Checking out

So I mentioned in a post a bit ago that this surfer girl had not been to the beach. *gasp, shock* I know! Well, I made it a point to just start going. Waves or not, I just feel better at the beach, the sand on my feet, the salt on my skin, it's a complete healing process for me. I brought out some of the smaller boards so the kids could get their feet wet, so to say. Believe it or not we found a perfect spot, all the reports called for flat, lake like conditions, but this particular spot had a small bump to it.( I have found my secret surf spot, I think, as the hurricanes wiped out our last semi-secret spot.) So the tikes and I got out there, and caught a few. Now my feet are itching to be wet everyday. Surfing is so awesome, you really feel the power of nature out there, you have to have total respect for her, or she will bitch slap you into oblivion. It's good for the soul. Hope everyone tries it, I'm available to give free lessons. "wish you were here?"

My Picks

Stardust is a story by Neil Gaiman that I read some time ago. This one comes out, I think, 8-10-07.


The Dark Materials Trilogy is one the kids and I stumbled upon last summer, we listened to the first two on CD, when we couldn't get the third one right away I went ahead and read the book myself, amd later listened with the kids. Philip Pullman is the author, this is the first story The Golden Compass. I think this one comes out 12-7-07

Gorgeous, there are no other words, well maybe cheeky.

The Evil Villain and the Life Rafts

There was a girl with fair red hair and freckles on her nose.

She had a way about her that had you on your toes.

She swam into town one day, all giggly and excited.

She marked her prey, swam right in, and recited,

"I'll take you away from here" she said to her mark.

"We can roam these waters, anywhere you like, even well after dark."

The two of them took off like a flash, best friends you've never seen.

But somewhere watching in the town there was a jealous gleen.

The Evil Villain lurked in the doorway, quiet as a mouse.

When the two went off like that he ran into his house.

He murmured to himself, "they never invite me,

I'll get to them this time, they can't leave me here, you'll see."

He searched his rooms, behind his door, underneath his bed.

He ran around that house looking until he turned beet red.

"I know they are here somewhere," he scratched his head in wonder

"Aha," he thought, then took off like a bolt and flash of thunder.

As he ran to where the two were playing he had something in his coat.

He jumped on in, then thought better of it, and went to his boat.

He rowed along the town, until he saw the two.

He went to them and asked to play, and do the things you do.

They laughed and said "We'd never keep up you silly man, are you daft?"

He said to them, "You silly girls, that's why I brought these life rafts."

As they hopped on, held on, and began to enjoy the ride.

They realized very quickly, they no longer had the ability to glide.

They could not swim in the water they loved so much.

The rafts had taken this from them at the slightest touch.

They held on for dear life, no longer having fun,

as the Evil Villain laughed and laughed and took them on a run.

"Ha, Ha," he said no longer an outsider.

"You thought to keep me out, but now I am the better."

They looked at him confused, and said to him,

"Why did you do this, I thought we could be friends?"

He replied right back, "My dears
you always left me out and never cared for my tears.

it is my turn now to see you cry and shout, and wiggle on my hook."

They said to him, "We never meant to hurt you Evil Villain, we never saw your hurt looks.

You lurked inside the doorways, never seeming to care

if we had known how much you wanted to join in our affairs

we would have asked you to come and play with us."

He cut them off with a shout of rage and started a big fuss.

"You never noticed how I sulked and pouted.

It was because you never cared to notice," he shouted.

Furious and in a rage, the Evil Villain shook and screamed

"I'll teach you to ignore me, watch this, I can be mean!"

He stole the life rafts from the two, as they floundered and kicked.

He watched them struggle, his mind gone sick.

All at once he had a shock, one of the two turned to him, looked at him,

and said helplessly, "Please, the light is going dim."

With that she went under, you see she could no longer swim.

The Evil Villains heart turned soft as dough,

he realized that he could no longer carry on with the show.

He dove straight down, grabbed the girl around her waist

went to the top, straightaway for now it was a race.

She struggled to regain her life, and looked with wonder at the villain

he looked so cool, calm, collected, he was just chillin'

"You saved me, when you meant for something else

what happened to your black heart, did it melt?"

The Evil Villain looked at her and said,

"I finally realized my soul is clear as well as my head.

I could no longer continue with my plan.

