tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286074912024-02-18T22:09:42.749-05:00Abrupt ConversationalistYea so I'm blunt and I'm not the best phone talker, but that doesn't mean I don't have something good to say... ok bye.Josh Maxwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04329312540403949674noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-76995114380260187652010-04-14T14:39:00.010-04:002010-04-14T20:08:12.620-04:00Running Improvements since FebruaryI think I'm becoming a running addict.. seriously. Kids that are in my Youth Group have heard me say when I first got to Winnemucca a little over a year ago, that "Running makes me angry" cause I hated the idea.. It's funny what a year will do.. but anyway, I started running just to lose weight, but now I'm up to running 3-5 days a week with distances varying from no shorter then 3 miles and up to 8 miles(which I actually will run next week, my longest run so far has been 7 miles).<div><br /></div><div>I use twitter which updated my facebook status, and I tweet the results of almost every run I do. Before I had my Garmin 405cx watch I would just record the time and distance(which I measured in the beginning by driving my car around the block, and then I found mapmyrun.com thanks to my brother-in-law J.. But either way I'd like to show you the tweets from February and how they compare to the past couple of weeks.. I think the improvement is staggering, but that's just me</div><div><br /></div><div>This is my first official 5k distance run without stopping</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/js/129526/"></script><noscript><iframe name="tp129526" id="tp129526" width="500" height="200" frameborder="0" src="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/embed/129526/" style="overflow: hidden; display: block; width: 500px; height: 200px;"><p><a href="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/embed/129526/" target="_blank">View JoshMaxwell’s tweet</a></p></iframe></noscript><div><br /></div><div>This is my PR(Personal Record) which I ran last tuesday</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/js/129531/"></script><noscript><iframe name="tp129531" id="tp129531" width="500" height="200" frameborder="0" src="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/embed/129531/" style="overflow: hidden; display: block; width: 500px; height: 200px;"><p><a href="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/embed/129531/" target="_blank">View JoshMaxwell’s tweet</a></p></iframe></noscript><div><br /></div><div>This was the first time I ran 5 miles and thought I was going to die</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/js/129532/"></script><noscript><iframe name="tp129532" id="tp129532" width="500" height="200" frameborder="0" src="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/embed/129532/" style="overflow: hidden; display: block; width: 500px; height: 200px;"><p><a href="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/embed/129532/" target="_blank">View JoshMaxwell’s tweet</a></p></iframe></noscript><div><br /></div><div>This is my new PR for the 5 mile</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/js/129533/"></script><noscript><iframe name="tp129533" id="tp129533" width="500" height="200" frameborder="0" src="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/embed/129533/" style="overflow: hidden; display: block; width: 500px; height: 200px;"><p><a href="http://tweetpaste.thingamaweb.com/embed/129533/" target="_blank">View JoshMaxwell’s tweet</a></p></iframe></noscript><br /><br />That's a almost a 9 minute improvement for both distances in just about 2 months... Man there's a lot of potential here.<br /><br />I'm sorry if it seems I'm being egotistical, I'm not trying to be.. One of the main reasons I update so often is because I know that the more people that know I'm doing this means the more people that will hold me accountable, whether verbally or non-verbally. If you're annoyed with my constant updates, that's fine, I can't be offended, so hide me.. I might get annoyed if I saw so many run updates too.<br /><br />Either way, thank you for holding me accountable.. Tomorrow I'll post some short term, long term and ongoing goals in my running future. ok bye.Josh Maxwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04329312540403949674noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-73312743730405269122010-04-13T14:59:00.005-04:002010-04-13T19:15:42.643-04:00I had an encounter with an Animorph<div style="text-align: left;">So as many of you know, I've been running quite regularly lately, I'm up to 3 miles 3 times a week and two longer runs for the other two days (This week it's a 5 mile run and a 7 mile run).. Last week is what I would call a complete failure to complete my running training.. I ended up only running one time and that's it.. I was pretty good at making excuses too.</div><div><br /></div><div>So this week I decided to start anew.. to actually run all 5 times on the days that I wanted to run.. I had previously failed and crammed my runs in during the other weeks because I would never run on Monday (who knows why)... But either way, I got up Monday Morning and ran 3.1 miles, and it felt good. I think it was the first time I actually felt like a real runner. I was still really slow, but that'll be the way it is until I continue to lose the weight. I felt good.. My heart rate was right where it was supposed to be, I felt like my stride was actually "runnerish".. I don't know how else to explain it, but it was good.</div><div><br /></div><div>So this morning I got up and changed Joshua's diaper, cause Corrie can't do it lately because of excess (pregnancy)nausea in the morning, and got dressed drank some water and headed out for my run fulling expecting a repeat of yesterday. My watch was at 20% battery, so I had to conserve and run a route that I knew was very close to 3.1 miles so I wouldn't have to continually check my distance (I get pretty OCD about it).. You can see the route if you click the link at the bottom.. If you look at the map (via the link) you'll see that at about half way through my route I turned right onto "Westmoreland Rd".. This is a main two lane paved road (I emphasize the fact that it's paved because a lot of the roads around here are just dirt and gravel). As I was running, feeling really good about the fact that I can run 3 miles without any trouble at all, listening to my "Emery" Pandora channel I saw a large bird fly over my head, pretty closely.. I said to myself, that looks like a seagull at first glance, but that's a crazy idea cause there's no seagulls in the middle of the desert. So the bird landed on the tree I was directly adjacent to and screeched, I was able to see it up close and know that it was a massive hawk..</div><div><iframe width="465" height="548" frameborder="0" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/29934759"></iframe><br /></div><div>:sidebar: My thought process when I realized it was actually a hawk;</div><div><br /></div><div>I always loved looking for hawks when I was a kid.. You were always able to spot them in the winter in Upstate NY because all the trees lost their leaves, and hawks are large and easily noticeable. It was actually a game that my sister, my dad and me would play whenever we were driving on the highway with trees lining the road on either side for a majority of the ride, we would see who could spot the most hawks.. It was fun.. Hawks also remind me of the book series "Animorphs" where kids have the ability to turn into an animal that they touch, but they can only stay that animal for a limited time because if they "morph" for too long they become that animal. One kid morphed into a red tail hawk and forever was a hawk(unless he changed back in later books, who knows I never read too many). Also seeing the hawk reminded me of the book "My side of the Mountain" in which a kid runs away from home in the redwood forest region of the country, makes a home in a redwood tree, and then catches a Hawkling/egglet/whatever you call baby hawks, and trains it to hunt for him, and basically be his companion</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>:end sidebar:</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, Suddenly