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Football is a TEAM Sport

Well, this weekend in the big game. According to the media, Peyton can't win the big game. I was reading ESPN's A.M. Jump this morning and it has a great article showing the big games Peyton lost. Many of them, not entirely his fault. I would like to point out two proofs that it doesn't lie completely on his shoulders. My first proof is Big Ben in last year's Super Bowl. Check his stats: 9-21 and 2 int. That's awful! And they still won the game 21-10. My second proof is Rex Grossman. This whole season he's been simply OK...however they led the NFC with points scored...not because of him...but because of a great defense, special teams, and running game. My point is this...get over individual stats and realize that football is a team sport. Peyton Manning has nothing to do with this game. He must play well AND his running game must go well AND his blocking must go well AND his WR must catch the ball AND his defense has to play well. You get the point. I think the key to a Colts victory is this: Indy's defense must hold Chicago to under 75 yards rushing (their average in the playoffs this year) AND their offense must avoid turnovers (which is what makes Chicago's defense great). My pick for this week (of course) is INDY over CHICAGO! GO COLTS!

Catch and Release

I saw Catch and Relase last night starrring Jennifer Garner. It was really good and kind of surprising. I expected a lot of movie "fluff", like cute girl movie type stuff but it actually had some substance as well as comedy. It's basically about a girl whose fiance dies a couple of days before their wedding. She moves in w/his old roomates and ends up finding out all kinds of things about him that she never knew, and they weren't exactly good things. She finds herself torn between a lot of things and all the while never really loses the love that she had for him. There is one guy in the movie that was her fiance's roomate and he's really funny, so it was light at the same time. Anyways, it was a good movie, I suggest it.

Jeremy's Pick for Lunch

I just ate a delicious sandwich that everyone should try. It's called a Grilled Hampanini Sandwich. You take two pieces of Sourdough Bread and put mayo on them both. Then top it off with Ham, tomato, and cheese. Then pan grill it for about two minutes a side or until lightly golden. Very delicious...top that off with a diet mt. dew and some sun chips and you have yourself a great lunch. ENJOY!

Can money make you happy?

Read what Oliver James has to say about it.

Lunch Time

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I saw a sign today on the road that said. "Do not listen to 96.7FM." And that's all it said. So what did I find my self doing? Now that is advertisement. I'm putting a sign up that says, "Do not go to Cornerstone Christian Church." Do you think it will have the same effect?



Here's a picture of the new car I'm obsessed with today. I'm pretty sure Jessica is going to use her XMEN power to pick up this car and crush me with it. She's pretty annoyed and sick of me dragging her around everywhere. I'm sorry baby! I love you!

Another sad day for Cincinnati

I found this on ESPN today and had to share it...

Johnathan Joseph is the ninth Bengal to be arrested in the last nine months. Here's a list of the players and their problems:

Jonathan Joseph
CB
Possession of marijuana

Deltha O'Neal
CB
Driving while intoxicated

Reggie McNeal
WR
Resisting arrest

Matthias Askew
DT
Resisting arrest

Eric Steinbach
G
Boating under the influence

Chris Henry
WR
unlawful transaction with a minor (three counts), speeding, operating a vehicle under the influence, felony possession of a concealed firearm, possession of marijuana. First arrest was in December 2005.

Frostee Rucker
DE
Spousal battery

A.J. Nicholson
LB
Burglary, grand theft

Odell Thurman
LB
Driving while intoxicated

WOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!

I called my football buddies (Justin and Randy), but no one is stinking answering their phones! So, I'll blog about how stinking excited that I am that the Colts are going to the Super Bowl. I almost cried when I got home from Church and it was 21-3. I was like, oh great...Peyton does it again...guess we'll try again next year. AND NOW THEY ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL. YEAH! Ok, so that's all...can't wait till Feb 4th!

Have you ever driven a plastic big wheel down a busy highway?

