The Reksten Strawberry Jam

I have recently found a heavenly new product from Reksten Homemade Goodies. They have put together some of the best strawberry jam you have ever let touch your tongue. I'm talking dancing taste buds here. The only way I can describe it is to have you watch this commercial for Bros. BBQ, "tastes so good..."

21 the movie vs. the book

Ok let me set this stage first. I usually do not read books that hollywood makes into movies. Most books I read are non-fiction business or leadership books with some biographies. I have had many people talk to me about movies that say the book was better than the movie. My answer had always been "if I don't read the book than what do I care?". The first movie I saw that I had first read the book was the Harry Potter series. The last HP movie was good but not as good as the book. I understood due to the length of the book. I mean there was no way possible they could have incorporated everything into the movie. Fast forward to last night. If you read a previous post of mine I recently completed the book that the movie 21 was based, Bringing Down the House. The book was very good. One of my favorie reads. It is a true story yet is written like a novel. I watched the movie last night with the expectation of seeing the book come to life. Umm it didn't exactly come to life for me. Lets just say it was a far cry from the book. They changed so much it was crazy. I mean c'mon even the motivation for the main character was inaccurate. I guess it was ok if you haven't read the book. However having read the book I wanted so much more.

the EDGE is near

Ever since the powers that be at Fusion Church decided to place me in charge of implementing a student program I have been tested. I have been challenged in ways that I have not been challenged before. I have been asked to travel more, had family drama, financial issues, scheduling issues, and of course a pretty large learning curve. Yet with everything that has been happening God has seen fit to keep EDGE moving forward. I can't wait! The enemy wants to throw challenges...bring it on! Put obstacles in the way, do what you think you can. I can tell you this team can not be stopped. We have a wonderful team that is dedicated to changing lives of young people. The fire that I saw in the eyes of my fellow EDGEheads last night had my adrenaline pumping. The passion. The desire. Get ready Fusion Church, get ready Gwinnett County, get ready state of Georgia as we get ready to walk on the EDGE.

Quick Hitz - 7/21/08

Because my brain is just scattered right now all I can do is throw out some Quick Hitz. Hopefully I can gather some thoughts and articulate them into full blog later.

• I am disappointed in myself for not having seen Batman yet, I mean I really want to see it.
• I will find a way to see DK this week.
• EDGE is closer everyday and I can not tell you how excited I am about this opportunity. The faith that is being placed in me is extremely humbling.
• The set at church yesterday was amazing! What other church has their drummer playing on top of a Nintendo and their pastor using a Wii Remote as a podium?
• Everytime I hear the current series name "Beyond the Game" I think of Triple H.
• I am so happy that Greg 2.0's room is done (except for a little detail).
• This week is going to be extra busy plus we had to throw is a doctor's appointment in the middle.
• We had a great time yesterday hanging with some friends, makes you realize what this whole life thing is about.
• I have over 1400 points on My Coke Rewards, if you have bottle tops I will be more than happy to utilize them.
• Having a camera on your phone is the most stupid, useless tool I could have ever imagined...yet I love it and use it all of the time.
• Facebook and Twitter are getting a little addicting to me.
• Facebook is allowing me to connect with classmates I haven't seen or heard from in many years. Ain't technology great?
• Why do we bloggers blog?
• I think I want to theme the 'boys' room at my house with Captain Jack.
• Only about a month until the new Tiger Woods game for the Wii. That means I will be able to play golf again.
• Bath and Body Works has the best hand sanitizer in the world.
• WWE is just not as good as it used to be
• Told you this was random

I think that is enough rambling for now...until later I'm gone.

Extreme Makeover: Troxell Edition

With the fact we have a little girl on the way comes my version of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I now have two rooms to get ready, baby girl and Greg 2.0. You know in this age of Extremism we don't have basic one color rooms anymore. We have themed rooms with cool stuff everywhere. I can't give away the theme yet to the masses but it should be pretty cool. I started painting Greg 2.0's room this weekend as his furniture will be delivered this Saturday. That of course means I gotta get going on this thing. I am taking on a pretty big challenge for myself by painting two colors on the wall. I know that is not much to some but for me that is big. My vision for the room is cool but we will see how it turns out. I am looking forward to the finished product. On Sunday I will post some pics up after the Extreme Makeover: Greg 2.0's Room Edition is complete.
Coming soon...Extreme Makeover: New Baby Girl's Room Edition and Extreme Makeover: Big Greg's Room Edition.

Happy Gummi Worm Day!

July 15th, is Gummi Worm Day, as listed at the National Confectioners Association website. Just when you thought all holidays weren't commercial, we make such an announcement! However, we don't celebrate Gummi Worm Day for its crass consumerism -- no, there is ingenuity to admire here. (And who doesn't want a reason to eat Gummi Worms?)
There likely wouldn't be a Gummi Worm Day if it weren't for Gummi Bears. The Gummi Bear, or Gummibärchen, is a German creation. Invented by Hans Riegel, a candy maker from Bonn, Germany, in 1922, the story goes that Riegel and his wife, Gertrud, noticed the popularity of a gelatin fruit candy that other candy companies were selling. Looking for a competitive edge to enter the market with their own fruity gelatin candy, they thought, "What would children like?" And dancing bears was the answer.
Therefore, HARIBO began to mold the fruit flavored gelatin into the form of a dancing bear. The original bears were taller and thinner than the little chubby bears of today (a 1950's update), and they became popular among the children of Bonn. So popular that only one year later the Riegels made a "risky" investment in a car so that Gertrud needed to no longer deliver the daily 200 pounds of dancing bear candy on her bicycle.
The Riegels need not have worried, for the launch of Gummi Bears eventually lead to a family fortune. Such a fortune only occurred because the Riegels been correct that bear candy makes us happy!
Gummi Worms themselves were born of similar creativity. In 1981, another German candy company, Mederer Corporation, was looking for a new way to market gummy candies. Their idea was to create a candy that parents would find mildly shocking, but that kids would love. They hit upon the idea of Gummi Worms, and sold them under the Trolli name.

