Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Mind Dump

My brain is constipated with thoughts. The following is a massive mind dump of all the random stuff going on in my head...
  • Today is Bright Beginnings. Each year the YMCA pays for kids in need to go shopping at Wal-Mart. Each kid gets $120 for back to school clothes. This is the WEC staff's third year participating. 
  • This year my dad made a movie. He has started a local production company with two other guys called Shoestring Productions. Their first movie is called "Push Came to Shove." Their movie made it's premiere at the Kimball Theater in Williamsburg.
  • I'm hoping that my dad gets a big part in a movie or commercial soon.  He's been acting for years.  You can spot him in "Evan Almighty," "Clear and Present Danger," Flags of Our Fathers," and "Major Payne" to name a few. Or maybe you saw his Hardees commercial. His big line was "When my tummy's happy I'm happy."
  • I hurt my finger on Easter Sunday. I was racing a friend up a gigantor set of stairs and I jammed my finger against a block connected to the railing.  I skinned it bad, and it hurt like a MOTHER! I probably should have gone to the doc but I didn't. Today it feels fine except for when I move it in certain directions. Then the pain screams at me.
  • Are you still pregnant? My wife, Monica, has been asked that question by multiple people. The answer is yes, as far as we know.  The date for Monica's ultra sound has been pushed up to September 9th or 10th. It was scheduled for the 15th because our doc was on vacation. Monica called and asked if we could see someone else, so we didn't have to wait as long. We are trying hard not to live scared, but we really would love the reassurance of an ultra sound. When we first were pregnant 3 years ago it was at the ultra sound appointment that we found out that we lost the baby. I think we will both feel better once this appointment happens.
  • I'm in a dc Talk phase right now. I've been listening to their albums "Jesus Freak," and "Supernatural." I also pulled out their live concert VHS tape called "Welcome to the Freak Show." It's bringing back some old memories. dc Talk was my favorite band from 5th grade through college. They took a break to pursue solo careers and well...that was 10 years ago. I'd love for them to get back together.
  • Putting contacts in your eyes is an unnatural thing to do.  I was recently reminded of this when my friend, Dan Peters, bought contacts for the first time.  It's taking him a while to get used to putting his finger in his eye. When I first got contacts it was about a 20 minute process to get them in my eyes. I also had the help of two other people, my wife and grandma. I'm not really sure what they did or how they helped but they were in there coaching me.  Stick with it Dan it will become natural before too long.
  • I love Chipotle.
  • This Wednesday I'm hosting a 6th Grade Meet and Greet. It's for upcoming 6th grade students and their parents at Waters Edge. I'm excited to meet the new sixth graders.
  • If you like pizza vote on the new poll at robshep.com.
  • My wife and I went to a local Mexican restaurant last night. It's called Plaza Azteca and it's a staple eatery in the 757. My wife made me laugh when after our waiter took our order she said, "you know I think their English is getting better at Plaza." 
  • We finished watching the Emmy's last night. I like having DVR. I thought the Emmy's were good. I really like Jimmy Fallon as a host.
  • This past Sunday at Waters Edge 256 new people became volunteers. Wow!
  • I wish Chick-fil-A ran all businesses. I recently was reminded about how bad customer service is at other places. I'll just say that the employees at Movie Stop have never heard of customer service. Boo on them I say...boo.
Whew...I feel better now.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Cool or Uncool?

Cool or Uncool? Let's have a friendly debate. Here's what you do...

Step 1: Read the question below.
Step 2: Decide whether you think it is cool or uncool.
Step 3: Post your decision by leaving a comment.

Cool or Uncool? Men having pony tails.

Pictured Above: Steven Seagal looking like he'll kill you with his ponytail

Pictured Above: David Beckem
Pictured Above: A guy in a suit rockin' a ponytail

Friday, August 27, 2010

Sorry Oprah - I Text While I Drive

I don't text and drive. A lot of times I'll text at a stoplight, but I don't text while driving on major roads. I NEVER text on the interstate because that would be crazy.

The other day my wife and I were going to dinner and I started texting while I was driving. I had good intentions. We were almost at the restaurant and I wanted to give her my full attention at dinner.  The next day we were leaving from a doctors appointment and I started texting in the parking lot.  She gently reminded me that I was driving precious cargo and that Oprah would be very upset with me (Oprah has a NO Phone Zone pledge that asks people to not text or talk on the cell while driving). 

In my mind I tell myself that I don't text and drive. I try not to do it often, but my actions with my wife show that I'm a triver (I made that word up. It's a texting driver) addict. 

Is it AA that says the first step is to admit you have a problem? Denial is convincing. It's easy to view myself as one thing, but really be something else.

A lot of times when someone makes a HUGE public mistake they will say something like, "I know I lied, but I'm not a liar," or "I am not a bad person," or "I know I got caught but this isn't who I am."

The question is how many times do you have to do something before you admit that it is who you are? We like to hide behind denial but it's a thin shield that everyone can see through. Whether it's an addiction, a bad behavior, or an ugly sin what we do is who we are.

I can no longer say that I don't text and drive. I'll try to do better, but my actions prove that it's in my blood. It's who I am. I can deny it or I can try to work on it.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

I Challenged My Pastor To A Game of Mercy

Last Sunday at Waters Edge we concluded our series called Surrender. The last week was one of my all time favorite services at Waters Edge. Each week we try to have a little bit of fun in the service. As a part of the service I interrupted Stu Hodges, Lead Pastor, and said the following...

"Stu often says that he wants to live out what he's teaching.  After the last few weeks of being slapped around by his awesome talks I wanted to make sure that he was feeling what it meant to surrender.  I can't think of a better way than to challenge him to a game of Mercy. You know the game from middle school where you force someone to surrender by saying the word mercy? I personally love the results of our match. We just happened to catch the battle royal on film. Check it out." Here is the video from this Sunday and yes I wore that outfit to church...



*Phil Poteat filmed, directed, and edited the video. He's gifted.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

I Signed An Autograph

"Will you sign an autograph for me" is a question that I don't get often. That all changed last night...

So last night Monica and I went to see the band Train in concert. We actually went to see my favorite band Needtobreathe, who opened for Train.  We went to the concert with our friends Jamey and Carlyn.  Now something that you need to know about Jamey and me is that we like to stalk  meet our favorite bands. We've ended up getting to stalk meet all of our favorites. 