amidst my reminiscing I felt something whoosh by my head and saw the hawk continue to fly over me, but closer this time. Now in the adrenaline/endorphin filled moment of running, and a hawk flying this close to me I really want to say that I felt the tail feathers of the bird come in contact with my head.. After further review and with a calmer heart rate I've come to the conclusion that what I felt was a rush of air caused by the hawk. Because if that hawk really hit me I would have known it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>So now I've realized that the hawk isn't too happy with me innocently jogging on Westmoreland Road, I looked ahead and saw that there was tree with a massive nest in it and figured that it was a protective mother.. Was the bird blind? Did it really expect a 250lb man to climb 25 feet into the air to threaten its nest, maybe if I was sub 200.. </div><div><br /></div><div>The hawk landed on the next tree and screeched and I ran past it more cautiously and turned my head to see it takeoff from the tree and start heading for me again.. this time it was definitely much closer to me, and I had to duck to avoid it as it zoomed past me while screeching to land in the next tree.. This Hawk was really mad at me.. But I continued running.. And it came at me again, this time I really picked up my pace and ran to other side of the road(in retrospect I should have done this much earlier) and got clear of the trees that contained this hawks' nest I continued my run and finished 3.1 miles in 33:23 which is about a 10:46 pace (slow, but my average lately).. I got home and told Corrie the story, Of course it was laden with over-exaggerations of how it actually attacked me and how I fended it off with my bare hands (you can't blame me, the endorphins were still pumping)</div><div><br /></div><div>As I sat uploading my run data onto the computer I asked Corrie if she would go take a picture of the hawk, cause I was almost positive that it would still be there (I asked Corrie, not because I was afraid of the Hawk, but because she's a much better photographer then I will ever be). Alas the Hawk wasn't there, it must not have viewed Corrie as a threat or could sense that Corrie was with child and could directly relate with the Hawk on some weird level. But she did get a picture of the massive nest, which is right here. you can probably zoom it in to get a better look.</div><div><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuYxZZb0G6nQCXO92UhvtYEouzWncaP5m8ybWTq88X8j8r94nPB8Yb6MDXP3v4TZdLRrmve16IbcUKe-Fig8K_vEJZfZi1Y1h5lnw2NhNtkpX9oqFxqa65YbY1cyW5rZ6p17a/s320/IMG_2732.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459703108548003218" /><div><br /></div><div>I'm going to run that way tomorrow too to see if the hawk tries to attack me again.. I bet if I got a stuffed hawk or some other type of bird of prey and put it on a long pole I could get the Hawk to attack it, but that would take too much time, but it's fun to think about what would happen.. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ok that's all I have to say about that.. What do you think about when you see a hawk? My side of the Mountain? Hawk spotting? Animorphs? Something else? I'd love to hear what you think.. check out the link to see where it all went down.. ok bye.</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/29934759">3.1 miles in 33:23.. I got dive bombed by a hawk 3x's too by joshmaxwellyp at Garmin Connect - Details</a>Josh Maxwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04329312540403949674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-25435934658163760552010-03-14T08:51:00.003-04:002010-03-14T09:02:35.283-04:00But as for me, I trust in YouLast night at around 8:20pm I watched a little 1 year old boy pass into the loving arms of our Savior. I stood there, prayed with the family, cried with the family and asked God what my purpose in this should be.<div><br /></div><div>As I drove the 2 1/2 hours back to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Winnemucca</span> I had a lot of time to think even among conversing with my friend and fellow elder from our church.</div><div><br /></div><div>This morning I'm supposed to preach, and I had prepared a sermon on dealing with temptation, and I was 90% ready to give it, but God was telling me, "Josh you need to preach on grief" So at 11:30pm when I walked through the door, completely exhausted, not only because of the long drive, but because I've been at church all weekend for a lock-in for our Mission Team that is going to Zambia this summer (this all equals no sleep). But anyway, I walked through the door with full intentions that I would prepare a sermon on dealing with grief, and mourning.</div><div><br /></div><div>My sinful self, said, well I can prepare this while I lay in bed, then I hit the bed and my sinful self said, "you're ready for your sermon on Temptation, and you're gonna lose an hour of sleep anyway, just go to sleep" It's so much easier to sin.</div><div><br /></div><div>God had different plans and he woke me up at 1:30 and said "Grief", and at 2:30 "Mourning" and at 3:30 "Why aren't you listening to me?" and at 4:30 "Get up and do as I say"</div><div><br /></div><div>So I did.. and he gave me the Scripture </div><div><br /></div><div>Please pray for me this morning as I will be sharing the story of David and his son Absalom, and be looking how David dealt with mourning through Psalm 55.. This is completely a God thing, and I need to trust Him. So much easier to say that then do it. Thank you.</div><div><br /></div><div>"But as for me, I trust in You" -Psalm 55:23</div>Josh Maxwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04329312540403949674noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-36899419614330373432010-02-25T11:30:00.005-05:002010-02-25T11:49:04.906-05:00weight loss progress<div style="text-align: center;">These are pictures that people have been asking me about.. I've actually lost 15-20 more pounds since taking these pictures, but I still think they're unbelievable.. Warning.. no shirt.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Week 1 Profile</div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZDlJrL4IB8BadfDzj-mJHZENZm4e3ZDE5ZrdtXl-OYWJJpvH2sCXVi8u-WNiM-69q5RTUsLYK3wc7NUcnEUFM95IsT_k-UTsG2tHvRJA1OX70DhVBDIvEvcWka2-BhCa-R80/s320/Week+1+Profile.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442222724723853330" /><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;">Week 11 Profile</div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk5Zu-3hWpyUhnN44QNku8tctNs_tyMzunjcu4pRQVVAfPoNCf7CBvSvrUSduYMAZtlMKvjyX4tAL76Y5fr5RMBNZJKQlisX9p4Ve3AHTOq5_fFeOMwO6st7LU1iNqwU5MsYn5/s320/Week+11+profile.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442222736483458978" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Week 1 Front</div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53fE4ED6gItqjP8-8nq6NMoBbpQ2fI9SOM4yCzar9bKiokFfXPnStGX7xZONF9N-QnF2iTs7L-bDpHtQH6e1Sj9F4fV-OTtabOn8IRVpY-G9NkzkS8RW0ctsRoXZMHxgKksjU/s320/Week+1+Front.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442220425432660786" /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">Week 11 Front</div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ntaq40t_k8xvJ8phQCPp_CLsB04I9Y5t4kO-SxzC_wWOVUeCKXwN8h64Eups614sNH6FfZhgc0-QdakI2AgWNhAR4OOnU-KTG6LAziTTgCwto2rsRSIKIh8iakQPK0LZq_tI/s320/week+11+front.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442221194242710450" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As of today I'm down a total of 44 pounds.. rock rock on.</div></div>Josh Maxwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04329312540403949674noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-696500332524598772010-02-18T18:11:00.002-05:002010-02-18T18:20:47.533-05:00LentI saw this post over at whyismarko.com ( I edited his list a bit, but liked a lot of them)<br /><br />I'm not trying to bash lent or those who are participating in sacrificing something that keeps them from a stronger relationship with Christ.. and I think that there's nothing that we can sacrifice that would equal the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross..