Latest News... Apart From the Fire

Apart from the local brush fire, the past week has been pretty busy.

I spent most of last week in Denver, Colorado (A first for me). It is a beautiful area and a reminder of why we moved West (Well, one of many reasons). One evening, I went downtown to the 16th Street Mall. As much as I can estimate, I think I walked about 3.5 miles. I ate at Hard Rock Cafe also.

On Friday, when I got home, the family went downtown to watch the Arizona Rattlers whip the New York Dragons in Arena Football. I have never been to an AFL game before. The game was fast paced and a lot of fun. We will be going to more AFL games in the future!

Finally, we got up early Sunday morning to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior! Pastor shared a very memorable sermon on the resurrection and living in light of it. The resurrection is the crux of our faith. I praise God that my Savior is not dead! My Savior is alive and provides me a with a confident expectation of what is to come!

Avondale Brush Fire

This past weekend was a little exciting around the West Valley! On Saturday, a small brush fire broke out near the Phoenix International Raceway just South of our home in Avondale. By early evening, it looked like the fire was out. Sunday afternoon, it was roaring again (It was much bigger on Sunday). We took our niece and nephew down to the river to play around Sunday afternoon. While we were looking for a good place to pull off, we noticed that we were pretty close to the fire. We decided to drive around and snap a few pictures while looking for a place to park. Since there was not much wind, the smoke rose straight up. We also saw airplanes and a helicopter dropping water on the fire.

I have posted a link to the pictures and a news report.


Pictures on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/inaainae/sets/72157604228017062/
News Report: http://www.kpho.com/news/15684845/detail.html

Inbox = Zero

For some time now, I have been trying to implement the "Getting Things Done" strategy from David Allen. It has been hit and miss for the most part. Lately though, I have been making major improvements to my system and feel that I am getting a better handle on the "stuff" that I need to get done (Home... Work... Church...). At the beginning of the year, I typed up a one page document that I now have posted above my monitor. It is my daily reminder to spend time with God, exercise and get things done. I believe these are the main three areas that I want to grow in this year (They also have major implications beyond their surface value).

Today is a milestone in my GTD development. I have successfully emptied my work email inbox. With the use of reminders, folders and a project tracking log, I have been able to get everything out of the inbox and know that it will get done because I trust my system. For a long time, I have been able to keep the inbox under 25 items, but my new goal is 0.

Personal productivity is a huge topic on the web these days. Being able to balance life and work is increasingly difficult for many people (including me). Being able to gain control and set priorities is crucial to the balancing act. Being productive and not missing goals does not come naturally, it takes work, focus and energy.

In the end, I pray that my efforts are not for personal gain. I desire to grow and be successful in what I do. I believe that the reason and motivation make the difference though. I do not strive to build an empire for myself. I want to glorify God in all things.- This is my motivation!

Dare 2 Share

This past weekend was a blast! I attended the Phoenix Dare 2 Share Conference with about 50 teens from our church. Friday night, we met at the church around 4pm. From the church, we headed downtown for the conference. We got back to the church after 11pm and stayed up past 1am. Around 7:30am, on Saturday, we headed back for the rest of the conference. Saturday was also a very late evening. Needless to say, many of us were dead on our feet.

The conference was jam-packed with great music, wonderful speakers, moving drama's and more. On Saturday afternoon, we went out into Phoenix to gather canned goods for the Phoenix Rescue Mission. With almost 4,000 teens at the conference, we gathered over 14 ton of cans! For the mathematically challenged, we gathered over 28,000 pounds of canned food!

The best part about the weekend is that lives were changed. Some of the teens at our church received Christ as their personal Savior this weekend- Awesome! It was a great time to bond with many of the teens that we now work with.

I am already looking forward to next years conference!