the chronicles of juan, debbie, jonas, and bode

Jonas Photos! Because it's fun...

2009-04-15T18:15:00.007-05:00

I could stare into these baby blues all day

Thank you for the stuffed monkey, Miss Bethany, it's my favorite!

Bode has a new best friend

Sooooo Big!

He makes so many great faces!

the jonas story beginning to end

2009-02-03T23:06:00.002-05:00

here are pics the day Jonas was born from home to hospital to home. enjoy

My Husband the Photographer

2008-11-14T13:41:00.008-05:00

Debbie here, and I want to take a second to brag on my husband. If you haven't recently, check out his photography website at: www.juanmacleanphotography.com. And for a brief sampling from his photography blog, look at: www.juanmacleanphotography.typepad.com. That's where I nabbed these shots to whet your appetite...

Reformed Pumpkin Day!

2008-11-14T13:31:00.005-05:00

This is kind of a random post after not posting anything for so long. But I have a couple photos, and they're worth a thousand words, right?

This was the 4th Annual Maclean Family Pumpkin Carving Contest. In the past it's been a small gathering in our yard where people bring carved pumpkins for democratic-style judging, snacks, and general hang-out time. This year we decided to move it into the park right behind our house, make it grillin-out style, and open it up to the church. We think over the course of the evening there may have been about 100 people who came! Yikes! It was really great.

You may remember that last year the fam dressed up together, including our poor dog, Bode. (pictures of last year's costumes can be found below) This year was no different. We were a family of superheroes! Meet Superman, disguised as Juan Maclean after a hard working day of photography, Super Pregs, and Super Dog.

Bode had a cape on, but you can't really see it and a strap soon broke. And here's Super Pumpkin Man. It had a cape, too, along with flames that went up 1-2 feet. What we lack in pumpkin carving skill we try to make up for in size & pyrotechnics. Don't worry, Dad, we had a fire extinguisher in arm's reach.

Good times! Oh, and this is Debbie at about 28 weeks pregnant - that's 7 months if you needed the help.

SO BUSY

2008-04-09T23:29:00.004-05:00

I graduate in one month, but the next month will be crazy. In April, I have 2 papers 2 write, a wedding shoot in IL, a church planting conference in NYC, a conference here in Louisville, doing things at church, read like 5 books, do 2 engagement shots, etc, etc...I admit I am a bit stressed, for all my praying friends please pray for me, I feel weak and really need to depend on the Lord during this very busy and honestly hard time. We hope to begin maintaining this more in the future in the meantime, enjoy some of the fun Maclean photos

Friends

VOTE RON PAUL!!!!

2008-02-08T17:24:00.000-05:00

SHAME, SHAME, I'M SO ASHAMED

2007-12-13T18:15:00.000-05:00

The following was a recent resolution put forth by the Missouri Baptist Convention of which brings me complete shame to be called currently a Southern Baptist.

The Executive Board of the Missouri Baptist Convention recently decided to establish a "no partnership" rule with regard to Acts 29, a church-planting network.
Motion. Effective Jan 1, The Acts 29 Network is an organization which the MBC Exec Bd. Staff will not be working with, supporting, or endorsing in any manner at anytime.

Amendment. While recognizing the autonomous nature of all areas of MBC life beyond that of the Executive Board Staff, the MBC Executive Board directs the Church Planting Department and other ministry departments to not provide CP dollars toward those affiliated with the Acts 29 Network.

Motion as amended passed by a vote of 28-10.
Pastor Scott Thomas, director of Acts 29, responds. Here's the conclusion:
. . . Justice was not served. On January 1, several church planters in Missouri will lose their promised funding, not because they were guilty of breaking a rule, but because they were associated with a small church planting network (only 9 churches in Missouri are affiliated with Acts 29 Network).
Acts 29 Network and the Southern Baptists share the same mission: to seek and to save the lost; to go into all of the world and share the gospel of Jesus and to baptize and teach the believers through the local church. For this reason, we love the SBC, have appreciated our partnerships throughout the country and are now mourning the loss of our fellowship with the MSBC. Since Acts 29 Network has never been contacted by the Missouri SBC to seek reconciliation, clarity and understanding, I am requesting justice and not retribution as an honorable response to an abstinence policy that we fully respect. I am asking you to consider reversing the vote to read, “We reaffirm the policy of the Missouri Southern Baptists to abstain from alcohol and will remove any funding from church planters who disavow this position. ” That way the baby church doesn’t get thrown out with the fermented bathwater.

For more info you can go to www.theologica.blogspot.com

Juan

Trick or Treat Day!

