Say goodbye…to what…we haaaaaad.  Makes me wanna sing some Motown Philly.  Maybe I will.

We are off.  Huntington Beach in our rearview mirror and always in our hearts, Route 66 is our home for the next 2 days.  It is pouring down rain right now so please pray for a safe trip!  Pray for our new home.  Pray for our family.  Pray for a job and new life!

Thank you all so much!

For the last time from HB (until we come back),
brookjames

Last night I had the opportunity to start a tradition with my little girl (and give mommy a break).  I expect we will make this a weekly thing (as it should be!)  As soon as I got home from work, me and the little one took off for a night on the town.  Granted she is only 5 months old so for a while we will be a tad limited on our options for what she will enjoy so for now we walk and talk and bounce and play peek-a-boo and fly and such.  Good times for sure!  Thought you might enjoy a couple pictures from our night at the beach.  (PS – They are all of her.  I’m not good at the self portrait thing.  Plus she is WAY cuter!)

As a brand new daddy I am finally getting to enjoy Father’s Day from a different angle.  It’s kinda weird having a day set aside for you (other than your birthday…which isn’t as big of a deal after you turn 21…until it’s a big deal because you don’t want them anymore).  But since Father’s Day is tomorrow, a Sunday, I expected it to be rather normal with a slight addition of some flair.  You know, the normal work in the morning, special BBQ lunch, Sunday afternoon nap, hanging out with the two coolest girls and possibly tossing in some Wii Fit.  Seems like a pretty nice day.  Nothing too special.

It's just...awful.

Well that’s what I was prepared for.  I should have known better because I know KK likes to surprise me with things (although most of the time she ends up giving it away because she can’t keep it in).  But yesterday morning almost noon I was surprised with an early Father’s Day!  It was great!  Completely unexpected and amazing!  Not only did I get to sleep in until nearly noon, but KK and Jessi Girl came to wake me up!  Then I got breakfast lunch in bed as well as a really sweet note and Tiger Woods Golf for Wii AND a family donation to charity: water!  After playing with Jessi for a while we headed out for a walk through downtown Huntington Beach and a beach stroll.  We had snow cones and Yogurtland and even played a couple rounds of golf.

It was a great day and one that I wasn’t expecting.  I was expecting a lazy day off but was blown away by my family!  I love them so much!  They make for one great first Father’s Day!  And I’m really glad they didn’t buy me some awful tie!

We are headed down to the AVP Huntington Beach Open for a little beach volleyball action (screaming daughter willing).  Got to see some olympic players last year.  So in honor of the volleyball tournament, caption this!

I can’t believe the due date is already here!  The countdown says 1 day left!  The past 9 months or 40 weeks (whichever sounds longer) has really flown by.  Well, looking back it flew by, but in the situations and dealing with the pain and discomfort and sickness it really crawled.  But the main thing is that we are now 1 day away from being a full and official 40 weeks.  That is FOREVER!  The families are beginning to assemble here in beautiful Huntington Beach and hopefully the newest member will decide that she is ready to grace us with her little face.

Thank you everyone for all the prayers, love and support!  Stay tuned because there will be plenty more blogs to come as we attempt to write through as much of this as we can!  Here comes the baby!

Alright.  2009 is gone!  It has been an amazing year filled with all kinds of crazy ups and downs, trips, babies, apparently a little bit of sex, concerts, game shows and so much more!  Here is a look back at 2009 things from the year 2009.  Ok, well maybe it’s not 2009 things.  That would be just way too long.  I wouldn’t even think about reading that.  Maybe I’ll do that next year.  How about 109 things from 2009?  That seems much more doable at the moment.  I’ll shoot for 2010 things next year.

