Rollin

So if you had a posse of people that you rolled with, who would be in it? That's exactly what my friend Bejay and I thought about and came up with. You walk into a room, who walks in with you? You stop to take a picture, who's in the background with you? You pull up in your ride, what are you rolling in? Well this is how Sebastian and Bejay roll.
Number one man for me, Bob Ross. Who doesn't want that paintbrush backing you up? Number two John Stamos. Now I am not talking about John now in the present, I'm talking about Jesse and the Rippers John. Mullet, rock star, and the 80's. oh yes! Number three was the toughest choice of all. There are two people that serve the same purpose but go about it two different ways. Jack Bauer and Chuck Norris. I am a huge 24 fan but not everybody likes Jack. I choose Chuck. Next is someone to make you laugh. Chris Rock. He will make you laugh. Maybe not the cleanest mouth but I could think of a lot worse. When your rolling you need political influence and what better guy than the one Republican that can get millions of democrats to vote for him...Arnold. He has international connections as well as strength himself in case some one needs persuaded(you know to back up Chuck). Now I know that that is 5 people and i said give me your best 5, well one more that we think is a must is Emmanuel Lewis. He hangs with Arnold.
How do we get from one place to another you ask? A 1978 Scout International. I don't think I need to explain the picturesqueness of the seven of us cruisin in that. Bob's fro, Jesse's mullet with nothing but wind telling it who's boss. Arnold with the little guy sittin right beside him in one seat belt. Chuck is navigating while Chris drives through the streets of Kuna. All while Bejay and Sebastian stand in the back leaning on the roll bar of our Scout just lookin on like we own the world.
Who would be in your posse and how would you roll? Lets see what kind of awesome teams that we can come up with.

A night to remember...

When all a little girl does is play dress up and watch movies like Cinderella, Enchanted, The Little Mermaid and whatever else has a princess or a fairy tail ending, what goes through her mind when she is about to experience her very first BALL? Well I hope I lived up to the dream. I had the privilege of taking my little princess on her very first date. At the age of 4 it's not about what will I tell my friends when it's all over or even how she looks. I know, I know they want to look precious and beautiful and dashing and everything else that represents a princess but....not all night. I'll get to that point in a minute. I took Ellie to our very first father-daughter ball. Four hours of "Am I making this out to be everything she ever wanted?" When the lights went out and the little girl I carried back to the truck had had enough, I think I did OK. Little girls love to dance...at least mine does. And boy did we. Started the night out with a simple one..two..rock step..one two..rock step with a spin your partner (if your good enough) to ending the night "AT THE CAR WASH". We did about every dance party dance there was. I think I lost weight..I danced a lot. The most precious part of the evening was when Ellie needed to give her little legs a break, so we headed to the chocolate fountain. Once we got back to our table my date proceeded to dig in. This is where the "looking all dolled up" isn't everything. I was enjoying mine when I noticed Ellie was really enjoying hers. Chocolate on her dress and ALL over her face. I loved it. I knew in that moment my princess was still my little girl..that needed me to wipe her face off.
Ellie my princess I loved spending a wonderful night at the ball with you.
-Daddy

Ohhh Olivia...

Tonight has been a pretty eye opening evening. My youngest little girl and I are spending the evening together while Mommy and Ellie are out at a birthday party. So to start the night I didn't feel like making dinner. So after we shared our pasta from Smokey Mountain, we were snuggling on the couch and she kept babbling. Not thinking much of it I was just pretending to understand and talking back to her with the typical daddy talk and asking her questions to generate more conversation. All the sudden I realize she is saying "pomball...pomball". Well, I then realized that my 14 mo. old was a genius. She pointed to the TV again and said "pomball..pomball". That's right FOOTBALL was on and she knew it. Then she wandered off down the hallway and then into her playroom. I heard start saying "Jeea...Jeea". She came and got me and took to the playroom where I say the problem. You see she likes to sing into her little broom handle and the only thing she really sings is "Jesus"(Jeea). The broom was stuck behind some other things and she really wanted to worship! Kids get way more than we think. I love my girls.
-Sebastian

October!

Well it's October. It used to be that this time of year was my least favorite, times are changing. My wife has been trying to convince me that fall is the best time of year, you know the leaves are turning, soup and hot drinks, the normal seasonal "I am so tired of 100 degree stuff". Ya that stuff is OK but please it is all about the Red Sox being in the playoffs, hunting, and yes my birthd....scratch that, this is the year we stop counting.

