Happy Birthday Sweetie

Today is Erin's 25th birthday! Currently she's at the VA in her Internal Medicine rotation, this happens to be my Friday off so I'm at home with the canines.... I just wanted to throw up a tribute to my bride and best friend. Marriage is a scary thing because you take the risk of being completely exposed to someone.....nobody knows your dark places better than your spouse and believe me folks, I'm messed up.... and yet Erin loves me and embraces me. There's no greater intimacy between two human beings than to be completely vulnerable before someone with all your faults and scars and to have them respond with love and affirmation.

So I'm eternally grateful that God has given me someone who can love me when I'm very unlovely, someone who challenges me intellectually (she's in med school..... so she's brilliant), someone who challenges me emotionally - I can't hide from my wife - she makes me more human.... more complete, and someone who challenges me spiritually - I treat everyone else like I'm the standard for excellence and with Erin I see my reflection.... I see in her how I relate to others and it prompts a myriad of responses from repentance to adoration.

Happy Birthday Erin - thank you for giving me the honour of calling you my bride.

I love you.

Congratulations Line!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been in a two week training course on geophysical principles of seismic acquisition/processing which has been really interesting.... anyway this morning I checked my e-mail and saw an e-mail from the smiling man pictured above.... Line Dempsey!

Many moons ago - I was in a bible study with John Harty and he introduced me to Line.... as a new christian Line spent a lot of time with me praying and studying the Word together.... we even did an online Bible Study together when I was living in Seattle.....

Anyway - Line was e-mailing to announce his engagement to Terri and I couldn't be happier - so congratulations Line & Terri....

(http:///lineandterri.com)

Line also introduced me to the ministry of Dr. Andew Davis an MIT educated pastor in NC who happens to be my inspiration for memorizing books of the Bible...... (http://www.fbcdurham.org/)

Not much going on in Umbriaco-land.... Erin and I took the dogs for a run today... and now I'm hungry.

63MPG

So the Prius is averaging 50 mpg.....on Saturday I was cruising to the dealership and keeping track of my miles per each gallon used.....and on that fateful day I got 63 miles on one gallon of gas...... absolutely glorious - Jason Matthews was with me and can testify to my elation!

I've been sick since Wed... and I'm still sick which sucks.....Erin is making Valentine's cookies which should be incredible so if you're in the neighborhood... and you need some sugar cookie lovin' come on by.

The Newest Member of the Household Umbriaco

Mine eyes have seen the glory of.....60 MPG........

Yes.... after months of obsessing... over a Civic Hybrid... Erin and I took the plunge.... and purchased a Toyota Prius!

The change of heart was really quite sudden.... pretty much over the last two weeks a light shone upon my bosom, and the truth was witnessed unto me - yea, verily the Prius is more functional even if we think it looks goofy.....

8 hrs at the dealership on Saturday wasn't all that fun... but at least the sales gal was nice - she let us cruise over to the nearest Chick Fil A and had lunch with us.... which was glorious.



So there it is..... 2007 Toyota Prius... welcome to the fam.

Lists from the Bowlcut Page

1. List your 3 favorite musical artists.
Derek Webb... that's basically it. I still enjoy RBF.... other than that I'd have to break it down by genre.

2. List your 3 favorite tv shows.
Gilmore Girls
Veronica Mars
Smallville

3. List your 3 favorite books.
Life Together - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
ummm.....I like Romans a lot too.

4. On a scale of 1-10, how important is Clay Aiken when thinking of home refinancing?
Who?

5. Have you changed religion since you were a child?
Yes & No.... I was raised Christian, but not converted until 19 yrs. of age... so I'd say I was pagan until that point.

6. If money was no option would you live near the water, in the woods, in a city or on a dirigible that circled the globe on a tri-monthly basis?