1. I wish our families didn’t live 1400 miles away.
2. The nearest Braum’s Ice Cream to us is 1,077 miles away.
3. We have a new President.
4. We had our one year anniversary!  Can’t believe she still puts up with me.
5. Las Vegas is pretty cool.
6. Blowing out a transmission in the actual middle of the dessert on the way to Vegas sucks!
7. I got to be on Wipeout!
8. Wipeout is much more difficult and painful than it looks…well maybe just as painful as it looks.
9. Counting calories is pretty annoying but works really well.
10. Losing 35 lbs. is great for the soul.
11. Toby and Stephanie added Taelyn to the family.
12. Kosher means grosser.
13. 12+ hour flights are NOT for me.
14. Bet She’an and Masada are incredible!
15. I’m not sure there is a city in the world more amazing than Jerusalem.
16. After a week of Middle Eastern food, Pizza Hut will taste like the best thing ever.
17. Christians, you are more Jewish than you know.
18. Did you know that Delta sucks?
19. Did you know that the Atlanta airport sucks?
20. Finding out you are gonna have a baby is an incredible feeling!
21. Finding out you are gonna have a baby doesn’t mean you can’t go back to sleep since it’s 6:50 AM.
22. Babies are expensive well before they get here.
23. Having a little girl that I now have to take care of is a little scary.
24. Pregnancy is not fun for everyone.
25. I am married to the most amazing woman.
26. After hitting the year mark of my blog, I think I’ll keep going.
27. Blogging every day is rather difficult.
28. There are a lot of people that look for things about Star Wars on the internet.
29. Lots of people search for the Now You Got The Chills/Shiveries rhyme online.
30. Driving 5 MPH slower makes a difference in a Jeep.
31. My wife started working at House Of Blues.
32. Getting into concerts for free because your wife works for Live Nation is awesome!
33. OK Go, The Dan Band, and Poison are great in concert.
34. Def Leppard is amazing in concert.
35. Steven Tyler falling off the stage and breaking himself is not good for my one chance to see Aerosmith for free.
36. I started working at Kingsfield Church.
37. Kingsfield Church sold the building and moved to Aliso Viejo and into theaters.
38. I am still not a morning person.
39. Winters in Southern California are pretty amazing.
40. Missing out on the snow storm does not suck.
41. Christmas in Southern California is amazing.
42. Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen was almost as amazing as Transformers!
43. Free HD is pretty awesome.
44. I miss my poker boys!
45. Macs are still way better than Windows.
46. The iPhone is one of the best inventions ever!
47. Warehouse sales are where it’s at!
48. Hearing the waves crash all night is pretty freakin’ sweet.
49. Neighbors smoking outside really sucks.
50. Basketball once a week (most of the weeks) just isn’t enough.
51. Dislocating a finger sucks pretty bad.
52. Dislocating a finger on the left hand for a guitar player is not helpful.
53. Dislocating a finger on the left hand for a guitar player is not comfortable.
54. Family Guy, 30 Rock, The Office, Modern Family, and Community are amazing shows.
55. I can’t wait for 24 to start again.
56. I’m sad that Prison Break had to end…although our marriage is a little stronger now that Michael Scofield is no longer on our TV every week.
57. It’s nice to actually have the owner’s furniture out of the house.
58. Tuesday morning gardeners are really annoying.
59. Surfing is fun.
60. Surfing is exhausting.
61. Dolphins don’t mind swimming past surfers.
62. Church Online is a great way to still get to see many of our friends back in the Southwest.
63. Todd and Wendy are pregnant!
64. Jenny  and Josh are pregnant!
65. Nate and Jenny are pregnant!
66. Jeremiah and Nicole are pregnant!
67. Jonathan and Monica are pregnant!
68. John and Mariah are not pregnant.
69. Seems like almost everyone we know is pregnant.  Must be something in the water.  Right Cayce?
70. Chris and Randi got married!
71. Thanksgiving is only complete when guns are fired after the meal.
72. I still don’t understand why people even leave the house on Black Friday.
73. Cyber Monday is GENIUS!
74. Catalyst is an amazing conference and recommended to EVERY church leader.
75. The West Coast timezone is a little difficult to get accustomed to.
76. It’s weird that Monday Night Football has already started by the time I get home from work.
77. It’s really nice to have an office to work from.
78. I still really hate PCs.
79. The Price Is Right is a fun show to go on, but Drew Carey is funny but is no Bob Barker.
80. Cade Collinsworth is going up way too fast!
81. I still don’t like Christmas music.
82. Our baby has a name!  Wanna know what it is?
83. Old Navy makes the worst commercials.  They make me not want to buy Old Navy.
84. Watching the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach is pretty sweet.
85. Watching a hometown boy win the US Open of Surfing is amazing.
86. Got to see the Angels pull off an insane come back against the Yankees in the ALCS!
87. I turned 29 this year.  I guess I’m starting to get old since the next one is 30.
88. I missed college football!
89. Southern California really doesn’t care about college football much.  That’s one thing I miss about the Southwest.
90. I have missed Pro Tools.
91. I’m really not OK with the government wasting time worrying about the BCS when there are so many other things that need a ton of attention.
92. Have I mentioned how amazing my wife is?
93. I miss our families.
94. My parents and sister moved to Anchorage, Alaska.
95. It’s really cold in Anchorage, Alaska.
96. I’m glad I don’t live in Anchorage, Alaska.
97. We have been Oklafornians for a year now.
98. I like being the guy that helps load stuff up after showers and not being the guy that has to go to them all.
99. I don’t like having to pay to get my vehicles worked on.
100. God is much more faithful than I give Him credit for.
101. God is always in control.
102. I still suck at taking time off.
103. I still don’t know why frozen grapes are SO much better than normal ones.
104. Yogurtland is awesome!
105. I don’t understand what all the fuss is about Disneyland.  Not that fun.
106. Wee Man is really short.
107. I learned Photoshop and Dreamweaver.
108. I wonder how much of these people will read.
109. At least it’s not really 2009 things!

