This year the Burbank/SanDiego-Semsen family did something really different for Thanksgiving: we stayed home.

Many apologies to the many family and friends we could be hanging out with today, but with the amount of driving we do on a regular basis, and the extended travel we’ve done lately, combined with the fact that we’ll be driving back to and fro San Diego many a time this Christmas season for shows and Christmas Eve services and the like…we decided that this family needed a day of rest and peace in our little Burbank home. 

And it has been AWESOME. 

The kids have been puttering around, playing with each other ever so sweetly.  Christy made her first Thanksgiving turkey (along with all the side dishes, many of them Gluten-Free-Casein-Free)…and I’ve probably had more quality time with my boys so far in this one day than I had in the past WEEK.  It’s been great.

There are times in life when the best thing in the world is to spend a day with your friends and family, and there are certain times when you just need to take a day off with your loved ones.   And if any one of the 9 people that read this know me well, you know that I’m an extrovert and LOVE to be with people–and every other Thanksgiving and Christmas, don’t worry, we’ll hang.  Just not this year. 

PS–I got a little choked up today during our Thanksgiving meal prayer.   We REALLY DO have SO MUCH to be thankful for…and I hope I don’t too soon forget that.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

James 1:17 (NASB)
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Quite possibly my favorite blog post from anyone, anywhere, TO DATE.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!

SO BUSTED!

What’s all the fuss about?

Two things I’m nerding out on this week:

That new show V

Tuesday nights on ABC…it’s killing Flash Forward (which I’ve stopped watching due to BORINGNESS)

And the best new Wii game out there

If you want to test the ability for your family to be kind and loving towards each other in the midst of heated situations, then you should play this game. 
All 4 players are on the screen at once, and can knock each other around (and off into pits and chasms), can carry each other, or just plain accidentally kill the other person.
It’s MADNESS.
But also a lot of fun. 

I bet if I put Twilight New Moon tags on this post I’ll get a lot of hits, what do you think?

I. Love. Lists. (and jackets).

So here’s another list:

1) Last Friday Christy and I celebrated TEN YEARS of marriage.  Ten whole years! Can you believe it!?!  I can’t…time has flown by so quickly…I celebrated my 30th b-day and 10 year anniversary in the matter of the same 6 days.  Wow. So after ten years, I do have something to say to the 11.5 people that read this thing: 

INVEST IN YOUR MARRIAGE.

Having a good marriage is not a cake walk.  Maintaining a good marriage is like maintaining a car.  What happens if you never maintain your vehicle? It eventually breaks down, costs a lot to fix, and/or breaks beyond repair. A good marriage will not last if it’s ignored.  You need to work on it.  You need to put in the right kind of fuel.  You need to get new tires and brakes every once and a while…and other miscellaneous car terminology goes here.  Carberator.  Spark Plugs.  Clutch.  Ummm…

Like anything that is good in life, it takes hard work and ongoing commitment.  Don’t expect that you can use cruise control in your relationship with your spouse.  It doesn’t work, GUARANTEED.

So this past week my parents were generous enough to come down and spend five days with our boys so Christy and I could get out of town and be together.  We went to Vegas and stayed for four nights in a few different hotels (Venetian, Bellagio, and Trump International to be exact) and got to eat out at tasty restaurants and see the Cirque Du Soleil LOVE show featuring music from The Beatles.  We saved up money for several months for the trip, and we knew it was going to be expensive, but it was WORTH it.  It was a solid investment into our relationship as friends and spouses.  And although we could never afford to do something like that every year,  it was a blast!  Take the time and money to INVEST in your marriage–and not just once every ten years–do it often!  It’s totally worth it.

2) Christmas came early this year for Nathaniel & Noah:
Since my parents were here the whole week, they decided to give the kids their Christmas present early and get an 11′ trampoline for our backyard.  The kids LOVE it…
But that’s not all…they also laid sod in the backyard, along with 1/2 ton of pea gravel and a clubhouse made out of a refrigerator box for the boys.  N & N must have been in heaven all week…Our backyard was previously a pile of dirt with a strange brick patio in the middle of it, and now it’s a magical place of jumpiness.  Noah keeps asking for just a feeeeeeeeeewwwwwww more minutes???!?

