Thinking: I need to write a post about my goals for 2009! Maybe later today…

How to Annoy Me: Hmmm, too early to be annoyed.

How to Make Me Laugh: Better late than never, but thanks to Chad’s brother, we have video of Chad’s mistletoe contraption. Too bad it never saw any action… LOL.

Quote of the Day: “Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected.” - Jonathan Edwards

Thinking: I need to straighten up the apartment this weekend, it’s starting to get messy. I’m also looking forward to seeing my friends tonight!

How to Annoy Me: Sitting on hold listening to the same message over and over again. “Did you know that our online support is available 24/7 365 days a year?!” Well no duh Sherlock! I didn’t think servers got paid time off! I’m also calling you because I couldn’t find an answer in your crappy support site, thank you very much! Needless to say, I hung up and will call back when I have more patience.

How to Make Me Laugh: I miss having Johnny and Kristi around so I could lock their computer and lecture them for not following standard IT security around here. Ha ha!

Quote of the Day: “New Year’s Day:  Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions.  Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” - Mark Twain

Thinking: Working between Christmas and New Year’s isn’t half-bad… it’s quiet and I can get stuff done!

How to Annoy Me: People who do take forever at the Walgreens drive-thru. Seriously folks, the drive-thru is best served for those of us who are picking up prescriptions. If you’re going to drop one off or take all day, please do us all a favor and go inside. LOL.

How to Make Me Laugh: Get kicked out of the Carmel Public Library for not being a resident of Carmel. That’s right Steph, you’re now south of 96th Street, back to the slums for you! LOL. JK! Also, this cartoon made me laugh:

Quote of the Day: “The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.” - Norman Cousins

Prayer
Hayley Westenra

Let your arms enfold us
Through the dark of night
Will your angels hold us
Till we see the light

Hush, lay down your troubled mind
The day has vanished and left us behind
And the wind - whispering soft lullabies
Will soothe - so close your eyes

Let your arms enfold us
Through the dark of night
Will your angels hold us
Till we see the light

Sleep, angels will watch over you
And soon beautiful dreams will come true
Can you feel spirits embracing your soul
So dream while secrets of darkness unfold

Let your arms enfold us
Through the dark of night
Will your angels hold us
Till we see the light

Make You Feel My Love
ADELE

When the rain
Is blowing in your face
And the whole world
Is on your case
I could offer you
A warm embrace
To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows
And the stars appear
And there is no one there
To dry your tears
I could hold you
For a million years
To make you feel my love

I know you
Haven’t made
Your mind up yet
But I would never
Do you wrong
I’ve known it
From the moment
That we met
No doubt in my mind
Where you belong

I’d go hungry
I’d go black and blue
I’d go crawling
Down the avenue
No, there’s nothing
That I wouldn’t do
To make you feel my love

The storms are raging
On the rolling sea
And on the highway of regret
Though winds of change
Are throwing wild and free
You ain’t seen nothing
Like me yet

I could make you happy
Make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn’t do
Go to the ends
Of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love

Thinking: Christmas was pretty good. Also got some new wine glasses and a good bottle of wine… ready for my best friends to come home!

How to Annoy Me: Going to Best Buy on the day after Christmas and they are all sold out of The Office. Seriously, I saw tons of DVD box sets of Martin and other shows. Why can’t stores get this right?! Give the people what they want! And people in Carmel don’t watch Martin. Ha ha!

How to Make Me Laugh: Melissa makes me laugh, she’s crazy.

Quote of the Day: “What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.” - Agnes M. Pharo

But the greatest thing about going to Midnight Mass is driving back home and taking time to reflect on how God has blessed me. This year, I have had an abundance of blessings in the midst of my own powerlessness. A lot of things happened (read that post here) in 2007-2008 that have re-shaped me in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

So, here are some of the people that I’m thankful for this year:

My Ultimate BFFs - Ryan and Noah

Guys, you have been awesome friends as I’ve dealt with my breakup. Ryan has always been the one to listen while Noah has been the one to remind me to man-up. Now that I think about it, that’s a pretty good combination to have! You guys have always been there for me and I’m very blessed to have you in my life. I can’t wait until we’re sharing a cloud in heaven… and I’m sure Noah will have a High-Def TV and PS3 for us.

My “Brother” Jake
Jake, I’ve known you since I was like 12. You used to be really annoying and for some strange reason, I still hang out with you. Only difference now is that you are annoying, but you also pack a weapon, so I don’t call you out on it as much. Ha ha!