<br /><br />I just think that this is a good list that shows how good I am at abstaining from so many things.. <br /><br />THINGS I AM GIVING UP FOR LENT THIS YEAR<br /><br />ferel cat adoption<br />miley cyrus music<br />michael jackson gloves<br />driving under the speed limit<br />reading chick lit<br />putting my tongue in fans<br />pogoing<br />watching the movie “little women”<br />D&D<br />stamp collecting<br />running for political office<br />taunting babies<br />launching my rap career<br />nude banjo playing<br />climbing mt everest<br />buying gold bullion<br />thong underwear<br />my search for the “lost” island<br />stove pipe hats<br />parachute pants<br />jam sessions with U2 in my basement<br />colonizing<br />phrenology<br />constructing a scale model of ancient jerusalem out of mike & ikes<br />vampire hunting<br />amateur brain surgery<br />freeing willy<br /><br />Hopefully all that are participating in lent are handling their sacrifices well, and able to re-focus on their relationship with Christ.Josh Maxwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04329312540403949674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-16630109788554662002010-02-14T04:50:00.002-05:002010-02-14T05:20:41.378-05:00week 10 update with a well deserved explanationSo the two people who actually read this blog might have wondered where the regular posts have been.. I said when I began this that I would attempt to update this on a fairly regular basis. I initially did plan on this but because after my second week I decided not to because it would be broadcast to the members of my church who pledged money..not that I didn't want them to be updated, but I wanted them to be fully surprised with the actual amount of weight I've lost..<br /><br />The reason that I'm writing this blog now is two-fold.. I can't fall asleep and because of what I think is the greatest physical feat I've ever achieved.. as I've written in the past i ve been working on "the couch to 5k" program to give me something to work towards during my weight loss journey, it has been going great, its been 3 weeks since I've done any interval runs and I've been running for longer periods of time at one.. last week I decided to not follow the prescribed time period for running, which happened to be 28 minutes and see if I could complete the entire 3.1 miles to see what my time would be.. I did it with some intermittent walking and my end time was 40:28 which breaks down to about a twelve and a half minute/mile pace..I thought it was good, that I was able to do it especially because I could hardly run 60 seconds without wanting to jump in front of cars to end my miserable existence 9 weeks ago.. I did this a couple of days in a row with the same results.. and I felt semi-discouraged, I wanted to be fffaster.. I think that's just my competitive nature, and I should have just been satisfied with what I've accomplished thus far.<br /><br />But because of my discouragement I called my brother-in-law J who's really into running and asked what his experience and opinion were on what was going on.. he told me that I shouldn't worry about time, but just building up my endurance, which I agreed with, but he did say in passing that to improve his time he just went a little bit faster, not crazy fast.. I had never thought of it this way, and looking back on the past week or so I figured out that as I tried to increase my speed I ended up over exerting myself and ultimately ended up going much slower to compensate or had to walk for a little bit..<br /><br />So..<br /><br />Today I wanted to put what j had said into practice.. just go a little bit faster and it worked... I ended up completing the 3.1 miles in 35:47 which averages out to be around 11:30/mile I was so excited, I ended up shaving a whole minute off what I had previously recorded and felt absolutely great, I shouted YES so loud outside my house that corrie could hear me from inside and thought that I was injured or something.. it was overall great feeling of accomplishment.. I in now way expect to go out there on Monday and see another couple of minutes shaved off my time, but feel confident that this new perspective has changed how I will run.<br /><br />So that's my greatest physical achievement.. it might not seem like much to some, but its all I can claim.. I look forward to reporting better results in the weeks to come.<br /><br />Sorry for any grammatical or spelling mistakes as I typed this all on my phone.<br /><br />Ok bye.Josh Maxwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04329312540403949674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-69509324562068675922009-12-11T12:57:00.006-05:002009-12-11T13:08:44.992-05:00Week 1 Weigh inSo here it is my week 1 weigh in... I really can't believe it's been one week.. What else I can't believe is how much I lost.<br /><br />My initial weight was 295.4 lbs<br />And when I weighed in this morning I was 282.2 lbs<br />total weight loss: 13.2 lbs<br />total percentage of weight loss was 4.4%<br /><br />It's pretty amazing.. and I can't really believe it.. but with hard work and eating right it happened.. I know that a portion of this was water weight loss and I don't look to have this kind of loss next week, but any weight loss is a good.. Well that's about it... here's the pictures<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPRXzsge3vbayoVYUQ4YodlVWQZHEydvFh8tsh8E-0niKeTi8MEQUV5cuo1vHwfCeQiS_QeShF30aG_iiIKc61ul3lyL7V9DGJT1EIr296T8EQiRkMLI-AJIJcoqyFCcxDOFt/s1600-h/Week+2+Scale.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPRXzsge3vbayoVYUQ4YodlVWQZHEydvFh8tsh8E-0niKeTi8MEQUV5cuo1vHwfCeQiS_QeShF30aG_iiIKc61ul3lyL7V9DGJT1EIr296T8EQiRkMLI-AJIJcoqyFCcxDOFt/s320/Week+2+Scale.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414041851814978210" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYw6BcshnSdeYJR6akldd5b6nhYNAu83i-5BPsTRXHwVRNpKm-q84NPdDFgQpjX1oJQK3Mrj66-8eWf3EdOAd9VcnbNGmrn2Hi6wS_Z4krxlOoFMA2dutbOrVQgmcRN9sE_5eZ/s1600-h/Week+2+Front.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYw6BcshnSdeYJR6akldd5b6nhYNAu83i-5BPsTRXHwVRNpKm-q84NPdDFgQpjX1oJQK3Mrj66-8eWf3EdOAd9VcnbNGmrn2Hi6wS_Z4krxlOoFMA2dutbOrVQgmcRN9sE_5eZ/s320/Week+2+Front.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414040758443129506" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhel-ZlcS-8ekL4vDntlX4CncDl6_Ad9YseKmuhakonwxPjDtuIVl669oFc80LlgFK3VFRdCYo-hFUKO-O-hsL-6poLDvu6VMtASh6elA81em0ZM9_cUOJCZqQe3OeLmlc5Zpbl/s1600-h/Week+2+Profile.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhel-ZlcS-8ekL4vDntlX4CncDl6_Ad9YseKmuhakonwxPjDtuIVl669oFc80LlgFK3VFRdCYo-hFUKO-O-hsL-6poLDvu6VMtASh6elA81em0ZM9_cUOJCZqQe3OeLmlc5Zpbl/s320/Week+2+Profile.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414041006468323586" border="0" /></a>Josh Maxwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04329312540403949674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-71680166531564411972009-12-11T02:49:00.002-05:002009-12-11T02:59:09.842-05:00I am a Loser update 12.10.09 and Week 1 RecapToday started off not so good. I had planned on going swimming this morning, and I didn't wake up until 5:30.. that's the exact time I need to be at the pool to be able to lift weights and swim.. so I ended up going to the weight room, lifting weights, chest, back and legs and then came home to go for a run. Today a switch was hit in me that made jogging so much easier.. Like I've said before. I've wanted to quit before I've finished my full circuit of running/walking, but today when I finished my 8th run, I felt like I could keep on going.. I did not however because I didn't want to over exert myself to quickly.. So after I finished running, I walked for about 20 minutes and decided to try another full circuit, and I completed it.. I was even able to jog for almost 2 minutes for my last two minutes of the run.. Man was I excited. so that was my day today.<br /><br />Now for a recap, I'll probably post this on a weekly basis, so people have an idea of what's gone on.. I'll post my weigh in weight, and pictures tomorrow, cause that's the actually weigh in date.. so anyway on with the recap<br /><br />Friday - Started, Ran/Walked for 4 miles felt like crap<br /><br />Saturday - Ran/Walked for 3.5 miles felt more like crap because my muscles were sore from the day before.. After run/walking I raked leaves for 7 hours.. yea that was awesome.