Near the water in the mountains..... like Switzerland


7. List 3 of the best songs ever written.

Pop Goes the World - Men w/o Hats
Anything by Paula Abdul
The CGR Song - Jonathan Hays and Benj

8. List 3 people you’ve never met who you’d like to have lunch with.
Che Guevara, Steve Perry, Coop Cooper

9. List 3 ways the internet has changed your social interaction.
I no longer interact socially

10. List the 3 best concerts you’ve ever seen.
Page and Plant
RBF with Jonathan Hays and our womens
Aquabats at Classic Skating

Erin and I have a new addition to our family.... stay tuned for pictures.

Football is a drag....

It's looking like the Patriots are going to beat the Colts.... I'm really sick of the Patriots... I don't think I'll watch much of the Super Bowl if they're in it.....

I did watch all of USA-Denmark in their first game since the Ghana debacle.... that was a lot of fun to watch. I'm happy for Kenny Cooper (scored the final goal of their 3-1 victory) who I got to meet at Dynamo-FC Dallas game last year (he's a high school friend of my neighbor).

I'm having trouble coming to grips with the fact that Bluebell is still a pup relative to Battlecat.... she has been quite destructive lately..... here are some things she has eaten/destroyed in the past week:

1 bag of Sour Patch Watermelons
1 box of Cherry Candy Canes
1 bag of sweet tarts
1 Pineapple Chapstick
1 Book
1 thing of bubble wrap
1 padded envelope (yet another delay on sending your birthday present Mom.... Bluebell ate everything we bought to mail your present....)
Several Target sacks

Bluebell also is quite fond of cuddling.... every night when we go to sleep the dogs are in their beds and somehow when I wake up I find Bluebell in all sorts of positions on our bed... she doesn't even care about comfort.... one night I woke up and she'd draped her body perpendicular to mine over my legs..... then I woke up a little later and she was laying lengthwise in between Erin and I... Battlecat will lay on the bed, but at the first hint of movement she jumps off and lays down in her own bed....

I'm not a proponent of dogs in the bed.... it's cute when we're reading but when I'm trying to sleep I need real estate for sprawling out.... dogs inhibit said sprawl.....

Erin has one week left at Ben Taub (the public hospital) before she switches to a private hospital for her 2nd month of her medicine rotation. She's had some really long nights and she has to work at least 6 days a week so she's pretty tired. Erin wanted me to pose for general blog discussion this question:

What's your position on end-of-life issues? Would you want to be kept alive on a machine - even if there was no medical hope? Talk amongst yourselves.....

Mas picturas

More pictures from the past three weeks.... we got to hang out with quite a few folks whilst in the great state of Utah.... but for some reason our camera didn't capture all of them.... so with apologies to the Patricks, the Jenkins, the Hays', the Whiteheads, the soon-to-be Gephardts, and various family members (like Paul and Christina... and the little Sticky in the oven).... here are some more photos.

Bluebell (Full name: Kelsey Bluebell Panthor Umbriaco) is

quite excited to have a sister and a belly rub

The girls like to lay down on the couch with Erin
Battlecat was very happy to have Erin back
Jonathan and Bluebell learning to waltz
Here's a Christmas Day photo of my dad and I taking pictures of each other.
Here's JonPow and his main squeeze Christina exchanging gifts (I have pictures of Joel.... but they are all with his eyes closed.....)
Bluebell loves to cuddle which suits us fine
Allen Family Christmas

Back from Utah with a new dog

Quick Update: Erin and I got back from Utah on Wednesday after two weeks attending a wedding, and visiting family, friends, and La Puente. I now present to you: The last 3 weeks in pictures...... Juanita likes Moose.... she got one for Christmas
Bluebell meets Lynn's new puppies
Bluebell and Joshnita share a nap

Umbriaco's at Amy & Jon's wedding
Joshnita's armpit hair......
Proud parents of a beautiful bride
Here my mom is pictured attempting to perform an exorcism on Jon Pow
Erin was a bridesmaid and I got to perform the ceremony!
I'm really proud of my sister.

Sad & Lonely

Erin has abandoned me for her studies.....




Battlecat abandoned me for Erin......

.... and my TV abandoned me at the repair shop for the hands of a random thief. If I had a picture of this particular act, I'd have turned it over to the police....

