Death on a Cross

He had every opportunity to save himself...

Not enjoying my new friend, the chest cough.

Posting from my new PING account, wondering if it will get to twitter and FB?

The 2008 Phillies are in the World Series!

I can't believe that the World Series starts tonight (Wed 10/22/08) and one of the teams in it is my favorite from Childhood! Not since 1993 (15 years ago) have the Phillies played this much October baseball, and we all know what happened that year (Mitch Williams/Joe Carter). Hopefully this year they redeem themselves and bring a pennant back to the city of Philadelphia, we NEED one!

Go Phils, and I predict they win in 5!
Game 1 (Wed 10/22) - WIN
Game 2 (Thu 10/23) - LOSS
Game 3 (Sat 10/25) - WIN (back in Philly)
Game 4 (Sun 10/26) - WIN
Game 5 (Mon 10/27) - WIN

So, parade next week? You guys all in? GO FIGHTINS!

Picture Post - Baltimore Marathon!

Here are some pictures from Natalia's team relay in Baltimore this past weekend:

(again, click on the sideshow for the full album)

Picture Post - Early Fall Pictures

Here are some pictures (mostly from September). I know its been a long while since I posted so wanted to get this going at least.

Click on the slideshow for the full album:

9/18/2008 - Running Update

Last week I went to see Dr. Feehery. He confirmed my suspicion that I had a stress fracture. In fact, I had 2! Luckily, they seem to have healed. He gave me some inserts for my shoes and gave me an agressive stretching program to increase my flexibility. I also have started running again, if you would even call it that.

I have to do 80% walking, 20% running. So in my 15 minute routine, I get a whopping 3 minutes of running. I can gradually work up to 20 minutes, then start working the percentages down. It will take a while to get back to actually running for 20 minutes, but hopefully it will be worth it.

Won't be long before I need to get in shape for the next race:
http://www.americanodysseyrelay.com/

2008 Outer Banks Trip

We took a week and headed down to Corolla, NC for a vacation. We were originally invited by my Dad and Debbie to stay in their great house but we took the opportunity to combine a family vacation with a family vacation and got our own place. We were able to take Lucy this way too! A great time all week!

- Dinner each night at Dad's place (couples took turns cooking). We made pasta and homemade sauce on Thu night
- Beach each day, pool each day, lots of swimming and sand!
- Lucy got some great swimming in after a rough first night (vomitting, a......LOT)
- Haley got some great pictures of us all on the beach after dinner

All in all a great time reconnecting with family and getting some much needed relaxation in! Thanks to Mom and Bill for saving our trip by lending us their Subaru Outback when the Murano decided to die out on us 2 days before leaving for vacation.

2008 Outer Banks

Pictures - Reliving the days of UD

What seems to be becoming a yearly tradition, a bunch of friends from UD get together and have a great weekend reconnecting. Phils Game on Friday, Golf Sat morning, and BBQ saturday PM.

Summer BBQ

Pictures - Small Group BBQ

We had a BBQ at our house for small group at church! Everyone had a great time swimming and eating and enjoying some fellowship!

Small Group BBQ

2008 Beley Garden

Here is the start of our 2008 Garden. We got a late start this year, these pictures are from about 3 weeks ago so already we have quite a bit different scene, but here they are. Any comments? Suggestions?

The Veggies/Fruits:
Tomatoes, Lettuce, Squash, Yellow Peppers, Green Peppers, Green Beans, Carrots, Cucumbers

The Herbs:
Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley, Dill, and Basil

2008 Garden

Review - Les Miserables @ the Walnut Street Theater

Natalia and I were fortunate enough to score some free tickets to this show this past friday night (6/6/08). We have seen and are very familiar with the music and story line, so we had high expectations. However, we combined those expectations with those that we have of the Walnut Street theater performances we have been too.

We have seen 2 prior shows there, one was good, one was poor. However, we felt ripped off leaving both. Not the case with Les Mis though. We felt like the actors did a really GREAT job and the production of the show was top-notch. Its been probably 7 or 8 years since we last saw it on Broadway, but outside of some stage production differences, this seemed like the real deal! The singing was great, the music was great, and the Walnut Street theater did a fantastic job. Not bad for 199 years of experience! ha!

We were watching the show and recognized one of the cast members too! That is odd, right? Natalia's high school love, his wife, was in the show! Unfortunately we had no way of getting back stage or of letting her know we were there, but it was pretty cool to see her up on stage and singing!

It was a late night though, the show ran exactly 3 hours, it was about 12:15am when we got home. Made for a short night, but our NEW babysitter worked out great!

6/032008 (Tues) - Run

Another very beautiful day, though once I hit the road it was hotter than I expected. Shins hurt this time, both the right and the left, and now, a number of hours later, my right shin really hurts. I think more than last year but I can't be sure. I am a tad dismayed by the pain and with hesitation considering my treatment options...