2007-11-02T10:14:00.000-05:00

This was the first year EVER we've had trick or treaters! Ben & Sarah came over in costume to help pass out candy. There were some cute and some just interesting costumes that appeared on our porch. It was a beautiful night, and it was really nice to sit on our porch and meet neighbors, and hopefully just show that our home is open and that we care about the little things (& people) in our neighborhood. So the 5 of us (Bode included) sat around, had some chili followed by picking out the chocolate pieces of candy from the bowl to munch on, chatting and commenting on costumes.

Attempting to get the ears out of the hat:

Bode, given bones and having plenty to look at, behaved himself quite well and kept his costume on the best he could!

Sometimes he sat so still that people even asked if he was real. One lady took a picture. Some people were scared of him which is understandable, but they couldn't stop talking about him.

Reformed Halloween Festivities

2007-11-02T08:40:00.000-05:00

We wouldn't rank Halloween anywhere close to our top 10 favorite times of year, but the annual pumpkin party still makes the list! Our 1 continuous lament is that we don't have a place big enough for all the people we love and want to party with us. Maybe next year we'll expand outside our home for that reason. But our tiny shindig was a great time - so we wanted to post the winners of The 3rd Annual Maclean Family Pumpkin Carving Contest! This year was the most evenly divided for votes because all the pumpakins represented were great! Check it out...

This was the first time Team Maclean dressed up for Halloween, and the first time we have 3 in our team, so everyone participated - like it or not. Can you guess what we are?

That's Little Red Riding Hood and the clever Big Bad Wolf dressed up as grandma! His ears stuck out of his hat except that most of the time he wore the hat his ears were back in protest of being in costume. Kind of lost some of the wolfiness that way. Thanks to Mom for making the red cape and finding such a difficult find as that kind of hat for Bode to sport! All credit to Mom for making and providing my Halloween costume for the upteenth time in life. That brings back good memories...

The first brave souls to unveil their pumpkins were Matt & Bry. Can you believe this is their first carved pumpkin? Feast your eyes on "Cricker Cooler"

For some reason we started taking pictures of the carvers with their pumpkins after this first entry, but here are the artists:

This is also the lovely chef of the now-famous PUMPKIN BARS!!! mmmmmmmm

Forgive me, friends who were there, I can't remember if "Cricker Cooler" or the next pumpkin won the much coveted "MOST ORIGINAL PUMPKIN" award. Both got plenty of votes for it and both were definitely original! Feel free to comment and correct me on who officially won.

Behold:

Wow. An ode to Al.

Also by the same artists, an adorable Hoo Pumpkin!

Aaawwwwww

And here are the artists: Ben & Sarah!

Please give a golf clap for this year's "A FOR EFFORT" award: "WJD!"

John & Kristie with their winning pumpkin:

Next up: the winners of this year's "CUTEST PUMPKIN" award...(drum roll)..."i Pumpkin" by Scott & Sunshine!

This cutest pumpkin had an apple on one side, and an "i" on the other. That's detail!

The next pumpkin to be unveiled ended up being the winner of the "3rd Annual Maclean Family Pumpkin Carving Contest BEST PUMPKIN" award!!!! The winner of this award received more votes from all attendees for Favorite Pumpkin - a very high honor and difficult to achieve. If you had to choose one pumpkin to sit on your porch, to show your friends, to greet trick or treaters, THIS would be the pumpkin of choice. Please give a hearty congrats and pat on the back to: "Pierre"!

The artists, Tom & Nikki, gained this award by Pierre's creativity, free-handed skill, detailed curly stache and general all-around cuteness that just makes you smile.

Speaking of detail and skill, the next pumpkin had 'em all beat. Introducing "The Juan Maclean" - winner of the "BEST DISPLAY OF SKILL" award!

This, my friends, is an amazingly accurate depiction of the techno star who stole Juan's name! And this is Travis, who was so thoughtful to make the pumpkin-dedication.

Since it was our party, we got to go last. We don't have expert carving skills, so to make up for it, we went for the shock factor. Presenting the "SCARIEST PUMPKIN" award winner: "Bad Hair Day"

Debbie removed the red cape to prevent it catching on fire, but Juan is still sporting his lumberjack costume, in case you were wondering why he's dressed like that.

Thanks again to all involved for all the great punkins and for a great party! Only 1 year til the next one so you better start thinking ahead to keep up with the Pumpkin Joneses.

Free Food Announcement

2007-10-26T12:42:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Taco Bell and the Red Sox, you can have a free taco! Ok, in all honesty, I (Debbie) do not even like Taco Bell, but in the event that someone out there does, don't miss a free one! Details are here: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/tacobell/#rules

But basically the point is: go into a Taco Bell on October 30th between 2-5pm and ask for your free taco. You'll get a "crunchy seasoned beef taco". So if you're into fake meat from Taco Bell, go get it!

Not recommended for those who are pregnant, nursing, or have problems with the heart or digestive system.