Did you make it?  What are your favorite things from this past year?

As we are drawing closer and closer to the end of the year, we bloggers like to do the same thing.  We like to look back at the year past and review.  So I guess I will too!  Here are 11 things that I learned this past year.

• Winter in Southern California is way better than in Oklahoma or Texas.
• Israel is one of the most amazing places on earth.
• There is a ton that goes into getting ready for a baby.
• Contrary to statements made by me in the past, I am willing to be a commuter to live in a place I love and call home.
• Huntington Beach is THE coolest town in Orange County.
• Watching a baby grow is really incredible.
• The iPhone is possibly the best phone to date.
• The older I get the more I HATE mornings.
• All you child bearers out there are my freakin’ heros.
• No matter how genuine a person appears to be, Craigslist people should not be trusted.
• When times get rough, when I wanna quit, when I don’t know how to _____, when I just want to scream my God is faithful.

As my mom has always said, time flies when you are having fun.  It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone.  I’m glad I can look back and see so many things that I have learned and so many things that God has brought us through.  This next year is going to be an incredible one for sure!

Another Christmas has come and gone.  Unfortunately a good bit of the rest of the world will go back to their lives and treat Christmas as just another holiday and not even really realize that they were singing songs with the words Christ the Lord and such in them.  But for many of us, we realize that Jesus isn’t just the reason for Christmas but rather for our lives.  As we go into a new week, year, and decade, remember that the point of Christmas isn’t just that 8 lb. 6 oz. infant baby Jesus, but that it started the earthly events that would completely change everything and give us something to live for outside of constantly making sacrifices and attempting to pay for our sins!  This week I am expecting some really awesome things!