Well, Jeremy and I did indeed test drive the Kia Spectra (by the way the name Spectra always reminds me of Big Phish) and the Ford Focus. We started w/the Spectra and as the title states, it felt like driving a giant toy big wheel. So, the Kia is out. Next we drove a Focus. We liked it, we weren't in love w/the interior but we did like the car and it was at a very good price. So, we decided to crunch numbers w/the sales guy. (By now we should be pros at this) Jeremy and I had decided that if they would not pay off our trade-in there was no deal. We now owe exactly what the car is worth, which is also what Kelly Blue Book states is the trade value. We did not want negative equity going into the final price of the car. So, the guy showed the car to his people and came back with a lot less than we wanted to see so we were happy to leave and say this is not the right time. But the guy kept trying and brought his manager into the deal. We liked the first guy, he seemed like a nice guy, joking around but still taking us seriously. This guy on the other hand was a different story. He immediately started talking like the micro-machine man and lost me at hello. Jeremy and I kept saying unless you give us the full pay off on the ZX2 we can't do this. He was getting frustrated and then said O.K. if I can get you the full pay of for the trade-in can I get your businesss today? Well, yeah, of course that's what we have been saying the whole time! So he says he needs to ask the general manager and then scribbles some illegible sentence on a scrap piece of paper, draws a line and says sign here stating that we have your business if we can get that price for your trade in. Is that weird to anyone else? Jeremy said that he was not comfortable signing anything like that, we shouldn't have to sign for that to happen. He also told the guy that we were willing to do it if they got our trade in where we wanted and if the price of the car stayed the same, who knows if he would have jacked the price up after we signed it. So, the guy said that's fine and took the piece of paper and quickly walked away. I sat where I was, and Jeremy stood up and said let's go. I said no...he's asking if he can do that. In the meantime, the first sales guy came back and it was obvious that no one was asking if we could get our trade in where we wanted it all b/c the manager guy got ticked cause we wouldn't sign a stupid piece of paper. The first guy tried to explain that it was just to show the head guy that we were serious but first of all, that should have been communicated and second of all, shouldn't our word be good enough? The sad thing for them is that if that whole weird situation would not have come up and they would have just asked the head guy for what we needed and did it, we would have bought a new car from them today. Does that seem weird to anyone else? I'm still a little confused by the whole thing and I think the guy over reacted and I also don't think we should have to sign anything until we are purchasing the car. Thoughts?

Frustration

Jeremy and I are a little frustrated right now. We found out a couple of days ago that a lady was willing to rent our house out for 4-6 months while her new house is still being finished. She had agreed to allow us to keep the house on the market and show it and if anyone made an acceptable offer she would gladly move out. This seemed like the answer to our prayers, we finally felt like things were coming together. She and Jeremy spoke on the phone and everything seemed great. We discussed drawing up a rental contract and she was fine with that. So, Jeremy found our old one from our Miamitown days and cut and pasted a lot of stuff from that. The whole thing sounded fine to me. Well, tonight during dinner we get a call from our realtor. Apparently, the lady had a problem with the contract and was withdrawing the offer completely! There were things in the contract that made her uncomfortable, things that to us seemed reasonable. Things like please turn on the fan while you are in the shower, do not burn candles when you are not home, and keep the grass cut w/the provided mower. These were things taken completely from the contract that we rented from except for the grass thing (with a mower that we were gladly letting her use). The whole thing stressed her out so much that she was "hysterical" over it and had to consult her mother and sister as to whether she should go through with it or not. They obviously advised her not to. So, we are pretty frustrated. The good news is that we have a showing tomorrow and maybe all this means that the people tomorrow are going to buy the house. I hope so, but please pray for us and that this whole thing can just be over and done with.

Restful weekend

Jess and I are excited to finally have a restful weekend. It seems like we can't remember the last time we didn't have anything planned. I look forward to simply sleeping in! We might look at cars tomorrow. I'm obsessed and really annoying Jess. My car has over 117,000 miles and I still have like 18 months left on the loan. I've got it paid down to a reasonable amount that we can trade in. So, we've been looking for new or used cars that we can purchase to put us in the price range we're paying now. That leaves us looking mainly at barebones and compact cars. No complaints here. We test drove a Mazda 6 today and a Ford Fusion. We like the Mazda better, but its pricey and both make me feel old. I really like the Mazda 3...but its out of my price range. So, we might look at a Ford Focus Zx4 (basically the car I have now) and the Kia Spectra tomorrow. Here are a few pics...

This is the Ford Focus.