2007-10-26T08:04:00.000-05:00

We finally went camping! A few weeks ago, our friends Tom & Nikki (pictured somewhere below) went with us to their great location pick: Red River Gorge. It was only one night and one day, but still well worth it. Unfortunately due to a few unpreferred circumstances, we ended up at the place after dark. The Macleans, not having been camping in a very long time and with the new addition of a large beast of a puppy, were not sporting their best packing display. The 5 of us (Bode included) started trucking it up the side of a hill in the dark, and finally landed on a decent spot to pitch the tents. Most unfortunately, despite the fact that we've been in a drought, this particular area was very wet, which made keeping a fire a full time job that the men valiantly maintained long enough for us to heat some hot dogs and get set up. Bode slept in our tent, which was a good time.

In the morning, we were well rested:

Bode did some growling and barking at passer-bys, we had some breakfast courtesy of the Thiessens, put our junk in the trunk and headed to a great hiking spot Tom picked for us. The hike was beautiful, and pictures don't do it justice, but here are a couple:

Somehow Nikki forgot to send me any photos including them, hhhmmm.....

Not long after the camping escapade, we finally got rain! But at first it came in the form of a sudden downpour complete with tornado warnings, and apparently even one that touched down near school (see Randolph blog for more details). Juan made the right executive decision that we high-tail it to the cellar when the sirens went off. So we grabbed a couple essentials like flashlights, made sure our upstairs neighbors weren't home, and booked it. Rain came suddenly like a waterfall. Poor Bode had never been in the cellar and he was not happy being rushed into something like that! The stairs are too narrow for his long body to walk down very comfortably and he can see through the stairs. But just short of Juan carrying him down he finally went. Good news: Bode is no longer afraid the steps. He walks right up and down them without a problem! What a brave pup. We only had to stay down there for a couple minutes before the sirens stopped and Juan double checked the news to see that it had passed. Our first storm in the cellar at our new place! Very exciting. Sorry no pictures of the event.

Stay tuned...in the next week we hope to have pictures and the winners of the 3rd Annual Maclean Family Pumpkin Carving Contest! The entries were amazing. "Hey! Hey! You don't want to miss this!" (that quote is to be read in your best Southern accent, and is for all our LU friends)

The Greatest 5 Years

2007-09-20T08:47:00.000-05:00

September 21st is our 5 year anniversary!
There are few greater earthly joys than being married to your best friend, knowing you don't deserve such an incredible gift, and being thankful for each day together.

It was this time of year that we met, 2 years later were engaged, and 1 year after that were married. That must be the reason that everything just feels happier and more beautiful about now.

In honor of the occasion, I've put up some scanned pictures of us from the early years - before moving to KY - beginning with...

Day 1 - our Wedding Day!
After this we moved to VA.

We were so privileged to do as much traveling as we did. Above is Atlanta.

This is the canoe trip that we now remember with some laughs and lessons learned. It's the only time we remember really not getting along.

Peru & San Francisco

oooh, Boston...

There are countless amazing memories together, and we pray for many many more. Because of the love of our Savior and Lord, Jesus, 5 years have been ever increasing in happiness and love. Because He forgave us so much, we are able to forgive. Because He gave us a model of Himself and His Spirit to enable us, we know how to love each other well. Because He served us, we are able to serve each other. Our continued desire is to be a picture of Christ and His Church, and our prayer remains to reflect this more each day. We are thankful for all our family and friends we learn from, and have been able to see Biblical marriage in real life. We are especially grateful to our first church family as a couple - Grace Assembly in VA, our friends Chad & Erika, and our current church home Immanuel Baptist Church in KY. You have all been used to keep us growing in faith, understand the vows we made, and helped us keep them to the glory of God.

Happy 5 Year Anniversary to Us!

Summer & Beyond - a Recap

2007-08-28T09:18:00.000-05:00

Since we haven't posted updates in so long, prior to our recent trip, we thought it'd be good to give a brief recap of less than recent events.

In February, we moved from our on-campus apartment to the first floor of a house near our church. It's a cute place, bigger than we had, but much older and with a very different floor-plan. We have less rooms, but all the rooms are bigger. A big plus was the yard, in which our puppy Bode can run and play! And that's actually the only part that I have a picture of at this moment:

You know that Juan has been doing wedding photography, and the business has been going well! But did you know he also does occasional photography for events at Southern? Here's the President, Al Mohler:

In May we were privileged to do a wedding for our friend Bry's brother. Why we don't have a picture of some of our closest friends Matt & Bry, I don't know. I guess when we're together we just have such a great time we forget all about pictures. But it was a joy to do that wedding, and as a bonus, it was in Kirksville, Missouri! The Macleans had no idea that we would actually love a little farm town like Kirksville, but it felt like a great vacation away from busy-ness, like it was the Shire or something. And Bry's family is such a blessing to be with. We felt right at home. On our way back from Missouri we stopped in St Louis to see the arch, just to say we did. It was quite impressive! We did not go up in it.