<br /><br />Sunday - Day of Rest<br /><br />Monday - Swam for 20 minutes, then lifted weights for 45 minutes.. I felt inadequate cause I still felt like crap and could hardly swim a length of the pool.<br /><br />Tuesday - I believe this was my turning point of the week. I slept in and didn't make it to the pool as planned, but went to lift weights, felt kind of sore, but was able to work through it. After lifting I ran/walked, and felt like I was starting to accomplish something<br /><br />Wednesday - Failure.. I was still able to eat right, but I had no motivation whatsoever to run like I had planned.<br /><br />Thursday - See above post.. I feel great<br /><br />So that ends week 1 of 12 of the I am a Loser Competition. How much do you think I lost. I'm anxious to find out tomorrow morning. ok bye.Josh Maxwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04329312540403949674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-152769269433931692009-12-09T20:52:00.002-05:002009-12-09T21:15:59.467-05:00A bad Day and a rantI guess since I've had so many good updates over the past couple of days it was about time to have a bad one.. My bad day however did not have to do with my diet.. I didn't run like I wanted to, but I think that demotivation came from what occurred earlier in the day.<br /><br />I had planned on having a good day off.. but at 8:30 this morning Corrie woke me up and said that there was water everywhere, I went in to the laundry room and we found that there was water pouring from the ceiling.. I didn't know exactly how to shut it off and spent about 10 minutes figuring it out.. I finally found out that it was the swamp cooler line, it had obviously busted and I had to turn off the valve.. It's my fault that it happened. I'm supposed to winterize the swamp cooler, and had put it off and put it off, and actually last night I had planned on going up on the roof to get it done, but I guess the best laid plans are destined to fail, especially when you don't fully lay out the plans. <br /><br />So anyway I went over to our friends house to borrow his ladder to get up on the roof, and put it in the explorer. I was in such a rush to get back that I took the back road, which is really just a four wheeler trail and when I hit a big bump the ladder jumped up and hit the rear windshield and completely shattered it.<br /><br />It was at this point that I started thinking about money that we don't have.. Corrie and I basically live paycheck to paycheck trying to pay off school and CC debt and because of that our savings is practically $0 most of the time. We had saved a little bit so that we could go to NJ this upcoming week, but that still wasn't a lot. Because it's so cold outside we have to replace the rear windshield, and the swamp cooler line is our responsibility as stated in our lease agreement..<br /><br />So with that said we're probably not going to be able to make it to NJ this next week. This upsets me so much, not because of me, but because of how much Corrie was looking forward to this trip.. But who knows, maybe $350 dollars will just show up in our bank account, nothing is impossible with God.<br /><br />And that leads to my rant.. Earlier today I posted a status on facebook "I throw my hands up in the air and ask why?!" and although this may seem like it's focused to a singular comment, I know that everyone who read it probably though the same thing... and much offense was taken.. By saying to me "make sure you're asking why not? too, to the one deserves it" makes the assumption that I do not trust God, awesome. Is there somewhere in the Bible that says asking a why to God is a sin? that it's wrong to do? I've had 5 years of formal Biblical Education and I can't see a place where just asking why is a wrong things, or allows people to think that I'm not placing my trust in God. The sin comes when you ask why and then curse God when he doesn't have the answer. or are angry with God because of the situation.<br /><br />So let me again state that this is focused specifically to the person that made that statement as I know this person was probably just trying to provide encouragement, and will probably read this blog as well.<br /><br />Corrie and I are trusting God and who's to say that he won't provide, me asking why is me directly seeking God's will in this situation and praying that he will provide an answer.<br /><br />That's all I have to say, and I apologize if my stance on seeking God's will, and being a sinful Christian human being is offensive to anyone. So that's about it. <br /><br />Weigh in day is on Friday, lifting and swimming tomorrow. ok bye.Josh Maxwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04329312540403949674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-80585642500542229422009-12-08T20:07:00.002-05:002009-12-08T20:26:12.791-05:00I am a Loser Update 12.08.09So it's been a couple of days since I've updated my progress, but here it is.<br /><br />On Saturday night I decided to make Sunday a complete day of rest at least from exercising. With my job as a Pastor Sunday's are always the busiest day of the week. I hardly get to spend anytime at home with Corrie and the baby. If I were to add to my day by running then it would in time become detrimental. So that's what I did on Sunday.. church and a nap. although i was able to maintain the correct amount of calories for the day.<br /><br />Monday was my first day swimming.. I guess I forgot how difficult it was to swim a lot, because by the 3rd length of the pool I was absolutely exhausted.. I felt like someone was choking me, so after I struggled through the 4th length i took a good rest. after that i took it a lot slower, I mostly did freestyle(front crawl) but mixed in a couple of laps of breast and back stroke. all in all I was in the pool for about 25 minutes, and 5-7 of those minutes were spent resting.. Emily, a girl from our Old Youth Group is actually on the swim team for her college and she wrote me up a good swimming workout, which I will try on Thursday when I go back to the pool.<br /><br />After Swimming, I went next store to lift some weights, a member of our church here is the Police Captain in town and is in the Army Reserves (Correct me if I'm wrong Rick), because of this he has a pretty good lifting schedule that isn't too strenuous yet difficult enough to challenge me.. On Monday we did, Chest and Back with some calf workouts, and death crunches (that's not a special type of crunch, but what I affectionately call crunches.. death. So I ended up lifting for 45 minutes, and then headed home.. Did I mention this was all before 7:00am.. That's not a time I usually see, but I've been motivated to get up and do this, and so I am.<br /><br />This morning I meant to get up to go swimming, but didn't wake up until 5:30, which is the time I need to be at the pool so that I can lift weights with Rick and Madison after swimming at around 6:00am, so I decided to just go lift and run when I got back home. Today we worked Triceps, Biceps and Shoulders.. It was pretty intense.. My muscles felt like Jello afterward, but I know that's just the way it's going to be for awhile.. I definitely wasn't putting too much weight on because I was able to do every rep in each circuit, which is important, or so I'm told... The way I'll do weight training is Monday & Tuesday Lift, Wednesday rest, and Thursday & Friday Lift. I won't be working the same muscle group out two days in a row ever so it will give them a time to reccooperate from the workout.