3) Ah shoot.  I ran out of things on my list. 

This week my wife and I celebrate 10 years of being married.  Yahoo!

Looking back, it sure seems like time has flown by…it certainly doesn’t feel like I’ve been married for ten years…

BUT then I start thinking back to the late 90s and I realize that it WAS a long time ago that I was in college and playing piano for the Covina High School choirs, or that I was teaching my first year at Mother Lode Christian School…those things feel like EONS ago.  So I guess it has been a long time!

Well, I really have to say congrats to my wife for putting up with me for this long.  I am NOT the easiest guy to live with; she has endured my stubbornness and crankiness. 

She deserves a medal or something.

Bottom line people–marriage is hard work, but there’s nothing else like it in the world and it’s well worth it the effort.
If you’re married, don’t forget to keep working on it.  You don’t just go into cruise control after the honeymoon–you still need to put in some EFFORT.  Make your spouse feel loved and cherished.  Keep learning about each other.  Have patience, be humble, and be forgiving.

You can do it!

LOVE.

You Are So Old from Travis Cottrell on Vimeo.

This weekend I will pass a milestone birthday: 20….wait, 30…Whoops…GEEZ…I can’t even type it…

…which means only one thing: My parents are getting reeeeeeeeeallly old!

Well, here’s the truth–as much as I have made a big deal about turning 30, I’m not really sad about it.  Only a little. 
My twenties have been good to me, and I’ve learned a lot of great life lessons in the past ten years that I will share with you now (in true bloggity form) and in no particular order:

1) You Don’t Know All That You Think You Know

When I got out of college, I pretty much thought I knew it all.  I was pompous, haughty, and often frustrated with others that weren’t on the same “let’s hurry up and change the world right NOW” path as I was.  I was an idiot.  Just ask poor Michael Roberson who had to deal with me that year…The more time that went by, the more I realized I didn’t know jack squat about life.  Even now, I continue to find this the case—the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know anything. 

2) Husband and Father Are Job Number #1

It is hard being a good husband (I know, because I stink at it most of the time) and it’s HARD being a good dad (again, working on it) but these are the most important roles I will ever play in my life.  It’s possibly the hardest thing ANY guy will ever do…which is why so many fail.  But in all of my dealings as a pastor or friend over the past ten years, I’ve noticed that the bulk of issues that individuals deal with in their lives stem from bad dads and or bad marriages.   I know I’m being super general here–and I’m trying to be–but let me just say this: I’ve grown keenly aware that the way I treat my wife and kids RIGHT NOW will impact them forever.  Believe me, I’ve already seen my greatest weaknesses personified in my sons, and it scares me…

3) Relationships Matter Most

It doesn’t matter what you know.  Who are your friends?  How is your family? (Wow, that sounds trite when I read it back…but I really do believe it’s true.  You can tell a lot about a person by what kind of company they keep).

The most profound moment on The Office takes place during an episode titled, “Business School”.  In this episode, Ryan hurts Michael’s feelings by saying–in front of his whole class at business school–that the paper business will be obsolete in 5 years.  Michael gets mad and storms out of the classroom…later on in the episode, just when you think he’s going to fire Ryan, he says something deeply profound to this young salesman.  He says, “It’s about people, Ryan–people.  And people never go out of business.”
Tru dat, fools. 

If you want to improve your life, work on your relationships with others.

4) Shutup and Listen

I don’t ever learn anything when I’m the one doing the talking.  It pays to listen to those older and wiser than you.  Also, I’m not a big fan of interrupting.  Sometimes you just need to shut up and listen.

5) Laziness Doesn’t Put Food on the Table

Work hard, peeps, otherwise you’re going to go hungry.  Gone are the days of the cushy jobs with big salaries.  Nobody can afford that anymore.  You’re going to have to earn your keep.  So work hard.

I think I might have some more in me, but I fear I’m starting to sound like a Tony Robbins book on tape or something.
Ugh.

In closing, let me say this:
Thank you to all that have been a friend in the past 10 years.  I’m grateful for you and the role you’ve played during my twenties.  Let the next decade be even more glorious!
Hoorah!