Just after we got back, we picked up our new addition - Bode Thedog Maclean! You've seen the pictures, here's one more puppy one just because...

For some months now, we have been reading the Harry Potter series. We were never interested until so many friends kept talking about how great it is. We're just about to start book 6 - so don't snitch on the ending! That would be very rude. But some people are way too into the whole thing, like whatever stranger it was whose car we spotted at an ice cream shop:

Well, it is pretty funny...

Debbie's dear friend Hannah from Lynchburg came to visit in June! It was SO nice to see her and tour around Louisville stuff. I'm sure we took pictures, but I can't seem to find them at the moment. Hannah, have any pictures? On this long weekend we got to go to an art museum and just run around and catch up on life. Thanks for coming, Hannah! Everything is a party when you're here.

Debbie's parents came in for a long weekend just before Juan's birthday in July. We checked out Churchill Downs, and they took us to see the Lion King!

It just took a bit of time to get used to people dressed up as animals, but then it was REALLY good! I think even Dad enjoyed it. Thanks so much for such a great time!

And then it was Juan's birthday! 27 years old - officially "late 20's". We just had a small gathering at our place. Debbie printed out head-shots of Juan and put paper print-out party hats on them, and taped them up all over the house. Bry made this great cake:

Also this summer we went to a Nickel Creek concert.

with our friends Jack & Heather

Woo hoo! Great times

Our friends Tom & Nikki who have been home in Colorado all summer are back! Welcome back, we missed you cats!

And that brings us back to our early August adventure!

Helpful note:

2007-08-23T10:51:00.001-05:00

For a chronological viewing of the Maclean Tale, go to the bottom and start at Part 1.

There & Back Again - a Maclean Tale - Final Farewells

2007-08-23T10:41:00.000-05:00

Correction, Part 6 was on SATURDAY.

On Sunday we said farewell to our dear friends. Thanks to modern technologies like phone, e-mail, and the blogosphere, we can still keep in touch. But it was still sad to leave. I think most of us teared up. But it was all worth it to be together again.

Chad & Erika - we love you guys. Thanks for welcoming us into your spacious abode. Thanks for living in CA and not somewhere boring like a corn field or a swamp. Thanks for your continued friendship. So when's the next Johnston/Maclean Family Vacation?

There & Back Again - a Maclean Tale - Part 6

2007-08-23T09:58:00.000-05:00

Friday already. After a bit more time at the shop (our last day there), the now 5 of us headed out to be tourists. We visited Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The best word I can think of for the whole thing was "strange", and Juan would add a little "sad". First off, Hollywood is pretty much a dump. Tourists gathered in mass outside the Chinese Theatre, where there were people dressed up in terrible character costumes. We saw a Darth Vader talking on his cell phone, and a Spider Man wearing a fanny pack. We didn't bother getting out of the car, but traffic was moving so slowly that we didn't feel like we missed anything. We moved on to Beverly Hills and stopped at a cute little park that literally had the softest grass we'd ever felt. It felt like memory foam was underneath it. Then we went to drive through neighborhoods of enormous and gorgeous homes and wondered what these people do for a living and imagined what on earth any of us would do with a place that big! Then off to the shops at Beverly Hills.

Unfortunately they were all closed for some reason, but we saw countless shiny pricey cars. All of us were stunned to see a car that literally costs 1 million dollars! This isn't one, but check out these cars!

At the end of the day, though, the place felt kind of empty and alone. We were thankful to have such great friends, and even far above that, the love of our Savior, giving us joy in all circumstances. Whether rich or poor in this life, we are only sojourners in this temporary home, and we look forward to dwelling with Jesus in the riches of heaven forever. What a great and undeserved blessing to share this life with such great friends who also share in the same future. Grace upon grace!

There & Back Again - a Maclean Tale - Part 5

2007-08-23T09:18:00.000-05:00

On Friday we spent some time at the shop while Chad & Erika were working. Aren't they cute working together?

Seth Trittipoe came that day. He's a fun dude to hang around, and he joined us in the rest of our party festivities. Before heading out for the rest of our day's fun, Debbie made Juan take a prom picture.

Chad's dad has a great pool, hot tub, and a gymnastics gym he gave us access to after hours. That was a really fun random thing for us to do that, on the next day, made us all feel as old as we're getting - that wasn't much to speak of for Seth, but the rest of us old fogies ain't what we used to be. Before feeling the pain, we jumped around on the trampolines, swung out into a foam pit from a rope, and used some kind of pulley thing to do flips. It was crazy fun for all.

