Apr 28, 2009

Selling the Mighty Rebel

That's right, my Rebel motorcycle is for sale for only 1700$ It's a screamin good deal! Tell your friends! Go here and see more. It's been a sweet bike to get around with. It gets 75mpg, insurance only costs 10$ a month, you can park wherever you want and chicks- well, Jodi digs it. The bike is only a 250cc, so it's on the small side for sure, but it's freeway legal and everything. I mean, you don't have to be this guy for sure.
I had a dude come and look at it the other day and the guy was huge. He was over 6 foot and 220lbs or so. He dwarfed the poor bike! I couldn't lie to him, even to sell the bike, I had to tell him how ridiculous he looked on the bike. He laughed so hard when I showed him what he looked like on the bike (with the camera on my phone)

Apr 24, 2009

a real hero



You know the age old question : If you could meet any person, dead or living, who would it be?
Such an easy question for me. Captain Moroni.
For those of you who may not be familiar with this man, prepare to be amazed. I probably could never do him justice. In our church, we have a book called the Book of Mormon. It is, in short, a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and another testament of Jesus Christ.
Moroni was a man who lived approximately 100 B.C.-56B.C. He was a patriot and a skilled and righteous military leader.

I often feel troubled these days by all the terrible things in the world, and especially by the corruption of leaders and threats to our liberty and freedoms. Moroni was experiencing many of these same challenges in his day and faced them head on with courage and faith. He was a man who loved his people, his country, and his God. He was dealing with men who wanted to destroy his people and the free government.

"And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery..."

He didn't like to fight, and he prayed for his enemy, but he knew that God commanded them to defend their families even unto bloodshed. He was willing to look evil in the eye and deal with it. He inspired his soldiers with the thoughts of their lands, their liberty, yea, their freedom from bondage. As a result of his passionate dedication, he took his coat and wrote upon it:
"In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace,
our wives, and our children"

and he fastened it on a pole which he waved everywhere he went. He diligently remembered what was most important and prepared his people spiritually and physically for the challenges that faced them. There is a small verse that I'm afraid is so easily passed over, but is so powerful:

"And therefore, at this time, Moroni prayed that the cause of the Christians,
and the freedom of the land might be favored"

As an American Christian who enjoys so many freedoms, I desire to follow the example of Moroni every time I fall on my knees.

"...A man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.
Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of blood.
Yea, verily, verily, I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."

Now that is what I call a hero.
-Jodi

Apr 19, 2009

19 Oaks Camping trip

I took my scout troop up to 19 Oaks this weekend. There is good rock climbing and a sweet creek to swim in with really deep swimmin holes.
We got lots of scouts to go and a ton of leaders too.
Here's everybody's morning faces:

Apr 17, 2009

Mom vs Santa Barbara

Let's see... Final Score: Mom 0; Santa Barbara 4

**Mom flew into Santa Barbara in the crazy wind and she almost yacked on the plane. I then took her to a crazy Tea Party rally.

**Mom went hiking and picked up a little friend...
... a TICK! We had to pull it out because it had already burrowed! I may or may not have squirted all the tick juice back into her while pulling it out.

**Mom got poison oak all over her arm. She'll be seeing that soon. *shudder*

**We were riding bikes over to the school and as we went past Isla Vista, the filth of the earth, somebody lobbed a water-balloon at mom from a car! The balloon narrowly missed and hit a pile of fresh MANURE right in front of her covering my poor mom's face and body in manure. There was poo everywhere- it really stunk.

Sorry mom, Santa Barbara is usually really nice. Hopefully Boston will be nicer to you! Thanks for visiting.

Apr 13, 2009

Easter


We had such a great weekend. We decided to spend the holiday with my aunt and uncle in Orange county. We usually go down about once a month to go to the temple and hang out with them, because pretty much they are the coolest peeps ever. They always know how to throw a good party, and they always fill us up with more delicious food than our tummies can hold.

Saturday night they took us out for the best tri-tip and mashed potatoes we've ever had-a perfect birthday dinner for Taylor. Sunday they had their annual Easter party and egg hunt. I wish I had gotten more pictures of this. Keep in mind that we are all adults, the only child was my cousin's 1 yr old. They hid like 200 eggs in their yard and the neighbors yard and we went crazy- each man for his own. Then the best part is after wards they have an auction and you get to use your eggs as money for goods like gift cards, mystery eggs full of cash, food, movie tickets, and more. We ended up with 2 $10 gift cards for itunes, some toilet paper( it had one of the gift cards taped to the top) the game "Farkle", and a gift card to Rubio's. Best Easter egg hunt I've done in a long time. Thanks Dave & Melanie for such a good time.

Let us not forget the true meaning of Easter and the glory of our resurrected Savior Jesus Christ.
I really loved this video/talk by Elder Holland.

Apr 11, 2009

26 and counting...

Happy Birthday to the boy who makes me laugh everyday.
I do appreciate his antics.Te Quiero

Ich liebe dich

Apr 9, 2009

Mustache March '09


The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
And considering how much my old man loved a good old fashion mustache, it should come as no surprise that I love them so. Here's my humble offering. 30 days worth of stache.
Sure, it may have it's very own neutral territory featuring no hair (consider it the Switzerland of my face) but let me tell ya, there's nothing that says Dignified like a stache.My good buddy Andy and I decided it needed a name, so we set to brainstorming.
Here's Andy's list:
Black Magic, the Tropic of Capricorn, Howard the Humid, Teen Wolf, Caesar Augustus, Col. Mustard, Flicka, Herb from PR, The Skinny, Charles the filth, the Widow's Wedding Veil, Cave of Wonders.

Here's my list:
Eduardo, Virgil, Itchy & Scratchy, Pierre, Daddy Long Legs, Curb Feelers, Cat Scratch Fever, The English Patient, Minimum P.I., Mister Miagi, The Pride of Oklahoma, Kansas Cousin Kisser, The Shroud of Turin, The Desperado's Hideout.

My vote goes to "The Widow's Wedding Veil." Cast your VOTES!

Santa Barbara TEA PARTY!

Where will you be on April 15th at 1:00pm? Because we know where we'll be!
Santa Barbara will be having it's own tea party:
http://taxdayteapartysb.com/sitemap.aspx

Now I just need to pick out some good signs to hold! Here's a few good ideas that I've found so far:
http://changebarack.blogspot.com/2009/03/top-20-tea-party-signs.html

Apr 8, 2009

need to escape

You know how it feels when you are going somewhere and you are ready NOW, but it's not time yet? I think this is how I am feeling. Except for being sick of the weather- that's impossible in Santa Barbara. And I love this song.

Apr 3, 2009

I love this. I had a friend tell me once that he thought it was so awesome how much Mormons care about the family. I agree.

Apr 1, 2009

Pay It Forward

This is how it works:

"The 1st three people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during this year, a handmade gift from me. If you don't live by me, leave me your e-mail address in a comment. What the gift will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back and let me know you are going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift. Remember only the 1st three will qualify.

Jodi