<br /><br />After Lifting I went home and got bundled up to go running.. If you saw my facebook status this morning you saw that it was -1 out this morning, and I think that was without the windchill, but I was determined to get my run in. The second I started my brisk warm-up walk all the snot that was in my nose froze solid so it made it hard to breathe, but I cleared it out and kept going.. Today was the first time I felt kind of okay about my ability to complete the task at hand.. I didn't want to quit until the 6th set of running, whereas the I had wanted to quit by the 3rd set the first two times I ran.. All in all I finished the 8 sets of Run/Walking and felt real comfortable, but since I don't want to do too much to quickly I walked briskly for about 20 minutes or so, then started a new set for the last 10 minutes of the four miles.. <br /><br />I've tried to diet and exercise a lot of times in my life, but for some reason this time seems a lot easier and like it's accomplishing more. I hope I'm not boring you with these long posts, I'm going to post them anyway. ok bye.Josh Maxwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04329312540403949674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-57318643546296461612009-12-05T23:31:00.002-05:002009-12-05T23:54:51.356-05:00I am a Loser update 12.05.09This morning I woke up at 6:00 am, and got out of bed close to 7:00, hey don't hold it against me I'm new to this whole getting up and working out thing.. I got dressed drank some water and ate a special k bar and by 7:30 I was out the door.<br /><br />I was pretty excited that I was able to complete a full 20 minute circuit of walking/running. It took me close to two miles.. after that, I walked for 30 minutes, and then did a couple run/walk cycles and went home... I didn't end up doing the whole 4 miles, cause I had to do a rake attack with the Zambia Team, and I didn't mind raking cause it would mean more physical activity. We ended up raking from 9:00am-4:00pm. I didn't rake the whole time, cause I had to leave and go get Subway for everyone.<br /><br />So after two days of walk/running I'm pretty sore.. My Hamstrings, and quads are aching, and my shins are doing a lot better then expected.. I just need to push through and it'll get easier, at least that's what I keep telling myself.<br /><br />ok bye.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-89730281089324811652009-12-05T01:04:00.003-05:002009-12-05T01:27:09.975-05:00I'm a Loser Update 12.04.09Well day one is over. I woke up this morning at 8:00am geared up to go running in the 12 degree weather outside. It was so cold.. I'm glad I bought some <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">underarmer</span> knock offs at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Wal</span>-Mart or else my clothes would have been frozen, from all the sweat I tend to produce.<br /><br />A lot of people have asked me what my plan for dieting is so here it is. As far as running goes I got it from Corrie that got it from a friend. It's called <a href="http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml">Couch to 5k</a> basically it's a program that has me alternate running and walking for a specific amount of time. For example, for the first week, after I do a 5 minute warm up walk, I will run for 60 seconds then run for 90 seconds, and for each subsequent week the amount of time I run will be greater.. It's just a matter of doing it habitually.<br /><br />I'm supposed to do this for 20 minutes, but I'm also coupling this with Dr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Huizenga's</span>, from the Biggest Losers, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Where-Did-All-Fat-Weight/dp/1931290571">Where did all the Fat Go</a> diet and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">exercise</span> book. In his book he <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">recommends</span> at 4 mile calorie burn whether it be walking, running, jogging or some combination of them, along with the correct, healthy daily calorie intake, for weight loss. Which I am keeping track of with the www.livestrong.com 'daily plate'. On this website I enter my personal information i.e. height weight age, and goal for weight loss and it calculates my daily caloric intake. I am able to enter each food item I eat, I haven't come <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">across</span> anything that hasn't been in their database so it's been really good. I also enter what kind of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">exercising</span> I'm doing and it tells me a number of different stats, Like the daily value % of the Protein, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Carbs</span>, Fat, Sodium, Potassium etc. that I'm eating. My goal is to eat 50%<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Carbs</span>, 40%Protein, 10%Fat while keeping the Sodium level as low as possible.<br /><br />I consider today to be a perfect first day of the weight loss challenge. Everything I wanted to accomplish, I did. I was just barely under my caloric goal, which is awesome, and I was able to burn a lot of calories on my walk/run. which happened to be 4.0 miles exactly.. and I didn't even plan it that way.<br /><br />Well that's it for now, thanks for reading, which is a great source of unspoken encouragement.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">ok</span> bye.<br /><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Rob%20Huizenga"></a> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-9912495762703460302009-12-04T04:24:00.009-05:002009-12-04T04:52:09.800-05:00Silence Broken and a new initiativeSo here we've been in Winnemucca for almost 9 months and I haven't updated this thing once since getting here. So consider the silence broken. So for the new initiative. 'Pastor Josh is a Big Loser'<br /><br />I've listened to the <a href="http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/community-podcast.html">Simply Youth Ministry Podcast</a> since episode 00. It has inspired me and helped shape my personal philosophy of Youth Ministry. So with that being said, two of the hosts are rather rotund and a couple of weeks ago someone e-mailed a question about having a weight loss challenge with them. They accepted and opened it up to the whole podcast listening community. Of course I wanted in. I don't even know what the prize is and I still wanted in.<br /><br />As I was thinking about how I was going to lose weight I also thought of a great idea to help keep me motivated and accountable. So I created the 'Pastor Josh is a Big Loser' weight loss pledge with my church congregation. Our Youth Ministry is taking a group of teenagers to Lusaka, Zambia this summer and there is a need to raise over $4,000 a person to participate. I thought that I would ask the church to pledge per pound of weight they think I will lose. For example if they pledged $5.00 per pound and I lost 5 pounds they would in turn donate $25.00 to our trip to Zambia. It's pretty exciting and seems like it's a creative way to earn funds, instead of just having bake sales and car washes.<br /><br />So with that said, I will be attempting to keep you all updated as to my progress on a daily basis. The Contest for the podcast lasts for 12 weeks, and the pledge program at church lasts an additional 3 weeks. I'd love for anyone who feels lead to participate. If you're interested, send me and e-mail at joshmaxwellyp@gmail.com or just a message on facebook.<br /><br />And to prove what my starting weight is, I had Corrie take some pictures of me, and I'll be updating that picture on a weekly basis so you can see the progress. Don't worry I'm fully clothed in the pictures. ok bye.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLuMxjCYL7tsWgY7wE85n22pNmMo8e2rtBXv3WMzjkoQUE8kMkVVI0kZPwwSf3ZN-iGNMndDHk1QdFOPlURIGQtTnHvjEZ8NOCm92_CfzRCsOmtv5ThGAG3Klv1v72lO2rxokL/s1600-h/blog+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLuMxjCYL7tsWgY7wE85n22pNmMo8e2rtBXv3WMzjkoQUE8kMkVVI0kZPwwSf3ZN-iGNMndDHk1QdFOPlURIGQtTnHvjEZ8NOCm92_CfzRCsOmtv5ThGAG3Klv1v72lO2rxokL/s400/blog+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411315700702791618" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjoWOF8PEkA4MkUcxO7uD-CT_x4CEpo-v7mMr6yRdeTQl3S94g-Dd4feqHXitUK1t7G2b6Ogi7nMFcTPUiuStDT3lYrLSSQahcN27jC9YhCAH-iLuKlgXCfwAIZe6_CIy2zxMM/s1600-h/blog+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjoWOF8PEkA4MkUcxO7uD-CT_x4CEpo-v7mMr6yRdeTQl3S94g-Dd4feqHXitUK1t7G2b6Ogi7nMFcTPUiuStDT3lYrLSSQahcN27jC9YhCAH-iLuKlgXCfwAIZe6_CIy2zxMM/s400/blog+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411315435011096882" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3S4B571d6fGqNGTNMhsPIpGJidU1ysaCBtysXEnNXiNnqUGfnVsGt3uz0tPjeQ_k-P5pNAaWhFtkKtXH9SEo59ETuxo8SfqttGKoeKzEfqeuviOPfNcvI1mjXa8To5rLJKWT/s1600-h/blog+3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3S4B571d6fGqNGTNMhsPIpGJidU1ysaCBtysXEnNXiNnqUGfnVsGt3uz0tPjeQ_k-P5pNAaWhFtkKtXH9SEo59ETuxo8SfqttGKoeKzEfqeuviOPfNcvI1mjXa8To5rLJKWT/s400/blog+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411316381325193522" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-81452601822310311852009-03-12T12:53:00.000-04:002009-03-12T12:54:35.570-04:00email update; Wyoming Wyoming WyomingAs Jim Smith commented on my wall yesterday "It's a good thing we don't believe in luck" Which is absolutely true. Corrie and I believe that it takes a lot of faith to pack up all of our stuff and move across country, and we've committed to trusting God in every aspect of our lives, especially when things do not go as planned.