Personality Tests and Why They're Important

So lately I've been seeing a lot of these lately....

Which one are you? Comment below!

My 33rd Birthday Vacation

Hey everyone thanks for tuning back in. Took me awhile to post about this, and it took me awhile to post in general. I've just been so busy with school, church, work, and also just figuring myself out. All that to say, I sorely needed a break. Luckily, for my birthday we were finally able to get out of town to 1) celebrate and 2) really reset my brain and my heart. So Charlene and I decided to getaway in San Diego! Shoutout to +DoubleTree by Hilton in Del Mar for making our vacation super relaxing. Their rooms are super comfy and we took full advantage of their resort style pool area~! Anyways here are some pics:

How To Deal With Change

So this past week, in getting a fever pitch created for Comic-Con, Marvel announced BIG changes to the Avengers empire. Also, this week our church had to deal with a BIG change which also has personal ramifications for me. Change can be disarming for anyone, and BIG changes can be downright nauseating. How one deals with change in a transitional phase of life can be determine much, but what does the Bible say about how to deal with the change?

You many know most of the Avengers in this pic, but introducing the new Superior Iron Man, Female Thor, and Sam Wilson (ex-Falcon), the new Captain America.

Superheroes and Bullying

Has it already been a month since I posted? Wow. Well this last month has been a pretty eventful one being busy with church activities (VBS, speaking for one retreat in San Diego, and my own youth group retreat ending just last Friday). Finally, all of my busy summer ministry activities are over. Praise the Lord for His many mercies shining His love on many, while providing me and Mrs. Nerd the strength to endure.

I also spent a substantial chunk of time away from +Undercity Comics (Uptown Whittier) as a result of my business and while I was gone I got to thinking about superheroes and what makes them popular. I think one of the big reasons why we like superheroes is because we like to fantasize which superhero we would be or which super power we would have. But I think another reason why we like superheroes is because they often times rescue us from troublesome situations. Yes there are the natural disasters that they might be able to prevent, but I am more referring to the rescuing of one who is unable to defend themselves. I remember growing up, being picked on for not being the right color, not being the right shape, and not having the right facial features, and just thinking "If only my neighborhood friendly Spider-Man were flying past this situation he would surely rescue me from these bullies."

Wouldn't it be nice to have someone to get you out of situations like this?

Nerd Life: New Job, New Opportunities to Bless Others

So I got a new part time job and I started yesterday. And it's at...Undercity Comics! Actually at Undercity, Too which is our brand new store in Uptown Whittier. I've always wanted to work in a comic book store, and since I've been a customer for the past few years and I needed to start making money for all of my hobbies, when I was presented to the opportunity to work with the owners, I was super stoked. Praise God because Mrs. Nerd and I could always use a couple extra dollars and chiefly because I have another opportunity to glorify Christ who loves. So as a comic book lover, I will be loving on others who also love comic books. Here's the virtual tour:

The store front, which you should see at night with the LED's

Nerd Life: Appreciating the Small Things

"12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God."

Ecclesiastes 3

This morning I had two instances where I was able to capture the moment and just appreciate everything about them.

1. I was standing in line at the coffee shop smelling the roasted coffee, hearing Counting Crows, "Long December" in the background and thinking, "I love this song, and I haven't heard it in awhile." 
2. A friend and I were walking around campus and ended up sitting near an open field of beautiful green grass being cut by a riding lawn mower and smelling the cut grass while feeling the cool breeze and it reminded me of my days in Georgia and my favorite movie Forrest Gump.

Twas a beautiful day...

Wondercon 2014: Day 3 (Easter Day!)

The third day of Wondercon was Easter Day so we started off the day at the convention center late, but for good reason. Easter commemorates the day Jesus was resurrected and therefore had be victorious over sin and death for eternity. So we start off with some pictures from church, but end with just a bit more swag.

Our elementary schoolers

Wondercon 2014: Mark Waid

Today my showcase is on Eisner award winning writer for my favorite comic Mark Waid. Mark writes the stories for Daredevil and the Indestructible Hulk (which is now just "Hulk"). His autograph was the very first thing that Mrs. Nerd and I went for when we got to Wondercon on Saturday afternoon. He wasn't there on the day before but it was scheduled for him to appear Saturday so when we got to his station, he wasn't there yet, but there was already a line starting to create a fire hazard. So in anticipation for his arrival, we jumped in line and waited for about 45 minutes. 

Mark Waid and I at his signing booth. He loves his fans!

Wondercon 2014: Day 2

Day 2 of Wondercon was mainly just browsing and going to panels. We started late because I came home late from a church staff meeting, and we also had to take a break in the afternoon so I could do some impromptu Easter work for church. But still some good stuff. Highlights: going to get my Daredevil and Hulk comics signed by Mark Waid (tune in tomorrow for that post), going to the panel for the Scarlett Johansson movie Lucy with director Luc Besson (director of Fifth Element and Leon the Professional), and the Marvel NOW! panel with Mark Waid and Kelly Sue DeConnick.