So what does a man do with no wife, dog, or TV? Laundry..... and cleaning the kitchen.

I went to see D Webb.... yet again

I was checking out Derek Webb dot com one day and saw that he was going to be back in Houston in November (this was like 4 months ago that I realized this...) and I swore with an oath that I would attend his show......

Anyway - Thanksgiving came, and we had Joshnita and Lynn in town. They came in on Tuesday night... on Wed. Erin had us slaving away in the backyard working on the patio while she was at school....after Erin got done with school and we decided to go to Galveston and Kemah since Lynn hadn't been. While everyone was showering etc I decided it was high time I got a haircut.... on my way to great clips I decided.... why not support a local business.... over the next hour I discovered why I don't.... I had the worst haircut experience of my life to date... and I'm too traumatized to say anymore about it.....

So we went to Galveston and walked on the beach and then went to the Aquarium in Kemah.... which seems to be the only restaurant we take people to..... on Thursday we chilled at the house... Lynn made the most amazing stuffing from scratch and we pretty much just cooked and worked in the backyard for most of the day. We had Jason, Julia, Eli, Jason's parents, and Tank & Trolley over for dinner (that's 8 adults, 1 baby, and 3 canines for those of you scoring at home.) We had dinner in between football games... and I consoled myself with Pumpkin Pie while to Broncos decided to suck.....

On Friday Joshnita and I hit Circuit City at 5 AM then went over to the Home Depot... then we came back and took a nap. After I got up I demonstrated true husbandly humility and service by taking Erin to JoAnn's Crafts......After we ate breakfast (biscuits and gravy) we all piled into the Jeep for a trip to Katy Mills..... a gigantic outlet mall (my Mom and I once spent 12 hrs there.... we rule)... we looked at cowboy boots with Lynn..... most of the boots I saw were $300 plus..... it's not easy to be a cowboy

Erin and her Dad, Lynn

Joshnita, Lynn, and Erin at the Aquarium.

I took the Utahns to the airport 'round about 5:45 AM..... then I picked up my friend Hieu (who was in China for an international management course) that evening.... in between the Utes blew it on the football field... I was expecting them to get destroyed.... so the fact that they threw the game with dumb penalties and dumber defense on the last possession doesn't make me too sad.... I really thought we'd get punked by 30.....

D Webb full circle: When Hieu and I got back to my place (Hieu left his truck here while he was gone) he mentioned a concert on Sunday night..... I had to repent in dust and ashes for not remembering the D Webb bonanza......

So Sunday, Hieu and I went with Becca (from Kaleo/small group) and her friend Sally (who is Egyptian and was in a classic rock chick cover band)......

When we arrived at the show I discovered that it was not really D Webb... but a whole host of fine fellows.....part of Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God Tour...... (speaking of which... definitely buy that CD)

Andrew Peterson came out first and played the title track off his album Far Country (thanks to ginodean.net for getting me into this guy!) and then the following folks walked onto the stage:

D Webb, Sandra McCracken, Andrew Osenga, Randall Goodgame, Jill Phillips, and Andrew Gullahorn (Please check out www.squarepegalliance.com to listen to some of their tunes and www.squarepegalliance.net for bootlegs etc) Everyone took turns playing some of their original things.... I had no idea that Goodgame had written so much of the new Caedmon's Call album (Share the Well), he and Peterson just came out with a children's album called Slugs and Bugs and Lullabies and they played a really funny song about a bear that Randall wrote for his son. The best song by far was written by Andy Gullahorn......He's married to Jill Phillips... which I didn't know until she got up with him and talked about their kids..... but he starts out telling a story of how he used to be a real man living on a farm in Austin, TX and shooting birds with a shotgun - trying to get them to land on a chair.....then he said something like... after being married ten years I've discovered that marriage is about the feminization of man... and that made me depressed so I wrote a song about it.... The song was really funny and actually pointed he was singing about how most of the 'manly' things we do are really expressions of loneliness.... but the last line of the song reallyhit home.

