Eric Holen

• Weight: 188.5 lbs | Goal: 160.0 lbs
• My weight is finally moving in the right direction.  My problem was that while I wanted to lose the weight, I still hadn’t overcome my bad snacking habits.
• Spent most of Friday helping Yvette clean the house for her birthday party.  Get this, now she wants me to help keep it clean.
• Mowed the backyard on Saturday morning.  I need to mow the front yard before the homeowners’ association shows up at our doorstep.
• Spent the evening at the Kyle Volunteer Fire Department on fireworks and grass fire patrol.  The light rain, burn ban, and fireworks restrictions all made for a quiet evening.
• Yvette’s birthday was Saturday; we had a party at the house with friends and a Margarita machine and some incredible brisket care of our friend Justin Ely.  Yvette and I have had Justin’s brisket and barbecue several times and still can’t get over how good it is.
• Yvette will start a new job next week.  She and I are very excited about the opportunity this brings her.  She is a little nervous because it will be the first time in over 8 years that she will not be in a medical setting.
• I noticed that I don’t seem to blog on weekends and holidays.

I am a volunteer firefighter with the Kyle Volunteer Fire Department.  Yesterday, I received a fire company-wide email from my officer encouraging all of us to improve our response rates.  We do not have set volunteer times, instead you respond you are available and when a fire or emergency call occurs.  Lately, I have become more frustrated because my available time and when fire calls occur seem to be on different paths.

Because of work, travel, and family, I am generally available to respond to calls on weekdays in the evenings after 7:00 PM and early mornings before 4:00 AM.  I cannot respond after 4:00 AM because I may not have time to get home, shower, and get to my paying job on time.  Our department also has a very strict “bottle to throttle” rule.  That means that if I enjoy an occasional adult beverage with dinner, that I am unavailable for several hours after my last drink.  Unless Yvette and I are running errands or have company, I am almost always available on Saturday and Sunday after church services.

Last night was a good example of me being available and not being called to serve.  Yvette and I got home at around 7:00 PM, after stopping for groceries.  I helped her make dinner and, just before sitting down to eat, I turned on my fire pager to “make myself available.”

This morning, the clock radio went off at 5:00 AM like normal.  One of the first things that I did, as I let the dogs outside, was to shut off my fire pager and to get ready for work.  Another night and no fire calls.  That’s a good thing for the citizens of our district, and those that are passing through, but a bad thing for me who needs to get “my calls” in.

On a good note, I should be available most of Friday, due to the holiday.  Furthermore, fireworks always generate plenty of fire calls.

• Weight: Argh! | Goal: 160.0 lbs
• For the second week in a row I got on the treadmill.  While it was only once, it still counts as two weeks in a row.
• Working to dispel rumors why Yvette and I have been missing our Connection Group on Wednesdays.  We are not looking for a new group, we love our group; however, we have been diagnosed with LAZINESS and are trying to not to spread it to the other group members.
• Went to Jill and Brian Adam’s wedding on Friday at Texas Old Town.  Jill was beautiful and the two of them looked so happy!
• Worked two separate vehicle accidents with Kyle Fire on Saturday afternoon at I-35S and the 215; interestingly, the locations were within 100 yards of each other.
• Thanks to the City of Kyle Parks, Recreation and Facilities who handed over the Kyle Pool to the Kyle Fire Department for our annual pool party on Saturday.
• Saw the movie Believe in Me on DVD over the weekend.  The movie is set in the 1960s and is based on the true story of man who, after accepting a job to coach high school basketball, is disappointed to discover that he has been assigned to the girls’ team.  Highly recommended. 
• Worked house video at The Connection Church on Sunday.  I missed a HUGE cue from Pastor Cole when he wanted to reference a scripture on our two big projector screens during services.
• Blaine and Kate, friends of ours, picked up Rockband for the Wii with the “guitar, drums and microphone”.  Yvette and I were over there on Sunday afternoon and had a great time playing the game.  I was little better on the guitar and microphone then I was on the drums.
• Yvette and I are looking forward to our trip with friends to Port Aransas this weekend.  Need to convince Yvette to go to the USS Lexington.

