32 Reasons

I got rice cookin' in the microwave, got a three day beard I don't plan to shave. It's a goofy thing, but I just gotta say, hey, I'm doing alright. I think I'll make me some homemade soup, feeling pretty good and that's the truth. It's neither drink nor drunk induced, naw, I'm just doing alright. And its a great day to be alive, the sun's still shining when I close my eyes. It's a hard time in the neighborhood, why can't every day be just this good... Travis Tritt.

Have you ever noticed that country music has several "I feel really great" songs? Not as many as "my life sucks" songs, but still...

Anyway, my life rocks. Seriously, it really does. I woke up this morning 32 years old. Well, theoretically, I don't turn 32 until 815 CST tonight, but hey, who's counting? I'm 32 years old today. So I figured I would do a post... among the many hundreds of reasons I'm happy to be alive, I thought I'd pick 32, in no particular order...

1. Jesus Christ. He saved me. He lives through me, and for me. I go outside and get shot in a drive-by fruiting, and you know what, I wake up in paradise. Can't beat that, really.

2. Stephanie. She's awesome. She really is. She is everything that God planning for me to be with, and if not everything God knew I wanted, then definately, everything God knew I needed.

3. WalkAbout. I love my kids. Love leading drama. Its a passion. And I get to do it.

4. My job at Starbucks. Ohmigosh, I get paid great money to SERVE COFFEE. You know, as an ASM, there's more to it, in turns of planning, leadership, hiring, firing, support, so on and so on... but still... I get to meet people, I get to work with FABULOUS people like Alyssa and Kat and Petey and my manager rocks and... well there.

They call them strong, those who can face the world alone, who seem to get by on their own, those who will never change or fall. We call them weak, who are unable to resist the slightest chance that might exist and for that, forsake it all. Their so hell-bent on giving, walking a wire, convinced its not living if you're standing outside the fire... Garth Brooks.

"Hell-bent on giving, walking a wire, convinced its not living if you're standing outside the fire" What a line... totally my life. Hell-bent on living.

5. Sweet potato casserole. My favorite food. Its great that Steph could cook this, because this could have been a deal breaker.

6. I don't get sick. I just don't. Maybe I ate too many boogers as a 2 year old and my immune system is strong, who knows.. in 17 years in the work field, I've called in sick, maybe five or six times. I know I've left work sick twice. I even worked with strep throat (though I didn't know I had it at that point).

7. My iPod. Come on, its revolutionized the way I hear music. Completely. To be able to access, like, any song ever, its pretty handy.

8, 9, 10. There aren't a whole lot of girls I'll say "that's my buddy", but Paula Maddox, Meredith Quintana and April Adams are my buddies. I don't get to see them nearly enough, but its the kind of buddy you can just high five and laugh with, without fear of your wife saying "what are you doing?"

I have been blessed, and I feel like I've found my way. I thank God for all I've been given at the end of every days. I have been blessed, with so much more than I deserve. To be here with ones who love me, to love them so much it hurts, I have been blessed... Martina McBride

11. Ashley Spell. Love this kid. She's just a ball of fun wrapped up in a "my life is too stressful" body.

12. My digital camera. I paid cash for it, bargained at Best Buy, and its all mine!

13. Financial Peace. Okay, so in five or six months, we'll be debt free. We won't owe anyone anything. We have emergency savings ready, and we'll have a bunch of monthly income not going to bills we'll be able to save and pay cash for a house, a car, another Disney vacation. We're in a great place.

14. Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship). For all its faults, and every church has 'em, its got some of the best leaders and greatest people you could ever know. Its a great thing.

15. Haircuts. This may seem trivial, but its a hard thing sometimes to find a great place to get your haircut. Might I recommend Melissa Clark at Xscape Salon? She goes to church with us, and is in KidStuf with us, and cuts great hair. Let me know, I'd love to hook you up.

