Uncle DanDan

Yesterday was filled with great anticipation, anxiety, joy, laughter, and relief. I became an uncle to the cutest little girl, now named Elliot "Ellie" Gwen Smith. She was all of 4lbs, 2oz. , and 16.5 inches long. Apparently she knew we couldn't wait any longer and decided to make her glorious appearance to us at 5:15pm.

I won't give the play-by-play, but there were some complications with Stephy yesterday morning and they went to the doctor and after several hours of tests and just waiting the doctors thought it would be best that a cesarean section be done and now I am an uncle!! I can't wait to spoil her and just plain love her and watch her grow. It's funny when someone in your family has a baby and everyone begins to stake their claim! The inspiring miracle of childbirth itself is amazing to say the least.

And I can't finish this post without publishing a picture of this beautiful baby who is an absolute miracle!!



Elliot "Ellie" Gwen Smith!

Two Mistakes on Valentine's Day

Mistake #1: My wife and I have been dieting almost perfectly for the last 6 weeks. Here in the past week we've fallen below the yellow line (if you're a Biggest Loser Fan) and splurged more than once while dining out thanks to Mom's Birthday and a Valentine's Day dinner date with the in-laws. That being said, the LAST thing I needed was a medium-sized bag of Lindt Lindor Peanut Butter Truffles. My wife loves me and knows what I love. You guessed it. Needless to say, the bag is almost gone after two days.

(disclaimer to Mistake #1: Sweets are my downfall. It's almost my biggest obstacle in life and I'm the under-sized linebacker.. I can't make the tackle.)





Mistake #2: My wife and I agreed not to buy any "gifts" for Valentine's Day, and unlike most women, she really meant it. So I bought her a 1/2 dozen Circus Roses. Score one for the home team.. BUT, I failed to buy her a card. She claims the one that came with the flowers counts, but not me. I consider myself romantic; a Pepe le Pew of sorts (or is that creepy? yeah, I think so.) Maybe my love tactics need to be re-charged.

(disclaimer to Mistake #2: I suck. but we did have a great Valentine's Day dinner.)

Funny Site of the Week

My wife and I were watching a prank TV show tonight and were introduced to probably one of the funnier movements going on in NYC that may not be well known here in the South: a group called ImprovEverywhere! We saw the "No Shirts" prank and found it funny enough to explore into the site and found even more hilarity in their tactics. It's almost priceless!

Also, just something extra: check out Ciril Yakayama. This very well could be one of the greatest street "magicians" I've ever seen. Check the Head Trick.

Interesting Wal-Mart Experience Has Me Thinking..

Today was my first day on the Thrive! diet. Yay. If you follow me on Twitter you would know how enthusiastic I am about this. Actually, it's something my wife and I have committed to and, even though it's Day 1, I already feel better. Maybe not physically, but mentally; the physical payoff will come in the next couple of weeks.

I digress. I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things to get us started and happened to pass through the cat food aisle. There was a generally older lady buying canned cat food so I proceeded to pass her on the right of the aisle (details are not as important as what happened next). As soon as I approached her buggy to proceed by her, she immediately sped up ahead of me like a speeding teenager eager to prove her buggy was better than mine.

This triggered my thought process a little I must say. I am a dog lover. If you know me, you know that. But cat lovers on the other hand are, for the most part, set apart from us; somewhat reclusive and moody. Think about it. Most dog lovers I know are, in turn, lovable people. Yet, cat people have this peculiarity about them that is undeniable.

Just some canned food for thought.

Read, Love, Pray

I'm not one to make resolutions or set silly goals such as love more, eat less, and enjoy life; however, all three of which would be great start to a new year. I have recently thought about the things I try to do the most and continue to fail or fall short of the deeper meaning of said things, and I want to share them with you.

resolve (verb) - to transform or convert by any process

I thought this definition was interesting because the other definitions actually lead to either disintegration or breaking down of something. Yet, most people often "resolve" to make themselves better. So, in turn, I guess to make ourselves better we must break down all the things around us that are either meaningless or unfruitful. (I could write an entire blog of this definition but I choose not.)

1. Read. More.

I want to expand my mind thru books, especially the Bible and books about men of the Bible or great scholars of it. My mind often is too perplexed to simply be able to read scripture and comprehend it even the third and fourth time of repeating it. And, how elementary it may sound, repition is the number one tool in memorization of anything and the chances of my recalling key scriptures in trials and hardships are greater.

2. Love. Fully.

This day in age, love is such a fleeting term and we as humans destroy our emotions by saying we "love" things or how much we really "love" this or that. I want to really evaluate how I treat people such as my family, co-workers, even strangers. And it all starts with my love for Jesus. The more I feel connected to Him through His word or His speaking to me through His spirit, the better I feel I can serve Him and love Him. And the closer I feel to Him, the more His love can shine in my actions and especially my attitude.

3. Pray. Heartily.

Prayer is the number one thing I feel like I need more in my life. My prayer life is my number one indicator of how close to God I am, and how close I am letting Him be to me. Your relationships with those around you is only as close and as great as you allow it to be. And like my brother, Jon, oft times I feel my mind wandering while I am pleading my case for mercy and understanding to my Creator and Savior.

Happy New Year!

also, I need a great way of getting my blog to more readers. I feel like the more readers I have, the more dedicated and committed I will be to my blog in the following months. any ideas?

Christmas Time is Here

Tonight, my family and I made somewhat of a smorgasbord of goodies for Christmas including:

-White Chocolate PB Crackers
-Sugar Cookies (sadly, they never made it)
-Cocktail Weiners (is there a better word to use here? that sounds so.. )

and the granddad of them all...

-A GINGERBREAD HOUSE!!

I must admit, my wife and I have a sweet tooth and sometimes it gets out of control! But, with all the hustle and bustle and running ragged to-and-fro from Wal-Mart to Target to Home Depot, sometimes the greatest joys are the simple ones. The greatest times I can remember in my life involved my family being together, whether in times of sorrow or great joy; and especially when you can get together and destroy the kitchen with flour, icing, milk, etc.

Brayden and I decided to make a gingerbread house tonight, and no, no one lives there which can totally devastate a 4-year-old. (hint: if you make a house of any kind, someone has to live there, no matter how great or small.) We took some pics and hope you all enjoy and..

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!



Brayden decorating his roof!


The Chimney!


My Door!


Mission Accomplished!

Emancipated & Opinionated

So, I scrolled through GoogleNews and randomly picked a topic to blog about..err, simply voice my often uneducated opinion.

Barack Obama Picks Rick Warren for Inaugural Invocation!!

Two questions here that first came to my mind:

1. Google usually lists the first two sentences or so as a little precursor, or "teaser" to the story and the writer of this story started it by saying..."Barack Obama picks conservative, anti-gay Pastor Rick Warren to deliver invocation...."

So.. I know Rick Warren is somewhat conservative and openly against homosexual unions of any kind, but I think this is just another ploy to spark the already intense outrage by the gay community against his pick. So, what do YOU think was the most intriguing or stirring part of this statement about Rick Warren..?

a) "conservative",
b) anti-gay,
c) actually a Pastor who, for the most part, preaches that not everyone is simply "ok"?

You make the call!

So.. Question 2 is:

Do you think Barack Obama once again picked a Pastor for political achievement/gain? (except this time to appeal to the Right?)


Part Deux:

Isn't this really what a true depiction of how we have formed and molded Christmas in America?



Again.. your thoughts.

D. Smith