We first ran into Bear, the lead singer of Needtobreathe.  To my surprise we ended up having a great conversation. I typically say something stupid around people I look up to. I once yelled "Remember ME" to one of my favorite artists, TobyMac.  It just came out of my mouth. It was embarrassing.  Bear even asked some crazy girl fans to wait so that we could finish our conversation. 

After we met him I declared that we could now leave.  The show wasn't over, but it was 10 PM and the concert was about an hour away. On our way out we just happened to see Bear's brother Bo. We stalked made our way down to see him and this is where the fun began. For some reason multiple girls thought that Jamey and I were in Needtobreathe.  Two different groups of girls came down to take their picture with Bo.  Afterward they looked to us to get autographs and or hugs. 

Since Jamey and I aren't in Needtobreathe we didn't really know what was going on.  After getting Bo's autograph a girl asked Jamey to sign her piece of paper.  He didn't hear what she said, and he responded with "that's not my pen." The girl left dejected and sad.  Immediately following her another fan asked for my autograph and since I saw what happened with Jamey I knew what was going down.  I signed it Robshep.com.  Jamey followed in giving an autograph and we all shared a good laugh afterward. It was a very funny night.  Enjoy some pics.

Pictured Above: Needtobreathe
Pictured Above: Train
Pictured Above: Rob with Bear from Needtobreathe
Pictured Above: Carlyn, Bear, and Jamey
Pictured Above: Rob, Bo, and a whole lot of Bo's chest.
Pictured Above: Jamey, Bo and his chest, and Carlyn. Bo also wears tight jeans. Jamey asked Bo if he thought that he (Jamey) could pull off skinny jeans. He told him that he should get straight leg jeans and that he could pull them off if he got some boots. Carlyn wasn't happy with his response.
Pictured Above: Monica, Bo and his chest. Monica normally doesn't like to stalk, but she's come a long way. She actually took this picture for Alainna Baxley, one of our students, who is in love with Bo.
Pictured Above: Rob giving an autograph to a fan

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Mind Dump

My brain is constipated with thoughts. The following is a massive mind dump of all the random stuff going on in my head.
  • We had a good staycation last week. Similar to when I'm on vacation I didn't take out the trash for trash day. I forgot what day it was because we weren't on a schedule. I can't even begin to describe how bad it smells in my trash can. I wish that smell-o-net (Internet where you could smell things) was around so you could experience it.
  • I'm no longer enjoying going out to get the mail. For me it used to be an adventure. I used to even tell my wife that I was going on an adventure.  I had to walk outside, go to the mailbox, unlock it, and then I always got a surprise. The mail now is filled with nothing but junk. I get a lot of mail but it's all a bunch of poo.
  • Last Sunday at Waters Edge was very powerful. If you missed it or don't attend you should watch the service here. It was on getting over your past, past mistakes and or past hurts from others.
  • The service included, what one person called, one of the funniest videos we've ever shown. Hopefully modern day genius, singing ninja, and all around great guy, Phil Poteat will send me the code for the video so I can post it. I hope to post the video this week on the blog for all to see.
  • I went to see the movie The Switch over the weekend. I left the theater and totally forgot to take a picture for the review. I hope to get back to the theater to take the picture so I can post it later this week.
  • I got asked by one of my favorite bloggers, Tyler Stanton, to do something BIG in September with 30 other bloggers. It will involve your help, and I can't wait to share with you. I think it's a great idea and I'm honored that he asked me.
  • This Wednesday is N.O.G. = Night of Games.  It's a fun game night for the Waters Edge Students. This event gets rained out every year. I am hoping that it doesn't rain this Wednesday in the 757.
  • I'm still beaming over the fact that my wife is pregnant. The first miracle is that she got pregnant. The second miracle will be to sustain the pregnancy.  We appreciate the prayers!
  • People keep telling us that we are going to have twins. My 4 year old nephew thinks we are going to have one boy and one girl.  He suggested we name them Fifi and Crash Symbols.
  • I know you probably don't think about super heroes much, but I do. For example I was watching a super hero movie and I thought that if they were real they'd sweat a lot. Have you ever worn a mask? Have you ever worn tights? I've worn both...at separate times...and they are HOT. I can't imagine how hot they'd be together. Not to mention how hot they'd be with all the fighting and running around.
  • I got an iPod touch for my birthday last week. It was a joint gift between 5 people and I'm loving it. 
  • My wife just turned to the Miss Universe Pageant.  Is it wrong that I want someone to tackle one of the Miss Universe contestants? No one in particular, but I'd take a good tackle to any of them. I feel mean typing that, but it'd make me laugh.
  • Whew...she just turned the channel to Back to the Future. I love that movie!
  • Back to the iPod touch if you have any apps that you recommend I'd love to try them out. Right now I'm loving Words with Friends, Frogger, and Traffic Rush.
  • I have three zits on my face. I kind of thought that by the time I turned 32 I'd stop getting zits. I guess it's a myth that it's a teenage thing. I wonder what age a person does stop getting zits?
  • I'm going to see my favorite band, NeedtoBreathe in concert tonight. They are opening for Train. This was another birthday gift. If this is your first time reading my blog then you need to know that I love birthdays!
  • A former student of mine is now on the soap, All My Children. Monica and I watched his premier. Soaps are awful, but he was good in it. His name is Trent Garrett. You can read the Daily Press article here.
  • We are got rid of our cable. It ends next month. I'm not sure what we are going to do starting in September. We are making as many cuts as we can to pay off our loan for IVF. Dave Ramsey says, "If you'll live like no one else, than you can live like no one else." I'd say that if you haven't read his book "Total Money Makeover" then you should buy it today. It's great financial advice!
  • Speaking of paying off IVF, do you think I could win if I sued companies that make "smart phones?" I was happy with my phone until they started calling theirs smart. Now I feel like I'm stuck with a dumb phone. Just because my phone can't get on the internet that's no reason to call it dumb. I'm joking about suing, but I did have that thought when thinking about ways to pay off IVF. It made me chuckle to myself.
Whew...I feel better now.

