One last time...

...hopefully! I am taking the BEC section of the CPA exam this morning. I can't guarantee that I am going to pass, but I feel pretty confident that I will. Hopefully I will take (and pass) this part and in four weeks I will take (and pass) the audit section and I will be able to call myself a CPA. Until next time...

I Am Completely Confused?!?!?

Last week one day I heard someone going on and on about something that happened on the roast of Mike and Mike. It was a charity event put on by ESPN. Apparently Dana Jacobson used some horrific language when speaking about Notre Dame football (can't really blame her there), "Touchdown Jesus", and Jesus Himself. See Thom Abraham's blog regarding what was said. The most appalling thing to me was the following in an article on ESPN.com about her returning to work today: "Jacobson has been criticized for comments she made at the Atlantic City roast about the Notre Dame football program. The network deemed the remarks 'inappropriate' and suspended her for a week. Jacobson issued an apology at that point." Are you kidding me? Criticized about comments made about ND football? What about the comments that are completely offensive to Christians? Where are the people who often times call for people's jobs when offensive comments are made? She uses the "F" word in connection with Jesus and no one really says a word other than "hey, don't you talk about ND football." Wow, what is this world coming to? Until next time...

A Sad Evening

Tonight our hearts go out to Jennifer Bozeman's family. She was lady that Allison worked with. She was diagnosed with leukemia about a year and a half ago. She passed away this evening. We were keeping up with her through caringbridge.org and her latest post three days ago seemed pretty upbeat. Unfortunately her body could not fight the fight any longer. Please pray for her family as they go through this difficult time.

Why Do Kids Bite??

Well Cooper had a rough go of it today. When I got to daycare to pick him up I noticed two yellow sheets under his name. A yellow sheet is an accident report. The first said that he was sitting on his friend and his friend bit him. I don't know about you, but I don't typically bite my friends. I am sure the "friend" was trying to get him off of him/her, but I still don't understand why kids bite.

And round one goes to...the bucket. Apparently Cooper was walking with a bucket and fell. When he fell he hit is eye and it has a red place, is swollen, and looks as though it may become a black eye. Until next time...

We're Home

Thanks for all of your prayers. Cooper did great in the hospital. Dr. Werkhaven is a great doctor and makes us feel very comfortable as well as all of the nurses and other doctors at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. That is such a great place, for the circumstances, and they seem to take such good care of children. Cooper's surgery was scheduled for 12:00 p.m. They took him back at about 11:15 and Dr. Werkhaven was talking to us about how it went by about 11:45. We got to go and see Cooper at about 12:15, and were on our way home by about 12:45. Melanie came by to check on him and we appreciated that so much. Here are some pictures that we took while we were waiting to be checked in. Thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers for our little buddy. Until next time...

Prayer Request

Cooper will have tubes put in his ears on Friday at noon. It is a simple procedure, but anytime they take you child away and put them to sleep, there is still a certain amount of nervousness. Please pray for Cooper, me and Alli, as well as the doctors as they perform the surgery tomorrow. Our prayer is that this will help alleviate the ear infections and make Cooper feel better on a day-to-day basis. Check back tomorrow for an update on how things go tomorrow. Until next time...

The Search Ends

Monday night me, Allison, and Cooper went to eat at Cracker Barrel with my mom, dad, Jared, and Charis. We had a good time. We were eating our food when my phone rang and I noticed Jason's name. As I started to answer the phone I thought, "I bet he has a Wii!"

Jeremy: Hello
Jason: What's up?
Jeremy: Not much, whatcha up to?
Jason: Let me ask you a question, do you still want this?
Jeremy: You got me a Wii?
Jason: I am scanning my card right now.
Jeremy: I am eating dinner. When I get done I will call you and bring you some money.
Jason: Cool.

That is the kinda friend Jason is. Not that he picked up a Wii for me, but that he actually found one. Once Allison and I figured out how hard it is to find a Wii, we called in the big guns. We have two friends that can get things like this done, Jason and Rusty. Both have a Wii for themselves, and Jason found me one and found another one today. So now that I have one I need to brush up on my guitar skills and then it off to the Rhyne's house for a little showdown. Joey, are you ready? Until next time...

Upward Basketball

A little over a month ago I remembered Daniel Glenn telling us last year that they had a hard time getting referees for Upward basketball. So at our Sunday school Christmas party I told Daniel that I wanted to help. I signed up for 2 games each of the first four weeks of the season. This past Saturday was the first week. I called 3rd grade girls at 8 and 9 a.m. I had a lot of fun doing it but felt that sometimes I was not being aggressive enough with what I thought was happening. Daniel was exactly right that it gets easier the more you do it. In my mind it is kind of like when you hear sports people talk about the game slowing down as a rookie goes along in their first season. I was definitely more comfortable in the second game than in the first, and I felt like I could see a lot more of what was going on.

