Today is the 12,419th day of your life.

That's what the widget I have on the right side of my blog says, so it's gotta be true, right? Wow, that's a lot of days. 34 sounds so much smaller than twelve thousand, four hundred and nineteen days. But yup, today I turn 34 years old. And I'm up at 3am and frustrated from back pain due to my horribly, worthless, piece of garbage, wish I could send it to the dump, demon-possessed, waste of space bed. I hate my bed. Hate is an understatement. Let's move on though, as I don't want this post to be a big ol' rant about me and my burning hatred for my bed that doesn't give me rest.

Back to me turning another year older. Thank you God for allowing me to reach another milestone. 34 years old. Wow. Doesn't seem old to me, but that's a lot of years to be blessed with, and to be relatively healthy, I feel very fortunate and blessed. I saw a scene in some old movie where this guy got up every morning, looked in the mirror, and thanked God for being able to see another day, and thanked God for being able to see the beautiful day that was ahead of him. No matter what happened, he was glad to be able to spend one more day here on this earth. Most days, because of the revelation I had during that scene in that movie, I try to do the same thing. No matter the weather, or what is in store for me that day, I try to start out by thanking God for letting me see another day, and I thank him for the beautiful day. I think most of us take it for granted, which is possibly why this life flies by, because we don't thank the Creator, and try to soak each day in.

Belinda caught me staring at one of the kids one day, and she asked why I was so intent in my gaze, and I told her that I just wanted to soak in the moment, because they fly by so fast and I was sad. She said you can't think like that, because the kids will be grown up and out of the house before you know it. It's too hard not to though...well for those of us who love our families any way. I'm all excited for Evan to get out of diapers and everything, so we can move to the next stage in our parenting, but that's it. And so far, that is the ONLY regret I have of turning another year...one year less that I have with my children being young and needing my help. The ONLY regret.

Turning another year older isn't a bad thing to me. It's one more year of my life that I get to wake up to the greatest gift I've ever been given, in my wife Belinda. Getting to see my four gorgeous children, and having their smiles light up my soul for another 365 days. Waking up in a town far from home, which we have adopted as our second home, and knowing that God brought us here...and that I work at the best Christian radio station in the country is still something that's hard for me to fathom, and hard for me to not step back and shake my head in awe that God would have chosen "me" to work here. It's another year, and I pray it'll be no less amazing than all my previous.

What lies in store for me this year? I don't know. Belinda and I plan to run the Susan G Komen 5k in October, in memory of her cousin Kim (who's presence is still SORELY missed and the wound still fresh in our hearts). I say and would like to think that I could push myself and run the half-marathon in next year's Houston Marathon, but my running routine has been lacking lately. I want to get a Sealy Posturepedic bed, or something like it, so that I can "try" to catch up on some sleep. I'd like to get a new MacBook Pro so I can learn the Apple operating system and see what Apple users see, and possibly make an app or two for the iPhone. I'd like to also create an app for KSBJ for the Android operating system. I'd like to learn Spanish and Mandarin, but probably have to stick with Spanish for now, since it's what I'm around and what I should probably focus on. I'd like to get back on the eating right/working out train, using the P90x program B got me for my birthday, and get into the best shape of my life. I'd like to coach my children in sports again, but don't know if the time is there for me to be able to. I'd like to play in a softball league with Belinda. I'd like to go on another mini vacation with Belinda, but for a couple of days or more, because the one night in San Antonio was fun, but a joke as well, since we only had one night. I'd like to get to the final chapter of the Financial Peace University class and finish changing our lives in dealing with our finances. I'd like to learn PHP more, and build some websites. All of this sounds like a blast to me, but as usual I'll continue to build on the one thing that truly matters...spending time with my family and friends.

Thank you all for the well wishes on my birthday. Thank you God, for letting me see another beautiful day, and for letting me celebrate the day you breathed air in my lungs 34 years ago. It's been an amazing ride so far...I can't wait to see what you have in store for me!