I wanted to be friends and talk, like a regular man.

Their is no evil lurking here.

I want to run and play, my dears."

The two and him went off like nothing you have seen.

It was as if all that had happened before was just a dream.

The Monster at the Shallow End

Three tired travelers, hit an unexpected snag in their travel plans. They seem to be lost on a river in the jungles far away from any known civilization. As they decide to try and get to shore they absentmindedly let themselves drift toward the shallow end. Which is the first of many mistakes they are about to make. As they get closer something is lurking in the depths so quietly and unobtrusively that no one seems to notice until BAM!!! a hand-like appendage reaches out for each of them. A roar, and a grab, a shake, and then very low, a chuckle. The monster has gotten his slimy hands on each of them, they are all shaken and wondering, but there is no time to wonder, he is reaching for them again. One of the travelers, the male of the group, is so frightened that he races for the shore, not knowing that this has led him to certain doom. He runs for the shore and amazingly enough, the monster doesn't even give him a second glance, his appetite is on the two juicy women travelers. The monster, however glances at the man and makes a sound like a deep belly laugh, and he lunges for the women again. They quickly move out of his reach and realize that he will not venture far from the shore. As they try to stay out of the monsters grasp, they are also frantically trying to talk some sense into their friend who has left them. He is looking odd and they are worried about him. He suddenly takes off for the farthest point, crouches and dives into the deepest, blackest part of the river. The two women are immensely relieved and travel down to him. They approach him cautiously as he is looking unwell. As quick as an instant their friend is reaching and grabbing for them, looking mighty hungry indeed.

All the while the monster at the shallow end is laughing hysterically, "How do you think I came about?" he muses. "I too, once ventured upon that cursed shore, but there is no coming back from it. Now my friend we will rule these waters together, you in the deep, me in the shallow, and we shall never be hungry."

The two women look at each other, frightened and scared, whatever shall they do? As they are pondering their fate, the monster from the deep jumps onto the shore once more. The women are unsure of what is happening. They watch in awe as their former friend strolls down to the monster. He says in a gravelly, subdued voice, "These two morsels of flesh will not be your dinner, monster. You shall let them pass and drift to their safety, or you will answer to me. And I will drag you to your death in the deep waters of this river."

The monster looks at him baffled. He is confused, he remembers the gnawing hunger that consumed him when he first turned. He also remembers, barely, the love he could feel as a human, and assumes this is what drives the newly turned monster. He allows the women to pass, not for the love, but for the fear of the deep end.

The two women, still weary and now afraid, look at their former friend with gratitude as they slowly creep toward the deep end and safety. They can see just beyond the pass that there is a different kind of light down there, one that looks optimistically normal. As they go to wish their friend farewell and love, he looks at them with a glint in his eye. "You did not think I was going to let that monster eat you, did you? I am far too hungry to share, this day." He leaps on them and all you can hear above the strange twitterings of the insects that live in this place, are the crunching of the women travelers bones.

The Impish Faerie with Pink Gossamer Wings

The beautiful faerie captures the lady of the water, and says to her "You will do my bidding or else."



The lady of the water looks at her amused, and with a small grin on her face, inquires "What exactly does 'or else' entail?"



The faerie stares her down and says nothing more. She lightly, oh so lightly, presses her shining pink gossamer wings into the lady of the water's face. Slightly, ever so slightly, presses harder and harder until the lady is forced under the water as the faerie giggles maniacally.



The lady of the water has now decided it is time to show who rules the depths of this water. She says in a loud and roaring voice, " I am Queen here, who do you think you are? I rule these waters and you will do as I say, and I demand one request."



The faerie seems to shrink and says with a shaky voice "Which is?"



"I ask for one kiss from the beautiful impish faerie with the pink gossamer wings," demands the lady of the water.



Which the clever faerie gives to her without the slightest hesitation. All is made well in the murky waters of the kingdom which the lady rules.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

WE WERE SWIMMING THE DAY AWAY, WHEN THE KIDDIES AND I CAME UP WITH THESE STORIES. WE THOUGHT WE'D SHARE. HOPE YOU ENJOYED THEM.

