The Atonement!!

I know this is totally not what I usually put on my blog, but it has been on my mind as of late. I have been into reading about what our brother Christ did for us by atoning for our sins. In my reading I have come across some very beautiful facts about the atonement that many of us probably really never even thought of, but they are of great importance. We know that when Christ was suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, that was for our sins and his suffering was so great that he bled from every pore. This is what I would think of when someone would mention the Atonement to me. Did it ever cross my mind that he wasn't only atoning for our sins, but our sorrows, sickness, pain, etc. and also the sorrows, pain, sadness, etc. that we cause others when we sin. So in reality EVERYTHING we ever experience in this life he has felt. So when we struggle or fall from the path of righteousness, we need to remember that Christ DOES understand how we are feeling and can help us as long as we ask. Next time you are sick, sad, in pain, having a bad day, mad at the driver in front of you, just remember if you pray to be comforted, Christ will be there and will know how you feel.
One other thought on the Atonement, and then I will get back to my posting of worldly things!! HAHA! When Christ was fasting and Satan was tempting him, it seems that Satan was really trying to get Christ to fall into temptation, and it must have been very hard to resist. Never had I thought, that this was nothing in comparison to how hard Satan must have been trying to cause the Savior to sin in the Garden of Gethsemane. I mean he was suffering beyond our comprehension, and Satan I'm sure knew this was his best chance at succeeding in his mission to get the Savior to fail his eternal mission.
So with all of this in mind, let us not forget that when we think we can't overcome something in our lives, that Christ is there and he will listen and help us through. He want's all of us to feel his influence in our lives, we just need to let him in!!

New Desktop Toys!!

So I needed a lamp for my desk at home and a pen holder, so I bought these beautiful pieces of car art for the desk since I am a car fanatic!! The lamp is made of aluminum and carbon fiber, and the up/down motion is controled by a coilover and the lamp is surrounded by what looks like a disk brake. The pen holder is made of an engine cylinder and it is beautiful!!

SAW VI WOOHOOO!!

http://www.saw6film.com/

Oh yeah it is that time of year again!! I love SAW!! Go and check it out and get yourself prepared for the goodness.....or is it badness!?! Wahahaha!

Chicago Trip!!

So we just returned from our annual trip to Chicago. It was a great time. We ate mucho pizza, had all kinds of great food and had Christie's favorite cake. We hit up the Sears Tower.....now called the Willis Tower (lame) and were able to go out on the new glass boxes at the top of the tower, where you look straight down!! It was awesome!! We also attended the Harry Potter exhibit that was in town and man the amount of work that goes into making the costumes and backgrounds and stuff is amazing. So needless to say we had a grrrrreat time!! If you want to see photos of some of the stuff we did go to http://www.madsenfam03.blogspot.com/ Christie will be posting pics tomorrow! I thought I would save the pics for her, since more people visit our family blog than mine......teardrop!

PEACE OUT

Tune Me Up!!!!

As some of you know, I have been waiting and waiting to have my ride "tuned." Well that day came just the other day, and it was a beautiful thing to behold for sure. The stock Mini Cooper S comes with the stats of 172 hp and 177 ft/lbs of torque. Now as most of us know the numbers that you get from the manufacturer are never quite what they say they are. So I'd say that my car actually started probably with something like 160-165 hp. So here is what all of my mods and the "tune" have gained me. My numbers are up to 226 hp and 256 ft/lbs of torque.
So needless to say I am freakin excited. The car is a whole new animal, and it totally rips now. Thanks to my new buddy Jan, you are the man!!

U.S. Open!!!

I have been way into tennis lately. Some of my neighbors and I have been getting up at 6 am to play doubles and sometimes we just play singles. It is extremely fun, and a great workout. Not only that, but it is US Open time. And even when I wasn't playing, I always watched the "Open." So now that my boy Roddick is out, here are the two players that I am cheering for.

Rafa Nadal, I want him to make it to the finals and take it to Federer!!
Melanie Oudin, she's 17 and has taken out 3 upper tier players. Today at 5pm Mountain Time she battles again and I will be watching!

Family Campout!! Vol. 4

And in the final posting of the Campout pics, I saved the sleeping bag pics and some cool headlamp night shots for all y'all!! I will be posting again soon concerning some of the upgrades on my car since the last time I posted on here. Peace!!