He sang about how when he was a real man he used to watch Jean Claude Van Dam killing guys, and now that he's married he just lays in bed with his wife and watches Gilmore Girls on DVD....

Corey and I used to watch Steven Segall flicks (no matter how bad they sucked artistically)..... my dad and brothers and I would watch Van Dam.... and now..... after almost 3 yrs of marriage.... I am a Gilmore Fan.... and I own all the DVDs....

After an hour or so of hearing some original tunes, they all came back out with a ton of other folks making up the percussion section and played straight through Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God which was just awesome..... if you are some place where you can catch this tour you definitely should.... best $7 I've ever spent on a show ( I think the RBF show that Jonathan, Sarah, Erin and I went to was more than $7).

Oh... one last update for any Brewer's Blues alumns who'd like to e-commiserate: I'm playing on an outdoor soccer league at the local Young Men's Christian Association (7 v 7 - short field). My team (The Free Agents) is composed of players who weren't already on a team..... as you can imagine we rule..... the league is co-ed and we've only had a woman show up once so we usually play a man down... and have only had one sub for the two games we played a man down.... today we got owned 6-1.... I played the first half in the field... and the second half in goal.....it made me think of the good ol' days (before Ethan and Craig tore ligaments in their legs..... so I think this is circa ginodean.net sporting a Utah Rugby t-shirt) when we weren't so organized and would get drubbed...... I miss those days... it's always easier to handle a good butt-kicking when you can discuss the loss at the Bayou over some sweet potato fries.....

All for now

DYNAMO!!!!!!

This weekend Erin and I went to Ft. Worth for Jason Brewer's Wedding.... Jason was my roommate in Seattle! We stayed with Brandy (Battlecat met Daisy) and since we were in town, we went to the MLS Cup Final.... the 2nd overtime period was amazing, and we were sitting in the Houston Supporters section..... people were crazy.... flags everywhere... orange gas...... just nuts.... what an amazing experience. The Dynamo won for those who don't know.... and if you are looking for some entertaining soccer discussion.... you have to check out www.mlsnet.com and listen to MLS Radio.... Jimmy Conrad is incredibly funny to listen to... and most of the players that come on the show are quite candid in their responses.....


In addition to attending the MLS Cup Final... Erin and I would like to announce that we are adopting a girl!

We've been trying to find a sister for Battlecat for over 6 months.... and the perfect girl has become available for adoption. Bluebell is currently being fostered by a family in SLC... and she is going to fly back with us after Christmas to meet her new sister!

(Bluebell is in the middle)

Other than that, Erin and I are looking forward to the arrival of Lynn and Joshnita for Thanksgiving. Erin is at the beginning of the long road leading to her final basic sciences exam on Dec. 15th..... she is studying all the time and always needs prayer.... Erin learned how to do some of the more 'uncomfortable' examinations one might receive at a physical recently in school.... I'm so proud of her....

I'm sure I'll post again sometime soon...

Erin went to Utah for the weekend....

Something is weird with the blog formatting..... all my links have disappeared....here's hoping a quick post will fix that....

Erin went to Amy's wedding shower this weekend in Utah and she took the above picture.
It's a picture of my little brother sporting a toilet paper wedding dress... word on the street is that some video exists of a few other men in similar attire, but I've been threatened with Cub Scout era photographs appearing on the internet if I put them up on the blog.

This weekend was also Jenny's Birthday so she and Richie were in SLC......

Because Erin was out of town.... Battlecat and I went on multiple walks, and I started watching Arrested Development.... Season 3 was $8 at Costco the other week..... I haven't seen the other seasons but I'm really enjoying Season 3.

I also went to see The Departed which was way intense...it's one of the first movies I've seen where I didn't want to slap Leonardo Dicaprio..... he was amazing in this film.

I also spent some quality time with the Matthews. Jason and Julia taught me a new card game by taking turns beating me in the card game..... I came to the realization that if I spent enough time at home watching tv I could destroy anyone on that new game show 1 vs 100..... and Jason and I batted around several suggestions for reinforcing the perimeter of his home. Possible ideas range from tacks on the fence, to a gorilla taking up residence in his backyard, to poison-tipped blow darts and fishing wire.....