Chad is the most daring of the 4, and he seemed to spend much of his time this night upside-down.

The foam block pit was SO fun to dive into, but really hard to get out of. That's Chad, Erika & Juan struggling to stay above foam.

Every night at the Johnstons we went to bed exhausted. Thanks guys!

There & Back Again - a Maclean Tale - Part 4

2007-08-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, Chad & Erika had to work all day. Hey, you gotta pay the bills! So the Macleans took the opportunity to do something they've dreamed of doing together for years - went to Disneyland!

Debbie in Tarzan's treehouse

Aaarrrggghhh!!!! Scallywag Pirate looks good on us I think

We took our picture with every character we found.

Pardon me, little lady

We couldn't resist some fun on the teacups...

Yeah, we felt slightly sick after that, but still worth it.

It's been fun! So long, Disney!

Side note of praise: apparently there was an earthquake in LA probably as we were driving back from Disney. We didn't feel it. Thank you Lord!

There & Back Again - a Maclean Tale - Part 3

2007-08-23T08:32:00.001-05:00

After just a while at the shop on Tuesday, the 4 of us headed to Newport Beach! This was basically the best beach in the US we've ever been to - tons of soft sand, bigger waves, and somehow, fewer people! Chad & Juan braved what's known to locals as "The Wedge". It's an area of beach where the waves break right onto the sand, so if you get stuck in the wrong place, you get a giant wave slamming you into the sand with no cushion at all. The waves there can get enormous, but fortunately (in Erika & Debbie's mind fortunately) they were smaller those days. The guys still got pretty pounded, but they seemed to think that was part of the fun. The ladies were just happy they made it out with nothing broken. But it was great times with the Johnstons, just walking around, hanging out on the beach for 2 days, and chatting in our hotel for one night.

Juan & Chad, happy to be alive after their run-ins with the wedge

Oh look it's Brangelina! Wait no, it's Chadika! We love these rock stars.

Sometimes they ditched us for strangers with crazy facial hair. Who ARE these people?

We got to see the sun set over the ocean, only available on the West Coast.

Did we mention that we love these Johnstons?

There & Back Again - a Maclean Tale - Part 2

2007-08-23T08:18:00.000-05:00

We landed in LA, picked up a car, stopped at the infamous In N Out for some excellent burgers and fries, and then on to the even more infamous Augie's Coffee Shop.

What happened next has already been chronicled in a previous post - and it was great! It was so good to see Chad & Erika I think we all teared up. And then it was kind of like that feeling you get at Christmas aftering opening all your present and eating all your food and then you don't know what to do. There was so much anticipation and then it had finally arrived, we didn't know what to do with ourselves or what to say. But that wore off in about 5 minutes and it was back to the old friends hanging out as always.

Here's Mike, currently their only employee, who helped us arrange our surprise and gave them some extra time off to hang with us:

What a guy!

Did we mention that Augie's is the best coffee shop around? Check out this attention to detail!

MMMMMMM........Upon request, Chad can create a mean skull and crossbones latte, too!

There & Back Again - a Maclean Story - Part 1

2007-08-23T07:52:00.000-05:00

Tons of stories could be told and photos shared about our incredibly fast trip. That's to be expected when you get so much time with good friends. Here's a really brief album of our adventures....

Our first stop was to take our puppy to WV where he stayed with Debbie's grandparents. Grandma wrote a diary of Bode events so we could know what he'd been up to. It's really cute, written from his perspective, and includes things like chewing up a roll of TP, getting chased by an automatic vacuum, ignoring some deer, and helping plant turnips. We stayed over night, Debbie cried when she left Bode, and we were off to Lynchburg, VA!

Though we would love to visit ol Lynchburg anytime, our excuse was Angela's wedding. Look how gorgeous she is here at the rehearsal, and Jason, her new hubby looks in awe of her, as he should be! (photos of the wedding will be accessible through our photography preview website in just a couple weeks: www.macleanphotography.instaproofs.com)

We got to spend time with great friends in Lynchburg, enjoyed gathering together again at Grace, then hit the road back to KY. Debbie's parents took us to dinner on the way home, and we got back to L'ville really late. At 4:30am our friend Mad Eye Moody picked us up and took us to the airport. Here's us leaving on a jet plane:

To California!

The Adventure

2007-08-11T13:01:00.000-05:00

We began our traveling adventure with a mini weekend trip to Lynchburg. We went to Angela's wedding and got to visit some Grace friends. It was great to see Ang home from Korea, and see her marry a great dude named Jason. Good times had by all! Thanks to the Pattersons for letting us crash at their place.

