Timberwolves invade Fargo!!

I was so excited to learn the Wolves would open preseason up in my neck of the woods. As soon as the day came for tickets to go on sale I had to see what the cost was for the best seats available. Well I splurged and got the court-side seats and man was it worth it!!  Everything was so amazing up close, from talking to the players during warmups, to joking with AK47 over a bad call, it is something I will never forget!!

Dad and I courtside!

KLove warming up.

Wolves Team Defense

The game was great although the Pacers sat 3 of their starters, but I didn't care the Wolves were back and I was there!!  The Wolves were in control throughout and should have beat them by a larger margin but missing free-throws and open 3's  kept their point total down. A few thoughts on the guys and what I saw:

JJ Barea - same as last year, although a bit more under control, picked his spots to take it to the hoop. Didn't over dribble and force his shot.

Brandon Roy - Looked good, really got cooking in the 3rd quarter, but when he checked out I think he went back to the locker room. I didn't see anything stating he needed treatment, but maybe it had to do with banging knees with somebody or just routine end of game icing. I did not see any kind of limp or anything to make me worry other than he returned to the bench in the 4th quarter with Greg Farnham,

AK47 - Looks to be the jack of all trades that this team needs.  AK didn't shoot much and looked hesitant to take a shot from the outside.  He did however play good help defense and passed the ball very well.  One pass was to a cutting KLove for the layup and another almost pass where he tipped it backwards over his head to an open Pek. Unfortunately Pek was not ready for the pass, I don't think anybody was actually, ha!

KLove and Big Pek - KLove looked fine to me, did his normal thing and so did Pek.  I didn't get the sense Love was out of shape, just not as intense since it was only the first preseason game.  Pek was, well Pek.  He was doing everything we saw from him last season, but yes he does look more buff! I noted to my dad how big Hibbert was, but Hibbert's arms were way smaller than Big Pek. Pek will do some damage again this year!

DWill - Looked very aggressive in the first half and even knocked down a three. I guess Coach was not too thrilled about it, but to me it seemed they came within the flow of the game, not just floating outside by the 3 point line. His dunk on the alley oop from Shved was nuts, it is even more impressive to see it again on the replays.

Chase Budingggggger - Dude looked like the type of player we needed last year, under control, athletic and can actually knock down an open 3!! Chase didn't get any opportunities to throw one down, but I think he will be great in this offense, especially playing with Ricky.

Shved - Crossover Panda didn't hit any of his shot attempts, but he looked very smooth and was just a bit off last night. He showed his passing and court vision last night and I think will come along slowly at first then fit right into the NBA game.  Overall I was impressed by him tonight. I will admit he is very thin,  I think his arm sleeve was baggy on him, ha!

Greg Steimsma -  my new personal favorite, he had a nice block in the first half and was out there playing tough D and rebounding.  Best part about Steimer was that he was nice enough to respond to me a couple times during pre-game warmups and halftime warmups.  Steimer prefers Sioux Falls over Fargo in case anybody was wondering! Funniest was when 3 boys at halftime were trying to get autographs and they kept yelling for Kevin.  Steimer was the only player to really respond to them, to which the boys would say, can you get Kevin to come over here? So after the game I told Steimer he is still my favorite, but can you get Kevin to come over here? Ha!

The rest - Saw Will Conroy handle the backup PG duties well, would have liked to have seem him be a bit more aggressive taking it to the hoop, but oh well.  Louis Amundson and Dante Cunningham played limited minutes in the 4th quarter, two hustle guys that help provide additional depth for the long season.  Mike Harris got a cameo and couldn't make much out of his 3-4 minutes.

Overall I thought the Wolves looked good for the first game of the year, and when the remaining players come back healthy I do think they will be in the playoffs and could make some noise. However, the NBA season is a long one and injuries can derail a season, just look back to last season. It was a great night, a great game, and of course a great man I got to share it with, thanks Dad!!!