Tried and True

I've been trying to get centered. Focused. I've been feeling a little harried lately. I've had it easy for awhile now, and I was starting to let the summer creep up on me. Now that I've started working again I really haven't had any time to self indulge. So to combat that, I really am focusing on yoga again. There are many benefits to yoga, but for me I love how alive it makes me feel. It reminds me that there are few precious hours of this life that we walk, and if we don't take the time to stop and center ourselves, and focus on the really important things, than those things tend to get neglected or taken for granted.

I was driving home today and the kids and I were talking. I mean really talking they weren't all looking for my attention, we were taking turns, and really listening to each other. We were driving along and having a good time, a really good song was on the radio, I look over and there were some sandhill cranes walking along the side of the road. I slowed down to show the kids, I always do when we see wildlife. (We are still fortunate enough in our little neck of the woods to still get to see real live animals) Sandhill cranes are nifty. They make a really cool noise and they are big, as big as me sometimes, and they can be mean. They are common enough around here, but I really love to see them. In the springtime it is an amazing site, with their families, walking around. Today they were just meandering alongside the road, and as I watched them I had this blinding shock of clarity. That life is not harried, life is good. If I am lucky enough to get to drive around on a Saturday morning laughing and goofing off with my kids, then I am going to love and thoroughly enjoy every minute of it. We jammed along comfortably in silence while I strived to see the beauty in this construction laden town of mine, and miraculously it was there.

I guess it was there all along I finally took the time to center and find it.

Party pictures

If you missed our party this year....

actually it was pretty tame compared to other years.

Here are the pictures to keep

you in the know.

rockin' good times.

To tide you over

I found this on someone else's site and thought it looked cool. It was interesting, pretty right on, they give you a little bio at the end that tells you about yourself based on the pics you pick. I wanted to do another one, because on a lot of the categories I had a hard time choosing just one picture, but decided first thought, best choice. Or some such nonsense.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Musings

Well the beginning of summer is upon us, and I have been busy. I deep cleaned my house for two weeks, and then had a weekend long party and destroyed it. (pictures soon) Deep cleaned as in scrubbed down every room top to bottom. May not seem like a big deal to you but I fucking, yeah fucking, hate cleaning. How much do you say? Kenan asked this very question, (because he couldn't believe that I would hate cleaning more than him. The answer I gave him follows.) I said " If someone told me that I would never have to clean again for the rest of my life if I would but give away one of my children, I would seriously consider it." He was shocked and hurt by my answer. I didn't say I would do it, just that I would lie awake at night trying to justify it. :)




Anyways, that's been the whole of my summer so far. I have made a promise to myself to go to the beach at least once a week. You might wonder why, I, the surfer girl have to force myself to go to the beach. I wonder the same thing, as I can't recall the last time I went. So I put it on my summer schedule.

My book reading is going. I can't really say much more about it. I've read two books so far and the first one was alright, the second is not even worth mentioning. I start the third one today. I must admit that I liked trashing the second book in review. Evil? I don't think so, new career for me? maybe. Why, oh why, do you have to have a degree for everything in this country? It didn't used to be like that, right?

and oh yeah, I'm in the work force again. Hopefully just for the summer but we all know how 'the best laid plans of mice and men' work.

current plans:

Reviews

I saw a chance to obtain some free books, not just any free books either. Books that you can't buy yet. How do you ask, do I get to have books that no one else can have? Well, I've been telling you all for years that I am special, so there.

No really, I entered a ?contest?, not really the right word, to be a

"ELLE readers prize fiction juror"

and I got it, woohoo me.

Not really a big deal, but like I said, free books.

I got the books this week, 6 in all. I have to review 5 of them and pick one to

be the favorite. I am excited to get started, but therein lies my problem . You see I had just traveled to the library and picked up 4 books to read. 3 fiction, 1 non. Now I have to read these other 5 books before the summer. What's a girl to do? I had already started reading a book, that I didn't really have much hope for. The newest by Stephen King, "Lisey's Story".

I personally have a love/hate relationship with this author. His books all start out very promising, but for me most of them just kind of fizzle out at the end.