We went back to Louisville Sunday after church and got just a tiny bit of sleep. EARLY Monday morning our dear generous friend John Moody picked us up at 4:30am and took us to the airport, and we flew to CALIFORNIA! We rented a car and drove to Redlands, Augie's coffee shop - the best coffee in town, and the place of our dearest friends Chad & Erika. We put on some mustaches and stood outside their shop window. Erika spotted us and tried to tell Chad it was us, but both were in disbelief (they had no idea we were coming, we had worked it out with Erika's mom and their employee Mike). Erika finally kicked over the trash can, started crying, and the 2 came rushing us with a tackle hug. It was great! Since then we have been hanging out - going to the beach, bumming around, chilling at the shop and such. The Macleans even went to Disney one day that the Johnstons had to work. Hundreds of photos have been taken as you can imagine - and a sampling will be posted ASAP.

HUGE thanks to Debbie's grandma and grandpa for watching our adorable little terror Bode while we're gone. They say he's doing well. We're glad we don't have to worry about him being in good hands while we're away, though we know he can be quite a handful! He may have put on a good 5 pounds by the time we get back. EEEKK! our baby giant...

Photos to come!

check out my friend chad

2007-08-10T18:45:00.000-05:00

hey mike and chad

hey mike and chad

meet bode

2007-07-17T08:12:00.000-05:00

hello world and friends, its been over a year since we last posted, there is so much we can say and post, but for now we want to introduce you to the new member of the family - Bode Maclean - these are various pictures of him from baby mode to mini dinosaur..enjoy

Tardiness

2006-06-13T10:52:00.000-05:00

We've had the best intentions of updating this blog with some random photo tidbits of our recent escapades. Alas, we have had some technical difficulties posting the visuals. Hopefully those will be added soon. As our friend balaam's donkey so eloquently put it, we still want to unload a bit of blogarrhea for you anyway. Recent days have included adventures at Churchill Downs, Louisville Bats game (minor league baseball), the nicest mini golf/put-put place we've ever been to, a couple b-day parties/cook-outs, one re-viewing of "Kung Fu Hustle", Juan's softball games, and other miscellanies. More to come...hopefully...

2006-06-02T13:13:00.000-05:00

National Doughnut Day

It's your lucky day. You have stumbled across a very important blog entry because we have stumbled across a delicious piece of information that has the potential to bring sweetness to your day. Here it is: Krispy Kreme is giving away a free doughnut of choice to everyone who stops in - today only! (June 2nd) In honor, I will even wear my paper Krispy Kreme hat. Don't believe me? check out the website, krispykreme.com!

The Blogrix Reloaded

2006-05-18T14:54:00.000-05:00

I'm currently in the process of remodeling the blog since we've failed to update it. Summer is finally here, so hopefully I'll have stuff to blog about. Here are a few pictures of Debbie and I. We'll keep you posted!!

Juan & the team who went to MS
Tim & Jason at our place being themselves

yet another re-enactment of the Titanic on a yellow buffalo
MS photo #2
magic hats that read our minds and turn into whatever we're thinking about
sweet pic of miscellaneous location in WV
our best friend Elvis Bear
I don't know what's going on but we're at a fun little local joint called Lynn's Paradise Cafe (highly recommend it)

an attempt at the "deer in headlights" look with a bonus deer hat

WERE BACK

2006-03-23T09:37:00.000-05:00

Its been a long time since I've blogged but we want people to know we are still alive and kicking it. School as always is demanding but we are emjoying many great things happening around us. I hope to keep you all posted again soon but since I dont have much to blog right now you can read what we've been doing:

Movies:
Harry Potter 1-4

Music:
Wilco
Radiohead
Johhny Cash

Books:
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Don Whitney
Pursuit of Godliness - JI Packer (great intro book to the life of the puritans)
Sacred Marriage - Gary Thomas

Websites:
www.cowabduction.com - humorous website recommended by my hebrew professer
Google this and enjoy - Brokeback to the Future

Things we are excited about:
Tax Returns
Using Tax money to buy new camera
Spring is here but it still feels like we live in meat locker
Season Passes to the Zoo
Together for the Gospel Conference in April
Baseball starts next month

Food:
Irish Rover is awesome
OATMEAL!!!!!!!!!

Thats all for now, well be hopefully posting again, keep checking back.

be blessed friends

Merry Christmas from teammaclean

2005-12-23T13:44:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends, Family, and ACLU

We wish you all a Christ exalting Christmas and Happy New Year. Be blessed and remember that we wish everyone to go watch Chronicles of Narnia and Walk the Line. One sad news though, for all baseball lovers, Damon was pulled into the darkside - I mean did he have to really sign with the Yankees, I guess 52 million is better the 40 million - darn yankees