Dag-um 'Noles

So ever since I was a kid I have always enjoyed cheering on the Florida State Seminoles. Not sure why. Maybe it was the players, maybe it was because they were good then or maybe it was the Dag-um football coach Bobby Bowden. Whatever the case is I usually find myself watching them and inevitably stubbing their toe during the season and missing out on any chance of a National Championship.  Last night was no exception.
On the road at North Carolina State in a hostile environment it happened again!! A few reasons why. When you play on the road and you are in control of the came in the first half you need to score touchdowns, not field goals!! If you are moving the ball down the field by spreading the opponent out, don't help them by going to a tight formation and trying to stuff it up the middle. This happened all night on 3rd and short! Next, after the Wolfpack got all of the games momentum after a 3rd quarter touchdown drive make sure you get some points on your next trip into the redzone! You cannot call time out in field goal range, come out and then take a sack on the next play taking you out of field goal range!!  Lastly, make a play on defense! The entire fourth quarter NCSU's QB was picking the Seminole defense apart by being patient and taking the underneath routes that they were giving him. If the linebacker is going to play too deep to stop the passes over the middle, maybe they should blitz him to bring more pressure on the QB who had all day to throw.
During the end of the 4th it looked like Florida State may escape when NCSU failed to convert on a 4th and 10.  The QB checked down to an underneath route, the replay clearly showed he had a guy deep for a touchdown on a seam route when the safety failed to cover the deep route. Florida State was saved, they could run out the clock and win the game!! Um, no! Three runs for a total of -2 yards and it was time to punt the ball back to NCSU. Only thing is, the punt was blocked!  NCSU had plenty of time to get into scoring range. Florida State did have them at 4th and 10 on their own 15 yard line, however, the tight end got position on the defender and made a difficult catch at the 3 yard line.  From there it was a few near turnovers and another 4th down. However NCSU got the right play called that left a guy wide open for the touchdown.
No miracle finish for the Seminoles this time and their National Championship hopes may have gone with it. So no matter how times change with new players and coaches the more they seem to stay the same. I mean this was the 4th time in a row Florida State has lost to NCSU when ranked. Oy!
How much longer until my Minnesota Timberwolves start their season!?!? Ha!

A loss for words

On Wednesday night we were told that Sandy's sister Barbara lost her fight with cancer. She was only 55 and had just learned she had cancer a mere 3 weeks ago.  The doctors said she had probably a year with treatment, unfortunately treatment wasn't successful. We had hoped for a miracle, we prayed for more time, but the timing is not ours, it's God's.  Maybe sometimes we only consider it a miracle if someone is saved from their sickness or injury in a blink of an eye, but what if we are looking at it backwards.  The miracle of Barbara was the time we spent together, it was her two sons, it was finding her soul-mate Daniel and spending almost 32 years together in marriage.  Or maybe the miracle is simply realizing what we had there the whole time.  I didn't spend a lot of time with my sister-in-law but I treasure their visit to see us in October and seeing them on our trip to Georgia this March.  She was always smiling and happy and treated me like family the entire time Sandy and I have been together.  She touched so many lives and will be dearly missed.  It seems so unreal that in just over 6 months we have lost my Grandmother, Sandy's Mom and now Sandy's Sister.  All three ladies do have something in common, their loving smiles, warm embraces, and simple unconditional love that each shared with friends and family, I will miss you all.

My wife shared her thoughts on the passing of her mother and sister her, please read and remember to tell those you love how much you love them WHENEVER you can.  Heaven Has 2 new Angels

My nephew made a vide to celebrate his mother, it is beautiful and I know she is so proud of him and his brother.  Barbara Moreno Slideshow

Rest In Peace Vesta Mae, Iona Frances and Barbara Ann.

Return of the Powerbrush!! #OralBSponsored

So I have been using the Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000 with SmartGuide for a few weeks now, and let me tell you it is awesome!  I am brushing my teeth longer,  the power toothbrush give me a better deeper cleaning than a regular toothbrush by a mile!  Before getting the power toothbrush I thought I was brushing long enough and with the proper force, boy was I way off. This  power toothbrush tells me when to go from one section to another and it also tells me if I am brushing to hard.

I love the fact that it is a rechargeable, power toothbrush with different heads you can use for different cleaning purposes. You can even get different brush heads that are used for different purposes, can your toothbrush do that? It has heads for whitening your teeth, flossing your teeth, and even for sensitive teeth.  It provides 40,000 pulsations and 8,800 oscillations per minute which helps remove up to two times more plaque than a regular toothbrush! You can also choose one of four cleaning modes and the wireless timer keeps track of the rest, all from the touch of a button on your power toothbrush!

My teeth feel so much cleaner and healthy after using this power toothbrush that I may never go back to a regular toothbrush again!! Thank you Oral-B!!  I am so glad I was picked to try this power toothbrush out! I did a video, exciting I know, showing how easy it is to use, well my video skills aren't the best but you'll get the idea!

 
Right now on their website Oral-B is offering a $10 mail-in rebate on select power toothbrushes April 29 through June 16, 2012! Please visit OralB.com for more information.

This is all for now, so check out Oral-B at their website Oralb.com, on twitter at twitter.com/oralb, or on facebook at facebook.com/oralb for more information and updates.