<br /><br />Yesterday, started off okay. We had just gotten our blown out tire fixed in Cheyenne, and thought we might be able to get into Winnemucca sometime late at night. about 20 miles into the trip as Corrie was driving, the transmission on the truck started slipping pretty badly, we stopped in Buford Wyoming, which is just a rest stop with a population of 2, to check the transmission fluid. I'm thankful that my first car, a $100 1987 Mazda 626, had transmission problems, because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even have thought to check the ATF. So I checked the truck and it was bone dry, and I said to myself. "Oh that's the fix to the problem, we'll be fine now". So I put the ATF fluid in and we started on our way again. The truck was driving perfectly for about 10 miles, and then it started again... Great. We wanted to make it to Laramie, so that there was actual civilizatoin which would allow for our problem to be fixed more quickly.<br /><br />We called Penske when we stopped in Laramie, and they sent out a service guy who was really nice. This was a blessing, cause I can imagine them sending a guy who cussed up a storm and just didn't want to help (like the guy who fixed the tire in Cheyenne). So anyway, he checked the transmission fluid and it was bone dry again. Apparently there was a huge leak, and the truck would have to be replaced. Talk about trusting God, All of our stuff was in the truck that could no longer be driven...<br /><br />They found us a new truck in Fort Collins CO, which was about 75 miles South of Laramie. So they sent a couple of guys down there to get a new truck, and we had to just wait until it got back. We took our car off the trailer, left Hugo with the nice people in the auto shot and set off to explore Laramie. I was excited because there was a Sonic that we got to eat lunch at, Corrie liked it too. But by the time we finished lunch it had only been 35 minutes, and it was going to take at least another hour and half until the truck was back. So after making a Wal-Mart run, we stopped at the Laramie visitor center to see what there was to do. (Corrie was embarrassed to go in). I found that there was a mansion in town that was a musuem, so we checked it out. We ended up taking a guided tour through the <a href="http://www.laramiemuseum.org/" target="_blank">Ivinson mansion</a>. Which was interesting... It at least took up the time that was needed.. If we didn't take a guided tour we would have been in there for 20 minutes, and would have had to find something else to do.<br /><br />After our tour we headed back to the auto repair shop where they were getting ready to do the offload. I really can't tell you how nice these guys were, and how willing they were to do this work. the off load took about a hour and half, and they even helped me hook the car back up on the trailer, which can be annoying. So after 5 hours or so of being stuck in Laramie, we were on our way, with a new truck.<br /><br />We wanted to make it to the Utah border by the end of the night, which was quite possible, but by 9:30 pm exhaustion had set in, and I had to start talking jibberish to keep myself and corrie awake, you can see some of that jibberish in the video update that is on facebook right now. We ended up making it to Evanston Wyoming, which is about 3 miles from the Utah border. We have about 6 1/2 hours left of driving until we get to Winnemucca, so hopefully we'll make it by dinner time.<br /><br />Well that's it for the update today, thanks for your prayers. We'll send another one from Winnemucca... yes!<br /><span style="color:#888888;"><br />--<br />ok bye<br />Josh and Corrie</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-77218890737624782422009-03-12T12:52:00.000-04:002009-03-12T12:53:38.081-04:00email group; Flat Nebraska, Bald Eagles, and an unexpected pit stop in Cheyenne Wyoming 3.10.09Yesterday was a short day of travel. We left Grand Island Nebraska and drove to Ogallala Nebraska... We were really just planning on getting some food and leaving but and adventure was to come. We stopped at the Front Street Cafe, which depicted an "old west" cow town feeling. We had some good food and decided to check out the musuem that was connected to the cafe... It was pretty cool to see all the old cowboy stuff, like old barbed wire, spurs, and even chaps...<br /><br />When we had enough of the musuem we decided to try our luck at seeing some bald eagles. The menu from the restaurant where we ate said that Lake Ogallala was a great place to see Bald Eagles in the winter. It even said that on one day in February 1994 there was 368 eagles spotted, or 368 eagle spottings (the latter is probably true). So we got directions and drove to the lake. I wasn't too sure we were going to see any eagles just because it would be our luck to not see any. But lo and behold, within seconds of entering the lakes dirt access road, we saw a huge male bald eagle sitting in a tree... It was amazing. We ended up parking and getting out to get a closer look, and ended up seeing 5 or 6 more eagles. Hugo was able to get out and run around, and he a had a great time. The whole experience reminds me of my favorite verse of the Bible<br /><br />Romand 1:20; For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.<br /><br />I jokingly said to myself as we left Lake Ogallala that "it must be easier to believe in God if you live out here". But the reality of the fact is that there's no way we can deny the existence of God when we see the beautiful creation that he has given us. This creation can be seen everywhere however. Birds fly everywhere, trees grow, rivers flow, babies are born. God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature, can not be denied when we see the creation that he has given us. Awesome stuff.<br /><br />After Ogallala we entered into a more rolling area of Nebraka, which was a good change of pace. we entered into Wyoming and epected to make it pretty close to the Utah border by the time we were done driving for the night. But as we entered into Cheyenne WY a truck driver told us to pull over, and notified us that the rear driver side inside tire had blown out. We don't know how long it had been like that, because it's not easily seen. We called Penske and ended up bringing the truck to a service station and had to wait 5 hours until it got fixed. So instead of continuing so late at night we stayed at the Days Inn..<br /><br />We're getting ready to leave now(9:30am MDT). and could possible make it to Winnemucca late tonight, but we're not going to rush it. We'll be driving through some pretty mountainous areas, so that will probably slow us down. So we might get there tonight, but won't be upset if we don't make it untilearly tomorrow morning.<br /><br />That's about it. We'll update you when we stop next.<br /><span style="color:#888888;"><br />--<br />ok bye<br />Josh and Corrie</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-89040002052666528392009-03-12T12:51:00.001-04:002009-03-12T12:55:40.469-04:00email group, we're in chicago 3.9.09Hello All,<br /><br />Yesterday we left NJ at 5:00am which was really 4:00am because of the Daylights savings switch. We made some pretty good time. Hugo slept the whole way which was a definite blessing. We're so glad that we decided to leave on a Sunday because when we hit Chicago traffic was a mess. I don't think I can imagine what it would be like any other day of the week.