Respect

The last few days I have wanted to blog but have not been sure what to say. I'm going to get back to just saying what I experience. Tonight I saw a commercial for the Army. It brought me back to high school when I wasn't sure what I wanted to do after I graduated. My Dad said "join the Army", I about died. I thought I needed to play soccer and go to some college to do what my friends were going to do. Everyone I knew was going to college. I'm not big on change and doing something that my friend weren't doing was well, just crazy. That was before this war and the friends that I made here in Wichita Falls. I have been thinking a lot this week and it really hit home about the sacrifice that our troops make even today. My wife, Kelly, attended the one year memorial for Troy Gilbert who sacrificed his life for our country one year age last week. Our men and women are still defending America and sacrificing their lives each day. I will make sure to observe the people that work every day for our freedom. My point is simple - I appreciate everything the troops do and have done for our country.

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Soprano's

Let me just start off right now by saying that if you haven't seen the last episodes of this series stop reading now. There, I may have lost one of you and the rest just logged off because they don't want to hear me talk about this subject. Now that its just me typing to myself - I will move on. I watched an interview with some of the cast members of the show this summer. One of them described the character of Tony as a murderer. That struck me as odd at first but the more I have thought about it - how in the world do the producers and directors of this show get us to feel soryy for this man. He has killed just about one person every 6 episodes but yet I seem to always feel like I'm on his side. Well last night he killed Christopher (which he always treated like a son) and again I felt like it was his best option. Anyway it blows my mind that this show is produced in a way that we can watch a major criminal and root for him. Trust me I'm not giving a moral lesson here just simply stating that this intrigues me. Just some thoughts.

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Month long journey

Well its been a long and very strange month. I have been nationally ranked in soccer, lost a game we had no business losing, beat a team we have never beaten at their field, had a new athletic director hired, received the number two seed (and bye)for our conference tourney, lost the semi final game in the same tourney, had two other teams get upset in their tournaments and therfore blow our chance of making the national tournament. The program has never made the national tournament and we were ranked fifth the entire year in the region, well the top six get to go. You can see after two months of being in the top six how one day can ruin a season. This was by far my worst disappointment as a coach. I really was numb for a good three hours. I had no clue what to do or say I just spent Sunday afternoon in my room staring at the t.v. My wife was great by the way. She was stunned also but is actually in touch with her feelings and could process the news quicker than me. It took me a good three hours to realize the odds of this happening were very little and it did. Well I guess the Lord meant for this to happen. Its not one of those "Well it happened so its the Lord's will I guess" realizations for me. More of "Wow Lord you planned for this and now I must adjust and work to get through it and thank you". Thats so hard to actually thank Him and mean it. Now listen I know half of you are thinking "no one died or no one was hurt". I fully recognize that. I have a great job and wonderful, healthy family. Its just that it has been a process starting in Aug. and then to get the carpet pulled out in Nov. with all our expectations with it - thats hard.

Now the good news. I have started working at Grace with the youth group and really love it. I get the opportunity to teach the Soph. boys Sunday school class and am having a lot of fun. Its something I have wanted to do in the past so Kel and I talked and I have enjoyed the time with the youth. Its actually fun to hear teens call me Jeff and not Coach or Coach Jeff.

Well I just got season six part two of Sopranos from my wife for the old b-day so its time to re watch season six part one and begin part two later this week. Ahhh the life of an off season soccer coach has begun!

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Life

My great wife has already blogged about the exciting news - that my team got ranked nationally. I'm blowen away by this, we have had some great teams in the last couple of years but it takes the right wins at the right time to get in. We have a huge game on
friday and now I feel the pressure even more. Oh by the way we just hired a new Athletic Director this week so of course I can find every possible way I can screw this up. My team is the most talanted team I have had in a long while but the girls seem to think everything is no big deal. Now you ask yourself, as a head coach, should I do something about this or does it seem to be fine and leave them alone. I know from experience that we are not intense enough but what if this is the team that functions well with this behavior. My thought process kills me sometimes.
My boys are doing great...Alec is getting good grades and doing great with his Gymkata. Evan is bouncing everywhere and having fun in school and sports. Owen is glued to my hip which is veryyy fun. Really the boy is doing better with the hitting and temper tantrums. I love the fact he is a daddys boy - don't tell Kel. Don't you hate people that go on and on about their kids!
How about my Cowboys!!