There are a few exceptions, The Dark Tower series is one of my favorites of all times. I wanted to pick the first one up and start all over, the second I finished the last one, but that kind of follows the story doesn't it. Stephen King was also the first author that I, as a young pre-teen, actually sought out in the library so long ago. Which is another reason I always hold out hope for his books. Bringing me back to my point. I had already started his book, and with all his books was entranced in the beginning, so I decided to finish it, before going on to my free books. I got hooked into this book I couldn't put it down, it took me 2 1/2 days to read, but that is only because I had to do some kind of wife/motherly duties. Although yesterday I shirked quite a bit and read, read, read. "Lisey's Story" was awesome, in my humble opinion, one of his best. It was a relationship book, you know the kind, but it dealt with a bunch of relationships. He interwove the story amazingly, I couldn't put it down, not even in those natural chapter breaks. It does have the typical weird factor of his stories, and if you know anything about him at all, you know that alot of his stories are semi-based on his personal life, or feelings anyways. Even if you don't like him per se, you just might like this one. Try it out and let me know what you think. Or give me a good reason why you won't listen to me.

Catching Up

So I realized that my last few posts have been, ummm, I guess I could say .......informative. It reflects the recent changes I've been making in my life, so forgive my excitement for a bit, because I am sure there will be many more like them. But back to the origins, I will fill you in on what's been going on lately.

(my anniversary bouquet *sigh*)

School is rapidly approaching it's end, and I am as usual procrastinating, right down to the last minute, with our wildlife sanctuary. I have made a few improvements to my yard. I added a water source, and I have been rewarded to see many birds frollicking in it. A couple of new plants and such, but I'll let you go to my other blog for all that. However, my most favorite thing we encountered was this furry little guy in our compost bin. We rescued him, he was too small to climb back out after he got in, and then he trotted off like he owned the place.

The kids have been doing well, Ashton tests again this Friday, he will be testing for a brown belt. He was excited because this is the first time that he got to break a board with his hand, and he demolished it. Kenan, I hope, is thankful that he will be graduating 6th grade. His big plans for the summer include: surfing, and working on his Dragon Brothers blog. He may also give lead singer a try, you never know. Genevieve and I had an awesome girls night the other night, Aunt Jenna came too. We went to see Lady Sovereign, Akon, and Gwen Stefani play. It was very cool to get to take her. She loves music, heart and soul, and has already placed an order for her next show. I'll steal Jenna's word when I say she was 'awestruck' at the sight of Gwen.

Chad's birthday is on Tuesday, he has a couple of shows coming up in the next few weeks, very excited about that. I love him more every time I look at him, he is an amazing person. I am very grateful for the charmed life I lead, and especially grateful to those I choose to live it with.

Did you know? *warning*

Eating meat harms the planet. Consider how eating meat affects the Earth:


Water resources: Nearly half of all the water consumed in the U.S. is used to raise animals for food. A totally vegetarian diet requires 300 gallons of water per day, while a meat-based diet requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day.

Global Warming: Eating meat contributes to global warming. The massive amount of animal feces produced in factory farms is the largest source of airborne methane. According to the EPA, methane is more than 20 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Pollution: Farmed animals produce about 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population of the United States. According to the EPA the run-off from factory farms pollutes our rivers and lakes more than all industrial sources combined.

Energy: Of all the raw materials and fossil fuels used in the U.S., more than 1/3 are used to raise animals for food.

(taken from peta.org publication)

Just a little pause for the cause, so to say.

and I definetely won't tell you that..

The most toxic form of the poison arsenic is used in chicken feed because it promotes faster growth. The National Institutes of Health warns that this cancer-causing chemical is then ingested by people who eat chicken flesh.

Recycling

The kids and I, for Earth Day, learned how to properly recycle. We went to the local recycling company and procurred new bins for us and our neighbors. We received tips on how to recycle properly. Here are a few we learned:

1. plastic, cans, and glass go in the blue bin. (colors may vary for )

2. paper and cardboard go in the green bin. (each individual place)

3. water bottles are not recyclable, in most places, and take 6 liters

for every one liter of water to create because of the cooling process.

4. glossy newspaper inserts and magazines are recyclable.

We have a place on our counters that we taped blue and green paper with the instructions for recycling. This makes it very simple for the kids, and us, to remember what goes where. We just place the item on the corresponding colored paper. It's easy and the kids are doing an awesome job. As today is our trash and recycling pick-up, I have realized that in the last few weeks, since we have implemented this system, we have cut our actual garbage down to about 2-3 bags per week. (we also have a compost bin in the backyard, which helps with all the food scraps) I thought this was pretty impressive as we used to have about 5-6 garbage bags a week. As usual I am encouraging everyone to visit their local recycling company and see what you can reduce your garbage to.