That's all for this update...

Back in Houston.....

Behold.....ChristopherGinoDean.net modeling an old school leather Bronco helmet.....

I was on the campuses of CU, CSU, and WY last week for work, and the highlight was meeting Chris at the Denver Broncos store at the stadium! I picked up a hat with the really old logo (the horse not the D), a pacifier for our neighbor Abby G, and a collar for Battlecat so she can show the Broncos some love. Every time Abby G wears her Broncos onesie (pictured below)... they win.... so I figure maybe the pacifier can remind the Broncos not to suck....

Erin had this past weekend off of school as she had finished exams! To celebrate we cleaned one floor of our house and the main bathroom. Battlecat was quite sad as there were multiple vacuums running at the same time. We cleaned the fridge... the stove..... it was that kind of a weekend..... On Monday we did spend a little bit of time actually hanging out... so on our neighbors recommendation we went to see 'Little Miss Sunshine'. By the end of this feature I'd nearly wet myself..... so if you can deal with a foul-mouthed and seriously inappropriate grandpa.... then you'll probably dig this show.

This past weekend was also the National Desiring God Conference at Bethlehem Baptist Church. The topic: The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World. The audio can be found here:

http://www.desiringgod.org/

So far I've listened to Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, and Voddie Baucham along with both Q&A sessions.... phenomenal.

Erin is back in school - so that's a bummer..... and Battlecat has runny poop which is a different form of bummer.

That is all for now.......

Please don't suck tonight Utes....

Battlecat buries a bone!

Battlecat explores an alternative to digging up our backyard.

Lake House/Layton/Exams

Lots of things have happened since the last post:

Battlecat discovered that water is not such a bad thing as she made her first ever trip into a body of water (other than our bathtub). She really wanted to eat a duck... but alas ducks are wise to these types of things. Battlecat roamed the backyard of the lakehouse freely and played with Tank & Trolley - she came when called (with two exceptions!) and discovered that one of her life's passions is chewing on blocks of wood!

Jason and I built a Deck.... Julia hung out with her main squeeze Eli, and Erin studied....

I went to the SLC this past week for work. When I finished with work, I got to hang out with many people. Here are some of the highlights:

I got to talk social activism and oil companies with E-Pac and his crew.
I had lunch with Sam and Jonathan Hays
I had dinner with Jonathan and Christina (who seems to love lil' Jon-Pow in spite of his recent fashion/facial hair salute to 3rd World Refugees)
I went to O2: J-Rad brought the Word, and I got to see many friends who I've missed dearly
After O2: Went over the Jonathan and Sarah's (w/ Jonathan/Christina/J-Rad) We watched old Salt Co skits on DVD, and Stella licked me when I tried to kiss her... she was quite giggly.
I saw Sean and Rachael... Rachael was making some sort of pound puppy backpack.... so Sean and I retreated to the man cave for discussion.
I saw Chad and Sarah - we drank some coffee and had a really good discussion on Africa, Skid Row, etc.
I had breakfast @ Ruth's with my Dad, Joel, and Jonathan....Ruth's biscuits change my life and it was awesome to see my brothers at the same time.
I had lunch with my mom @ ZCMI center..... taco maker...mmmm....
I had dinner with my family and Juanita and Joshnita at TGI Fridays..... Josh drove.... and I have to say that he is a beautiful man and did a great job.
I hung out with my mom & dad all day Saturday!
I missed Erin the whole time..... and I missed Battlecat.

I'm back in Houston now... Kaleo had our first official meeting at our new meeting space.... The portable church crew did a sweet job and Bill is preaching through Ruth (you read that right....).

While I was gone Battlecat staked claim to much of the upstairs.... I've been taking her for walks and playing with her to tire her out... and once she falls asleep.... I will enlist the services of her arch nemesis - the vacuum cleaner and we will re-claim the upstairs space.