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Road trips and backyards

Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
Was just a freight train coming your way

from the song - No Leaf Clover
*Metallica

I love that song. It wasn't on any of the previous Metallica Albums until one of their live albums.

Well we won here at home on Sunday so we are back on track hopefully. We play Wednesday away then will get back at about ten p.m. only to leave for south Texas (Laredo) on Thursday at 6 a.m. Ughhh that trip will be a beat down. We will play in San Antonio on Sunday and get back around Midnight. The traveling with 20 girls for four days and all the meal money and hotel checks. Then we have the hotel stays themselves making sure my girls actually behave. Oh by the way we have two games in all of that.

Boys update: Alec got an A on his Spelling test so he's happy. He is a creature of habit and getting back into this school routine has been a challenge but hes getting there. He also brought a Cello home from music class to learn to play not really sure what I think about that. I finally had a chance to see Evan play baseball this Fall. He did a good job and watched me after everything he did. I have to work on my helping voice being less yell and more encouragement. Don't feel to bad for him - he has the attention span of a three month old and they are hitting real baseballs. He actually does pretty well. The baby actually made it til 7 a.m. today without waking up. He had a streak of four days with the 6a.m. wake up followed by a quick 6:15 breakfast and a 6:30 trip to the backyard. I have no clue why but he loves running around the backyard in the morning. Unfortunately he is still a big fan of "hitting" when he doesn't get his way. It only gets worse when you grab his hand and tell him "no". He then launches himself into a full out fit. Ahhh we should have a few more kids!

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The beginning is the best part of my day

I got back last night after getting my teams collective heads handed to me by UCO. I decided to not torture my family with my bright and cheery mood so I watched the game again (we taped it) with John(my assistant). My goalkeeper was taken to the emergency room (broken nose) so I viewed the beat down again and waited for our trainer to call with how bad the break was. Its just a week to ten day type of break (hair line fracture). I guess that could be the best news of the day.
I awake today to my little one crying/mumbling at 6:15 a.m. Then my big boys decide to go nuts over anything and anyone while trying to get ready for school. We get them off to school and the baby is still crying when I get back because that's what he does when I leave. It was flattering for the first two times he did this but was never fun for my wife. So I carried him around for awhile as I got ready. I decided to make myself some hot tea and set it on the bathroom counter. Mr. Owen decided he was going to get it down to see what was in the cup. Thank goodness it wasn't very hot but he pulled the cup down and broke it everywhere while scaring himself to death. So another session with me holding him for ten more minutes. The poor guy should have a blog to vent on - he is having a terrible day.
Its amazing as I sit here how many people in this building remember we had a game yesterday and stop by to "see how ya did". When we won last week I had to hand out pamphlet's to let people know. Maybe I'm being to sensitive - I'll go home and cry to Owen and he can hold me!

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Animals Attack!

Yesterday in a fit of boredom at work I decided to look on youtube under the heading animal attacks. Now I have never been accused of being a sharp person but that was dumb.
A guy was surfing and you see this dark shape in the wave then he wipes out. A minute later his friend is pulling him out of the water with half an arm. Hello Mr. Tiger shark.
Tiger hunters in India were trying to trap a Bengal tiger that got to close to a village. They were on elephants with their guns and out of this tall grass twenty yards away the worlds biggest cat comes charging. The tiger jumps into the air and onto the guy on the elephant. It falls to the ground but not after ripping skin from the guys arm and side. You watched the whole thing unfold because the guy on the right of the victim was filming.
Some were funny yet scary. Some bear on a Polish talk show bapped the bajeebers out of some female host on the show. Again scary and a tad funny.
I couldn't even come close to clicking on any of the snake ones - sorry.
Ahh the life of a college soccer coach.
We have no games this weekend for MSU but I still get the opportunity to go to Dallas and coach two games on Saturday. So I leave at around 10am and get back at 8pm. Then back down on Sunday for one game. It gets old but only lasts til the end of October so I can live.
Just so you know I really love to mow the lawn. I'm not sure why but there something cool about making the yard look better and getting to think without to much interruption for half an hour straight. Last night I got the chance to use my new lawn mower! I love it! I'm not a big fan of the self propelled mowers. I really feel for me to mow it might as well be exercise and not let the stupid mower pull me along. Those things are beasts anyways and hard to maneuver. My mower does have bigger wheels on the back which enable the thing to move that much easier. I do not consider that cheating though. Kel hates to mow but loves to weed eat so we make a good team. Anyway the yard looks better, I'm busy this weekend and watch out for tigers in tall grass when riding your pet elephant!