Monday, August 23, 2010

If I lived back then I would have been a genius

Monica (my wife) and I were recently discussing how hard it would be to live without air conditioning.  I think it's a sign of our times. We've become soft. Today when it gets hot outside the news talks about people dying. They are mostly old people, but they still die from the heat.  I didn't live in the days of the cowboys, but I've seen enough westerns to know back then they didn't have air conditioning and they wore hot leather chaps. I bet they smelled awful. The point is that years ago people didn't have air conditioning and I don't know how they survived. If I lived in the wild west I would have been forced to walk around naked. I hate being hot.

I think that if I lived back then I would have been a genius.  I'm not saying that I would be any smarter than I am today, but I think the lack of convenience would have forced me to invent stuff. Maybe I wouldn't know any better but I think not having things like air conditioning would force me to invent air conditioning.  Not having a toilet in my house I think would have forced me to invent the toilet. Just think, instead of referring to the toilet as the John or the Crapper (a reference to the inventor Sir John Harrington and the first person to patent the toilet Thomas Crapper) people might know it as the Rob or the Shepherd. On second thought I'm glad I didn't invent the toilet.

The point is that today we are incredibly blessed. We have things that other generations couldn't even dream of. It should make us feel thankful, but it seems like most people find something to complain about. Maybe the next time we start to complain we should think about how life would be without air conditioning. Just a thought.

Friday, August 20, 2010

What the Flock...We're Pregnant

The Jones Institute was supposed to call us between 3 and 5 PM to let us know if we were pregnant. At 12:50 PM the phone rang and we panicked. Monica didn't want to answer the phone because she was so nervous. The Dr. quickly told us that he had good news. So here is what we know...
  • We are currently pregnant.
  • We are currently pregnant with at least one baby. The first question everyone asked us was how many are we pregnant with. We don't know. We will find out in two weeks.
  • Next week Monica goes to get some blood work done to make sure everything is still ok.
  • The following week she will go for an ultrasound and that is when we will find out how many Shepherds we are having. 
  • It is really early on and we are telling people because we want the prayer support. Monica not only had difficulty getting pregnant what she has makes it difficult to sustain a pregnancy.
So now you know what we know. We appreciate the prayers!

Staycation

So me and the wife decided to save some money and have a staycation.  Instead of going on a cruise, our original plan, we stayed home. Thanks to Monica's parents we did get to spend some time at their river house.  It rained while we were there so for most of our staycation we watched movies, read, and just hung out.  By Thursday we were going a little stir crazy and decided to go on a photo shoot. There are a lot of weird interesting things in the 757.  Enjoy some pics of our staycation...

Pictured Above: This HUGE spider is attached to our house. We live in a jungle.

Pictured Above: The scene from the river house.

Pictured Above: My beautiful wife

Pictured Above: The Post Office at the river house. We went there. It's small.

Pictured Above: Downtown Kilmarnock

Pictured Above: Kilmarnock is a booming metropolis and it's located 20 mins from the river house.

Pictured Above: I don't know what this is next to me. There was some weird stuff in this town.

Pictured Above: A store of dolls. It was creepy, but just wait cause it gets creepier.

Pictured Above: The creepy doll store.

Pictured Above: I don't know what's more creepy...the old guy doll or the clown smiling at me in a crib.

Pictured Above: On Thursday we visited the historic Virginia War Museum in Newport News.

Pictured Above: Rob posing like he has a gun and a tank.

Pictured Above: Monica manning her cannon.

Pictured Above: Rob saluting someone. It felt right standing between two tanks.

Pictured Above: A statue of a naked man doing a one handed hand stand on a giant ball. Why make a statue of this? Why not?

Pictured Above: Located on historic Rt. 17 is a giant statue of a bear.

Pictured Above: Rob shaking George Washington's hand in Yorktown Beach.

Pictured Above: Rob having a staring contest with General Cornwallis

Pictured Above: Rob and Monica with a cannon in Yorktown VA.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

The IVF Controversy

If you follow robshep.com, are friends with me on Facebook, or follow my tweets on Twitter, then you know that my wife and I are one day away from finding out if we are pregnant through IVF. We have felt an overwhelming amount of love and support from our friends about this decision.  I have felt incredibly blessed and humbled by all the people who are praying for us.  I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I do know that God has blessed us through this decision. We are blessed through the love of our friends/family, and I believe that God has blessed our marriage through this decision.  No matter what happens we will thank God for His amazing blessings on our life. 

With that being said there has been at least one person who has passionately opposed our decision.  I knew that there was controversy out there, but truthfully I didn't know what all the fuss was about.  What I found online mostly talked about the issues with same sex couples or single moms using IVF. I also found some articles on mix ups with IVF which led to couples having someone elses baby. I'm hoping for an African American baby. Besides that the only thing I could find came from the Catholic Church. 

"The Roman Catholic Church opposes all kinds of in vitro fertilisation because, as with contraception, it separates the procreative purpose of the marriage act from its unitive purpose:" There's got to be more to the controversy than that right? I prayed about our decision and I came to the conclusion that God has given us the resources to help us. To me it's like when I get a headache. When my head hurts I pray that God will take it away and I also take Tylenol. God has given us medicine to use to help us and I don't think it lessens God by using it.  Without the help of doctors Monica can't get pregnant or sustain a pregnancy.  Without God's help we still won't be pregnant.

I get grossed out by the medical words they use, so I apologize for being general...When they mix Monica's junk with my stuff it doesn't automatically mean we are pregnant. They insert two embryos into her with the hope that one will take. It is no guarantee. Without God this is still impossible. I'm still doing some research to try to figure out why there is a controversy. The person who opposed our decision falls in line with the beliefs of the Catholic Church. To me that's the church being ridiculous. It's like churches who ban rock n roll and dancing. It comes from someones personal conviction where they want to force it on everyone else.  I'm not trying to start a fight by this post. It was on my mind so I wrote down my thoughts. If anyone knows a Biblical argument against IVF I'd love to hear it. Just make it respectful.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

People Watch: Part 2

After Student Community Group one night one of my students was talking to me about some of his struggles. He wasn't struggling with smoking pot, going too far physically with girls, or any of the normal things that my guys talk to me about.  His struggle was believing that God is good and yet there is so much evil in the world. He started talking to me about how bad some people were. Evil people. People who have done such evil it makes him struggle with his faith. 
He told me that after talking with me he had some hope. He said even hearing how I talk about my wife gave him hope that there is genuine love in this world and that God can exist.

The Bible says, "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." - 1 John 2:6.