The next two weeks are going to be tough for us. Erin is taking exams which means she will be studying 24 hrs a day. Please pray for her strength and resilience that studying wouldn't overwhelm her and that I can be a servant to her especially over these next two weeks.

No New Song to Sing

Long time no post....

I just finished Blue Like Jazz....there's a lot I'd like to say about that book... I really enjoyed it, but I will save it for another post. Right now I just want to draw all readers attention to:
www.freederekwebb.com

Derek Webb is my all-time favorite artist, and his latest album: Mockingbird is available for free download. Derek is making the album available to the public to generate more dialogue regarding the issues raised. I encourage everyone to check it out.

A few of my favorite tunes on the record:

Mockingbird
Rich Young Ruler
A King and a Kingdom
My Enemies are Men Like Me

Erin and I are off to Julia's dad's lakehouse somewhere near Gun Barrel City, TX.....
This will be Battlecat's longest roadie, and a true test of her ability to listen as she will be off leash roaming the lake with Tank and Trolley.

Please check out the album - it's amazing... even if you think the music sucks.... listen to the lyrics.

Check this out

Hop on over to Chris Snow's blog and check out the Aug 16th entry if you get a chance.

http://csnow.blogspot.com/

Astros etc.

Last night Erin and I went to the Astros-Cubs game with our good friends the Matthews. It was their son Eli's first baseball game (he's a month old...). Clearly Brad Lidge didn't get the memo about it being Eli's first game and gave up a home run in the 9th (as is his custom)... and the Astros lost in 18. Follow the link to Jason & Julia's blog for some pictures.

Battlecat has gone completely insane recently...... I decided it would be a good plan to let her shred some of my old undershirts..... as it turns out... that was unwise. Battlecat has taken to running laps around our coffee table and she likes to put her paws on Erin's lap regardless of Erin's physical location (In Bed... Standing in the Living Room.... on a couch... in the bathroom).

Erin and I have a bad habit of starting long movies after 10PM... which automatically makes a movie suck, even if it could have been good had we viewed it at a normal hour... the resulting effect is that we now watch the Gilmore Girls pretty much exclusively when we have some free time to watch something.

Whatever longings Erin and I may have had for a child... our desires are now being met by two new additions to friends. Erin is spending Friday afternoons watching Abby G (our neighbors daughter), and we see Eli Matthews with some frequency.... I even hold Eli... although I'm still pretty clueless about what you do with a baby when they are awake and squiggly....

I am currently working on a plan to breed Battlecat with an Alpaca to create a race of 'Battlepacas' that will eventually become the dominant species on the planet.... for further info on alpacas visit: www.ilovealpacas.com

Back in School.... Back from Trips

Erin started school on Monday..... pardon me while I try to contain my excitement..... As you may have noticed... we've been absent from blogging lately. Here's why: Erin went to SLC after we got back from Belize and stayed there for the rest of the month. I had one week here with Battlecat.... alone..... one man cannot contain Battlecat. Jason & Julia had their baby! I went to SLC for a weekend visit, and then to the Canadian Rockies (eh) for a week long field course. Our neighbors Chris & Martha had their baby on Pioneer Day (that's the 24th o' July for you non-Utahns.....) they were elated to find out their baby was born on a state holiday! So.... Brandy is coming to visit us this weekend! We're going to a water park... I'm sure Erin and Brandy will sew something.... and we'll probably watch some Gilmore Girls. And now.... Pictures.

Aspen meets her new sister Allie

Erin and I went to the Red Iguana with some friends.... including: Amie and J-Rad

Rachael, Jonathan Hays, The Boom, Lazlo the Destroyer, Christina, Jon Pow

Destroyer, Christina, Jon-Pow, J-Rad, Amie

Two cute little llamas

SEAN... and Rachael

Bearded Lovin'

Pow!

Canada..... ain't it pretty

Banff

el oso

I was studying fold and thrust features.....

What type of fold is exposed here?

Self-Portrait.... Katy Wiest captured in the background

Bald Eagle

Banff... again