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Birthday girl

Well today is my wife's 35th birthday. Yesterday I went to the Harvest drug store place to get Kel her Vera Bradley wallet and the ladies know exactley which one she wants. She has a wish list at the store so the whole thing was a little too easy! I looked at the price tag and commented about how expensive the lil thing was and they both looked at me like I had slapped them. They then proceeded to "wrap" it for me - which is basically a bow that the younger lady takes twenty minutes to wrap around a Harvest Drug store box - good grief.
Later on Kelly asked me when I was getting home from my practice tonight. I smile and reply that I would get home as soon as possible to shower so we could go eat. She smiles and says "no I've invited some of my friends to go out to eat with me." Wow thats rough! Its her bday so what can I say. Actually thats great because this time of year she barely gets anytime with her friends (three boys and no hubby around). She really does such a great job. I don't even notice it at times because of my schedule. The boys can be a challenge but she doesn't seem to be overwhelmed which is amazing with the age differences. We are all lucky boys in the Trimble house!! Happy Birthday babe - I love you!

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Dexter

So I finally have the time and the schedule to start my quest of watching T.V. series that have come out in the complete season mode on dvd. So I decide to start with Dexter season 1. This is a show on Showtime. The premise of this show is startling and brilliant. Dexter is a boy that is adopted by a cop and his wife in Miami. He starts to show a lot of tendencies of serial killers. Fascination with blood and the overwhelming urge to kill animals. He himself can't understand why he has these urges. He confides in his dad who helps keep the secret yet knows this will be no bueno in the years to come. So his dad starts to project the urges into hunting for animals (deer, game birds) all the time realizing they will escalate as he gets older. He then decides its time to mold this boy into what he knows he already has become but do it in kind of a Batman type way. A vigilante type of person. Dexter becomes a blood splatter expert for the Miami police force - so he gets to use his expertise in that way. He fulfills his other urges (killing) by targeting people that have found a way around the law. First rule his dad taught him though was to make sure that the person is guilty never go on a hunch before killing. Anyway all the way through each episode you get to hear whats in his head as he's thinking it. I Love the show because its very original. Surprisingly it is not as violent as you would think.
Today is the first day of the 2007/2008 NFL football season. Its like Christmas without our Savior being born and no presents. So maybe not Christmas but you understand. We also have one race remaining before the time to decide who gets to contend for the NASCAR championship. Dale Jr. is in 13th and the top 12 get in the race for the championship. So Saturday night's race is a big deal. Oh yeah and I have a game tomorrow and Saturday with MSU. So kind of a big weekend.
I read a great article in the back of the Sports Illustrated football preview issue last week. I'll try to supply the link. The article is called "getting a second wind". If I can't find the link I'll type it out next blog. Its an article everyone should read no matter if you like sports or not.

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Update

Well we have survived our preseason, played two games and now school has started here at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. So far so good for the team. We are 2-0 and we play again on Friday night. The girls seem pretty talented and it should be a fun year. Wouldn't that have been funny if I would have just said "The girls seem pretty". Funny in an unemployed sort of way.
I have had club games the last two Monday nights both in Dallas at 8:30pm. BEAT DOWN! I got home both Tuesdays at 12:30 a.m. I'm getting wayyy to old for this stuff.
I'm also here to tell you that I did enjoy the premiere of a lil show we like to call High School Musical 2! The boys have wanted me to see one and it was fabulous!!! So we all anticipated the premiere of two (a few weeks ago) and I loved it. Bet on it! All the crazy kids and the trouble they get into! Ahhh young love, I did like it though! Makes me wish I could sing. I mean I already have the killer looks, dance moves and fame - all I need is the voice!

