Thanx...and further endeavors

Our raffle was a smashing success. We raised just over $1,200 and had such a blast doing it. I want to thank all of you who donated towards our adoption this way. So many of you gave us gift cards to go into this raffle and then so many of you donated your dollars. I was seriously overwhelmed. So thank you! We are very close to having what we need for our referral check. (holding tightly that maybe it will be coming soon...Christmas gift?)

You may know that I happen to run into the most random things. On Tuesday morning I was headed to Port Angeles, Washington to speak at a youth group meeting. About 30 minutes before I left I remembered I had a website opened from the week before that had a video competition. I decided to look at it. Sure enough, the video was due THAT DAY! appventcalendar.com was running it and so I read the rules...less than 2 minutes, had to be in a Santa costume and that was it. You could do anything. I looked at the time and I decided I was going to try it.

I took a Christmas carol and rewrote the lyrics. Then I pulled down my Santa outfit, grabbed my guitar, practiced it twice and recorded it on my iPhone. I sent it in and the guy told me it was awesome and was in the top 10. So here is the deal. The top 10 were then uploaded to youtube on Friday and then it is up to the most views. Here is the breakdown 4-10th place get $15 iTunes gift cards. 3rd place will get a Parrot AR. Drone (remote control with your iPhone helicopter with a video camera on it). 2nd place wins an iPad and 1st place wins a MacBook Air! The competition ends on Friday, December 24th at 1AM...I think. It says Friday at 10AM GMT+1. This is a really great website as they give away a free app every day in December each year. I love loading my iPhone with the apps they give away. Feel free to jump over and support them.

So, here is where I come asking for your help again. Can you go watch my video...A WHOLE BUNCH OF TIMES!!!????!!! Are you planning on sitting down and watching some TV? Got a laptop? You could just keep hitting refresh all night. Even if the view count doesn't go up right away, it is still counting each view. It just takes some time for it to catch up. I would GREATLY appreciate it! Just go here.

3rd place. 

2nd place.

1st place.

Check out the video of the Drone...it's sick!


FB friends who want to view the video click here.

I'm a DVR Snob

 I remember going into the Eide's home and hanging out. We were watching an NBA game. They wanted to show me this really cool thing called "TiVo." I had never heard of it. We saw a play and then they paused it! LIVE!! Can you believe it? They paused live television. Then they rewound it and we watched the play over and over. We even watched it in slow motion. I could not believe what my eyes were seeing. It was unbelievable! My mind was really having a hard time wrapping round the concept of this technology. Fast forward a whole bunch of years...

As far as being a DVR snob...I admit it. I am. I didn't realize it until today. I was thinking about a comment someone made and I thought they were a snob (I'll get to that in a minute) but then I thought about my DVR and how I react to people at times. Here is what I am talking about. When someone asks me if I have seen such and such commercial I usually respond with, "Oh, I don't watch commercials. I skip right through them." I don't mean to come off snobbish, but I wonder if I do. I love having a DVR and part of the reason is that I don't have to watch the commercials. I suppose I would answer the same way if I watched everything on Hulu as well. Although they have commercials, it's usually just one and it's repeated.

What made me think of this and wonder if I come off that way was when I asked if someone watched a certain show and they responded by saying that they don't watch TV. I felt as if I were suddenly being looked down upon. I didn't like it. We all have different convictions and all that, I get that totally. I am quite happy with the fact that I love story, I enjoy being entertained and I am fascinated with people's abilities to write good scripts. I know that there are certain things I refrain from viewing, but I certainly don't put that on anyone else. his time I felt like it was being put on me. I think I was catching that for two reasons. 1) I sensed a, "Really? You waste your time with that drivel they call entertainment?" and 2) I gathered there was a, "Do you have any idea how much money we save by not watching TV?"

That in itself is a little irritating, but then I got the, "Besides, we can watch it on Hulu or rent the DVDs." I'm sorry, but didn't you just say that you didn't have time to waste on all that drivel? So I come back to my original pondering. Am I a DVR snob or a commercial snob? I hope not. I just really want to get back to the story. I really am not flaunting that I own a DVR or anything like that. I understand that the commercials make it possible for the story to happen. I would rather hear about one that really piques my interest and check it out on youtube. I also love the fact that I can watch an hour show in less than 45 minutes and that I can choose when I watch something rather than something choosing when I watch it.

Now, as to what I watch and all that...I have a post coming next week that is part of an annual tradition now that hits on TV deaths.