The scene outside of the exhibit hall Saturday afternoon when Mrs. Nerd and I got there. 

Wondercon 2014: Kelly Sue DeConnick

This year was our second year at Wondercon and since I didn't want to be such a noob (don't worry noobs, Jesus still loves you!), I was determined to get some autographs on my comics by people who have worked on my favorite comics. During day 1 (Friday) of Wondercon, I was able to meet Ms. Kelly Sue DeConnick! Kelly Sue (is it Kelly? or Kelly Sue? I'm from the south so usually when it sounds like it's said together, it's said together) has been writing one of my favorite Marvel NOW! comics, Captain Marvel, and she's really done an amazing job of making Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) into an inspirational figure for ladies and comic book fans in general. I was super nervous since this was my first comic book signing ever, but I just tried to be super humble. And she was super nice! It was just an absolute pleasure to meet her and finally being able to put a face to the name of the writer to one of my favorite heroes in the Marvel universe just made me want to support her work more. 

Kelly Sue and I after she signed my comics and I forgot I wanted a picture so I waited in line again for this one :( such a noob.

Wondercon 2014: Day 1

Wondercon 2014 was just this past weekend for everyone living in Anaheim, and Mrs. Nerd and I were there also! Praise God it was in Anaheim this year again. It was an awesome way to spend Easter weekend and kick off spring break. I will have posts on Wondercon going up all week. Friday was mostly an exclusives buying day (companies will release swag dedicated solely for that con that you can't get anywhere else), as well as a autograph getting day (I will have a separate post on those). Enjoy!

Our bag that contained our program and badge for Wondercon

This was the day before all the madness ensued.

Nerd Life: Earthquake!

As you all may know, La Habra, Calfornia was host to a 5.1 scale earthquake on Friday night. To put it in perspective of how intense it was, the last "Big One" in Southern California was the 1994 Northridge earthquake which was a 6.7, so this one may not have been as strong, but was still pretty intense, so intense I was feeling aftershocks until yesterday. Mrs. Nerd and I live a couple miles from the epicenter, and even though I was 13 miles away teaching Bible study I could still feel it. Unfortunately, Mrs. Nerd was home and she felt the whole thing. She said it lasted about 20 seconds and eventually she was able to make it out of the apartment. Unfortunately, when she got back in the apartment, she saw that a bunch of my figurines and Gundams had fallen off of the shelves. Some parts were just loosed by the fall, but some had actually snapped and broken pieces. I got to see the damage when I got home and in the end was just too tired and distraught to put them back together. So for now I put them back in their respective boxes for a "reconstruction day".

from top to bottom: HG Dreissen, HG GM Sniper K9, HG Sengoku Astray, MG Sword Impulse, Mega Size Gundam AGE-2 Normal

Nerd Life: The Compton Initiative

This past Saturday some of our church members and I had a chance to go out to the city of Compton to serve the community through small beautification projects. We've been joining the Compton Initiative on their quarterly service days for the last few years and every time it has been a blessing to see just how much God works through the willingness of a few people (well 2-3 thousand to be exactish). Anyways, Sometimes it's houses, sometimes it's churches, and sometimes it's schools. In any case, the projects vary from cleaning, to painting and this past Saturday we were blessed to be able to paint a church in the community.

Nerd Life: Finally, a Vacation, Stay-cation, and a Retreat All Rolled Up Into One

This week was the week that I have been waiting for since half way through fall semester, a legitimate time to rest and relax. Last semester was filled with changes in job status for Mrs. Nerd and medical treatments amidst school and ministry. Even as winter vacation came, we were busy with getting the youth group kids ready for their Christmas program, finalizing the winter retreat, going to winter retreat, family functions (which sometimes tend to be more of a chore than something one does on vacation), New Year's Eve service, and finally the New Year's vision early morning worship (that's a mouthful even in my head). Which brought us to this week. Finally, true vacation, and I did not hesitate to retreat myself from the world, praise the Lord. Here were a few things I enjoyed this week:

Thanks to Young and Elise for this Star Wars edition Moleskin! So thankful to the Lord for thoughtful friends.

Nerd Life: Date Night in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Last night was date night. Mrs. Nerd and I have been quite busy with life this semester so far and with her starting to work again, we've had to be a lot more intentional about our times together, because honestly it's been tough. So what's a nerd to do?

Did you know that in Japan this movie is marketed for the love story and not sci-fi?

Awww jeeeyuh. The greatest love story in a galaxy far, far away. So we had some Chipotle, she built her RG Char's Zaku, and I was working on my first MG, the AGE-2 Dark Hound. Now that's a stay home relaxing date night, NERD STYLE.