This is the Kia Spectra

I'm pretty sure Jess is sick of me talking about cars, but if we can get out of our old and in with a new for the same monthly payments...WHY NOT DO IT?

In other news. We are renting our house for the next 6 months to buy us some time to sell it. The awkward thing is that we have a showing tomorrow and she is moving in Monday. Wouldn't it suck for her if we end up selling it Saturday before she even moves in? I told her that and she said she would probably cry. But, we are her last hope and she's our last hope. It works out pretty good.

Have a wonderful weekend...blog at ya later!

Oops, we did it again

O.K. So here is how it all happened....Leo in his massive amounts of fur was starting to leave tumbleweed like hair balls around the house so I (Jessica) thought that it would be wise to TRIM him. Just trim him, because I think you all remember the tragedy of shaving him last April. So our friends Karen and Byron had just bought these special dog trimmers for their dogs and had done a nice job of grooming them themselves. Byron thought that he could get the job done as to what I was looking for. I just wanted Leo trimmed to about two inches of hair so he didn't look like a giant white racoon again. So Karen and Byron came over and got started. The problem was that Leo's hair was so thick that none of the razor guards would work on him. So they started trying different length guards and before we knew what happened he had a giant strip completely shaved on his leg. Jeremy and Byron thought that they could just fade it in. Karen and I knew that all was lost and we just needed to shave him completely. Also his undercoat had started to mat to his skin b/c of his massive amounts of fur. Soooo, this is the end result..... Pretty sad but you know, it's just fur....it'll grow back....right?? He doesn't look that terrible....does he???

Jeremy's picks for the week

Sorry to post this late, but we had a very busy Monday and Tuesday. Monday we had a 24 party at our house and watched all four hours in one sitting (thank you DVR box for fast forwarding through the stupid commercials). Yesterday we had dinner with our landlord and played cards. Fun times! And the rest of the week is just as busy! Anyways...on to my picks for the week.

United States of America Saints at the Chicago Bears - I predict a Rex Grossman melt down. I mean come on...did anyone else watch Tony Romo fall apart under pressure. Chicago's defense is over-rated and gave up 24 points and 127 rushing yards against the Seahawks AT HOME! I can't imagine what the two-headed monster in McAllister and Bush is going to do to this defense. Plus you have MVP runner up in Drew Brees. I think its going to be a shoot out and that's just too much pressure for the Bears' offense. Saints over the Bears in a high scoring affair.

The New England Patriots at the Indianapolis Colts - Now this is the game I want to watch and will miss because of Church. Oh well. The Patriots are surging because of these last two wins. However, Indy's defense is the best so far in the Post-Season only giving up 23 points and ONE TOUCHDOWN in two games. Their run defense has been incredible! However, Peyton Manning has looked awful throwing five picks and only one touchdown. GOSH I DON'T KNOW WHO TO PICK! Brady has shown he's a big time quarterback only losing one playoff game his whole career. However, he didn't look too good last week and in my opinion the Chargers lost that game and Brady threw a pick in the fourth quarter that could have decided the game. Anyways, I'm going with my heart and picking the Colts so that Manning can make it to his first Super Bowl.

I guess we'll all find out Sunday!

The scrapbook

(This is Jessica posting by the way) So the other day the mail lady dropped off a package and I immediately got excited. I couldn't wait to see what was inside and when I opened it I discovered the promised scrapbook from Cornerstone 1. I thought about waiting for Jeremy to get home to read it but knew I wouldn't make it that long so I opened it up. I got through the first few pages with a smile and then all of a sudden the tears came. All of the thoughts and warm wishes melted my heart and made me miss my friends a lot. By the end I think I was crying out loud (thanks a lot Justin). Don't get me wrong - I still am happy with our move and I know we made the right decision but that doesn't mean that I can't still love and miss my "family" in Cincinnati. Thanks to all you Cornerstone 1 readers who contributed and a special thank you to Bethany who put it together. I love you guys.

My life is over!

So, those who are not Office fans...um wait till we post again...cause this will make no sense. But what the heck is up with Dwight quitting his job??? I have a big picture of him in my office and now I have to burn it! Oh well. Nothing new happening our way...just wanted to complain about Dwight quitting his job. Everyone have a great Friday!

