A Super-Sized Look Back At 2010

I think it's important to reflect. We shouldn't live in the past, but it's healthy to visit. It helps us learn and grow.  When analyzing the past for some reason it's a lot easier to remember the bad times over the good. I recommend trying look back and remember the good things.  Today I'm looking back over the year that was 2010. It's a Super-Sized list of my favorite things in 2010.

Favorite Movies

• Toy Story 3 - this might be the best film of 2010.
• Inception - I loved that it was creative and not a retread of something old. In other words it wasn't a sequel or based off of something from the 80's. 
• Date Night - this movie still makes me laugh.
• The Social Network - Who knew that the story of Facebook was so fascinating?
• True Grit - making westerns cool again.
• Predators - Despite a rumor that has spread about me I do see R rated films. I try to check out why they are rated R and if it has nudity in it then I don't see it in theaters. Predators is rated R for violence and way too many F bombs. I grew up with the original and thought this was the best attempt at a decent sequel since Arnold yelled "Get to the Chopper!"
• The Expendables - again it's rated R for action violence and a few swears. This is not a great movie, but a great attempt of bringing back all the glory of the 80's action movie. For that it makes my list.
• Harry Potter 7 - I'm not a Potter fanatic, but this might be the best film of the series.
• Iron Man 2 - compared to the first one this is a disappointment, but there is still enough super hero action to make me include it in my top ten list.
• A-Team - I'm not sure why this movie didn't do better then it did. For an action movie it's great! It's funny and has some of the coolest action scenes in recent memory. Plus it's based off of one of my all time favorite shows from my childhood.

Favorite Songs

• Nothin On You by B.O.B - I love that iTunes has clean versions of songs.
• Airplanes - "Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars" became a staple post for people's status on Facebook. It was so overplayed that some people grew sick of this song. But come on this is still a catchy track.
• Tonight by TobyMac - this song is amazing!
• Hello Hurricane - ok technically this came out in November of 2009, but I didn't really start listening to it until 2010. For some reason my summer of 2010 was dominated by this album and specifically this song.
• Hey Soul Sister by Train - catchy.
• Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars - I like songs that are actually about love. Too many songs today are about break ups, hook ups, or screw ups.
• Heartbreak Warfare by John Mayer - not his best song of all time but this one is a worthy effort.
• Forever Reign by Hillsong Live - I first heard this song while taking the WEC Students to camp. It has since become a staple at Waters Edge.
• Dynamite by Taio Cruz - this song made one of my road trip mixes and it became a staple of 2010.

Favorite Blog Posts

• 50 Reasons Why I Don't Own a Pet - this was the highest trafficked post in the history of my blog.
• You Can't Shake Me - this was during a very tough week for me.
• I'm Scared To Be A Dad - this was a humorous post that many people told me they enjoyed.
• Introducing Hayden and Reese Shepherd - this is where I told the names of our twins who are coming in 2011.
• I Love You Warts and All - This was inspired by a picture the guys in my Student Group told me about. It's gross.
• Back Off That Ledge - This post led my pastor to tweet that this was the best blog post of the day.
• Step by Step by the Waters Edge Boyz - this was one of the most well received videos that WEC staff has ever done.
• ABC's - this was one of the most fun posts to write.
• Why I HATE Jogging Outside - I went jogging and it inspired a blog post.
• Making Time - this was a little post that didn't generate a lot of attention, but I like it.

Favorite Memories of 2010

• When we found out that we were pregnant. After six years of trying this was a great day.
• When we found out that we were having twins!
• Going to Philly with Monica. This was a fun quick trip. We saw the Lakers play the 76ers and we won. We then decided to drive back the same day because a snow storm was coming. We were supposed to stay with Monica's aunt and uncle, but we drove back to the 757. It was a long but memorable day.
• Catalyst Conference. I love this conference, but this year was extra good. I was blessed to host luncheons with Seth Godin and Perry Noble. I love Catalyst because it offers top shelf speakers but I also get to see a lot of great friends. I loved seeing Chad Johnson (no not the football player), Brian Smith, Mobbs, Chad Childress, and I got to meet Josh Fowler for the first time. Josh is now on staff with Waters Edge. Oh and I also got to meet Tyler Stanton. Even though I'm older than him when I grow up I want to be as funny as Tyler Stanton.
• Snow Days. We had multiple snow days this year. In Feb. and in Dec. I loved the one in Feb. because our good friends Dan and Danielle brought their dogs to our house and stayed the night. It was the only time dogs have been allowed in our house.
• The Lakers winning the championship. This was celebrated with good friends who all wore Lakers jerseys in honor of the championship. One friend even took his fandom to a whole nutha level. This was a fun night with Jamey, Carlyn, Courtney, and Lindsey. The fact that the Lakers beat the Celtics made this that much more amazing.
• Speaking of amazing...my wife is amazing. This year was filled with her being amazing. She made all my favorite foods for each game of the Lakers finals. She took me to my first playoff game - Lakers vs. Celtics in the Finals! She even wore a Lakers jersey in the Boston Garden. I love being married to Monica and I love that she is pregnant!
• Christmas Eve with Waters Edge. If you weren't there it's hard to describe how amazing this day was. Hundreds of people raised their hands to become Christ Followers. It was amazing!

Favorite Purchases

• In 2010 we scaled back. This was the first Christmas that we didn't exchange gifts. We also decided to do a staycation instead of a vacation. In return we purchased two babies for the price of one from the Jones Institute. We did IVF and I'd say it was a most excellent purchase.
• I also bought a PS3. This was before IVF and I used the money I had received from speaking to Youth Ministry classes at Liberty University.

Funniest Commercials - Commercials are having a tough year. With DVR taking over the world no one pays attention to commercials. With that being said here were a few that I didn't fast forward through.

• Old Spice The Man You Could Smell Like - very funny.
• Snickers with Betty White - This commercial helped make Betty White a cultural superstar in 2010.
• Geico Woodchucks - This commercial still makes me laugh.

Favorite Books

• Primal by Mark Batterson
• Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick
• Radical by David Platt - I'm not done with this one yet, but I really like it.
• It by Craig Groeschel

Firsts

• 2010 was the first time I saw a Christian Counselor. They didn't offer a lot of answers but it was nice to talk to someone and not feel bad for dumping my worries on them.
• We're pregnant!
• First time I went to a NBA playoff game and the first time I saw the Lakers play in Philly and Boston. I have a goal to see the Lakers play in every NBA arena. There are 30 NBA teams.
• First time I played Call of Duty. This happened just a couple of weeks ago and I got killed by a bunch of children.
• I got a smart phone. I didn't know my phone was dumb until companies came out with smart phones. Now I have a smart phone.
• I ran in my first 5K. I still don't like jogging but I think I'm going to try a 10K in 2011.

Favorite Apps - this year I got an iPod and a smart phone. With those comes apps.

• Angry Birds - love it!
• Words With Friends - I play this every day.
• Tower Madness - Monica often heard me yell "they got my sheep."
• Redbox - see what DVD's are at Redbox before you drive out to get one...priceless. You can even reserve a copy of what you want.
• ESPN - I love checking on the scores of games whenever I want.
• Facebook - who doesn't love Facebook. Now it's easier then ever to get on and check people's status.