I think one of the reasons that verse is so important is because the way we treat people helps form people's opinions about God.  If you love like Jesus, forgive like Jesus, and show compassion like Jesus people will notice.  If you claim to be a Christian and don't live it with your life people will also notice that.  Just like this student who was doubting God because of the lack of love, when someone truly loves others in the name of God it's life changing.  It only takes one person making a difference to change some one's opinion about God. I wish people didn't form their opinions on God based on humans, but they do.  I just hope that my life gives people a reason to believe in God.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

People Watch: Part 1

I saw a guy at church that I often see at the gym.  I'd never seen him at church, so at the gym on Monday I wanted to see what he thought.  What he told me was both encouraging and discouraging.  He said that he had watched the way that I carry myself at the gym. He noticed how I acted and behaved and knew that something was different about me.  That is all the stuff I liked. He then said that even though I never invited him he wanted to check out my church because of the way I lived.  That's the part I didn't like. I hate that I didn't invite him.

After talking with him I was blown away by his comments. I don't know his last name. Our interaction at the gym is mostly a smile with a good morning attached to it.  It's 6:00 AM so our brains aren't awake enough to have a full blown conversation.  I'm not sure how he even knew I worked at a church. He said that he just woke up one morning and felt like he should visit a church. He didn't know what time it started and didn't know anyone else that went. When he got there he was greeted and started explaining that he knew me. Before he could finish he saw me up on the screens in the lobby. I just happened to be preaching that day.

It's amazing to me that anyone would pay attention to the way I live. It's scary to think that people are watching even when you don't notice. This guy has come back to Waters Edge multiple times now. He likes it. I wish I would have invited him. I'm thankful though that he saw something in my life that made him want to visit a church.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Mind Dump

My brain feels constipated with thoughts. The following is a massive mind dump of all the random stuff going on in my head...
  • My birthday was Saturday. I love celebrating my birthday. It included some great gifts and three (count em) three birthday dinners. That's a lot of birthday food.
  • I felt very loved from all the Facebook comments wishing me a Happy Birthday. I also felt very loved from a blog my wife wrote on my birthday. She's the best!
  • I share a birthday with my pastor, Stu Hodges. I also share a birthday with my brother's mother in law (Vana), my all time favorite basketball player Magic Johnson, Steve Martin, and Tim Tebow.  I always like knowing who else was born on my birthday.
  • My wife, Monica, and me have a good friend named Shima. She's wicked awesome.  She lives in LA and has a connection to Ewan Mcgregor (Obi Wan Kenobi from Star Wars Episode I - III) and sent me an autographed picture. How cool is that? She also sent us a copy of his reality TV show called Long Way Down and Long Way Around. It's pretty fascinating. Ewan and his best friend take a motorcycle journey around the world.
  • The Jersey Shore is back. Are you a fan?
  • Our most recent hire at Waters Edge Church had a family member die.  Death is always sad, but death when it is unexpected and for someone young is even more sad. A lot of times in situations like this I've found the best thing that you can do is just be there and listen. I want to do more, but besides grieving with them and praying there is not a lot you can do.
  • This week I'm on vacation. It's more of a staycation this year. We are going to spend a few days at Monica's parents river house, but besides that we are staying home. With spending so much money on IVF we didn't feel right spending money on a vacation.
  • Speaking of IVF we find out this coming Friday if we are pregnant. No matter what happens we will thank God.
  • I went to the dermatologist last week. I had a very small spot on my forearm that Monica wanted me to get checked out.  Now I've never been the dermatologist so I didn't know what to expect. What I didn't expect was that he would start picking through my hair like he was an ape. He asked if there was anything else he could help me with besides the spot on my arm? Since he looked at my hair I thought I'd through out there the following..."since you asked you don't have an miracles for balding men do you?" He gave me a prescription for Propecia.  He said that it would work for my hair but that some guys have some "side effects like erectile dysfunction, impotence, low libido." I'm not sure keeping my hair is worth the risk.
  • Now when they finally got to the spot on my arm they bent a needle (read that again...I didn't have a fat clue what they were doing with the bent needle), stuck it in my arm, made the spot swell awkwardly big, and then chopped it off with a cigar cutter.  They left a huge crater on my arm. The kicker is that he said they would mail me the results. In this day in age you'd think they could at least shoot me an email.
  • I really like Tyler Stanton's blog. He's very funny. Click here if you'd like to check it out.
Whew...I fell better now.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Happy Birthday to Rob!

Today, I hijacked my husband’s blog to celebrate his 32nd birthday! Last week he listed the 90 reasons he loved me on our 9th anniversary. In an effort to trump him, I am listing 96 things I love about him: three things for every year of his life. This list came quickly, and I could have kept going, but didn’t want to bore you. I’ve also thrown in a few pictures. Happy birthday Rob!

1. Rob has the most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen.

2. He makes me laugh all the time. Sometimes I try to fight it, but he’s the funniest guy I know.

3. I love his laugh. He rarely laughs out loud, but when he does it is worth it.

4. He is passionate about the things he loves. I’m happy to be among them.

5. He is fashion conscious. I like that he loves clothes and irons everything.

6. He plays with my hair. It’s my favorite.

7. He also rubs my back until I fall asleep if I’m having an insomniac night.

8. Among many other chores, he does the dishes all the time. I appreciate his help. We’re a team.

9. Neither of us care about our lawn or our flowerbeds. I love that.

10. Rob makes the best mixed Cds for me. They are thoughtful and romantic!

11. Rob loves my family and never judges them.

12. Rob’s parents are unbelievable. I’m lucky to have married into such a great family.

13. When Rob’s siblings are together, they are hilarious. They have so many funny memories and tell the funniest stories!

14. Rob drove a Neon in college and was proud of it. He’s really loyal.

15. Rob names his cars, and I think it’s funny. The Neon was named June, after Jamey’s mom. His Honda is named Val, for David Reeves’ mom.

16. He has a beautiful voice. I love it when he sings to me.

17. Speaking of singing, he makes up the silliest songs for me all the time and I love them!

18. He loves God more than me.

19. He is a great leader for our family and works hard to make the best decisions for us.

20. He loves Waters Edge, not just because he works there, but because he believes in what it’s about.

21. Rob always puts me first. Sometimes I tell him it’s annoying how much he tries to please me! Who complains about that??

22. Since college, Rob has always opened my car door. He’s a gentleman.

23. He loves my friends that I brought into the relationship. I think some of them like him more than me, and I’m ok with that.

