Shocked

Just over a week ago I wrote about a great night on the town. Then I gave the story behind the story. And today, my friend called me and pointed out the following:

Third Day and Brad Avery have made the very difficult decision to part ways.

Third Day and Brad Avery have made the very difficult decision to part ways.

We appreciate Brad’s many contributions to the band's career to date, including his work on our forthcoming album, but the time has come for us to follow our separate paths.

He has been an important part of Third Day for the last 13 years as we've traveled the world together and performed over 1,000 concerts. We will miss him as a band member but he will always remain our brother and our friend. Brad is a wonderful person, gifted songwriter and talented musician. We trust that God has amazing plans for his future

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According the the article on Billboard.com, "Avery is leaving to pursue solo projects."

When I told Julianne, she said, "And he didn't tell you when you talked to him????" Ha ha. Anyhow, I'm a bit shocked but very pleased I got to see Brad play with them on one of their last shows together. I'm anxious to see what doors God opens up for him next.

Anticipation of Spring - Wordless Wednesday

As we all wait for spring and spring flowers, here's a look back at captures from Spring 2006. I'm eagerly awaiting this spring to see what new visions I can find. Enjoy.

A Night on the Town - The Promised Details

My Wordless Wednesday post went up late the other night so here are the details I said were forthcoming.

Who: Third Day

Venue: The House of Blues - Sunset Strip, Hollywood, Ca

Of course you could have (or should have) gathered as much from the original post! But in this case there's a story behind the story.

Christmas 2006. Third Day came out with a Christmas cd titled Christmas Offerings. One of the tracks, Merry Christmas, written by Third Day's guitarist, Brad Avery, tells his family's story of going through yet another Christmas without their daughter. Like us, they were waiting and waiting for the referral of their daughter in China. Needless to say the song deeply touched us and captured the essence of our experience. Julianne was so touched, she included the lyrics to the song in our Christmas card/newsletter that year and then again here. Well, as it turned out, Brad and his family were part of our travel group to China. In fact, our daughters grew up together in the same orphanage.

So knowing I was going to the concert this week, and thinking I might get the chance to see Brad again since the venue was so small, I brought a couple pictures of Lily and the picture of Brad and his daughter I took. The picture was taken minutes after we met our daughters in China for the first time. I arrived to the House of Blues early. While waiting for my friend to arrive, I entered a door that I thought would lead to the venue's restaurant. It turned out to lead to the backstage dressing rooms. I walked down the hall following the sign to Third Day's dressing room. Brad was not there so I went back outside. I decided to go back in moments later and soon found Brad. We got to talk for a while and update each other on the progress of our daughters, reflect back on the China trip, and talk about the band's tour. It was nice to reconnect.

As for the show, they sounded incredible. The small setting made it very personal. They really focused on worship which was very meaningful. They played some new material that will be on their new cd (released later this year?). As I told my friend it was a night of good food, good company, and a good show.

A Night on the Town-Wordless Wednesday

A shot from tonight's show. Third Day at the House of Blues. Great show! Details forthcoming.

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Update
Click here for the details.

7 Months Together - Wordless Wednesday

Lily has now been with us 7 months and she will be 18 months old in just a few days. I can't remember life without her. She is so precious. When we got her she had two teeth. You'll see in the second picture (Julianne's capture, not mine) she has a mouthful! We are soooo loving being her parents!

Wordless Wednesday website

China 2007 - Wordless Wednesday

My friend has been after me to post more current pictures for my WW posts. Outside of family pictures, I don't have any. I've been really itching for some photo-shoot opportunities. So until then, here some more shots from China (July 2007). These kind of stood out among the nearly 700 I took there.

Walking through an old farming village in Nanchang.

Along side the Great Wall of China

Let us in! Let us in!

A walk through a park in Guangzho

More sights in the old farming village

Displayed proudly in a restaurant window. This was supposed make us want to eat there?


Wordless Wednesday website

Training & Health Update

Training Update
It's been quite a while since I've talked about my cycling training so I thought I'd do an update. I'm officially committed. At least financially. I paid my entrance fee for the Solvang Century due to take place on March 8. That leaves about five weeks left to train. The best time for me to get in my workouts has been early in the morning before work. Getting up at 4:30 a.m. is not an ideal time for outdoor cycling. Thanks to my indoor trainer, I've been getting in the miles. Since November, I've logged almost 500 miles which consists of both indoor and outdoor miles. I'm currently riding about 75 miles per week but I need to build up my long distance weekend rides though. Two weekends ago I did a 23 mile loop. Although it wasn't a long ride, I felt strong and my speed had substantially increased. I don't want to be overconfident, but I really don't think 100 miles will be too difficult come March. My only concern is the hills. From my understanding, there is quite a climb around the 75-80 mile mark of the century ride. Hopefully the climbing interval training I've been doing is preparing me well enough for this. Ideally, I'd like to head up to Solvang in advance and drive the route in order to mentally prepare.

Getting used to the new bike has been a little challenging. Being vertically challenged, I require a bike frame on the smaller size. A smaller bike frame therefore means a shorter wheelbase. Although I'm short, I wear a size 11 shoe. Big feet on a bike with a shorter wheelbase creates the problem of overlap. When my foot is forward in the 3:00 position and if I attempt to turn the front wheel, the wheel hits my shoe. How did I find this out? When I fell trying to keep my balance by turning the front wheel while at a red light. There's nothing like the feeling of dumping your brand new bike on the pavement with onlookers gawking at you from their vehicles resting at the traffic signal. A scraped knee and a helping of humble pie later, I was up and off again. My two additional falls (not the same day) I attribute to getting used to (or not) my clipless pedals.

Health Update
My weight has stayed about the same. As of this morning I'm at 187. I think since my last update I'm down about 6 more pounds. I allowed myself to enjoy holiday goodies so I basically maintained during that time. I'm trying to be down to around 175 for the century ride. 12 pounds in 5 weeks is attainable if I stay as focused as I had been. Also, my blood sugar levels have continued to be good, even with some of the sweets I allowed during the holidays. My next hemoglobin a1c check is in March and I'm confident that all will continue to be well.

Another health issue of mine over the years has been that I suffer from sleep apnea. It was determined in my initial sleep study which was done about eight years ago, that unbeknownst to me, I was waking up over 100 times per hour. Since I have lost around 120 pounds, I thought a new sleep study was in order. The new study was conducted on January 5. I had my follow up appointment with my physician last week. I was told that now I wake up about once an hour. Once! From over 100 times per hour to ONCE. Can you tell I'm excited? The doctor told me if this were an initial study, he'd say I did not have sleep apnea. He said I probably no longer need to use my cpap machine unless I feel I need it. This was great news.

Having lost 120 pounds, going from diabetic to non-diabetic, and now no longer having sleep apnea in less than a years time is a wonderful feeling. I am looking more forward than ever to completing my first century ride.