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Thank goodness its time

Preseason is almost here. Starting this Monday I leave the apron and dish washing to become a man again. Trust me I will miss the time with Owen and the relaxation of being in the house without many hectic situations. I will not miss the endless viewings of Elmo, the boys fighting over anything, the making of the beds and meals. The poor guys have the same thing for breakfast and lunch with me in command. I always thought that I could survive being a Mr. Mom but no freaking way. I need to get outside. I need to have a few problems to solve and challenges to engage. I need to get headaches from hearing repetitive and/ or dumb questions. I need to watch the same drill being done over and over again the wrong way til I either get another headache or pass out from frustration. There is nothing like 100 degree heat. The simple joys of sunblock and mosquito repellent on the skin. Actually watching the drill get done and it be done well. I really need to be in charge and accomplish things. I need to COACH.

Mr. Mom

Heres my daily schedule for the last couple of weeks. I really have no problem with it because I know that come Aug. 6th its two to three practices a day just for my MSU team. Its fun spending time with my boys (other than the fact that Owen loves to hangout with me all the time). Still Kelly keeps telling me to enjoy it. At some point He will be our only one at home, breaking curfew and bringing home scary girls.

8:00 am - wake up
8:30 am - realize that I'm awake
8:45 am - feed Owen and the boys
9:00am - get myself soccer ready for practice and play with the boys
9:45 am - go to practice (under 14 girls) the boys stay with our neighbors
11:45 am - back from practice to put Owen down for a nap
Noon - feed the boys and the families glorious leader (me - I know you were thinking Kelly)
1:10 pm - My hard working wife gets home and Ive made it another day
1:15 pm - Head to the office for three hours
4:30 pm home to watch PTI
5:15 pm - head to my next practice (under 19 girls)
7:15 pm home for the night

I'm practicing my club teams a lot because we have a couple of weekends of tournaments coming up. So now I'm back to 24/7 soccer til November. I do have to tell you that my vacation at home was awesome and I really feel ready for soccer.
Do you hear there was a shark attack in Hawaii on the same beach the our loving friends (the Turners) took us to body surf!!!! the guy got attacked further from shore than I would have been but still!! We have shark week on the Discovery Channel this week so Alec and I will be in full watch!

Last points
Vick is guilty and going to get what he deserves
I'm not excited at all to see Bonds even close to the record
NBA referees betting scandal is very scary
Tour de France is a shame and I'm sick of the word doping
Once again NASCAR is the only pure sport

Later

Camp

So last week at our soccer camp I take a older All day group. You see normally I direct the camp and not work with teams or groups. Well I thought it a good idea to save us money to take a group myself. It really wasn't that bad to be honest. The problem was my club team decided they wanted to go to a tournament this last weekend. So I get done with soccer camp at three on Friday and leave at 7am on Saturday for two rain filled days in Dallas. Get back Sunday afternoon early because the tourney got cancelled because of rain. I then have the second week of soccer camp starting Monday morning. I decide this week to take a half a day group. Here's my point - The Lord Almighty knew not to give me a girl. We all know he is the big shot but I truly understand His foresight by not giving myself a lil girl. Forget the old "daddy's girl/their so cute" thing. These lil things ask a ton of questions and I discovered another awesome thing today... at the age of 7 they are already gossiping! This lil Elizabeth girl is whispering to Michelle about Megan! I hear her, tell her to cut it out and she looks up at me and says "cut what out". Hey give me a guy punching or pushing another guy and I can handle it but a lil girl who says things behind another girls back then lies drives me up a wall. "Coach Jeff I didn't say anything". ughhhh girls.... I do have a couple highlights.
Holly asked me "Coach when are we going to play the natural game of soccer (scrimmaging). I told her in a little bit - 30 seconds later "I know Coach Jeff we can play the natural game of soccer now"
Holly saying "Coach Jeff guess what... Holly (2) and my name both rhyme" - forget the fact there the same.
Me - "What game do you girls want to play" - Michelle - "how about the game called kill the Coach".
"Coach I don't to play anymore I'll just cheer for you" followed by ten minutes of "Go coach Jeff" - Holly.
It has been fun but its amazing the difference between these lil girls and my 7 year old boy. I'm going to go throw the ball with Evan.

