In Huskers We Trust

I believe in Tom, the AD Almighty, the restorer of Pride and Respect, and in Bo Pelini, His prodigal coach,

Who was brought in by Frank Solich, born of the 2003 defensive swagger, suffered under Steve Pederson, was looked over, fired, and moved on.

He descended into Oklahoma. The third year with LSU, He won a National Championship.

He ascended back to Nebraska and sits at the right hand of Tom, the AD, whence He shall come to judge the offense and the defense.

I believe in the pinnacle of college football, the University of Nebraska, the Assistant Coaches, the Watson Coast Offense, the resurrection of the team, and national prominence everlasting!

Amen

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, kids of all ages, the time hath approached once again for another college football season! Opening Day is a mere three days away, and the anticipation is once again running high and mighty that we shall see a much-improved Nebraska football program. When I say much-improved, I don't know that will necessarily translate into wins as we adjust to yet another new coaching staff and philosophy. But, based on what we've seen, read, and heard thus far, it would appear that first-year head coach Bo Pelini has the attitude and swagger to bring back the smash-mouth kind of football which Big Red Land has become accustomed to in their proud history. We're going to knock a few people on their butts this season. That I can guarantee, and I suspect the Huskers will improve on last season's 5-7 mark. I also suspect the Huskers will be back in serious contention for a Big Twelve title by next season. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if they scare a few folks into thinking they are good enough to compete for a title this year. But, I'm trying not to let my excitement cloud my good judgement.

As I did last year, I will plan on posting my prediction each week and post-game commentary, and I look forward to following the story of the 2008 season as we begin to write the next chapter of Cornhusker Football.

As for the Lady Husker Volleyball Team, the biggest story this year is that they are beginning the season ranked #7 in the nation. This is a story because it's an unfamiliar place for them as they are normally pre-season ranked in the top five. But, with only a couple of returning seniors, the Huskers will look to develop a few top, yet young and inexperienced, recruits. Things won't be easy for them out of the gate, as they open the season on Friday against second-ranked Stanford, then battle fourth-ranked USC on Sunday. Good grief - no mercy, huh?

GO BIG RED!!!!

Boycott Anheuser-Busch

Help me in boycotting Anheuser-Busch since they are sellouts (to In-Bev, a Belgium brewer).

Drop your beer off at my house & I will dispose of it.

We'll teach those bastards.

(Thanks to my brother for giving me this great idea for beer disposal.)

MonaVie

So, I had originally begun typing a rather lengthy post with the intention of recapping the last month in the life of the Campbell Clan, but when the post began to take on the image of an end-of-the-year Christmas letter, I trashed it. Suffice it to say it's been another crazy month, and I again apologize for my lack of writing. The desire is there, the time is not. Rather than a recap, allow me to just sort of tell you what's on my mind.

Work is killing me, people. Don't get me wrong - I love what I do for a living, but I despise the hours. Shift work is nothing short of hell on family life. Especially second shift, which is what I will be moving to next week. I am coming off of third shift, which is rough because of the about-face in sleeping patterns one has to overcome. Second shift leaves me with little opportunity to see my son, save for the weekends, and leaves my wife at home every evening to handle the kids and their activities by her lonesome. And because of my lack of seniority, second and third shift is all I will work for quite sometime. Whilst I love what I do, my enjoyment of the job isn't enough to overcome the not-so-great hours.

So, I'm working on getting the heck out of the job. How so, you ask? Through an amazing product called MonaVie. I discovered this product through my brother and sister-in-law, and while it took me awhile to become convinced (damn skeptics!) of it's benefits, I am head-over-heels crazy about it. MonaVie is a nutrional beverage containing nineteen of the nature's top super-fruits. The crown jewel of the juice is the Brazilian acai (prounounced ah-sigh-ee) berry.

This little berry has been around for centuries, and has been consumed by the natives to promote healing and overall good health. The western world, until recently, had not experienced the benefits of the berry because there did not exist a method of processing it before it would literally go bad. Monarch Health Sciences and MonaVie solved this problem through a flash-freezing process which retains about ninety-seven percent of the berry's nutrional value.