It’s been awesome to see you grow up to be a somewhat productive member of society and it amazes me that you haven’t been to prison. Ha ha! I appreciate hanging out with you and I’m glad your parents consider me part of the family (although I’m still waiting for them to buy me a gun). You’re awesome dude, stay the course.

My “Family”
I put family in quotation marks because the people I’m talking about aren’t my real family: Stephanie, Chad, Faith, Betsy, and Andrew. It has been so great getting to know you and hang out with you. Sometimes I begin to think we hang out too much, yet we still love each other and continue to put up with each other (especially with Chad trying to hook up with everyone’s sister!). I greatly appreciate our friendship and look forward to seeing where God takes us!

My “Extended Family”
Ahhh, there are those of you who are just as important: Erin, Colin, Johnny, Kat, Rachel, Ali, Jennifer, Carrie, Ashley, Kristi, Rachel Naz (I hope I’m not forgetting anyone!). You all are awesome for tolerating me like you do… especially Kristi and Rachel when I constantly would come down to your office to talk, you never turned me away, ya’ll are awesome.

Colin, you are my geeky friend, that is a great title to have. Erin, you are my Starbucks angel and always great to have conversations with. Johnny… you have a lot of gas… LOL (try some Bean-O man!). Kat and Rachel, you two are hilarious… and Kat, I love that you’re always online in the wee hours of the night so I have someone to talk to. Ashley, I’m glad that I can take you on “dates” as Brad’s proxy, you’re an awesome lady.

My Friend, Rick
Dude, you know I’m including you on this list because if I didn’t, you’d give me shit. Ha ha! You’ve always been there for me and I appreciate that. You’ve been an awesome and dedicated father to Eliza and this makes you truly awesome. Thanks for hanging with me all these years.

My Co-Workers
Scott, Serena, Brian, Mighty, Kerri, Steve, Adam, Tim, Ron, D Bell, Teri, Ruth… ahh, the list could go on forever. I am so thankful for all of you. You have made my first year here at Grace a good one with your patience, understanding, helpfulness. Tim, I love going to lunch with you and Vinnie and I’m glad I can teach Vinnie new phrases (”What’s up dude?!”). David “D Bell,” you’ve been there for me when times have been extremely hard for me… thank you.

My Family
Mom and Dad, you’ve been wonderful and wonderfully graceful with me all these years. We’ve had some hard times together, but we continue to make it through. Dad, I appreciate you being there for me when I need you. Mom, I’m so glad that I can share everything with you… I honestly don’t know how you put up with me (I guess I’ll figure that out when I have kids of my own). To my brother Micah, you are the best big brother I could ask for. Kreig and Eric… you guys are alright too (even though you’re giving Patches second-hand smoke, LOL).

Wow, that’s a lot to be thankful for and there are so many others that I’m thinking of right now. When 2008 started out, it started out to be one of the most depressing years for me in recent memory… thanks for pulling me through. I love you all!

This Christmas sticks out to me for many reasons. For one, it was a time when my family was still together. For those of you that don’t know, my parents divorced when I was in high school. So for me, when I watch these videos, it reminds me of what my family used to be.

Second, it sticks out because this was the year our family got our first PC. Sure, we’d had Commodores, Texas Instruments, Apple ][ and other machines. But this was the first computer that I got truly excited about. We played a ton of games on it including, “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego,” “Indy 500 Simulator,” “Microsoft Flight Simulator,” “Math Blasters,” and more.

That was a fun Christmas. And when I look back on these memories, I have to thank my parents for being truly awesome in making sure we had a good Christmas. My parents made sure each of us boys got a few toys for ourselves, but also “big toys” that we could share (or at least die trying to share). So here is a small clip from Kinnaman Christmas 1991.

Thinking: Trans-Siberian Orchestra was pretty cool. Sometimes I think they were a little “over the top” for absolutely no reason. But I enjoyed some of the songs and the stage effects were awesome.

How to Annoy Me: People who use their cell phone camera exclusively as their main camera. Cell phone cameras suck… they’re good for when a camera isn’t around. But people that use them exclusively might as well invest in one of those old 110 film cameras, they’d get better quality.

How to Make Me Laugh: Chad makes me laugh when he gets excited about the Trans-Siberian Orchestra girls. Ha ha!

Quote of the Day: “Anyone can take a picture…a person with a passion sees the picture before it’s taken.” - Anonymous