• Weight: 189.5 lbs | Goal: 160.0 lbs
• While I got on the treadmill (once) last week, my weight went up a pound; I think I can blame it on Yvette though (but I can’t)
• Yvette cooked me a great Father’s Day dinner of steak, cheesy macaroni and bacon-wrapped jalapenos (thanks babe!)
• Saw the movie Joshua last week.  It was a very good movie about what the second coming of Christ might be like if He showed up in a small town.  Note: I have not read the book.
• Wow, Yvette is really being strong about saving money!  I tried to sneak in one of my “maye we could stop and grab a bite to eat” comments.  She shot me down fast, but we ended up taking home a $5.99 Little Caesars Hot-N-Ready pizza.  Not only did we save money, but the large pizza covered two meals.
• Attended “live” vehicle rescue training with the Kyle Volunteer Fire Department on Saturday.  We had several challenging scenarios, including two cars on their sides and one upside down.  I learned some new skills and how to use jacks to stabilize a car on its side.  It was hot, especially in our bunker gear, but the instructors did a good job making sure that we stayed hydrated.
• Bummed that I took a lot of pictures at the training only to find out that the SD card in the camera had become corrupted.
• Jeremy was our fill-in worship leader at The Connection Church this past Sunday.  He did a great job especially during one song when he switched to Spanish and then back to English.  It sounded really good and may help to reach out to our Spanish-speaking members.
• I added a Pictures page to the blog so that I would have a place to share even more photos
• SciFi’s Battlestar Galactica is killing me.  Great episode on Friday, which almost seemed like a series finale, except there was a comment displayed at the end about a future unscheduled episode.

This past Wednesday, Yvette and I attended our weekly “Connection” church group. It had been at least a month since I last attended and I was excited to be there. It was a full house; however, I was the only male present other than some kids. The topic for the meeting was “vision” and God’s vision for us and our vision of ourselves and our life. After the meeting, I got to thinking about the topic. My life is going very well, maybe too well and I realized that because of that, I lacked vision in several areas. Without a vision, I might overlook and fail to grow certain areas of my life.

For example, Yvette and I just celebrated 11 wonderful years of marriage, yet I do not have a vision of what the next few years will bring in our relationship. One of the discussion topics was that a vision cannot be general. For example, I cannot just see myself being married to Yvette in 5 or 10 years. I need to see how we will continue to grow our marriage and lives together. I do have a vision that Yvette and I will be debt free, except for the house and car, by June 2011. That came from a sermon last June when they handed out paper credit cards and challenged everyone to set a goal. I have carried mine, tattered and all, with “Debt Free June 2011” written on the back since that day. Every time Yvette and I make a purchase, I try to keep that vision in mind.

I reached out to Megan, my daughter, yet I do not have a vision for what I our relationship to be like. This scares me because I love and miss her, but I know that time and distance will have a bearing on what happens.

I see myself going back to school, Texas State specifically, in September to begin my Master’s degree. That vision drives me to study for my GRE. Now, this leads to the problem where I need to translate my vision into action. I have the drive to study, yet I do not do it as often as I should.

I enjoy and am very comfortable in my current job. The problem is that I see myself in the same position 5 years from now. On the other hand, I do have a vision for my staff and where I would like to see them grow in the next five year. Here is the conflicting problem. I am growing them to fill my position, the one I still see myself in.

I do see myself responding more with the Kyle Volunteer Fire Department, but I do not see an operational officer position in my future. Yvette asks me about it sometimes. My response to her is that there is a difference running into a fire versus sending someone else into a fire or another dangerous situation.

Finally, I have a vision that God wants me to do more with the church. My hesitation is that I don’t have a direction. I also can’t see myself being able to stand side-by-side with the other men, non-pastors, that I have been looking up to in the church; Raul and Alex. My pastors have talked about not having to be a perfect person, but I sure would like to do better.