Let us know.

Thanks.

Wow, I just watched Imax Deep Sea, and it was awesome. I loved it, the ocean is so amazing to me. It didn't hurt that it was narrated by the uber sexy Johnny Depp, oh yeah and Kate Winslet, too. The soundtrack was right on track, and it was even a little funny (keep your eye out for the shrimp). If you have little kids please go rent this, even if you don't it's worth a look. (It's only 40 minutes long.) Although I have to say when my toes are dangling in the ocean off my board, I will be thinking very different thoughts from now on.

I stumbled upon this today, quite seperately, but it has relevance here in this litle post.

Let's not forget our natural resources.

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day

Earth Day, finally a holiday we can get behind. To me Earth Day means to remember the planet that sustains us, remember that it can be used up, remember to be good to it so that future generations will also be able to enjoy what we do.

I have been doing a little reading, An Inconvenient Truth, to be exact. (Yes, I saw the movie, but I am one of those people who learn more by reading than by watching. I retain way more information that way.) Here are a few interesting facts that I gleaned from the book.

Fact #1- Global warming affects all aspects of the Earth, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the ocean.
What this means is that not only are we warming our air, but we our warming our oceans and everything in between. This means that coral reefs are dying, which means ocean life will be dramatically effected. It means that the delicate balance of our ecological system will be drastically re-structured, for example: warmer weather means more mosquitoes, in more areas of the Earth, for longer periods of time. And finally because we are warming our air, all of our glaciers, and even our permafrost, (so named because we thought they would be around permanently) are melting. This will result in higher sea levels and the displacement of millions of people. (Including, but not limited to the whole bottom half of Florida)

Fact #2- There have always been changes like this on our Earth, but none have been at this drastic of a rate.
I believe in evolution, I also believe that it is inevitable. But do I believe that we should sit back and watch the world as we know it come to an end. No.

"An astonishing number of people go straight from denial to despair without pausing on the intermediate step of - We can do something about this."

-Al Gore

There were many interesting facts but I will leave it at three. Not to go all political on you, but in fact this has become not only a moral issue, but a political one as well.

Fact #3- Phillip Cooney. He was the chief of staff of the Environment Office, hired by George W. Bush in January 2001. His previous job for 6 years before being appointed, American Petroleum Institute lobbyist in charge of global warming disinformation. His qualifications to head the Environmental office for the U.S. you ask? None, "even though he had no scientific training whatsoever he was hired by the Bush administration to edit and censor the official assessments of global warming from the EPA and other parts of the government." What happened to him? He was ratted out nationally through the New York Times for "diligently editing out any mention of the dangers that global warming posed to the American people." He resigned due to embarrassment of the White House Administration, the very next day he went to work for Exxon Mobil.
I don't know what you want to make of your President, but it's no secret that he profits greatly from the confusion of the American people in regards to global warming. Now I know I said only three facts, but let me talk about one more thing.

I made mention above of Cooney's role as a lobbyist in charge of global warming disinformation. Al Gore relates this role to one we are all aware of now, the dangers and effects of nicotine. He goes on to state that there was a similiar group of lobbyists back in the day who tried to convince, confuse, and understate these effects to the American people. Sound familiar? So does this mean in another 50 years we will all get to sue Bush and his cohorts for the misleading information he is propagating concerning global warming. Or does it just mean that it will take us that long to react to this concern as well?

" The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences." -Winston Churchill, 1936.


In this age of reason, I find it atrocious that one could even think it beyond humans to cause the mass destruction that we have to our planet. The whole of the scientific community is in agreement as to what is causing this change to our environment no matter what facts our administration is distorting, .... it is us. We have a responsibility as a people to change our habits. We will be leaving this planet to our future generations and they will be inheriting nothing of worth. We as a country have recently shifted our attitudes and opinions towards the obesity crisis, we are doing as much damage to Earth as we are to our bodies. We might get ourselves back in shape, but it will do us no good if our planet's health is faltering. It is not a cliche , Earth Day is every day.