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Honestly

I'm not lying here peeps. I truly forgot my sign in name and password. The last three times I've tried to post it was a beat down and I quit trying. For some reason it worked tonight.



Ready...

The yankees 7 game win streak is ridiculous... why can't they just lose every game and go away!!



Praise the Lord for our camp attendance... after a bad year last year He really blessed us!



Finally watched Blood Diamond and loved it... Leo did a great job.



Very proud of both the older boys for their grades and achievements in their respective sports.



Very proud of the little one for finally walking.



Why can't the Yankees just go play ball in Japan.



Loved the Soprano's series finale... Period. (fade to black)



I truly can't tell you what I think about Junior joining Hendrick motor sports (I haven't wrapped my tiny mind around it)

Oh wait now I have.... $%^&*#@$%%^&*$#@%

I really have had fun this week working with a camp group - I usually just manage the camp and not take a group.

I promise to always hate the yankees and never take this long off of blogging again.

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High School Mafia

O.K. well last night was Kelly and I's first night with the youth group. We went to the G.Y.M. and mingled with the teens and stayed for the praise and testimony time. It struck me as very similar to an F.B.I. undercover agent infiltrating the Mafia. Please don't be an idiot and think that I truly believe Grace Church's youth are at all like the actual Mafia. Although my lil friends the social infiltration is close. When entering this world you have a few options on gaining the trust of the group.

Option 1: The quick option - You get bold and go right to the head of the line. You find the social leader and try to relate. You look for sports, shows, sense of humor or basically anything you can find to get a niche'.This is difficult because typically the social leader has their set of friends and they rely on them for all the humor or niche's. So this is a precarious option to say the least. The last thing you can do is try and fail. The rules that all your lil pep talker people have told you in the past is not applicable here. Try and failing when infiltrating is the kiss of death. You look very desperate and these teens will label you and well my friends labeling in this setting is like "going away" in the mafia setting.

Option 2 - The slow an steady wins the race option - explains itself. You work at getting a teen that you can relate to and build from there. There are no bold moves just find one that may think your funny or cool. This can be challenging also because there are not many gray haired cool 36 yr. old guys around. "Whys the old looking guy think hes so funny over there - and why is he volunteering here?" That could be a problem. I can see me standing next to my 25 yr. old looking wife and them saying. "Is that his wife or daughter." I would just have to find the one teen to get my option rolling. The mafia equivalent would be a good solider, that puts in their time and gets promoted steadily.

Derek had the best advice when we originally met about us helping out. Just be there and be there consistently and that will work best. I would imagine he knows what hes talking about. I do highly doubt he has compared his youth group to a mafia organization.
Heres an option - I pray that God will use me in any way to minister to the teens. Trusting that His Will will be done. Its more effective than my options and makes more sense. I guess I enjoy talking about the mafia a little to much!

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Weekend chat

This weekend was a blur! I took the team to San Angelo, Texas for two games on Saturday. We left at 6:30 a.m. and returned at 11pm. We won both games (exhibitions) and thats exciting but the trip wore me out. So what do I do on Sunday? Bring two teams in to town to play against my team and squeeze in two campus tours for the high school girls that have come up. Another 9am - 6pm day of soccer. Its not really that its hard work (coaching) its simply that I'm out in the sun the entire time. This is not Hawaii so the ocean breeze is not really the air that we're breathing during this brillant Spring weather. Its more like hot wind blowing a lot of red dirt. Good times had by all. So I'm burnt, back hurts from standing the entire game and if I never talk again I would be very happy. Talking to all those people put my personality into over drive. I watched Lost the other day and Desmond's vow of silence was a very attractive thing. How long do all of you think you could go without talking? Wouldn't it be fun to try? I have discussed my philosophy about this before but lets review. Just think how many problems that we have created by talking. Plus you would have the most mysterious vibe about you? I had a girl on my team that was very quiet and got great grades. I thought this girl is like a wise old Monk (if monks were women). My friends I know now why she never talked- she couldn't buy the common sense enough to start a car. Bless her heart. Wouldn't it be fun to go to a social gathering and not say a word. Just simply listen and nod. You would have to find a way to avoid questions which would be a game in and of itself. Grab your hamstring(thats on the back of your leg - Alyssa) when someone asks you something and hold a finger up as you walk away. Act like you have something hot in your mouth and swiftly jog for water. Act like you can't hear the question then look to the other end of the room like someone else called you. I need to actually try this stuff. It sounds like it could really work.