Krystal burgers give me gas

This blog is just to let everyone know that I now have a replacement for Skyline Chili. KRYSTAL BURGERS! They are delish...so if you have one close...go out and eat one. White Castle is sort of the same...so go have yourself one of those if you would like. You will only regret it as you digest it :-)

Jeremy's picks for the week

It's the playoffs baby! This weekend we have some wonderful matchups...and here are my picks for those games.

Colts at Baltimore - This one is difficult. You have a great defense in Baltimore vs a great offense in Indy. Indy proved last week that they can do pretty well against a pounding back like Larry Johnson...but how will they fair on the road against another pounding back in Jamal Lewis. Hmmm... I think the game hinges on the play of the Colts' rookie sensation Joseph Addai...if he plays well they win. I think he'll play well and Indy will get the win.

Eagles at New Orleans - The beloved Saints with their high powered offense will completely roll all over Phily's "prone to give up big gains" defense. I don't think this one will be close...I pick the Saints over the Eagles.

Seahawks at Chicago - Which Rex Grossman will show up Sunday? Last game they played at home Rexy boy threw a ton of interceptions and got booed by the home crowd. However, their special teams and defense will eat up Seattle who has looked awful this season and barely beat a very poor Dallas team. I pick Chicago in a shutout 9-0.

Patriots at San Diego - Tom Brady makes awful mistakes when he is pressured. Luckily they have a tremendous offensive line. However, steroids induced Merriman will come on a lot of blitzes and the high powered offense lead by MVP LT will hit the ground running. Look for a hard hitting and emotionally charged game which will be close to the end. I pick the Chargers to win at home.

I was wrong

Ok, I don't mind admitting when I am wrong. Larry Johnson did not rush for 582 yards like I predicted. It was more like 32 yards on 13 carries. I am a little nervous about Peyton's three interceptions. But, I am SOOOO excited that they got the W. GO COLTS! And I am excited that their defense looks better. GO COLTS!

Mattias

This is Mattias Hamilton. My friend Andy from Chicago sent me the picture the other day. He's so cute...so I thought I would post him on here. Jessica is mad at me. I keep telling everyone at Church she is pregnant. No, she's not...but I thought it was funny at the time. I'm the worst husband in the world. Anyways, we can't have a baby till we sell our summer home in Indiana. Its in our contract.

I hopefully had my last funeral last night in a long while. I have attended four in the last month, plus we've had two members in the hospital. It's been a long week and today I'm going to kick back relax and watch my Colts beat up on the Chiefs :-) Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Feet

I took Jordan to see Happy Feet yesterday. It was really cute. I definately suggest going to see it. I hope you guys are having a good week. This is my last day w/Jordan and then next week I'll pick up w/the job search which still isn't going to hot. Anyways, if you get a chance go see happy feet!

No more Power Five :-(

That's right folks. The season is over and there's no reason to do the Power Five. So, I'll give you my picks for the week instead. Yeah!

The KC Chiefs at the Indy Colts - Of course everyone knows that I have to go with my Colts even though Larry Johnson will probably run for 582 yards. That's right you heard it here. But, the Chief's have an awful defense and there's no way they can keep up in a shoot out. But don't worry Justin, Peyton will lose when he heads to Baltimore in the second round.

The NY Jets at the NE Pats - Tom Brady just isn't right. They don't look that great and it looks like the leader of their defense is out for this game (Harrison). So, this is my pick for an upset this week. I pick the Jets to move on to the second round.

The NY Giants at the Phily Eagles - I'm not sold on the Eagles yet. But, the Giants look just as bad. So, I'm picking the home team with the momentum to beat the Giants who are unraveling. At least one Manning has to lose this weekend...right?

The Dallas Cowboys at the Seattle Seahawks - Dallas is a mess which leaves the Seahawks at home to pick up a big win moving them into the second round of the playoffs. Wouldn't it be awesome if the Eagles make it to the Superbowl and TO and the Cowboys don't?

Ok, well, those are probably the worst picks ever...but that's alright...fun times.

Pray for me and the church here this week. I'm doing a funeral tonight and I just did one Sunday as well. We have had a lot of really great people pass away this month and its taking a toll on the Church. Thanks.