<br /><br />We're staying with our friends Dave and Susan, and it's been real nice catching up with them.<br /><br />Now that we've made it out here, we have no real time crunch to get to Winnemucca. We're going to take it easy driving out there... Maybe 8-10hrs.. and get there when we get there. Thank you for all of your prayers. I've been updating facebook with status updates and pictures of the drive, and I'm attempting to upload videos of the trip there now.<br /><br />We'll send another update at our next stop later tonight.<br /><br />--<br />ok bye<br /><span style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);">Josh and Corrie<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-79169168895730237752009-03-12T12:50:00.002-04:002009-03-12T12:55:10.747-04:00email group Update 1 3.8.09<div>Hello all,</div> <div> </div> <div>I wanted to set up an e-mail group so I can update you on our trip as we travel this week. I will be updating my facebook regularly with pictures and videos of our trip, so you can check that out if you want. If you can think of anyone that's not on this list that you think might want to be let me know. Also if you don't want to recieve these updates then let me know as well. </div> <div> </div> <div>We'll be leaving NJ at 5:00am which is really 4:00am because of Daylight Savings, and will be traveling to Chicago where we'll stay with friends Sunday night. this is the longest leg of the trip that we will do in one shot, so pray that we'll be able to do it safely. </div> <div> </div> We're real excited to be starting this journey, we appreciate your prayers and thoughts. I'll update you later.<br /><br />--<br />ok bye<br />Josh and Corrie.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-60756702688552956712009-02-23T03:18:00.003-05:002009-02-23T03:21:20.983-05:00Pet Peevs Part 2<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Volume of TV Commercials</span><br /><br />I saw this on ysmarko’s blog the other day, but I couldn’t help but agree whole heartedly with this annoyance. I can’t count the number of times I’ve grown accustomed to the volume of a certain television program and am rudely “awakened” by the ridiculous loudness of someone talking about Womanly Hygiene products or something like that. The fact of the matter is that I am rarely enticed to purchase any of the products that are being advertised, and it doesn’t matter how loud the marketers decide the commercial should be, it’s not going to change my mind. I would guess that commercials make some money on from advertising at 1,000 decibals, but the only things I’m going to be purchasing are earplugs.<br /><br />One thing that I do enjoy about commercials is how during the Price is Right, which airs at 11am, shows only hover round commercials, or a way to lower the cost of Diabetes medicines. Now that’s using demographics.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Automated Phone Services you have to speak to</span><br /><br />Have you ever tried calling a customer service phone number? It would be silly to think that you’ll ever get to talk a “real person”. I don’t mind having to hit a thousand numbers to get to nowhere, but I can’t stand having to speak to the service. They tell you to briefly state the problem you’re experiencing, for example “I can’t get find the on button for my computer” and the response you get from the system “did you say; you have a clogged toilet” or something so far from what you actually said that you just hit 0 over and over again until you overload it and it puts you on hold for 30 minutes until you get to talk to someone.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Slow walkers</span><br /><br />I wouldn’t consider myself to be a fast walker. I wouldn’t consider myself to be even a moderately paced walker. But I have “crowd anxiety” and there are so many people who walk way to slow for the flow of foot traffic, in any number of public places. All I have to say is speed up or move over.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Putting toilet paper on the roll incorrectly</span><br /><br />This is probably something that bothers me more then any other thing in the entire world. Toilet should be put on the roll so that the end hangs over the roll (away from the wall). I’ve pictured the correct way. If the toilet paper is placed on the roll in the opposite way, you run the risk of prematurely ripping the toilet paper and not having enough to finish the job. I know I’d rather have supple paper to complete the job at hand(so as to not complete it with my hand).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid1c1O-VUPG3zJ3_8XA4mim4FghBiWk9E778a0Xl1o0ckd4IpSNFWUmE3xII2fYR0SjiuonjuUx6UTOgJjotoMMWbHJ4HnnnkmZ9enofGYG2KcFjMdvSFmTS0Wy_ZT5nSKSDw4/s1600-h/kohl+memoirs+roll.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 330px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid1c1O-VUPG3zJ3_8XA4mim4FghBiWk9E778a0Xl1o0ckd4IpSNFWUmE3xII2fYR0SjiuonjuUx6UTOgJjotoMMWbHJ4HnnnkmZ9enofGYG2KcFjMdvSFmTS0Wy_ZT5nSKSDw4/s400/kohl+memoirs+roll.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305904711327797410" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-4620637341912908172009-02-18T13:38:00.000-05:002009-02-18T13:39:04.806-05:00Pet Peeves part 1Corrie and I are living at her parents’ house right now until we move to Nevada in a couple of weeks. Since living here we've grown accustomed to watching Wheel of Fortune at 7:30 every evening. I wouldn't consider myself an amazing Puzzle Solver, or even a possible contestant on the show, but there are a number of things that bother me about the show, and I thought I'd share them here.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Constant Clapping</span><br />If you've ever watched this game show, you may have noticed that whenever Pat isn't talking or someone isn't calling a letter the contestants are clapping. Why do they clap? I know it's probably because the show’s producers mandate it, so that there is as much excitement generated as possible. But seriously, it's a little too much. I know if I was on the show, I wouldn't want to be clapping while the wheel was spinning. I would be more interested in making sure I didn't hit a Bankrupt or Lose a Turn, and that's just when it's my turn. I wouldn't want to clap when my opponents were spinning either. This would instill in them a false sense of encouragement, as if I truly care that they've landed on the trip to Mexico, or the $5,000 space. The thing that bothers me the most about this is that every once in a while you get some idiot on the show who wants to impress Vana with his ability to clap and all you hear for the entirety of the 30 minute program is the contestant clapping as loud as he can. Just stop clapping.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Buying a Vowel before solving a Puzzle</span><br />For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, you wouldn't know that if you want a vowel you must purchase it for $250 from your prize money. This has been a staple of the show since its inception. Sometimes you can make a good decision to buy a vowel like an "e" and get 5 of them and only have to pay $250. I am not against buying vowels, as they are significant pieces that are needed to solve each puzzle that Vana throws up there on the board. My annoyance stems from the fact that a contestant will be spinning the wheel, and making a lot of money and have the entire puzzle almost nailed down, and they look to Pat ask to buy a vowel, and without even thinking about spinning the wheel to make their $250 back they solve the puzzle. What's the point? If you know the solution and you don't want to risk hitting a bankrupt by spinning the wheel again, then just solve the puzzle. Why would you waste $250 for a vowel that you already know is there? I know that there are circumstances when this happens and the contestant does not know the answer before they buy the vowel, but it seems that more often than not the case is that they're just being stupid and throwing away their money.