Archive for June, 2006

Monthly Archive
Thursday, June 29th, 2006

Mortgage Selection

 
Here is my collected wisdom after the 3rd time I have had to choose a mortgage loan:
 

Decide how much cash you can comfortably spend toward the downpayment (for me, it has always been less than 20% of the total cost)
If less than 20% downpayment, you have to either get PMI or a second loan–I recommend [...]

1 Comment » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Tuesday, June 27th, 2006

Far and Away But Now Home

 
God bless Nicole Kidman and her husband, Keith Urban, as she appears to have returned to the Catholic Church!
 
Her church of Scientology marriage to Tom Cruise was annulled–probably one of the easiet decisions that the marriage tribunal has ever had to make.

1 Comment » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Tuesday, June 27th, 2006

Gianna Jessen at the Colorado House of Reps

 
Katie told me about this story recently, and I just read it in full–amazing and awesome!
 
Gianna Jessen survived a late-term abortion and was born alive but handicapped because of the abortion. On the day that the Colorado government chose to honor Planned Parenthood, who took part in maiming Gianna, Ms. Jessen sang the national [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Monday, June 26th, 2006

That We May Be One

 I volunteered this morning at a local pregnancy care center. It’s a wonderful place, filled with laughter and peace and the love of God. I feel blessed to share in such a ministry, but I must tell you that my time there is causing me to ponder some things. Namely, the Protestant [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life by Katie
Monday, June 26th, 2006

St. Joseph Shout-Out

 Devin and I have a house! Well…I mean…our offer has been accepted. Devin cautions me that this is just the beginning of the process, and I know he’s right. But, I’m so excited at the thought that this could very well be the place Our Lord has prepared for us, [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life by Katie
Sunday, June 25th, 2006

Weekend of Grace

 
Whew! The weekend is over, and it has been amazing. Katie and I began praying a novena to St. Joseph for finding our future home, and God has answered quickly!
 
We found the two houses yesterday and made an offer on one of them. Tomorrow we will find out whether the seller accepts [...]

2 Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life, Love and War by Devman
Saturday, June 24th, 2006

House Hunting

 
Katie and I made an offer on a house today!
 
We had not planned on making an offer on any houses for at least a month or so, to give Katie enough time to get a feel for the neighborhoods and home prices, but we found two houes today that both of us liked a lot.
 
If [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Thursday, June 22nd, 2006

Katie y Roxy

 
Gerardo and I both proposed to our girlfriends, Roxy and Katie, on the same evening–we didn’t plan it that way, but it worked out that way.
 
However, it was only yesterday morning that Katie and Roxy finally got to meet, and it was really cool! We went to Mass in the morning and then to [...]

1 Comment » - Posted in Love and War by Devman
Wednesday, June 21st, 2006

Ignite Your Torch

 
So often, in the media, we hear about young people who are lost and dull their pain with all manner of false gods. It can seem there there is no hope, that we are a culture destined for self-annihilation.
 
Yet, Pope John Paul II declared an unfolding springtime of the Church, beginning with the Jubilee [...]

1 Comment » - Posted in Catholic Life by Katie
Tuesday, June 20th, 2006

Hello, Strangers!

 
I’m glad to be back on St. Joseph’s Vanguard, after a 3-week absence. It’s been a whirlwind of moving, wedding planning, youth conferencing, and becoming a Texan. Whew! Praise God.
 
So, after school ended at Deming Public School, I packed my classroom and said goodbye, after which I traveled to visit my sister, [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life, Love and War by Katie
Monday, June 19th, 2006

Crescendo Returns

 
I worked on my computer game, Crescendo, a bit this weekend after a long hiatus, and I made good progress:

No Comments » - Posted in Technical by Devman
Saturday, June 17th, 2006

Lessons from the AC going out

 
The air conditioning (AC) went out at my house last week, and I learned some important lessons from the experience. I hope these help you:
 

Schedule at least 2 (better 3) repairmen to come out and diagnose the problem as soon as possible (all in the same day preferably). Try to get trustworthy [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Thursday, June 15th, 2006

Katie Moves to Austin!

 
“Well it’s been the longest day,
And I feel so far away;
I wanna go,
So won’t you take me there…”
–Wideawake
 
Katie has moved to Austin! Whew, it has been a week since my last post, and it’s been a week filled with much excitement.
 
I flew to New Mexico last Friday and spent the weekend with Katie and [...]

2 Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life, Love and War by Devman
Thursday, June 8th, 2006

China Pulls Da Vinci Code from Theaters

 
The L.A. Times article (may have to register for free).
 
Why did they do it? The article offers some ideas:

1 Comment » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Wednesday, June 7th, 2006

Budgeting

 
In my ten years of being an adult single man, I have made occasional passes at budgeting. These attempts usually didn’t last for that long because I haven’t really needed to budget until now.

3 Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life, Love and War by Devman
Wednesday, June 7th, 2006

Is Blogging Bad?

 
Eric Scheske has an article on CatholicExchange.com today where he challenges an accusation made by a writer and former blogger that blogging is not “real writing”.
 
I like his analysis and especially this part at the end about blogging:

If it’s harming others, you shouldn’t do it. If it’s hindering your efforts at virtue, then you shouldn’t [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Sunday, June 4th, 2006

Women of Grace

 
The evil one attacks every good thing that God has made, and in particular through our society, he tries to emasculate men, stripping them of their masculine strength and virtues.
 
He also attacks women, however, by trying to strip their femininity and to convince them that being a wife and mother who dedicates her life to [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Saturday, June 3rd, 2006

Gamecube

 
Richard bought a Nintendo Gamecube last night!
 
I have owned the original Nintendo 8-bit (NES) system for 19 years, a Super Nintendo (SNES) for about 14 years, and a Sega Genesis. But since those old systems, I have never bought a newer one (PlayStation, N64, Saturn, Jaguar, PS2, Gamecube, XBox, etc.).
 
But Richard made the mistake [...]

2 Comments » - Posted in Technical by Devman
Friday, June 2nd, 2006

New Translation of the Theology of the Body in the Works

 
I read about this new forthcoming translation on zenit.org of John Paul II’s work that incorporates John Paul’s own chapter and section headings to show the overall structure more clearly as well as a retranslation of the work as a whole rather than as individual audiences as it was originally translated.
 
Cool!

No Comments » - Posted in Theology of the Body by Devman