2005-12-16T10:27:00.000-05:00

we just got back from visiting Lynchburg, its been 6 months since weve been there and it seemed like an eternity. Here are some pictures from our trip, we had such an awesome time in 2 1/2 days
chad,erica,debbie,and bonesaw
mini king kong
future NFL stars
picture with tim aka timotheos
dinner and picture with the grouts
we were just having a staring contest
the largest tires weve ever seen
a proud american
debbie eats with her mouth open

back from the grave

2005-11-21T00:15:00.000-05:00

debbie found this coffee for me in TN when she went on a short trip with her mom. It was by far the most bizzare coffee ever. Well I finally did it, my first semester of graduate school is over, however, there still remains 3 finals I need to study for, I will take those after a week break for thanksgiving and will then be officially done by December 1. I feel like Ive accomplished so much, all by God's grace was I able to endure so much. I've never worked so tirelessly, but I'd like to say that Debbie really supported and helped me every step of the way, she is the awesomest for lack of better words, I told her tonight playing around that "Im so glad we are in covenant together" - she just laughed at me and I laughed. She never made me feel like I never spent time with her and such. God is so good in spite of my shortcomings and ours combined.

On a lighter and more refreshing note Id like to say that I got an awesome 2nd place in monopoly over a mean game with 5 other people. Really, the accomplishment is huge since I always get bankrupt first right away.

Current Music Im listening to: Sufjan Stevens and jazz artists from a friend of mine who goes to University of Louisville

Movie we dont recommend: Kingdom of Heaven - it was just weird acting
Movie we liked recently: Minority Report

Fav quote of the week : "do not be transformed and conformed to the GOP party but be transformed by the renewing of the mind" - I love the GOP (sometimes) but really, they are not the hope of the church and bush is not its Saviour

Favorite New Website: www.hurratorpedo.com - check out the link

Food - we went out for a friends birthday to the best cuban food Ive had in my life, I grew up in Miami where you find cuban food everywhere and this was the best.

Looking foward to: Walk the Line (johnny cash movie), Narnia Movie, Coldplay is coming to Louisville in Feb, visiting Lynchburg in December

be blessed friends

Boogala Boogla

2005-11-02T09:15:00.000-05:00

Its been a while since I've been able to post anything. I keep telling myself that I would get to it and never do. Blogging is like excercise, you just need the will to do it. In the spirit of the season, I've posted some pictures from our first annual pumpkin carving contest with our neighbors. We had so much fun carving and displaying, check out some of the evilness...

say hello to the trifecta of evil

flippin sweet

if you look carefully you'll see a sunset

check out the awesomeness

Homestar...

The Cheat

a carving of me in the morning

a carving of debbie in the morning

some of the winners of the night

"they'll break your heart"

2005-10-10T10:58:00.000-05:00

hmpppphh...well what can you say? the season for the red sox is over, we were looking foward to a yankee vs red sox rematch this season and hopes of that were crushed by the white sox. I hate to say it but the white sox may be the team to win it all, i mean the team hasnt even been in a playoff game since 1918 - should be a good post season though - id love to see houston and chicago in the world series - how odd would that be? a team we never see in the playoffs

So who do you think will win it all?

be blessed friends
ps - i thought the photo below was humorous

DELAY OF GAME...10 YARDS PENALTY...STILL 4TH DOWN

2005-09-30T10:14:00.000-05:00

I've dropped the ball big time regarding updates and such. First I'd like to say sorry but I hope you all understand how busy Iam with school and such. Debbie and I are doing very well in fact. Grades are good, our church is awesome, we are meeting tons of new people, building relationships, and just having fun. Sounds general but what else can I say. I can leave you with a few things we are reading, listening to, seeing, etc....

Books:
The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzalez (juans pick for best school reading)
The God Who is There - Francis Schaeffer (debbie just read this and loved it)

Movies:
Batman Begins
Luther
Fever Pitch
Rock School (not jack black one, a real school documentary)

Music:
David Crowder Band - new CD out and we just saw him here in KY
Death Cab for Cutie
Underoath (for all you screamo kids)
Hebrew vocabulary by Dr. Garrett

Websites:
foxnews.com (Bill Oreilly video segments are great) - juans pick
hotmail.com (debbie likes to visit this)

What we are excited about:
Cold Weather
Narnia movie (narniaweb.com)
Baseball Playoffs (down with the Yankees)
We have fun neighbors
Apple Computers
Learning more about sharing the gospel (we are weak at this)
our new church

New Foods:
Breaded pork chops - YUM
Edys orange and vanilla ice cream - taste like Flinstones pushup pops

Well friends, Im back to more mind engagement. I have a church history midterm on monday and an Old Testament test on Tuesday and an ulcer on wed. Feel free to let us know what you are into these days.

be blessed friends

CAN YOU SAY "YEHOSHUA"?

2005-08-27T22:44:00.000-05:00

Id like to apolagize for not updating the blog. Good updates are coming soon I promise, I've been so busy with school spending most of my time trying to learn how to read and write a dead language known as Hebrew. Anyhow Debbie and I are doing so well, the Lord has been so good and has answered so many of our needs in spite of ourselves.