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bonus Round puzzles with Q, Z, and J </span><br />At the end of each show, the contestant with the most prize money moves onto a bonus round where they can win anything from a new car to money ranging from 25,000-100,000. They must spin a mini wheel to randomly select a prize card that is held by Pat until the completion of the Bonus Round. The Puzzle is then brought onto the board and the Letters R-S-T-L-N-E are entered into the puzzle if they are of course part of the solution. The contestant then must provide three more consonants and one more vowel. Here is where I get annoyed. The most common set of letters that are given by a contestant are C-D-M-A, sometimes using an F or an H or a different vowel to help complete their puzzle. It makes me angry when the answer is Zoology or Qualified of Jumping Jacks. Who in their right mind would pick those letters? The contestant had just gone through 6 or so puzzles during the regular puzzles in the normal round and not once has one of those letters come up in a puzzle. This instills in the contestant a false sense of security. They probably quickly say to themselves "There's no way a Q, Z or J would be in the puzzle, I'll just go on with what I know works" Roasted. If I were a contestant and they pulled that kind of stunt on me I would take that card that Pat opens up telling me I just lost a new Jeep Cherokee, rip it up and throw it into his face as I stormed of the stage. I wouldn't clap as they would probably want me to, and I wouldn't find solace that I walking away with $6,000 cash and a trip to Martha’s Vineyard. Because I know if they just had a normal Bonus Round Puzzle I could have won, and that sweet Cherokee would be mine.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Pat Sajack and Vana White Minute</span><br />After the show is over you may notice that it's only 7:54pm. If you're like me you might say, why they end so early. The answer is because Pat and Vana get to talk about what's going on in their life. No one care that Pat is an honorary deputy sheriff, or that Vana has trouble with dry skin in her armpits. You're C-List celebrities, and if anyone really cared then we'd see your names in the tabloids more often. Get rid of the Pat Sajack and Vana White Minute and add another puzzle to the show.<br /><br />That's my two sense. Another thing that kind of irks me but not to the point of annoyance is when Pat gives the wheel a final spin for the last puzzle of the game. He's been doing this for 20+ years, you'd think that he'd hit the $5,000 place a little more often.<br /><br />This is just the beginning of my pet peeves as I will call them. I plan on posting more, so look forward to them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-17956895895274465752008-10-15T12:16:00.002-04:002008-10-15T12:17:55.251-04:00Awkward MeetingToday I had an awkward meeting, and I looked at someone like Jim Halpert. I felt myself do it and had to post it on here. So that's about it. OK bye.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvVtkBGgRM1BnkinOyF4RiWPRqp693Bz-8mxCsXgKPIj6Tujj7nJEISGjjS2KEbUsR9VwAEq9RzYAwkeAiC7tuW1Al_bS0hbrpc58kyir7leMTOhr8YPHOc4x9_wIq0VJCNHtv/s1600-h/jim_halpert.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvVtkBGgRM1BnkinOyF4RiWPRqp693Bz-8mxCsXgKPIj6Tujj7nJEISGjjS2KEbUsR9VwAEq9RzYAwkeAiC7tuW1Al_bS0hbrpc58kyir7leMTOhr8YPHOc4x9_wIq0VJCNHtv/s400/jim_halpert.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257415605917277970" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-55563321854656629112008-10-14T22:05:00.002-04:002008-10-14T22:11:16.757-04:00Pumpkin Carving to be proud ofEver since I smelled the first insides of the first pumpkin that was cut open in front of me, I have gagged at the thought of that smell. I've lost my lunch on more then one occasion as the result of that putrid smell and nasty goop that is held within that huge fruit or is it a vegetable. Well last night I carved a pumpkin, and here's the picture of it. What do you think of it?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI37wYjsnphn3458vXOm9scK3yoQy_h91FpPGJXDBh42sxgP50QtF3xvnuthvn-X1dRodraE2bmpDfN7F1REIOhB9YpmkuSySyblMVMu5ZqZVu0XOD9FPaFs11NjZJdxOGF5Ue/s1600-h/Pumpkin.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI37wYjsnphn3458vXOm9scK3yoQy_h91FpPGJXDBh42sxgP50QtF3xvnuthvn-X1dRodraE2bmpDfN7F1REIOhB9YpmkuSySyblMVMu5ZqZVu0XOD9FPaFs11NjZJdxOGF5Ue/s400/Pumpkin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257197291793543842" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-43556024416563177872008-10-13T22:52:00.003-04:002008-10-13T23:07:14.334-04:00the farewell of an abrupt conversationalist. Really?I really do stink at this blogging deal, but at least I try every once in a while... The main reason why I'm writing this now is because I wanted to see the posting capability of my iPhone. Needless to say it works. There might be some random mIsspellings because of the auto correct on this, but hopefully you'll get the gist. A lot of big things have been happening in my life as of late, most of them I can't share as of right now but in due time that information will revealed. One thing I can share is that Corrie got me a xbox 360 for my birthday with halo, gears of war, xbox live and Lego Indiana Jones ( that came with it but will probably be the most fun for her that is) it's pretty amazing. I just wish I knew more people on live so I could play with them but I guess if I don't have friends in real life then the same will hold true in an online community. Well that's all I have to say about that I think I'm gonna start writing on this more. Right now I've been writing a lot of good stuff in my moleskin notebook (not made of actual skin of moles) I should type up some of that and put of on here for those of you who care to even chck this anymore. Ok bye. (this is the farewell of an abrupt conversationaliat)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-89962422590327987452008-09-04T23:06:00.001-04:002008-09-04T23:06:52.505-04:00Two new computersSo have you ever been frustrated by the fact that you don't have a computer? I guess I always took for granted the ability to just hop on the Internet whenever I wanted to, but alas, my stupid HP killed it's last hard drive and it was time to get a new one. Corrie's work offered a large discount on Dell Laptops, so we jumped on that, and they replaced my HP with a piece of crap gateway, which I traded in for it's $460 value and bought an HP touchsmart, which is a desktop. So that's the update. Maybe I'll make this a habit. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-61460927511799110142008-06-24T10:25:00.000-04:002008-06-24T10:31:11.476-04:00Interesting...Hebrews 10:23-32<br /> <br />23(A) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for(B) he who promised is faithful. 24And(C) let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25(D) not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and(E) all the more as you see(F) the Day drawing near.<br /><br /> 26For(G) if we go on sinning deliberately(H) after receiving the knowledge of the truth,(I) there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27(J) but a fearful expectation of judgment, and(K) a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28(L) Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy(M) on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one(N) who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned(O) the blood of the covenant(P) by which he was sanctified, and has(Q) outraged the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said,(R) "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again,(S) "The Lord will judge his people." 31(T) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.<br /><br /> 32But recall the former days when, after(U) you were enlightened, you endured(V) a hard struggle with sufferings,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28607491.post-85569642082021241572008-03-04T11:14:00.002-05:002008-03-04T11:18:01.008-05:00burning the candle at both ends and running out of waxthis saying is more then true for my life. There's a possible full time position at church for a Youth Pastor, which would allow me to focus on ministry rather then having to come and forward e-mails all day, although it does pay a lot of money for the job description, it's not what I'm called to do, I'll update you when I find out more. ok bye.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0