Are they brothers?

I had to post this pic of my son Greg and my Godson John. Tell me they can't pass as brothers? Greg on the right is four years old, John on the left is five years old. It is funny that we get approached at the mall asking if they are twins.

Still on pace...number 11 is finished.

If you have been reading this thing for any length of time you may remember that I set a goal for myself to ready 20 books this year. I just finished 21: Bringing Down the House which is number 11 this year. Very good book, this is the book that they recently based a movie. I have not seen the movie yet but plan to once released to Netflix. I picked up the book at the airport recently becasue I wanted to read a story not a biography or leadership book. Eventhough this is a true story it reads like a novel. Very good read, very interesting. I am glad I did not read it before I went to Vegas.

True Friends

This past weekend we had some visitors from Michigan come down. We haven't seen them for about two years when they came down for someone's wedding. The party consisted of my two Godkids (Kyara 16 and John 5) their mom (Latonya) her mom (Grandma), and her aunt (Ti-Ti). Greg and John are 1 year and a day apart, they haven't seen each other in two years yet when they got to the house it was like they were brothers. They were all over the place together having fun. Pretty much inseparable. It was so much fun having them all at the house. It was like no time had ever passed. On Saturday Kyara and I went to the UGA campus since that is where she would like to go. I took her around to see the wonderful world that is Athens, GA even breaking my diet wide open by eating at The Varsity. We then met everyone at the Mall of Georgia with our final destination being Medevial Times at Discover Mills. We all had fun. Greg and John became knights complete with swords and shields. It was heartbreaking seeing Greg and John saying good-bye to each other. I miss them already. I wish they would move down here.

Dukefest 2008

30 years and counting since The Dukes first hit our TV screens. I remember watching it every Friday night before my parents watched Dallas on CBS. This was before VCRs were readily available to everyone so the only way I could tape my show was with a cassette player. Yes I did that, I would put the tape player next to the TV, record Dukes of Hazzard then listen to it over and over. I loved the show. I loved the General Lee. When the DVD box sets first hit I bought them on the first Tuesday they were out. I remember when Bo and Luke left to go pursue a racing career leaving us with Coy and Vance. I remember Enos going to California. I even had a bassett hound named Flash at one time. Fast forward to today and the picture to the left. Here you see my dad who is over 70, myself over 30, and my son who is 4 years old enjoying Dukefest 2008. John Schnieder organized it this year at the Atlanta Motor Speedway to bring it back where it all started. Yep Dukes started right here in Georgia, Conyers and Covington to be exact. I stood in amazement that people were standing in 2 to 3 hour lines to meet the cast. Now that wasn't one line that was like six separate lines. Young people, seasoned people, all ages standing in line to meet Bo, Luke, Enos, Daisy, Cletus, Coy, Cooter, etc. All from a TV show that started 30 years ago. Look at that picture again in the background, all of those cars are General Lee's. All looked good, had to be 100 or more of them. Two full days of Dukes of Hazzard! Tell me how many TV shows can pull off a two day festival like this (for ten years btw). I know Star Trek can, but what else? Not much, I'm sure there are some but not many. This was an awesome day for me as I spent it hanging with my dad and my son. Three generations of Good Ole Boys having a good ole time. That's what it is all about, I hope it comes back to Atlanta next year.

Quik Hitz - 7/1/08

Just some random Quick Hitz fromm my brain:

• Kudos to the WWE for shaking things up on RAW, Smackdown, and ECW. They even shocked us with C.M. Punk winning the world title.
• Las Vegas sure is fun!
• Greenville, IL - not quite as fun
• Nice to be home with the family
• I am looking forward to my trip with my dad to the Charlotte area in September as we take in the NHRA even and tour the Dale Trail
• EDGE is right around the corner
• Bath and Body Work makes wonderful products
• I learned about Zappos.com this past week, pretty cool cuture that got there.
• Toured The Venetian call center while in Vegas; hmm I wonder what it would be like to work...
• PCD Lounge is pretty cool
• I need a true vacation
• God kids coming in town this week, should be a lot of fun
• I plan to take in my first Silverbacks game this week; oh what we do for kids
• Dukefest was too cool; I want a General Lee
• The Dark Knight movie fast approaches and I can not wait
• Congrats to the Rekstens for the new version 4.0
• Strange is relative to who and what you are around at the time
• Illinois drivers are way too slow
• Jott.com is too cool!
• I need to plan another fellas night out soon
• I have a lot of stuff to do but can't seem to focus my brain on anything
• I need another trip to Vegas
• Football season ain't far away
• We got a Wii, Mario Kart is fun

Done for now....probably dump more later...