24. Rob makes the best French toast ever! It’s his go to for breakfast in bed for me.

25. I love Rob because he always blows my birthdays and Christmases out of the water. He gives the best gifts & is always creative and thoughtful.

26. He visits my classroom and gets to know my students each year. They love Mr. Rob!

27. He brings me flowers at work for no reason. My boss always asks what he’s done wrong, but we aren’t like that! Rob never needs a reason.

28. Rob loves to travel and go on adventures!

29. He is the best road trip buddy ever! Shima, you are a very close 2nd.

30. He drives everywhere we go. I love it!

31. Rob gives the best kisses. I was his first kiss, which makes me very happy!

32. He holds my hand or puts his hand on my back whenever he can.

33. Rob went to all but one of our IVF appointments. We saw maybe two other husbands throughout our 15 appointments.

34. We are in this together. I couldn’t do life without him.

35. People love Rob.

36. When people at church find out I am Rob Shepherd’s wife, they think it is really cool that I am married to Rob. That makes me proud. One of their first questions is always, “What is it like to be married to Rob?” Haha.

37. When we dated we went to different colleges. One of my favorite things was instant messaging with Rob. The clicking at night drove my roommate crazy, but I loved falling in love with Rob.

38. Rob & I have an ongoing debate about who loves the other more. I loved him first; therefore, I love him more, right? Don’t tell him, but most days he always loves me more.

39. Rob is creative in everything he does, from work to his blog to loving me.

40. Thankfully, Rob is not a homebody. He loves being with our friends and going on adventures.

41. I love that Rob is African American under his white skin. He loves rap and owns at least 7 NBA jerseys.

42. I love watching Rob get to do something for the first time. It’s like watching a kid at Christmas. You should have seen him at our 1st Laker game ever, our 1st Laker game in LA, and our 1st trip to the NBA finals!

43. Rob loves my parents, but still doesn’t know what to call them and it makes me giggle.

44. People trust Rob. I think that is so important.

45. Rob makes better homemade chocolate chip cookies than me.

46. He is more sensitive than me, and I love that.

47. He has the compassion that I lack.

48. He still watches cartoons, and I think it’s cute.

49. Rob is so disciplined. He goes to the gym and has a quiet time every morning.

50. Rob is my hero. Besides Jesus, there is no one I’d rather be like or get to know more.

51. He honors and respects his parents. I think that is important.

52. His brother is his best friend, for which I am extremely grateful! It means I get more Nicole in my life! I love how close he is to his family.

53. Rob took me to a New Kids on the Block concert. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

54. Rob is laid back.

55. Rob hardly ever gets angry, and it’s never been at me. He is so patient.

56. Rob is a great listener.

57. I love Rob’s snoring….for the most part. Even though it wakes me up, it reminds me that I am lucky to be married!

58. Rob is man of integrity.

59. Rob is playful.

60. Every night, Rob prays for us before we fall asleep.

61. We have an unofficial house rule, that when I wake up (I always wake up last), I find him to say good morning and give him a kiss. He gets sad if I’ve been up and hasn’t found him.

62. Every Sunday for 9 years, Rob leaves me a note on the kitchen counter to encourage me or remind me how much he loves me. I save all my favorites in a box.

63. I forget something at home about every other week and Rob always brings it to me at school.

64. When Rob goes out of town, he leaves me a gift for every day he is gone. Sometimes they are hidden with notes and sometimes they are laid out with opening instructions. Who wouldn’t love that??

65. He gets so silly and it is the most fun.

66. For about 6 years, Rob packed my lunch for school every day. Just because.

67. I love that Rob does crazy stuff in his sleep. He goes crazy and does wacky stuff, and he rarely remembers. I appreciate it b/c I do stupid stuff in my sleep too.

68. We have the stupidest house nicknames for each other, but I love it.

69. Rob makes me feel beautiful.

70. He spoils me rotten.

71. He is authentic and kind.

72. Rob is confident. The guy proposed in public and we hadn’t even said I love you yet! Come on!

73. He is my protector. He’s killed two snakes in my honor, and when I wake up screaming that someone is in the house, he bolts out of bed ready to fight….then realizes I’m sleeping.

74. He can be really shy, and I think it’s cute.

75. Rob tells me that he loves me all the time. It never gets old.

76. He makes me feel like I can do anything.

77. Even if we are never able to have kids of our own, I am 100% happy with our family. Sometimes I feel bad asking for more.

78. Rob says he’s scared to have kids, and I believe him, but he’s good at everything he does, so I’m not worried.

79. He is the first and only person I have ever been in love with.

80. Rob is my best friend.

81. He makes me communicate with him my needs and wants, which makes for a very healthy marriage.

82. If he’s flipping channels and passes “America’s Funniest Home Videos” or “Friends” he almost always stops there because he knows they are my all time favorites.

83. He makes me want to be a better person.

84. After we get in bed, he frequently gets right back out of bed to put socks on my cold feet or get me a glass of water.

85. He also lets me warm my freezing cold toes between his calves. His body is always so warm, like a werewolf. Too bad I’m team Edward.

86. Every time he preaches, I am captivated. He’s such a great communicator.

87. My all time favorite is when Rob raps at church. He is so talented! The crowd goes wild.

88. I love how committed he is to his blog. The dates, stories, and pictures are a great way to make the memories of our crazy lives last forever. I love his perspective.

89. Rob isn’t what you call a “handy-man” around the house, but he’s good at everything else he does, so who can complain?

90. I love that once we’ve been up for about two hours on a Saturday, we go back to bed for a nap. Good tradition. Saturdays with Rob are my absolute favorite.

91. I love that he has always worked with middle & high school students. It’s one of the first things that attracted me to him and I love, love, love watching him invest in students, hang out with them, and how excited they get to see him.

92. Several of my friends have told me Rob should teach husband classes. I agree.

93. Rob loves me unconditionally, despite all my flaws.

94. I’m a bit dramatic at times (or most of the time), but Rob just laughs at me and takes care of me.

95. I don’t function or sleep well when Rob is out of town. I’m not convinced I’ll be able to breathe if I were to ever lose him. That sounded a bit more psychotic than I intended, but it’s true.

96. I met Rob in the summer of 1999, and I was in love with him by November 1st. We were great friends for a year, dated four months, engaged for eight months, and married for over nine years. This has been the best eleven years of my life.