Teach: anyone and everyone about the harm we are causing.
Inspire: people by living your life "green"
Look Up: ways to become more active, it's as easy as a few keystrokes away
Pledge: to make one "green" change
Watch: An Inconvenient Truth, Who Killed the Electric Car?, and yes, even 300
and hopefully these movies will inspire you to be more than you already are, they did for me.



And for all your kiddies, if you haven't found the site already.

Books are rad.

Why we didn't celebrate Easter.....

so this year we did no egg dyeing, no chocolate bunnies, no baskets. (although my mother-in-law couldn't stand it and brought us a family basket last night, what are you gonna do, right?)
My kids asked me why we didn't celebrate Easter this year and here is the reason, it goes back to a little post about Xmas I did awhile ago.

We are not a religous family, we don't go to church, we do however have values.

Values that we, as a family, feel passionately about.

One of them is the keeping up with the Joneses philosophy.

In short the commercialism and consumerism of well, everything.

I say poll a child and see what the answer is when you ask them:

"What happens on Easter, Xmas, etc...?"

I'll bet that at least 75% would say something to the effect of "we get stuff"

And the other 25%, hopefully, will tell you their family values on the holidays.

(which are religous holidays)

and us not being religous, well where does that leave us?

that leaves us as hypocrites,right?

because really we are just celebrating getting stuff.

There was no real meaning behind the holiday for us.

and in light of the fact of this.....

Feb. 25, 2007 — New scientific evidence, including DNA analysis conducted at one of the world's foremost molecular genetics laboratories, as well as studies by leading scholars, suggests a 2,000-year-old Jerusalem tomb could have once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family.
The findings also suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene might have produced a son named Judah.
The DNA findings, alongside statistical conclusions made about the artifacts — originally excavated in 1980 — open a potentially significant chapter in Biblical archaeological history.

I mean really, even if I did hold a little bit of my Christian upbringing, what do I make of this?

I could argue the fact , as I'm sure many Christians will and have. I can even think of a few rebuttals myself, but the fact is I stopped believing in Christianity awhile ago.

My "religion" if you want to call it that,

has a lot to do with Mother Nature,

and giving back what you take, kharma, and all that.

Would that classify me as a wiccan?

who knows, I don't like labels, it is, what it is.

So in truth I told my kids pretty much what I've told you,

that Easter is celebrated as a religous holiday.

Since we are not religous, then we will not celebrate.

So what did I do when my daughter asked me if we could dye eggs and hide them all over the house, so she could get up and find them?

(with her sweet, beautiful, expectant face looking at me)

I looked up the origins of Easter to try and give myself an out. I mean after all, since I do believe in Mother Nature, couldn't we really in fact celebrate the arrival of spring and new birth, which is what the rabbit and the eggs actually symbolize? Yes, I could have given myself that out, because it would have been a harmless ritual. No buying anything, satisfies the value of commercialism and consumerism that we have. Celebrating the spring, satisfies the belief of Earth and Nature. But no, I had to give up on the idea and be adamant damnit, No Easter!

You know what, they really didn't miss it.

Maybe it was the fact that their grandma gave them a basket and that was enough,

or maybe it was the fact that they understood deep down

that they didn't need chocolate and hidden eggs to have a great day.

We got up, they cleaned their rooms.

I made them brunch :) while they had a water balloon fight with their dad.

And now as I write, they are out riding bikes

and finding friends to hang out with.

None the worse for not having celebrated a "traditional holiday."

BY THE WAY: here is the link for the video they did on finding Christ's tomb.

I have to admit that I haven't watched it yet, so hopefully it is good. I'll be watching it later today. Have an awesome Sunday everybody.

Our Spring Break!

So I was going to take pictures of every outing, because I know you all wait on bated breath for new and exciting information from me and mine, and post daily about our Spring Break adventure. Well that obviously did not happen, I kept forgetting the camera, or would forget to take pictures, I know! Me forget to take a picture. Anyways, I did take a few and put together this little album here for everybody, hope you like.

Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, everywhere.

And for the grand finale of our break, Ash tested for his blue belt. He is moving right along, he is now in his 6th geup (that's rank, for you layman out there). You can check out the videos below, for all the excitement. Sorry about the quality, you love it anyway.

Friday, March 30, 2007

And receiving his belt. He rocks.

Thursday, April 5, 2007