In talking to Daniel in between games Saturday he told me that many of the kids that play Upward basketball are unchurched kids. They are friends of a child that goes to one of the churches in the league and have decided to play. For those of you who don't know how Upward works, each week the team practices one hour. For part of that hour there is a devotional. Then on Saturday the team has a game and at halftime and/or before the game there is another devotional time. For some of these kids this is the only "church" they have. Today in Sunday school class the teacher told us of a time when he was coaching Upward. He said that he had a group of boys that didn't really pay much attention, especially during the devotion time. He said at the end of the season he felt glad that the season was finally over but unknowingly God had used him to get to those kids and He used those kids to get to our teacher, because at the end of the year-end celebration over half of his boys had made decisions for Christ. I am always amazed at the way God works. Even when we think we are in a situation we would rather not be in, God can use us.

I am really glad that I have decided to take a few hours over the next month to devote to a program that is touching little ones. It won't be long before Cooper is that age and there will be others who are willing to take time out of their lives to help him and the others get to know God better or for the first time. Until next time...

Staying Put

It is amazing to me how God works. Most, if not all, of you know that we have had our house on the market. We decided to do this back in the fall. There were many nights of discussions over traffic, dinner, and many other things that made us come to the conclusion that we wanted to sell our house and move closer to downtown. We made some preparations and talked through the price with Rusty and on the weekend of October 15 our house went on the market.

However, over the holidays Allison and I were talking about something totally unrelated and we both expressed that we had been having thoughts of taking the house off the market. We both decided we would pray about it, but we were going to leave it on the market and if it didn't sell, oh well. The other night we were flipping channels and randomly landed on Fox Business Channel. On that channel was the Dave Ramsey television show. As many of you also know, we are subscribers to the Dave Ramsey "cash envelope system." Through watching the show and an hour of discussion afterwards, we came to the conclusion that we were going to take the house off the market, pay down some of the other debt that we have (car note, student loans) and then consider moving. As I said earlier, isn't it funny how God works? We prayed about selling the house and thought that is what He wanted us to do, but it appears, at least to us, that He has things for us still here in Smyrna. Until next time...

The Wii Adventure

Well this past weekend was something to remember. Last June we visited our friends Wes and Melissa Omohundro in Lexington. While there they introduced us to the Nintendo Wii. We played it and I tried to talk Allison into getting one, but she refused. Then over their most recent visit they brought theirs and again we played it, and loved it. On New Year's Eve we visited our friends, the Rhynes. Their oldest child, Landon, got a Wii for Christmas along with Guitar Hero 3. We played it there and by this time I was convinced that I was going to get one, either with my own money or when I pass the exam as gift to me. So on New Year's Day Allison seemed to be on board. She was at least not telling to stop calling. After about 10 phone calls to various places I gave up and didn't really think much about it. On Friday night we called several different places, but none were available. Now the fun begins...

On Saturday morning I got up with Cooper at about 7:25 and fed him breakfast. We were playing and then Allison got up. While she was watching him I called the Wal-Mart in Smyrna. The lady in electronics told me they had three that were available...pay dirt. I got dressed and headed out. On my way there I called to ask if she could hold one for me. She said no, that they were first come, first served. I got to Wal-Mart in about 15 minutes and stood at the electronics counter waiting on someone to help. When she arrived, I asked if they had any Wiis. None, she replied. I asked did you sell all three in the last 15 minutes? She then informed me that she was told by her manager that they were not allowed to sell them until 12:01 am and that the register would not even ring them up. So I left and began calling other places in driving distance. The only other place that had any was the Wal-Mart on Nolensville Rd., they had four and were going to sell them at midnight.

At some point during the day, my brother called the Smyrna Wal-Mart and was told that they would not be available until 8 am Sunday morning. So at this point I was thinking that I had two chances, midnight on Nolensville Rd. and 8 am in Smyrna. At 10:30 my brother and his fiance, Charis, met me at my house to drive to Wal-Mart. When we arrived there were already 4 people in line, one of which had been there since 6 pm. We then called the Wal-Mart in Smyrna and were told that they would be putting them out for sale at 12:01 and there was one person in line, "so you better hurry." We got in the car and headed for Smyrna. As we were getting off the exit Jared called to see how many people were in line and there were three people in line for three Wiis. So needless to say I still have not found one. As I sit here and write this I can't really believe that I went through all of that for a game system that has been out for more than a year.

One other thing, Jared called the Wal-Mart in Columbia around 12:30 am and they had 25 available. However, there were already 25 people in line and they were going to have to wait until 8 am to buy them. Now that's just too much.

Until next time...