Thus, the birth of MonaVie. The health benefits my family has experienced since drinking this juice have been nothing short of amazing. No more aches and pains, much-improved sleeping, and prolonged energy. I can't say enough about the juice, and the fact that it's all-natural, healthy, and incredibly tasty makes it even better.

But beyond the health benefits, the company itself uses a large portion of its profits to benefit the Amazonian community. Through the M.O.R.E. Project, MonaVie is building housing, providing education, and helping to curb the orphan problem in the country of Brazil. The company is doing wonderful things with its resources, and I am proud to be a part of it.

Of course, there are the naysayers, and plenty of them. A quick Google search will reveal plenty of commentary against MonaVie, but I have found most of it to be arguable, and a lot of it just plain wrong. Regardless of the product, there are going to be those that have nothing good to say. My excitement comes from my personal experience with MonaVie, and I need nothing else.

And now the plug - if I've piqued your interest at all, leave me a comment or drop me a line at huskerkev@gmail.com, and I will be happy to discuss this with you more. I'm excited to be on the road to a healthier financial life, and in the process of leaving behind the shift work I have come to despise.

Peace.

Catchin' Up

Here it is the fifth of July already, and I noticed the date on my last post was June 3rd. Wow. The last four weeks have been nothing short of a blur. As mentioned in that last post, we did get moved and are only beginning to "settle in." I call this particular change in housing my first real move, only because all of my previous moves were very simple - I had only myself to move. This time, however, we had a family of five to move. Much more than merely a couple of pickup loads. It was quite the daunting task, but even more daunting is the looming task of unpacking, deciding where to store things, and making the new house our home. Still, there is a strong sense of excitement as we walk the halls of the new house. Mandi and I often find ourselves commenting how much we love it, sometimes several times a day. Good stuff, and thanks to our dear friends Nicki and Alex and their daughter Hailey, as well as my brother and his wife, for all of their fantastic assistance in moving. We couldn't have done it without them!

And I'll be darned if my favorite holiday of the year has come to pass already. I will indeed be darned. Yes, the 4th of July, 2008 is in the history books, and I now have the excruciatingly long wait until next year before I can once again hold a beer in one hand, an explosive in the other, and feel good about it. I made the most of the holiday this year, as Mandi and I spend the evening of the third with close friends, beer, live music, and, of course, fireworks. Yesterday was Mandi's birthday, so I let her sleep in while the kids and I ate breakfast and headed out to get some fireworks for them. We then took Mandi to lunch at Applebees, and were joined by the aforementioned Nicki, Alex, and Hailey. After lunch, we came home to watch the kids shoot fireworks, then I headed off to help shoot a display for the town of Fremont. It was the biggest show I've ever been a part of, and it was amazing. Big shells, and lots of them!

Well, that quickly and briefly catches you up to the latest with the Campbell Clan. I hope this slacker blogger can soon begin posting on more of a regular basis, as I have lots of topics but just so little precious time right now. Here's to all of you, and I hope your journeys are continuing to be good ones!

Peace.

'Dogs and Cats Living Together - Mass Hysteria!!'

Quick - name the movie from which the title line came from (cue Jeopardy theme)..................if you said Ghostbusters, you'd be our big winner! I use that line often, and usually when life is just plain crazy, as it has been the last couple weeks. Check this out, yo;

After having our house on the market for nearly three months, and having several folks go through it, we got a call on the Thursday before last about a couple that was very interested. They needed to work out some financing, and then our guy would be in touch with our people, blah blah blah. They made us an offer, which was silly, so we gave them our bottom dollar. On Tuesday of last week, we got a call that they were willing to accept our price, and the financing had worked out. Exciting stuff, right?? Except that we would be homeless come July 1st if we hadn't found another home.....gulp. All of a sudden, we realized that if we had not found a home, made a deal, worked out our financing, and set a closing date all within a few days, we would never be able to close and move before July 1st. Holy &*%!

