Not much new here. Mel and I are all decorated for Christmas...our house that is. As many people try to steer away from the commercialism of Christmas we do quite the opposite. We dive headfirst in to as much holly, evergreen, and festive decorations as we can. I'd like to say that is all Mel, but the truth is, I too am a sucker for yule tide glee. It's not even a gift thing or a materialism thing (this is what I say to help me sleep at night) so much as it is just a fun way to reminisce and participate in something I did as a kid. Christmas movies are another guilty pleasure. Even the cheesy ones. Well, I guess they are all cheesy, but I mean the super-cheesy ones.

Anyway, I included another video clip from the Navajo Reservation from July. It features really cool lightning and Gary Darnell (Charlie, too). What more could one ask for. Feliz Navidad.

In two weeks I will be traveling to the Navajo Reservation near Four Corners, Arizona, to do a video for a mission school that is out there. Each summer a group of students and leaders from my church do an outreach trip to the Reservation. I have been there seven times. It will be weird going there in December, when the average high temperature is 4o degrees. I am excited to do this video though. Here is a clip from the trip that I took to the Rez this summer (and yes, I just said "Rez").

Thanksgiving was lovely. I feel like I gained 10 pounds and that's just from all the butter I ate. Not really, but how gross would it be if I were to gain weight solely from eating butter. Anyway, Mel and I had 2 Thanksgiving feasts. They were stellar.
In related news, we leave for the Navajo Reservation in 2 weeks. I got hired to film a video for a school on the Reservation that we went to this summer on an outreach trip. (I'll post some video from that soon.
Yesterday I found a CD with some pictures from a trip I took to South America a few years ago. South America was an amazing place. I ate my weight in steak while I was there. I went with Nick Breitbart and Tim Barley. We traveled to Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. I want to go back but until then I will live vicariously through myself in picture form. One of the trip's highlights was being interviewed on Telemundo by an Asian, Spanish-speaking, Santa Claus. Funny stuff.

The Middle School is going quite well right now. I am having a lot of fun. Still trying to figure out God's plan for me in terms of ministry and life type stuff but I am content in where he has me right now.

Two girls accepted Christ Wednesday night which was rad. The ministry is growing and the students seem to be having fun which is really encouraging. The leadership team is a really good group which helps a lot.

Alas, I need to go prepare for this morning. Good tidings.

Last December I went to New Orleans with an outreach team from Valley Bible Church. My camera was broken at the time so I borrowed one from a friend so I could try to document the trip. It was truly insane to see all of the damage and pain that Hurricane Katrina caused. This video clip doesn't really do it justice but it does give you a small glimpse as to what the area looked like only three months after the storm. I will talk more about the trip in a future blog.

Tomorrow is my last day of physical therapy which is great. Although this wrist thing has been a bummer at times, it ended up being a blessing in many ways. Namely, I am no longer pursuing firefighting and ended up with a pretty sweet job at the church. Life is going quite well. I lead worship in high school on Sunday which is both humbling and extremely scary (the combination of little talent and lack of experience can be lethal).

Also, be sure to check out the ever-entertaining "Tri-Valley Today" each Friday at 8:00 pm on Comcast public access cable. It's a TV show that I produce for a local mortgage broker. This month's episode features people from VBC. Check it out.

While I was attending Cal State Hayward, I was the host of a lovely little TV show called "Almost Live." It was a news show that aired on Hayward's TV channel. Supposedly the show reached 500,000 Bay Area homes, of which I am sure about 3 tuned in. My friends James, Justin, (www.onpointproductions.com) and I kind of made the show in to a joke (much to the chagrin of our teacher and classmates). It was a lot of fun. Here is a clip from an interview that we shot during the Scott Peterson trial. We told this guy he could say whatever he wanted. What he said caught me a bit of guard. Probably one of my favorite clips that I have been a part of.

So the A's are moving to Fremont. I guess that isn't too far. I wish they could get a new stadium in Oakland, but Fremont is way better than moving them to Vegas. It would've been cool to have a waterfront stadium like the Giants but stupid Oakland wouldn't let them.

I did like the old, dingy, kinda white trash aspects to the Coliseum but it will be nice for them to have a new field so that they can generate some revenue. My only request is that they don't change the name to "The Fremont A's of Oakland." That would be horrible.

Here is another (shorter) video from 2 years ago. It is a brief music video shot in Paris, 2004.

Here is a video that I made 2 years ago. I went with a group of people from Valley Bible Church to Egypt in Oct/Nov 2004. It was a great time. Enjoy.