I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting (www.dadcentralconsulting.com) on behalf of Oral-B and received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

A boy and his electric toothbrush #OralBSponsored

So there I was reading an e-mail and an offer can in that, as they say, I couldn't refuse. It was an offer to test out one of the new Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000 with SmartGuide.  I was like you want me to try out a new power toothbrush, for free!?!? Are you serious, cuz I am in!
I have always felt I have good brushing habits and switch out my standard soft bristled toothbrush on a regular basis, but do I really brush enough or long enough? I mean I brush at least twice a day, and I almost always have some sugar free gum on me, but is it enough? We have tried teaching our girls about good oral health, how brushing and flossing help prevent cavities and bad breath.  But sometimes getting them (or me) to brush for the required amount of time is tough.
Enter Oral-B's new ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000 with SmartGuide, and I mean Smart but I will get to that in a minute.  It is a rechargeable, power toothbrush with different heads you can use for different cleaning purposes. Such as a head for whitening your teeth, flossing your teeth, and even for sensitive teeth.  It provides 40,000 pulsations and 8,800 oscillations per minute which helps remove up to two times more plaque than a regular toothbrush!
Now speaking of how smart this power toothbrush is, it literally does all the thinking for you!  It has a professional wireless timer with a quadrant prompt.  Every 30 seconds it signals you to move to a different area of your mouth and keeps track of how many areas you have completed.  It also indicates if you are brushing to hard on your teeth as you go from area to area.  You can also choose one of four cleaning modes and the wireless timer keeps track of the rest, all from the touch of a button on your power toothbrush!
So how might the SmartSeries 5000 improve your oral care habits? Easy, it takes your brushing experience to a whole other level by making sure you brush for a minimum of two minutes.  And with the amount of pulsations and oscillations its cleaning well over twice as much as doing it by hand! Presto, better teeth!
Right now on their website Oral-B is offering a $10 mail-in rebate on select power toothbrushes April 29 through June 16, 2012! Please visit OralB.com for more information.
I am so glad I was picked to try this power toothbrush out! I will do a follow up post after I use it some more and will even show you how easy it is to use in a video, exciting I know! Well this is all for now, so check out Oral-B at their website Oralb.com, on twitter at twitter.com/oralb, or on facebook at facebook.com/oralb for more information and updates.



I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting (www.dadcentralconsulting.com) on behalf of Oral-B and received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Gators at The Crab Shack

Low country boil at The Crab Shack

Plane ride!

Sadness

Our family was heart broken to find out my wife's mother Frances passed away recently.  There are no words I can use to describe the hole in our hearts. Sandy posted about it on her blog prior to our trip.  Sandy's Blog

My wife and I made the trip there for the funeral service and I was blessed enough to be able share a few thoughts on behalf of Sandy and her sister's Fran and Barbara.  I was honored to speak for them but wish I could have done something, anything to heal their hearts.  We know Momma is in a better place but the sense of loss is overwhelming.  Momma was loved by many and was always concerned with others rather than herself even when her health deteriorated.

I will simply end this by writing what Barb had me read at the funeral:

Dear Mama,

 I know that you met the Lord on Friday, but today is your official day to celebrate you homecoming.  What a mighty God we serve! He is good all the time!  I thank you and Daddy for raising us to trust God and to trust him on all things.  I just want to say I love you!  You've been such an inspiration to me and all my family and friends.  If any of you don't know him, God as your Savior, all you have to do is call on God and he will come into your heart and make everything new.

Love you all,

Barbara

Follow up - the drive home

Just to finish up the trip to Georgia, we drove all the way home in basically one day! We left that Saturday morning at about 7am. We made good time and the girls we more comfortable since we bought some extra pillows for the ride back. I wanted to make it to Kansas City by that night so Jacey would be able to get home at a decent time so she would be ready for school that Monday. She had missed a week so needed to get back asap. Well we were slowed by traffic in Chattanooga and Nashville but we kept on going. We were lead off the main roads in Illinois by the gps, only to get back on another interstate and head north to St. Loius. Sandy took a turn driving next, I had done over 12 hours I think, and I took a nap and so did the girls. Sandy made it about 100 miles from Kansas City and she was tired. I woke up, felt ready to go and got back in the drivers seat while everybody else slept. I felt really good and wide awake, so I drove and I drove and I drove. It was really too late for a hotel room. I mean spend $75 plus dollars for 6-8 hours of sleep? I kept on going, the girls kept sleeping. I finally made it out of Missouri! Into Iowa I went, had to stop and get gas and was a little tired. When I got to Sioux City I was anxioux to get to the border into South Dakota, but was starting to get the yawns and it got foggy, I mean really foggy. I made it into South Dakota and was not only fighting the fog but the metal fog of sleepiness as well. It was tought but I was so glad to make it to Sioux Falls, I couldn't go any farther, I told Sandy I needed to stop or she had to drive. Well she drove and I remember getting back on the interstate and that was it. 2 hours later Sandy was still making her way through the fog to North Dakota. Sandy needed a break so we swithced on last time at the North Dakota border. I finished the last hour and a half and got us home that Sunday morning! We made it, about 27 hours of driving, bathroom breaks, gas stops and sleping in our seats. It was a very long drive, but so worth the memories we can keep forever.