Rob & his mom.....love those eyes!

My little super-hero!


Always happy....note the Ewok Village on the couch.


Our first photo together...just friends.


We walked to this playground one night on our very first date. He spun that thing so fast I puked. Twice.



He loves his Chipotle. He often takes a moment of silence before eating the burrito.

This is our first trip to LA for a Lakers game. We got to meet Horace Grant. Rob was so excited!

One of Rob's adult birthday parties. Our friends are the best!


Happy birthday, Rob! I love you!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Birthdays

Tomorrow is my birthday. I love birthdays. Specifically I love my birthday.  I have noticed that many people over the age of 16 don't really get excited about their birthday.  Maybe it's because it reminds them that they are getting older? I don't know the reason but to in my opinion not liking your birthday is like not liking oxygen, Chipotle, or air conditioning.  It just doesn't make sense.  I mean what's not to like?
  • You get cake. Who doesn't like cake?
  • People give you gifts. Who doesn't like gifts?
  • People leave you comments on Facebook. Who doesn't like comments on Facebook?
  • You get free stuff. A lot of places give you a free dessert on your birthday. Before it closed down Hollywood Video gave you a free rental on your birthday. Even if it's a cheap bowl of ice cream from a Mexican restaurant it's still free.  Who doesn't like free stuff?
  • People send you cards. Now I don't really care for cards, but I do like em when they come with money in them.
  • Grandma's give you a gift. My grandma still gives me $10 still to this day. Who doesn't like ten bucks from grandma?
  • You get a birthday meal. Everyone that I know gets to eat what they want and where they want on their birthday. Who doesn't love a good meal?
  • Traditions. Things like blowing out candles, & getting the birthday song sung to you are great traditions. Who doesn't like good traditions?
From my perspective birthdays are AWESOME!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

I know weight loss

I know a lot of information about weight loss. I've been on multiple diets, read the books, and even talked to some experts about it.  If you ever want to talk weight loss philosophies or theories then I'm your guy.  If you would just like some information then I can give it to you. If you need some advice then don't hesitate to come my way because I know weight loss. 

The problem is that I don't put the information that I know into practice.  I know what to do but I'd rather eat Chipotle.  I love Chipotle. I also have a lot of lunch meetings out.  Chick-fil-A used to be my go to lunch place because I liked their grilled chicken sandwich with a fruit cup for a side. Because I have a lot of knowledge I know that the grilled sandwich is a great option when eating out and that the fruit cup is better than fries.  I liked it a lot...until they introduced the Spicy Chicken Sandwich with Pepper Jack Cheese.  I know I should eat the grilled but the spicy is so amazing. For what's it's worth I still get the fruit cup.   

For some reason in America following God looks a lot like me. An overweight person with a lot of information about dieting.  Let me explain.  Too many people gain a lot of information about God, but they never put what they know into practice.  There's nothing wrong with gaining knowledge about God. In fact I'd say it's really important.  Similarly to weight loss if you don't practice what you know then that knowledge doesn't do you any good.  It will make you feel a little more knowledgeable but it won't change your life.  My knowledge of dieting doesn't make me tell people I'm skinny.  The truth is I'm not.  Similarly if a person doesn't put their knowledge about God into practice they should be careful what they call themselves. For more information about this subject read James 2:14-26.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

I got written up

Do you remember your first job? Mine was at a Christian bookstore. I was young and I made a lot of mistakes. I think that because I made some mistakes it eventually led my boss to blame me for something and then write me up.  Over $500 was missing from the cash register and he was convinced it was my fault.  He told me that he was going to write me up and that it was going to go in a permanent file. 

Now he never explained this permanent file where my write up would live forever.  To this day I don't know what they do with my write up in my permanent file. Does someone pull out the file once a year to laugh at my mistake? If I do happen to visit this store do they talk behind my back because they've all read my write up in my permanent file? When I die do they mail that permanent file with the write up in to my loved ones?

I started thinking about this permanent file because one of my Students in my Community Group told me that he might get written up at his part time job.  I think this permanent file is kind of silly.  It reminds me of how we hold on to grudges and mistakes that others have made against us.  Instead of forgiving the person who hurt us we file away their mistake into a permanent file of our mind.  We hold on to it for no other reason but to remind ourselves about their foolish mistake.  I think it's better to forgive and clear up the file space in our head.  After all the person who hurt us goes on with their life. They don't hold onto or often times even remember the mistake they made.  The only person this permanent file really affects is the person who is holding on to it. 

A year after I left that job it came out in the papers that an employee that I was working with was stealing money.  This employee stole thousands of dollars from the store.  This employee was working the day I got blamed and then written up.  I knew I didn't lose the $500. It would have been nice to get an apology that said they ripped up my permanent file with my write up in it. They never did. It's ok though because I forgive them.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

They didn't tell me I got to wear a costume

On Saturday morning the wife and I went to the Jones Institute for our final step in the IVF process.  The final step was implanting two embryos into Monica.  The whole process took about 2 hours and ten minutes. Ten minutes for the procedure, and two hours of waiting.  One of those hours was required after the procedure. The first hour...well we weren't really sure what was going on during that first hour. 

They dropped off two costumes and said that we both had to wear them.  They then told us that I could bring a camera in to take a picture of the two embryos.  While we waited we decided to kill some time with a photo shoot. Nobody told me I got to wear a costume, so I thought I might as well dress up and take some pics. Enjoy.
Pictured Above: Rob in his IVF costume
Pictured Above: I got to wear booties.

Pictured Above: Monica rock'n her costume.
Pictured Above: Rob making his blue steel (from Zoolander) pose.

Pictured Above: More posing for the camera.
Pictured Above: Lord willing this will be the first picture of our kid or kids.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Is It ok to pray to a God that you don't believe in?

There's a catchy song on the radio by The Script called "Breakeven." It's a song about heartbreak and it contains the lyric "I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing. Just praying to a God that I don't believe in." While recently listening to the song I wondered if it was ok to pray to a God that you don't believe in?