• Another Sunday rolls around and gives us another chance to lead people into starting and deepening their personal and intimate relationships with God.  I like that.  I expect God to take over what I’m doing and just use me.
• I really wish I could expect to stop hearing Christmas music this week, but I’m not sure that’s gonna happen.  My mother is coming into town and I’m sure that will bring some Christmas music back out.  Yeah.  She’s the Christmas in July…and February…and October…and every other month kind of mom.
• My parents are finally coming to grace the coastline of Southern California and get a taste of Huntington Beach!  I haven’t seen them outside of Skype since June.  That will be fun.  Wish the rest of the crew could come too, but I guess we have to do something drastic like have the first baby of the family to get them all out.  Oh, wait.  We are doing that, too!  See you all in March!  (Hope my little one does, too.)
• With Christmas comes a TON of work for a Music Pastor.  With the passing of Christmas, generally comes a break for church staff.  Christmas just passed, ergo, a whole freakin’ week off!  I’m not sure what I’m gonna do with myself!
• Ok, maybe I do have a few ideas of what I’m gonna do.  I am hoping to have my all new blog up and launched this week.  I wanna go surf because it has been months!  I’m gonna get some more nursery stuff done.  And I’m gonna spend some time with my mom and dad!

Seems like a pretty good list of expectations for me.  I hope you are expecting great things out of this week too!

(I didn’t really have a good picture idea for this post so enjoy this one instead.  I need more cowbell!)

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the actual time off that comes with it.  In our current situation, which is soon to be remedied, my wife and I don’t get many days off together.  It’s a bummer, but we make do with the ones that we have.  Then when major holidays roll around, we actually get a couple days off together.  That is awesome.  Regardless of how we actually spend those days, if we do it together it is still great.

Over the past couple weeks we have been working toward one main thing: getting the house ready for our daughter.  Since we have already cleaned out the former storage closet in the nursery, this Christmas break has been spent getting the rest of the room prepared for our little baby girl to join us in our wonderful Huntington Beach condo.  With the in-laws being in town, they offered to paint our nursery for us.  Needless to say, we jumped on that!  They did an excellent job, too!  But with a painted nursery comes the work of actually getting it all ready.  We now have a crib (claiming to be the easiest crib in the world to assemble…I say it’s pretty easy if you can decipher their instructions) with a mattress and skirt done as well.  Top that off with huge stacks of clothes and toys (already) and a cleaned out closet and I think we are doing rather well!

Next week, my parents will be here and we will have our last shower for our baby girl.  Then we will be on our own.  It’s pretty exciting to see the nursery coming together.  Just let’s me know that we are that much closer to having her here with us (outside of the belly of course).  I guess I better enjoy the sleeping while I can.  Maybe I get in a nap today!

Christmas day has finally arrived.  And with the arrival of Christmas day, the departure of the most wonderful time of year is eminent.  But before it is gone, there are things we should learn from it.  I’m a firm believer in learning something from anything, so here are seven things I learned this Christmas!

• Trent Austin is a freakin’ mad man.  If you like Christmas music (or just music in general) you should go to Church Online in the next day or two, find a time, turn up the speakers and watch the man work.  (Such creativity and musical ability makes me feel a little less saved!  Guess I’ll be raising my hand this weekend.)
• Watching someone dodge a car backing out of a parking place that isn’t actually backing out of a parking place is really funny.  Do we not use our peripheral vision while typing on the phone and walking?
• You don’t need a coupon for a regular $5 footlong at Subway.  The dude whipped a coupon out of his wallet for a regular sub for $5 at Subway.  Really?  That’s definitely 20 seconds of your life you won’t be getting back.
• Al Gore is crazy. For those of you that live in Oklahoma you know.  How does the weather just happen to be a big blizzard when he gets his change to convince the world that global warming is really taking place.  Really?
• Huntington Beach is about as good as it gets in the states for Christmas.  Now if we could just get all the family out here for it too!
• HDTV is free if your TV will scan the digital channels.  (Can someone explain to me why they think they should take FOX off as a normal network?  That’s insane!)
• I’m glad I’m not in Oklahoma stuck in the airport for the night or stuck on the turnpike for 12 hours!

What about you?  What have you learned this Christmas?