Run: Temperature was 79, Sunny and Rather Warm
2.05 Miles
17:25 Minutes - 8:30mile avg
Total Miles 2008: 109.46 Miles

Spirtual Gifts Inventory

For our small group we were asked to take a spiritual gifts survey. Since we are a fairly new group it would be good to know where we have gifts and how to better use them. So, I took mine last night, its a 98 page questionnaire that asks you how you feel about certain statements and if it is true about you. Then it asks you to add up your score and choose the top 3 numbers, and those are your top 3 areas of giftedness.

Here are mine (and a short description of each), and I was a tad surprised, but the more I think about it, the more I might tend to agree:

Teaching (19 points) - Like to research mounds of information and then simplify, help to apply to lives of listeners. Unlike prophesy not just interested in conviction but also instruction. Spiritually gifted teachers appeal to the will as well as the mind. Has a thirst for knowledge, a thirst for God's will and word, they are focused on changing lives with the Word, burdened to help people understand truth, usually like groups, feel "if only the people understood-they would obey because it makes sense".

Craftsmanship (18 points) - Excellent detail oriented, hands-on kinds of people. Handy with tools and usually have the tools. Derive a sense of fulfillment through seeing tangible resources made available to the ministries.

Administration (16 points) - Observers of systems and strategies; then they want to execute the best procedures, organized and efficient. They are the ones who take responsibility for attaining the goals articulated by the leaders--once the goal is set they set the procedures to reach them.

Its funny because my top 2 "gifts" are things I don't feel very adequate in. Administration, I can handle that, but teaching and craftsmanship? I wonder though, the more I think about those 2 things, are a teacher and a craftsman ever satisfied with their work, or are they always reminded of what they did wrong along the way, striving for mistake elimination?

Sometimes I can work on a project and have put a lot of time and effort in, but some part of me always harps on the the things I did wrong so that I can do better next time. Next time your at our house, ask me about the backsplash tiling job, or the wiring for the under cabinet lights, oh, and the 3 ceiling fans I just hung, all look great (so I am told) but all the errors scream at me.

just a little insight for a change...

5/29/2008 (Thu) - Run

Beautiful day for a quick run! Went out and felt good. I will say, I thought I was running a bit faster than I did so I was a tad disappointed but it was faster than last time I ran the same route. Guess I am slowly getting out of shape (or, good shape at least).

Run: Temperature was 66, sunny and beautiful
1.75 Miles
14:03 Minutes - 8:02 mile avg
Total Miles 2008: 107.41 Miles

May 23, 2008 - Philly Segway Tour (VIDEO)

3 minute video compilation of our segway tour in Philly. I'll just say, riding the Segway was awesome! They are very touch and weight sensitive. We had a blast!

Stay tuned to the end for some free styling on both of our parts!

5/25/2008 (Sun) - Run

So we have been meaning to use the girls up the street for babysitting for a long time. This week I got a revelation and an excuse to try them out as a bit of meet and greet, get to know us and Ryan. We had them come over after Ryan's nap to meet us, then they would stay and play with Ryan while Natalia and I went for a run together! Something we haven't done together since the grand old days of living in Hoboken!

We had a nice run, thought it was fairly warm. We went at Natalia pace since I knew we'd both be comfortable and hey we made it. Natalia is becoming quite the runner, though I do think she missed her music stream via my iPod shuffle. She had to put up with my conversation though instead!

Run: Temperature was 77, sunny and a tad warm
3.30 Miles
34:18 Minutes - 10:24 mile avg
Total Miles 2008: 105.66 Miles

By the way, the babysitters did great and worked out and we are excited to have them, AND so close by!

5/21/2008 (Wed) - Run

Got a quick run in at lunch time on Wednesday. Glad I got it in, but my shin pains seems to be creeping back into the picture. Probably not a good sign at all. I am thinking I am going to have to suck it up and get x-rayed if I want to continue running. Right now, the pain is not noticeable when I am not going up and down stairs though (or running for that matter).

Run: Temperature was 60, sunny and beautiful
1.75 Miles
14:11Minutes - 8:06 mile avg

Total Miles 2008: 102.36 Miles

Natalia's 5K - Kennett Run Sat 5/17/2008

#429 came in and kicked some butt. After an 5 year hiatus from running at all let alone a 5K race, Natalia did great. Her training routine was strict, 3 days a week, increasing little by little.

Saturday was the culmination of that, and she finished with flying colors, in a time of 30:33. She was pretty happy with her time!

As with most runners, one race ends, we wonder what is next. She seems to be carefully considering her options, but for this one, congratulations honey!

5/13/2008 (Tues) - Run

My last run as a 30 year old! ;)

Didn't get a second run in last week but decided to pick up the pieces and run again today. It was a beautiful lunch time run. Just a short one, I am still testing out my legs. The good news is, the shins feel great so far. I only hope that trend continues. This run puts me over 100 miles for 2008! Only about 28 miles short of the total miles I ran all of last year...

On another note, Natalia will be running the Kennett Run (5K) on Saturday. She has been training for the last 7 or so weeks and has been doing awesome. Perhaps she has keyed into a new passion? After Kennett, she has her target set for a 5K in August.

Run: Temperature was 63, sunny and beautiful
1.50 Miles
11:10Minutes - 7:27 mile avg

Total Miles 2008: 100.61 Miles