I immediately thought about one of my students. I first met him because he emailed me asking if we could meet. Come to find out he'd never been to my church. He was searching on the Internet and it led him to my email on our church's website. I'll never forget our conversation.  He said something along the lines of I don't believe in God, but I feel like God is drawing me to Him.  At the time he was an atheist.  God wasn't logical enough for him. He was looking for answers but didn't want to turn to God because he didn't believe He existed. I didn't know what to say to him, so I told him that the Bible says that if you seek after God He can be found. I said if God is true and He can be found maybe He is trying to get his attention.  I told him that even though this doesn't make sense maybe he should ask God to show him if he's real. If God is not real then at least you tried. I then invited him to my Student Community Group. I answered some final questions for him and that was it. 

The next week he came to my group. He was quiet. Nothing amazing happened but for some reason he came back the following week. I think he was searching for a God that he didn't believe in.  After a couple of weeks at group I invited him to attend a service at Waters Edge. That next week he showed up to church.  That next week God spoke to him. That next week he started believing in God. I'll never forget seeing Him ask God into his life. After seeing that I might would say that it's ok to pray to a God that you don't believe in.  What do you think?

Friday, August 6, 2010

In The Dark

There are some things that I really like about darkness. For example there is a major difference in light from my bathroom to my bedroom.  In the morning, when I look at the mirror in my bedroom, my hair looks regular to normal in thickness.  It's not pitch black dark in the room, but it's dark enough to make me feel like I'm having an Uncle Jesse, from "Full House", type of hair day.  A funny thing happens when I walk into the bathroom which is lit way brighter than the bedroom...my hair goes from normally thick to incredibly receding.  I go from uncle Jesse to Uncle Fester from "The Adams Family."  The lack of light hides what's really going on. 

Darkness is great because it hides the truth that light exposes.  I think it's interesting that the Bible describes Jesus as the light of the world.  He has a way of exposing the things that we hide in the dark.  His light brings truth to us even if we don't like what we see.  Like exposing a incessantly receding hairline Jesus exposes things that we hide in the dark.  Sometimes it's hard to be around Jesus because His light exposes the truth. At the end of the day though I'd rather see the truth then live in the darkness, no matter how it makes my hair look.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Mind Dump

My brain feels constipated with thoughts. The following is a massive mind dump of all the random things going on in my head...
  • I recently watched one of the good Batman movies. While watching it I had this thought...I don't think I'd live in Gotham City.  If it was real it would be the worst place to live in the world. Psychos coming up with plots to destroy the city, gangsters running a muck, and grown men wearing costumes. It's cool in the movies but in real life I'd move to somewhere safer.
  • Yesterday was my 9th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going to the Jones Institute and having an IVF procedure.  We go back on Sat. for them to put everything back in. In two weeks we will find out if we are pregnant.
  • My parents were going to bring us dinner from Outback. The power went out and Outback couldn't cook any food. So we ended up with Wendy's. It's all good though. We are really blessed, and I hope to eat something a little nicer tonight to celebrate. Oh and my mom brought over some homemade spinach dip and it was amazing!
  • I got a summer cold this week. Those just shouldn't exist. It's never a good thing to get sick, but it feels ok in the winter. When it's hot outside I don't want to eat hot soup to make me feel better.
  • The cold hit hard on Monday. So I went to Chipotle. When I'm sick it's better than a bowl of soup and a visit to the Dr. By Tuesday I was feeling much better. Just sayin.
  • I've really felt loved over the past few weeks. So many people have mentioned how they are praying for Monica and I. It's amazing how powerful love is. You can change someone's life, make their day, and change their perspective by showing love. Amazing. 
  • Our recycling now only comes every other week. I'm starting to feel it's not worth it. Our bin doesn't hold two weeks of recyclable materials.
  • Shaq became a Celtic. One word...Boo. I really wish that him and Kobe could squash their drama and forgive one another. As a Lakers fan I'd love to see Shaq finish his career with the Lakers. I want him to retire as a Laker not a Celtic.
  • My sensor lights in the front and back of our house are out. I think there might be a short. I don't have a fat clue how to fix em, but I miss having them come on. If you've read my blog for any amount of time then you know I live in a jungle. Coming home I never know what's creeping at my front door.
  • I like the month of August. My anniversary, birthday, and vacation all take place during this month.
Whew...I feel much better now.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

