Couch Time: Miami Heat @ Brooklyn Nets - 1/30/13

Glad that Brook Lopez got named to the all star team this morning. He is an endangered species (low post big men)

Just realized this is maybe the third Miami Heat game I've seen all year. Too many Lakers game on national tv. I should start a petition to reduce Lakers games.

Hubie Brown has surpassed Marc Albert as my all time favorite basketball commentator.

Even on an off night LBJ is a stat sheet stuffer. Amazing!!!

It's an amazing site to see the Miami Heat up (pun intended). What an amazing 3rd quarter.

What did Mr. kardashian Kris H do, he barely got any burn in this game.

Solid win for the heat but my New York Knicks is right on their tail.

iPray Daniel Fast - Week1(Day 3 -Day 8 Recap)

If you're seeing this post that means that I am alive and I survived week one.

I still feel a bit off but things have been more manageable since Day 4. So this means I have stopped salivating during Fridays and Applebee's commercials on television.

My stomach has been feeling a bit bubbly. At first I though it was just my body cleaning but I think it's more. I have been having two meals a day which contains beans which has overloaded my system with fiber. I will have the adjust for week 2.

So i was asked to teach adult Sunday school this weekend which puts this  natural introvert in a different situation. I however accepted the challenge and know that God provide me guidance and strength.

Researching for my slides for class has had me dive into scriptures and pastoral commentary. This additional research has been a blessing in disguise. The saying that "when you teach you learn twice because your teaching your students and you are teaching yourself" is very true. I may need to take this approach with my personal bible study.

God works in mysterious ways, so today I received a takeout menu from a Vegan Chinese Restaurant. I most likely wont purchase from this restaurant being that I am very frugal (or cheap as some of my friends like to call it) but the menu provides dozens of recipe ideas.

Manti Te'o Fake Girlfriend - my thoughts

If you haven't read up on the Manti story you must be living under a rock but a short recap is he thought he was dating a girl online however she passed away of cancer the same week as his grandmother (who actually passed). Deadspin just published a report that the whole story of his girlfriend was a hoax. Since I met my girlfriend online and am an avid MTV Catfish watcher I have some thoughts on the situation.

1. I find it hard to believe that Te'o never Skype or FaceTime with his girlfriend. A college student who is active on twitter and other social media outlets knows how to uses a video phone service (and its free!!!!!).
2. Why didn't he go to the funeral? Norte Dame would have gladly given Te'o a leave of absences to attend his girlfriends', funeral. Especially since Te'o, has mentioned his girlfriends' struggle with cancer to numerous media outlets. You would think he would want to say his final goodbye.
3. So your telling me his girlfriend died the same week as his grandmother and this so happens to be in the final weeks of his Heisman trophy campaign. I'm not buying it.
4. Who doesn't Google the name of  the person they're dating. If I am paying the bill on date I would love to know if i'm treating a serial killer or a regular girl. .
5. If you're dating someone from 2009 - 2012 how do you not visit them at least once. College students have summers off and numerous breaks during the year. Why not visit here during winter or spring break.

Being ignorant and lacking common sense are two different things. They were too many red flags for him not to notice.

Follow me @DrivenDre

iPray Daniel Fast - Day 1 and 2 Recap

Disclaimer: I am full aware of what is stated in Matthew 6:16-18 about fasting not for show and not complaining though a fast. However, the purpose of me blogging about this fast is to document my experience and how I am feeling.

• For the next 21 Days I will be doing a Daniel Fast (if you dont know what a Daniel Fast is google it!!)
• Sunday was Day 1 and it wasn't that bad being that I was home and was able to control my environment a lot more. I did perform a lot of bulk cooking. I made Tuscan soup, a bean medley stew  to eat with brown rice and some pasta with homemade tomato sauce. All this food should last me for the week.
• Monday morning was really difficult for me. I usually hit the gym at 5 AM to avoid the masses of New Year Resolution noobs as well as other gym annoyances. Most morning I get through my workouts without any assistance however some morning I really on my pre-workout (DS Sports Craze) and Monday was one of those mornings I needed it. I was able to suck it up however and blast through my lifts. 
• Being in an office space with ten females has led our office to be a chocolate and candy haven. My will power will be greatly tested here but if I sit at my desk more often my likely-hood of accidental snacking on a candy bar is better. 
• Between 2pm and 3pm is my usually second cup of coffee. This is the time that I usually hit the wall mental and need that jolt from caffeine. Being that caffeine wasn't an option i figured a nice brisk walk would up my energy but low and behold a last minute meeting was called that lasted an HOUR and a HALF. This was probably the most painful hour and a half I have had in years (this is coming from a guy that was hit by a car 4 years ago)
• Decided to read Daniel 1 and 2 again. I forgot the story about him and his friends not eating the King Royal Fest of meat and other goodies and ending up looking more fit and healthier for it. I was also reminded that Daniel was a dream interrupter. 
• After my brush with death from my 2pm meeting the rest of the day went fine  

 

Biting off Little Chunks (Goal Setting)

I am often guilty of biting off more than I can chew. Sometime I put unrealistic expectations on myself to hit goals which weren't S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Result Focused, Time-bounded). What I often struggle with is setting my goals correctly because I want my goals to difficult enough to add pressure for me to achieve them but also not so difficult that it is impossible to accomplish.

My new approach lately has been to breakdown goals into weekly bit size pieces and have timelines I need to hit during the week (I know this may not be new to everyone but its new for me) For the past month and a half I have set aside a time every Sunday to have a meeting with myself. I add it on my calendar and when I get the alert on my phone I turn everything off and I perform the following task.

• Review my prior week goals and see what went well and how could it have gone better and what went wrong and how could I improve.
• I leverage my prior weeks lessons learned and write out new goals for the upcoming week. 
• I review my finance and pay bills or move money around as need
• I read over my daily thoughts aka my journal to see where my head was over the past few days. I will also review older post. 
• I update my calendar with time slots for all the actions items I have written as a goal for the week (ie Goal - Write 2 Blog Post - Schedule 2 one hour windows to blog) 
• I will meditate/pray for at least 15 minutes in complete silence (this is very difficult)  

This will usually take me an hour or so but I have been feeling better about my weeks and also more productive.

I keep my note book open of all my weekly goals and I review them a few times a day.

Try this out for a week and see you don't become more productive.

Follow me @DrivenDre

Couch Time: Clippers vs. Nuggets

• Most of the nation of men is watching the Orange bowl right now but I can't get into watching a game that doesn't really count for the championship. It's kinda like watching the third place game, sure you get a award/metal but it's not the original hardware you set out for.
• Andre igudola is an underrated superstar. He should be in the conversion as a top five player.
• For all the athletes that Denver has they are lacking help on defensive rotations tonight.
• Blake Griffin has developed a semi decent low post game. Don't think it's good enough for Denver to be hedging double teams but it's much improved.
• Does anyone else notice that Blake release his jump shot on the decent if the shot. If he learns to shoot at the apex of his shot he could get a better percentage.
• Javal McGee has so much raw potential, possible all-star potential. The question is well he ever maximize it.
• Lack of scoring was the demise of the Clippers tonight.