16. Movies. Lots and lots of movies. Lots and lots and lots of movies.

17. Music. Lots and lots of music. Lots and lots and lots and lots of music

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean. Whenever one door closes, I hope that one door opens. Promise me that you'll gtive faith a fighting chance, and when get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance. I hope you dance... Lee Ann Womack (One of Steph's favorite songs)

18. Rush Limbaugh. I'm truly a student at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies. The same way some of you libs soak up every word that Hillary, Obama or Pelosi says, only I question what I hear from Rush and make my own decisions. Just sayin'.

19. "Rock Your Body" by Justin Timberlake. Random. Its on, and it rocks. I'm jammin.

20, 21. The Purple Onion & Dale's Southern Grill. Two of my favorite places to eat.

22. Kingdom Comics. One of my favorite places to shop, and build my ever expansive comic collection. When I have money, that is.

23. Paid for car. Its a 1999 Limited Edition Mercury Pezeahchit, pardon the expression, but its paid for. It had air. It runs pretty well. And when I get another car next summer, we'll trade in and pay cash for another paid for car. See #13.

24, 25. Myspace and Facebook. I keep in touch with people, people I never see, like K-Dub, Launi, NYCJenni and others.

And the white line's getting longer, and the saddle's getting colder, Lord I'm much to young to feel this damn old. All the cards left on the table with the no ace left in the hole, I'm much to young to feel this damn old... Garth Brooks. (okay, its a song about rodeos, but heck, who hasn't felt this way here and there?)

26. The DFC. I live for college football, and NFL, and The Deuce Football Championships make it worthwhile. I love and hate, at the same time, that I need to worry about the outcome of Boise State and BYU.

27. The Deuce Guys. Tommy, Tom, Mikey, Shawnifer, Ty, and my best mate Wookiee. Perhaps the combined best friends ever. Even Shawnifer.

28. Steph's family. I mean, how many times have I heard "my in-laws...." followed by a sigh or a complaint from my friends? My in-laws rock. They're good to us. We're thankful. And Tyler might be the coolest brother in law, like, ever. Good kid. He won a car. How ridiculous is that.

29. My mom. I don't call her nearly enough, but she loves me, like a mama should.

Keep your 40, I'll just have an Earl Grey tea. My rims never spin, to the contrary, you'll find their quite stationary. All of my action figures are cherry, Stephen Hawking's in my library. My MySpace is totally pimped out, got people begging for my top 8 spaces... Alfred Yankovic

30. This country. We live in a country that let you not only defend but test the First Amendment, freedom of speech, and even though liberals are only using the word "from", we have freedom IN religion. We are the Effin' United States of Effin' America. We are in the most powerful, richest, most technologically advanced, most economically powered country in the history of the world. I'd rather be dirt poor here than rich in, say, Syria. I'm blessed to be born here. Its a country that affords us the chance to argue about our freedoms, and even affords the President (with his 25% approval number that you hear about in the media constantly) and Democratic Congress (with their THREE PERCENT approval rating on the handling of the war, a number you never heard about in the media... one, two THREE percent) the chance to fight over out to lead this country.

31. My leather couches. I love my couches. Dark red leather, expensive, fine grain, three recliners, some of the most comfortable furniture ever. And its paid for.

32. Hot showers. I'm about to go take one. Its going to be awesome.

The above list is not conclusive, there's stuff that I'm sure I've left off, theres a ton more stuff I love about my life. Thats just 32 things--I could have mentioned Ashley Judd movies, Scott Latta, Hootie music, Harry Potter, The Sport Guy, $1 tv dinners, digital cable, thick hair, iced coffee con leches, and much more...

Anyway, happy birthday to me. My life rocks. Have a great day.

I went skydiving, I went Rocky Mountain climbing, I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu-Manchu. I loved deeper, and I spoke sweeter, and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying. I hope someday you get the chance to live like you were dying... Tim McGraw

And remember... Life is not tried, its just merely survived if you're standing outside the fire...