90 Things I Love About My Wife

Today is my 9th anniversary with the love of my life, Monica Shepherd. I love that girl a lot. Since we've made it to 9 years I thought I'd come up with 90 things that I love about her. That's only ten things per year.
  1. I love how she supports me.
  2. I love that she watches SportsCenter even when I'm out of town.
  3. She thinks I look really good. I'm over weight and going bald, but from her perspective you'd think I look just like Brad Pitt. I was born in Brad's home town. Maybe there is something there?
  4. I love when she laughs...especially at my jokes.
  5. I love that she is not about the drama. I couldn't handle a dramatic girl.
  6. I love how excited she gets to see me.
  7. She is a really hard worker. I love that about her.
  8. I love that she likes to take road trips.
  9. I love that she has an opinion.
  10. I'm a people pleaser and she...well tells people what she thinks. I've become a lot more direct since meeting her and I love that.
  11. I love that she is the one who took my to my first Lakers game.
  12. Speaking of the Lakers, can your wife name the starting players to your favorite team? Mine knows the starters to the Lakers and most of the bench players. I've never coached her on that.
  13. I love how she takes care of me when I'm sick. I've heard this about most men, but I'm a baby when I'm sick. She does a great job of taking care of me.
  14. I love her smile.
  15. I love when she puts her hair up.
  16. She's really patient with me. 
  17. She wakes me up gently. There have been a few occasions where I fell asleep on the couch. When someone wakes me up I've been known to bite their head off. I don't know what happens to me. It's like I'm drunk. I once punched my brother when he tried to wake me up. I often don't remember what I did, but I'll wake up the next day feeling guilty for something.  I'm normally a laid back guy, but something crazy happens when you wake me up from the couch. Monica always gently wakes me up.
  18. I love that when I hurt her she tells me that she forgives me.
  19. I love that she doesn't nag me.
  20. She's my best friend. We can spend hours with each other and not get tired of one another.
  21. I love that she loves Jesus.
  22. I love that she loves working with teenagers. Before she met me she was investing in teenagers. At one point she wanted to work at Young Life for a career. I love that she not only supports me working with teens she loves it.
  23. I love that she's ok that we don't love all the same things. She likes to read a book. I like to watch the movie the book was based on. She likes sparkling vampires, fashion reality TV shows, and the beach. I don't. Even though we don't like some of the same things we still support one another.
  24. I love her Buffalo Chicken Dip. I think we got the recipe from Danielle Peters. I love most people's Buffalo Chicken Dip, but I love Monica's!
  25. I love that she knows fashion. Before her I would pick out my outfits based on what the manikin was wearing at the store in the mall. Now I can run things by her.
  26. I love to play "Words with Friends" with her. Before we go to sleep we have a little ritual. We play Words With Friends (it's an iPod app), we talk, and then we pray together.
  27. Speaking of sleep...I don't sleep well when Monica's not there. If Monica is out of town I normally stay up as late as I can and then fall asleep on the couch. When I wake up I go to bed, but I toss and turn. I love when she's home.
  28. I love her sense of humor. She makes me laugh.
  29. I love that she gently wakes me up when I'm snoring. I snore. Sometimes I snore loud. I've heard stories of other women beating the poo out of their husbands to shut them up. Not her. She gently asks me to roll over. Now it could be because she fears for her life because I do crazy things when someone wakes me up, but none the less I love her for it.
  30. I love that she puts up with my lists. When we go on road trips I often come up with something that we should list. You know like the names of every NBA team, every wedding I've ever officiated, or our top ten favorite songs of all time. Together we were 2 NBA teams short and we came up with that I've done 20 weddings.
  31. I love her face.
  32. I love how faithful a friend she is. She has best friends in every major state.She's a very faithful friend.
  33. I love she's heard me fart, caught me picking my nose, and knows that I have hair on my back and yet she is still not grossed out by me.
  34. I love that she loves to go to concerts.
  35. I love that she loves our families. She has even gone on vacation with my entire family without me.
  36. I love that she scratches my back. Sometimes it itches for no reason and she has great nails.
  37. I love that she has really white teeth. I hope our kids get her teeth.
  38. I love it when we have nothing to do and we just sit around with each other.
  39. I love she loves the TV show The Office. It took her a little while but now she loves it as much as I do.
  40. I love that she takes pictures of every second of our life. Before her I didn't have any pictures from middle school on. After I met her I know have a play by play of my life in pictures.
  41. I love how she respects me. In public and in private.
  42. I love how she lets me dream without making fun of me.
  43. I love that she loves the local church.
  44. I love that she's tall for a girl. I hope to have really tall kids who like basketball.
  45. I love that she's ok with the fact that I stink at home repairs. She doesn't even question my manhood for not owning any tools.
  46. I got a Superman cookie jar for a wedding gift from her best friend Shima. That said cookie jar has been in our kitchen for nine years. It was my favorite wedding gift and I love that she doesn't make me hide when we have company over.
  47. I love that she's good at grammar. I stink at it. She often proofs something that I've written for the blog. She'll even send me a text if I messed something up so I can fix it.
  48. She's very sensitive to the fact that I'm sensitive.
  49. She wears Lakers jerseys during the playoffs and to games. She even says that she wants one of her own.
  50. I love that I can be myself with her.
  51. I love that she loves my blog and even leaves comments.
  52. She loves to dance. I don't. I love that she puts up with my simple dance moves when we do dance.
  53. I love that she carries a purse. I can't find anything in there to save my life, but I love that she has it. She stores all sorts of things like tissues, food, and stuff for me to play with when I get bored at Dr.'s offices.
  54. She gets excited when I come home from work. It feels great to have someone who likes seeing you when you get home.
  55. I love her brown eyes.
  56. Almost all of my favorite memories include her. Wedding, being in LA at the game where the Lakers won their conference, seeing U2 in concert, and living in TX for two years.
  57. I love that she loves to be married.
  58. I love that she fights fair. When we do get in an argument she doesn't bring up the past, call names, or put me down. We stick to the subject and fix it.
  59. I love staying up late with her. She's a night owl and I'm not. It doesn't happen much but I love it when I can stay up late.
  60. I don't love that she is almost impossible to surprise. I do love that she loves to surprised me.
  61. I love that even before we were dating she owned a Superman t-shirt.
  62. I love that her favorite movie is Dumb and Dumber and not Dirty Dancing.
  63. She doesn't make me read her mind. Too many girls expect their husbands to read their minds and know how they are feeling. Since I can't read her mind I love that she communicates with me.
  64. She's my best friend.
  65. I love that she doesn't like fancy food. We both have pretty simple tastes when it comes to food.
  66. I love making her mix CD's and I love that she loves my mixes.
  67. She is confident in who she is.
  68. I love that it was her idea for me to spend some of my money from doing weddings on a Playstation 3.
  69. I love seeing her greet at church on Sundays. She is a really good greeter.
  70. She loves Yankee Candles and I love that our house smells nice.
  71. I love that she has integrity.
  72. I love that I don't have to worry about her. She makes wise choices. I know some guys who worry about their wives when they go out. She gives me no reason to worry.
  73. I love that she is good with details. I stink with details. I normally just handle things moment by moment. She'll think through things like bringing an umbrella to Student Camp just in case it rains.
  74. She gets really tan. I love that.
  75. I love that she likes my friends and doesn't give me a hard time for hanging out with them.
  76. She gets me and doesn't try to change who I am.
  77. I love how good she is at her job. She's an amazing teacher.
  78. I also love that she wants me to meet her kids each school year. Each year I get to come meet her kids. She even asks me to come in a read my all time favorite children's book "Walter the Farting Dog."
  79. I love that she's not crazy.
  80. She is flexible. Let me clarify...when it comes to things like plans or decisions she is flexible. I tend to waffle on things and I love that a change of plans doesn't throw her off.
  81. I love that her ring tone on her phone for me is Big Poppa by the Notorious B.I.G. 
  82. I love that she helps guard my eyes and understands how images can get stuck in a guys mind. 
  83. Before Monica I didn't wear sunglasses. She kept encouraging me to get some. Now I keep them in my car and I hate driving when it's sunny out without them. 
  84. I love that she makes me want to be a better person. 
  85. I love when she is silly. 
  86. I love when she sings. We have fun singing loud together. 
  87. She is the best wife ever! 
  88. I love that she is going to be a great mom. I'm scared to be a dad, but I have confidence that she'll help me not jack it up completely.  
  89. I love that she doesn't love pets. 
  90. She brags on me. 
Monica it's been an amazing 9 years. Thanks for being you. I love you with all my heart.