dogs)
14. One of my most comfortable flights was a jetBlue flight from Oakland to Long Beach.
15. It seems like God has grown me most when I've been 'sad' or 'scared.'
16. My favorite person to play music with is my brother. I've never 'really' played with my dad.
17. I have an old hockey shoulder injury that acts up time to time.
18. I think I am so blessed to still be close friends with people I've known since I was about 5.
19. I once wore #19 on a hockey team. (I was usually #9 (Paul Kariya))


For my next segment, imagine you are left on a desert island for the rest of your life. You are allowed to pick 5 records to have with you, and you will have means to listen to them. (Let's not get all focused on the hypothetical situation, just focus on the 5 albums) Remember, these don't have to be necessarily the ones you think are 'Greatest Albums of All-Time," this is "if you could only listen to 5 albums for the rest of your life."

Here are the ones that mean most to me:

Further Seems Forever - Hide Nothing

This record has quickly put itself amongst my favorite since I bought it a few months ago. I always knew they were pretty good, and even got to see one of their last California shows in 2006 thanks to Steve Tenney, but for some reason I never listened closely until now. A lot of what I was going through in life related to the lyrical content of the record. Lines like, "live your life, don't hide it all," and "the times that I feel nothing, you bring enough," really hit me hard, and they are musically very interesting. At first glance, you might assume they're just another emo-sounding alt. rock band, but they are very unpredictable in their songs, and I really like that.

Thrice - Vheissu

Intensity in music AND lyric?!?! This is such a solid record front to back, it's got the intensity of "Image of the Invisible," the heaviness of "The Earth will Shake," the melody of "Music Box," the cinematic appeal of "Stand and Feel your Worth," and will take you sailing under the "Red Sky." This is thrice in between the super hard, in-your-face Artist in the Ambulance and the very experimental Alchemy Index, thus, the sound is somewhere in between there. Yesssss.


Les Miserables

This musical was my life for three months, thus carries a lot of life memories within the music. I also love the story of redemption, and my two favorite songs are "One Day More," and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."


braveSaintSaturn - The Light of Things Hoped For

Reese Roper writes lyrics and music that I really connect to. This record is the more meloncholy and 'sad' project that speaks of heartbreak, hurt, and the hope one can find in the midst of feeling lost and alone. The tagline of this record should be, "sometimes, the bravest thing of all is to hope" (Hope in God's Love)


Five Iron Frenzy - The End is Here

Again, Reese Roper's lyrics with the more upbeat and creative music styles made by him and the band. This is the recording of their final show in Denver, Co, in Nov. of 2003. This collection of songs performed that evening sum up their 8.5 year career, and ends with a heart-wrenching and emotional performance of their 'sacred song', Every New Day. The End is Here also includes the "End is Near" record, so it's kind of a two-for-one choice.

What would you choose if you could only have 5 records?

A Few Noteworthy Headlines...

-Bulldogs FC won their first league game on Wednesday, Jan. 14th, 5-4 over Calvary Christian Eagles! (First soccer win in SGCS history!)

-I got the Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons ep (Cabin Ghosts) at the recommendation of my sister (-in-law). It's pretty great.

-I finally received Horton Hears a Who! dvd in the mail. It's been a long time coming. It's a great, great film.

-I'm currently listening to Ella Fitzgerald.

-I visited my old school, The Master's College, last night with my former roommate of 3 years, Matt Nalamlieng. I got a free carabiner and coffee mug from the Alumni desk (Thanks Holly!), and got to see a few old friends. We had planned on going to the main session, then staying for the Chapel Band concert, but it didn't exactly pan out that way.....

I had planned to meet Matt at his house at 6 p.m. As I approached his street, he called me on the telephone to say, "I don't think I can go." I said, "What?! Come on!" He proceeded to say something along the lines of, "My fish tank broke, so I need to take care of everything..." At first, I thought it was no big deal, we could fix it in 15 minutes, and still make it to the conference.

I went into his house, and he said, "you might want to take off your shoes and socks, and roll up your pants." I began to think that there was more damage than I had anticipated.

He began to tell me the story of this traumatic event, which happened while trying to make a somewhat routine alteration by drilling a small hole in his tank. As he had pushed the drill in, a large crack brought itself into existence, and the water began pushing, as if trying to escape the grasps of the tank. Matt was stuck, like one of those cartoons who has to keep his finger in the hole of the leaking wall, but can't remedy the situation without taking his finger off the hole, which would lead to certain water flow onto the ground. As he held his finger in the hole, pressing against the crack as not to let the force of the 40 gallons of water take over, he had to make a decision: either stay there holding the hole until someone came home, or make a move to transfer the fish to a smaller tank he previously had.

He knew he had to attempt to save his fish community, which consisted of two clown fish, a shrimp, a little crab, and two other ones I forget right now. As a he let go, water rushed against the wall the tank was against, and he frantically grabbed the fish to transfer them. The first clown, he grabbed and heroically tossed to the other tank, only to see that he had overshot the small tank! The clown twitched a few times on the ground before Matt rescued him, again, and placed him in the small tank. He systematically grabbed the others, leaving only this yellow one to save. But this fish was kind of weird, as he kept playing and evading Matt's grasps, not realizing the situation. In frustration, Matt yelled, "I'm trying to save you!" and was finally able to save the fish. Keep in mind, in all this time, Matt is home alone, as I did not arrive on the scene for another 20-30 minutes.

Matt was able to get all the fish to the small tank, and proceeded to try and keep some of the spilling water from going absolutely everywhere.

When I walked up his stairs, I saw a soaked carpet (in some areas), and a large, cracked, 40-gallon fish tank in the bathroom tub.

"It felt like a bad dream," Matt said, as we assessed the situation. I laughed, a lot. Luckily, he did too, and we started drying up the wet spots, and throwing away the broken parts. A fish tank exploding is a very traumatic thing, I learned, and we googled the situation to see if any others had experienced anything similar. They had. Some people had their tanks explode in the middle of the night for, what appears to be, no reason. Wow.

It was definitely memorable, and I got to hang out with Matt the whole evening, so I had a great time.



Big gulps, huh?