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About time!

Finally we have reached a point to which someone in T.V. land met with someone else and decided to make Jeff Trimble's show more interesting. I am so thankful this person told Lost to get the story back to the entire cast and not just Jack/Sawyer/Kate/and the "others". I'm also happy they had the foresight to put Alyssa and Ben Turner in the cast as extras. Haven't seen them in a scene yet but I know their adding to the show. Lets also give a big shout out to nursing 24 back to life. I think we all have seen the clever story lines and twists and are expecting them every episode from this show. So I recognize the challenge. Its fun that they now are bring it a little more and I am genuinly intrigued for the first time this season. Lets please keep anyone from talking with Amazing Race. They have it figured out - once again - so none of you clowns bother them over there. Apprentice and Survivor we're getting what we expect so well done. Hopefully they will pick it up a little but they have me right now.

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How's Life?

Things have been going well here. We are finishing up with our spring season at MSU. The girls are doing well and we have only a few more practice games before the end of the season. The Spring record doesn't count for anything - just a training time.
My boys are doing pretty well. Alec is doing better in school (listening and with school work) so we are proud of him. The boy is a reading machine and still loves the gymkata class he does. Hopefully he will never apply what he has learned for the benefit of evil. I love comic book talk! Evan is doing well at school and is playing baseball and soccer right now. His schedule is crazy and we have to watch that he doesnt get to spread out and can enjoy laying around sometimes. He does well at both which keeps me sane - I have a tendency to get a little wrapped up in competition. I'm not sure of any of you knew that or not. Owen is Owen. I'm not an expert on the ins and outs of the one year old child but he looks pretty happy to me. I get to spend a long lunch with him everyday (off-season benefit) and I really enjoy that time with him. Its good just to spend time with any of the boys. At the conference Kel and I went to they talked a lot about spending one on one time with your kids. I need to start doing that a little more consistently.
Kelly and I have decided to start getting involved with a secret cult. Just checking to make sure your paying attention. We actually are going to work with our Church's youth group. We are going to start off just mingling and socializing with the group then work ourselves into more of an active role if Derek (youth pastor) needs. I really am excited about doing this. I like working with that age group and certainly have the maturity and intellect to function on a level with them if not below them.
Hey kids thats all I have for you right now. Oh, Surviror MSU (year two) is about to start again. They have renewed my contract as the host once again. I will let you know how it goes - it starts Friday.

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Update

Sorry about not updating the diet! I survived with the help of the day 5 and 6 "beef" menu. We were allowed 10-20 oz. of beef on day 5, then day 6 gave us all the beef we needed. This sounds great but... when you eat the soup (which you have to at least eat one bowl both days) it fills you up so much that not much beef was enjoyed. Well anyway I survived and am happy I accomplished the task for the week. I officially lost 9 pounds but our scale is wacky it would tell me 12 pounds lost then only 5 pounds lost. I have concluded it was 9 based on most of the readings. I feel good also, we have ate out a few times and I have turned down the need for potatoes and other weight adding food with no or little temptation.
What a great weekend with my wife. I loved the Weekend to Remember conference for marriage that we went to. I have to say I learned alot, its really great to take a step back and evaluate (without kids) where our marriage is and what we can do to make it stronger. The best had to be the time with Kel. I think halfway through I realized when we sat, slept, ate, and attended the conference it was just us. That is wild when you think about it. No other couple to socialize with, no kids to be around, and no phone ringing. It was simply just us and I really had fun with that. I think I kinda forget the Kelly that I can sit and talk about God or our life with and have no other interruptions! Shes a pretty cool girl. Love ya hun!

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