ARNOLD SAYS...STOP WHINING YOU IDIOT

2005-07-26T13:31:00.000-05:00

Okay so Im sorry if I offended anyone...Arnold has put me in my place, blogging should not be for complaining but a way of freely communicating for the whole world to enjoy. Thanks anonymous friend for putting things in perspective.

HASTA LA VISTA BABY

HOT HOT HEAT AND BLOG-BLOG REVOLUTION

2005-07-25T16:23:00.000-05:00

It is so hot here in Lousiville, in fact it's hot everywhere these last couple of days. Today's weather is at 114 degrees with about 90% humidity, im totally not exageratting. It's hard to do anything outside, we'd like to go to the water park but we can't afford it much right now plus we are assuming its probably swamped...can you imagine how many people are swimming in a mixture of chlorine water and pee today at the park, thats not refreshing thats gross!!!

The second thing I want to write about is what I like to call the "Blog-Blog Revolution", I mean everyone is turned on to this, even politicians now have blogs. I've seen some cool blogs that leaves me wondering how much life one has and then there are those like mine that are so lame that they shouldnt be taking up space on the internet. I suppose people like me get the satisfaction of thinking that everyone is involved in my life and that what I have to say is of profound truth.

Frankly I'd prefer to open my life up to those among me in real relationship settings, blogspots are so surface but it's a good way of letting others know that are far from me what's happening, I just hope they sign on, it stinks when the meter tallies that 70 people have visited the website and never leave a comment...I mean what do people want out of this...okay enough downing the Blog Blog Revolution..I will continue to post somethings and nothings in the days to come for sure..

more to come...enjoy some pics above from the ky move and a new dropkick muprhys (dropkickmurphys.com) wallpaper for my comp and of course homestar runner....

moving out and moving on

2005-07-08T18:48:00.000-05:00

greetings friends - this blogspot has not been officially launched to everyone I know, so feel privileged to see some construction. One of the reasons if not the biggest for my delay has to do with me moving from Virginia to Kentucky this is the first time Ive had to move like this on my own, its not easy and it takes so much time to make sure it gets done. Its more than throwing things in a box thats for sure. Its also been a wild week in the world, first London gets awarded to host the 2012 olympics and then the following day is darkened by terror. I cant imagine the magnitude of emotions that are at the core of everyone living there. It sure reminded me of what the Psalmists said, "Lord teach us to number our days so that we may grow a heart of wisdom..." Many thought they would get on with their daily routine and the next thing they know is that they are standing before their maker. Oh that many would be led to repentance by God's grace and that many would see His mercy for sinners like me, I should have been the one on those buses or subway trains, yet God in His mercy has spared me of that death.

See Luke 13:1-5

New York City/Boston

2005-06-18T17:32:00.000-05:00

we just got back from visiting new york city and boston for a few days. we saw so many amazing sites, analyzed interesting people and ate street food which is a must if you are in ny. Honestly though, Boston was a sweeter city...we loved it, but you may feel alienated if you dont own an i-pod more so in ny...oh well. If you plan on traveling anytime to the northeast make sure you bring about $50 to pay tolls...crazy. Here are a few pics from the trip. Hey music lovers do yourself a favor and pick up coldplays new album...its amazing and its $9.99 at best buy...

teammaclean at the green monster

2005-06-18T17:23:00.000-05:00

teammaclean at the green monster
Originally uploaded by teammaclean.

AMAZING....hanging out at Fenway at the green monster

Times Square

2005-06-18T17:22:00.000-05:00

Times Square
Originally uploaded by teammaclean.

chillin in NYC after watching a broadway show

Brooklyn

2005-06-18T17:21:00.000-05:00

us at Juniors in Brooklyn
Originally uploaded by teammaclean.

here we are in brooklyn

Ground Zero

2005-06-18T17:19:00.000-05:00

Ground Zero
Originally uploaded by teammaclean.

heres something at ground zero that we saw

Fenway Park

2005-06-18T17:17:00.000-05:00

Fenway Park
Originally uploaded by teammaclean.

heres a view of fenway park in boston from right field

HERE WE GO

2005-06-15T22:17:00.000-05:00

well im glad I finally got a hold of how to post photos and such, it really doesn't help much when you are dealing with dial-up you just have to wait. Here we are, let the good times roll, props out to www.chadanderikajohnston.blogspot.com for luring me into this and I have to admit that I like it...more updates to come as the days come and go...SEACREST OUT

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

2005-06-15T22:10:00.000-05:00

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND
Originally uploaded by teammaclean.

finally...here we are debuting our pic on blogspot...RIDE ON WARRIORS