So the one thing that I love about America's Pastime is that young or old we all wish we could be "that guy" playing. For the more advanced in years its all about the days of old and what may have been and for the younger generation it is still "The Dream". I guess my point on this thought is that....it engages us all. We all some how, some way embrace Baseball. I guess you could hate it for whatever reason, but why? It's October! How can you hate playoff baseball? Tonight after the Red Sox won, my little girl needed some incentive to put eye drops in her eyes. Well for any of you 4 people reading this that have or have had a four year old you know that you do whatever is needed to get your child to comply with Dr.'s orders. Well, it's October. And what else does a daddy do that is trying to educate his child in America's Greatest Game ever played? You say, "if you let daddy put your eye drops in we can go in the back yard to baseball". Already dressed in our pj's, pink bat and pink ball in hand, we head to the back yard at 10:00pm with the one back yard light we have on, playing baseball. Now I cannot tell you that I hate October anymore. It just became my favorite month. Just me and my little girl playing baseball in the dark, something she will remember forever. It may not have Los Angelas vs. Boston but in my book it was the best game of the night......in our own little Fenway.

SEVEN

Well the number seven has come and now gone. Jenn and I are celebrating today, our seventh anniversary. If you would have asked me what I would picture things to be like after seven years of marriage, I'm not sure I would have had a ton more aspirations. If you look at the natural side of things, ya we are blessed. We have a beautiful home, good jobs, cars, friends and we can't forget all of the places we have seen already. On the Family side of things we have two incredible little girls and an amazing relationship. Spiritually God has been with us through some rough stuff and also blessed us when we have not deserved any of it. His grace is amazing and his plan is perfect.
-Jenn you are so amazing. You have put up with selfishness and stupidity. You have been one of the most selfless people I know. You love me through "good times and bad" and don't think twice about it. Your are one amazing mom. Ellie and Olivia love you so much. Thanks for everything you have done to make our house a home and our relationship a marriage. I love you so much.
love,
Sebastian

It was a good one

Well I took a mini strike from blogging. I know if I am going to blog I have to do it more frequently to create traffic and interest in what I am writing about. Well I am questioning my abilities to write and keep up with the likes of my good friends Shane Grove, Marcus Hackler, crayonsinmybriefcase(my fav) and a ton of others. Without trying to be corny I just wanted to take a minute and thank God for a great weekend.
We had a great weekend at church with just a ton of things going on, awesome people and the presence on Jesus. It never ceases to amaze me how good God is. It's cool that when we do what we are supposed to, like show up ready to worship him, that he blesses us with his goodness. Anyway nothing goofy or long this time...just grateful.
-Sebastian

I totally called it!!

If I recall it was something like, "what could be more exciting than catching a fish bigger than me" or something to that effect. Well now I know what that feels like. I have always wanted to catch the "BIG ONE" and I did. A 215 pound halibut. I took a good hour to get that rascal up to the top three times and finally into the boat. For anyone that has never had the chance to catch one, just pull the hood off of your SUV and throw it into the nearest lake and then try to put it up. A barn door would work too. Anyway I can check that one off of the list of ...DREAMS!
-Sebastian

It's vacation time!!!

Well the time is upon us. Alaska, we are on our way in about 36 hours. How can I not be excited about the possibility of catching a fish that weighs more than me. I hope the next time I blog, I am posting some footage of "the big catch". I'm sure my kids will do something that will crack me up as well, so watch for that too. Stay tuned.
?how many dreams do you think come true every year when people go fishing in Alaska for the first time?
-Sebastian

Independence Day!

So I understand that I am a little behind on my news, but I have to share what I saw first hand on Independence Day. Have you ever been to "festival" or "Carnival" or a "insert your towns crazy name of three days set aside for elephant ears and corn dogs and strawberry lemonade, with a dash of not-so-safe carnival rides, that when you have to get on them you feel like you just licked the sidewalk or rolled in alley" Days? Now I want to clarify,... I am not saying all of these are bad or that all of them are good...or that even all of them have a point (other than to have a few days set aside for elephant ears, corn dogs, and strawberry lemonade, and to bring back that feeling you got when you picked yourself up after crashing your bike into the ditch that was full of weeds and trash and dust with a little water in the bottom so you kinda got your sleeve wet (the carnival rides). I just simply want to share what I saw a couple weeks ago.

When we were driving into Buhl, Idaho we were greeted by police cars that diverted us to the back roads so that we didn't drive on the Parade Route. YES..."Sage Brush Days" are upon us. Now with my stellar knowledge of the back roads, my family and I made it to our place on the other side of town along Main Street where we would enjoy for the next couple of hours horses, tractors, candy, people dressed up like...I think she was supposed to be Sacajawea, little El Korah cars and yes more tractors. Now, I think for a while the parade in Buhl had the record for the most tractors out of any parade in the world. OK, so that was a lie but there used to be a lot. The 2008 version of tractorfest was, thank the Lord, scaled down compared to years past. As I was sitting in my chair that was ever so comfortable catching candy from the John Deere guy who almost broke down in front of us, I heard my family laughing. I looked up to what at first appeared to be two more tractors on a flatbed of a semi-truck. But, no, this float was telling a story. It was a heritage story, I think. On the front of the trailer was the smaller, older version of the enormous 6 wheeled mass of farming bliss that was behind it on the flatbed. Now even I was impressed by the mass of this machine that would plow or pull or just about do whatever your farm needs are in no-time at all. This thing was huge. The thing I didn't get was why my family was all laughing,...and then it all made sense as my sister-in-law raised her camera to take a picture of a big sign that ran along the bottom of the float that read, "We've came along ways". Now I know why I spell the way I do. I probably graduated from the same school as these people. Now I must be very careful. My wife's family are pretty much all teachers and, yes, my in-laws were teachers at my school. So I know it wasn't them, but who messed up two of us. Someone had to do it. Then I began to think about it....someone had to proofread the sign before they hung it up, and it was able to get by them as well. As you can imagine, we all had a great laugh.