Thursday and Friday

Well I didn't get a chance to blog this morning about yesterday so here is yesterday and today. Yesterday we went to Tybee Island again and let our girls and our great-nieces play in the water. They loved it! So did Sandy and I, except for Boo's sprint down the beach away from us. I guess she got turned around and didn't hear our calls. So off I went chasing after her, talk about an instance of parental fear!
After coming back to the hotel we had a late lunch of Krystal burgers and chili cheese fries. Later we had another local favorite, waffles at Waffle House. I was stuffed! When our family finally said our good byes we stopped for a few mega-millions tickets. Never know right!?
Today was a bit low key, we just did some souvenir shopping, played at a park with the nieces and spent time with the family. We did manage a nice lunch today at Seasons of Japan, a place Sandy and I had ate at almost 9 years ago.
Good byes are always hard, especially when we don't know when we will say hello again. I do know that this is a great family that loves each other very much. I will miss them and can't wait to see them again real soon. As my family down here always say each time we leave, for a day or 9 years, "bye, love y'all". And I do love y'all very much!

Wednesday

Will yesterday was a bit more low key. We had to finally get some Chick-fil-a while we were down here, and man was it good! After that we spent the afternoon with family and then tried to find some t-shirts for me and clothes for Sandy. We had supper at the hotel and then the girls and I shot some baskets over on the sport court. After another beautiful day down here it was finally time for bed.  Today is beach day, so we need to get ready to go and meet up with the family. A day of sun and fun!

Tybee Island #1

Funny faces on River Street

On River Street

Tybee Island #2

Georgia Trip - Tuesday

Well yesterday I think we all finally caught up on our sleep, except for Sandy who was wide awake at like 6:30 AM, which equals 5:30 AM back home!! As she said I guess she has adjusted to Georgia time faster than the rest of us! We took this day to finally feel normal and no longer "Honda-lagged" after all those hours in the truck. So Sandy took us to Skidaway Island and Tybee Island.  We went down to the beach and the girls got their first look at the Atlantic Ocean.  I would say they got their first look at an ocean, but Jacey did see the Pacific Ocean as a baby in California.  Regardless the girls loved it! Jacey collected seashells and rolled up her pants to walk in the water, which was warmer than we expected. Jadyn loved walking around and digging in the sand.
After grabbing something to eat at the Sugar Shack, we came back to the hotel to get cleaned up. We didn't realize it but yesterday was Momma and Daddy's Anniversary, either their 53rd or 54th, not sure which since I heard both, ha!  All four of George and Frances were there and also seven Grandkids and 5 Great-grandkids.  It was a great time for the family to be together.
So after the meal we took the girls back to the hotel to get them to bed, however that took a little while due to the effects of way too many cookies for dessert! Ha!
Sandy will be going with her sister to some of her mom's doctor appointments, and maybe Sandy will be able to get more information on what the outlook is for her mom.  Not sure where we will go or what we will do today but I will update this tomorrow and try and add some pictures as well. As always, more later!

Fountain

Fountain at Forsyth park

Statue at Forsyth Park

Monday

Today we got to see Sandy's Momma, Daddy, both sisters, brother, brother-in-law, and many nieces and nephews (including some nieces and nephews kids!)
We visited Forsyth Park, Savannah Candy Kitchen, River Street Sweets, and ended with a trip to the Waffle House. Before you laugh Waffle House and Huddle House are everywhere down here and my niece works at one.
We ended the day by picking up a few groceries and crashing in bed. It is now 10 am and the girls are still sleeping, I guess they have got Honda Pilot lag! I know I do. Well this is all for now, more later!

Day Two

Well that was a long day! Although technically shorter than the first day, but knowing we only had another 12 hours of driving just didn't make it any easier.
We stayed the night in Illinois and left before 9 am. Traveled through Illinois, part of Kentucky, through Tennessee (including Nashville) and finally into Georgia! We really only made gas and bathroom stops to get gas and snacks. And thinking about it today we never got a meal any place. At about 9:30 our time we got to our hotel. After some more snacks, all of us went to bed. We now have all week to visit family, especially Sandy's parents. I will try and post some pictures here and maybe on facebook.
Ok I need breakfast, just wanted to update y'all we made it ok!

Sudden Trip

At work yesterday I got a call from my wife with the news that her mother's health is declining recently. With that news came decision time on deciding if we should pull the girls out of school and make a trip to Georgia. Well after talking with family we decided we should, and off we went. Today is the first day of the trip and honestly right now I don't know when it will be over. We want to make it there as soon as we can, but it is a lot of driving. So far we have made it through North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa.  Missouri will take some time to go through but it is a big chunk of the drive. I will update more as the week goes along. Hopefully this will get me into the habit of posting more on here. We shall see, ha!