Okay, so, we sold our house last Tuesday, and immediately called our realtor with a list of houses we wanted to look at the very next day. He hooked us up, and we visited two or three, the last of which was one we had seen over and over and just kept coming back to see again. We finally figured it out; we needed to make an offer. So, back to the realtor's office to begin the billion sheets of paperwork. We made an offer, and gave the sellers until 6:00 p.m. that evening to respond. I went on to work, anxiously awaiting a call from Mandi as to the news. And call she did, at about 6:45, to say the seller had accepted our offer.

That's right, I said the seller accepted our offer!

Are you processing this, people? In about a twenty-four hour period, we sold our house, made an offer on another one, and set a closing date. Again I say, Holy &*%! We are now set to close on the 20th of June, will do just a bit of painting, and move the last weekend in June. It has been a whirlwind of a week, but quite an exciting one! Oh, and on top of all the happenings, I moved to third shift on the Thursday after we made the deal on the new house. If you've ever worked the night shift before, you know it takes some time to adjust, so you can imagine how crazy these last few days truly have been.

And, I don't anticipate things letting up for quite some time. Y'all have probably moved enough to know it's quite the task, so the days and weeks ahead will be filled with packing and general preparation, as well as last-minute details with the new house. I'll keep ya posted.

One more comment before I close - I previously promised I would tell you all about the new product I am proud to be a part of, and I still intend to do so in the near future. It's exciting stuff, and look for more on it very soon!

Dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria!!

Peace.

Running Club

Saturday mornings are usually reserved for sleeping in, as they are the only mornings out of the week that my schedule allows for it. This morning, however, would be different. I got myself out of bed and across town to join a few members of our church for the inaugural meeting of the new running club. There were only a handful of us, but we are hoping our enthusiasm will spread to other members who are teetering on the edge of whether or not to join us. It was a fun time this morning as we ran about a mile-and-a-half, then sat down for a cup of coffee at the Mill.

If you would have told me a few months ago that I would be interested, passionate even, about running, I would have laughed at you, called you silly, and moved on. Thus, I found myself in one of those surreal states this morning as I trotted alongside some of who I consider Lincoln's top runners. The pastor of our church, who just ran the Boston Marathon, ran alongside me. Our club coordinator, who just ran the Lincoln Marathon, was with us as well. I kept asking myself if this group was where I really belonged in these early stages of learning the sport of running. I was a bit nervous as I drove across town, as I wondered just how I would fare alongside these more experienced runners. I'm glad I didn't allow my nervousness to stop me. Our time together was an incredible experience, and I have a good feeling I'm going to learn lots in the days and weeks ahead as I set my sites on next year's Lincoln Marathon.

This morning's fellowship taught me several things, but two lessons in particular stand out the most. First, every runner, no matter how experienced, started somewhere. I'm no different, and I was relieved to learn the pastor and the coordinator used to be in the same boat as I currently am. Second, I was thankful to learn that my running experience thus far is paying off, as it was not difficult to keep pace with the group. Granted, it was a slower pace and not that far, but it's still progress for me. Six months ago, I couldn't have done what I did this morning.

And so I go from here, excited to be seriously running for the first time in my life, excited to have goals and aspirations, and excited to be tweaking and toning the overall health of my body.

Peace.

United Methodist General Conference

You may or may not be aware that my religious background was cultivated in the United Methodist Church. My Grandfather was a Methodist pastor, my Grandmother spent years as an organist, teacher, and music director in the church, and I was in turn raised in the Methodist church. Even though I no longer attend a UM church, I try to keep up-to-speed on all the latest.

This year, the United Methodist General Conference convened, as it does every four years. I have been following it through Jeff's blog, and his post from earlier today was of particular interest to me. The conference debated the never-ending homosexuality issue, and the results of that debate and subsequent vote, are...um.......honestly, I'm at a loss for words to describe my feelings. Interesting is the first adjective that tempts me, but it doesn't seem adequate.

Tell ya what. I'll just let you read what I have read today, and you can form your own thoughts, opinions, and insight. I'd love to hear what you think, either by commenting on my blog, via email, or in person. Let's generate some good discussion. What'dya say?

Here's Jeff's post, entitled "General Conference - The Sexuality Issue." In Jeff's post, you'll find another link to a blog which summarizes the entire day of debate on this issue. Happy reading, and I can't wait to hear from you.