After making our way to corn dog central, we all ate... yes, corn dogs and had lemonade. From there, we made our way over to what was the culmination of my Fourth of July experience. Imagine a man-made pond about 15 feet wide and 40 feet long made of hay bales and plastic tarps with about 75 kids under the age of 4 with parents that added probably another 30 to the population, standing in the midst of the waterway. Now why in the world would over 100 people be standing shoulder to shoulder with kids in a fake lake made of farm supplies in 90 degree weather? Well it's quite simple you see,... Buhl is the Trout capital of North America and we are about to have ourselves a Trout Scramble. Oh Mah Gah! The truck holding all of the fish opens the hatch and water and LIVE fish start pouring into the reservoir. People are screaming, not just kids, everyone. Moms and grandparents are squealing and dads are getting on their kids for not "gettin in there and grabbin one". I am thinking to myself why is ESPN or CNN not standing next to me filming this whole thing as one of the most bizarre things on earth. Well, needless to say, when it was all said and done kids were standing proud with fish in hand posing for pictures, and I knew I had my next blog entry.

-Sebastian

New Seasons!

Anticipation. I do believe that this would be the word of the month. Every turn in life brings "new" things, and before every turn comes...anticipation. "What in the world is around the corner?" I think the last sign I saw while driving down the road of life was the sign that had an arrow that curved about four times and had the slow down to 30 miles an hour post underneath it. I think many of you are probably in the same boat but maybe on a different mountain road or even heading down the straight stretches were the speed has been posted at 65 but you know that there are no cops and can go 80 if you want.
I know all two of you reading this blog right now are rubbing your eyes and thinking this guy is boring me to death with his metaphors and life stories. Hang around it could get interesting.
The quickest curve in the road came the other day when I went to the Dr. Now the guy is cool and knows his stuff but anyone that tells me that they are going to cut into my back and start removing things because they "have a hunch I may have problems down the road," well I appreciate but, it makes you think. Oh the anticipation. What will they find? How will it feel? How long 'til I'm able to function normally and not have to worry about pulling stitches out? Yikes! Well there is a lot of anticipation but,...I do have a lot of peace too. I now things are going to work out fine.
On top of that, a new boss that I do believe will do myself and my co-workers a lot of good. But once again...the anticipation. I don't know yet, he starts in a week or so. Change is coming... but how?
I have to admit, when I made up in my mind that I was going to start blogging, I did not have the intention of sitting down on my second entry to write out life lessons and random one word phrases like "Anticipation". Ya it kinda caught me off guard.
So vacation is around the corner...and with that comes, you guest it.....airplane food. (Now we are getting closer to "The Dream") We are going back to Alaska for two weeks of soggy bliss. I say that with a bit of sarcasm, because one of the last times I went we had record temperatures of over 90 degrees for something like ten days. Anyone that has every been to Southeast Alaska, or any part of Alaska for that matter, knows that people in Alaska have now reason to own an air conditioning unit just like they have no reason for a sprinkler system. This was one of the most miserable trips to Alaska I have been on. Hot and muggy! I did not know that Horse fly got that big and can carry small people off to eat them. It was awful. We will not have that happen again....so help me.
Well my wife tells me that I have to write more. "it keeps the traffic coming through" I'm told. Well I will do my best. I will try to how you say, keep up.
Until next time,
-Sebastian

My First Entry

Well I should start by introducing myself,.....my name is Sebastian. The name Sebastian is not even a name that my friends or family call me, it's more of a............... well lets just say that when you go to a restaurant and you give them the name Mike, you are likely to have someone else jump up and take your table. Sebastian is one of those names that will get you all kinds of reactions from "what the &#@*" to "I really like your name" and from time to time people can't help but just laugh. Now Sebastian's Dream may not be revealed in my first couple of posts but in time you will all know. I know that I am one bad speller so if you are on of those people that go crazy because people can't spell...then this blog may not be for you, but if you want something creative and all over the place this may be one to check in on every once and a while. I may not be as captivating a writer as those that write say my favorite shows 24 and Lost, but I promise I will try to keep it intersting and funny AND maybe even a sometimes deep. I'm gonna wrap it up for this entry. I just wanted to get my feet wet with blogging.....I think it went pretty good for my first time.
-Sebastian