On March 6th, 2009 we are supposed to meet the next member of our eternal family. We have recently learned that we are expecting a little girl and it is less than four months away until she comes into the world. Kayleigh Raena Lauck is expected to be delivered on March 6th, 2009.
This is a dream come true for us. There is nothing more that my wife Amanda could possibly wish for. We are so excited about this news! When there is more information it will be updated here as well as any pictures.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Chapter 1
Ryden swiftly leapt over debris strewn across the empty back alley as he sprinted down the moonlit pathway. He had barely begun to break a sweat as he easily evaded the guards sent to capture the mysterious thieves who had been assailing the city as of late. He had always been at the opposite end of the city the other thieves were working, but this night he happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and caught the guard’s attention. As he left the sight of the last of the three guards he felt the excitement of getting away fill his emotions.
-Finally, almost there- thought Ryden as he swiftly turned the corner. Then out of the darkness a guard ambushed, knocking him to the ground with the large tower shield he held in his left hand. The air left Ryden’s lungs and he felt a sense of panic as he began to get to his feet.
“Bout time someone stopped the shadow thieves that’s lurked these alleys, don’t think no one doubted it would be me neither,” uttered the towering guard with a hint of arrogant laughter. His rough accent was familiar, and Ryden didn’t need to see his face to know who the man was.
Just about everyone in the city knew Biunden and always tried to avoid him. He had a way of chasing away other people. Perhaps it was the low standards of hygiene, or perhaps it was his condescending attitude. Tonight it was both for Ryden, as well as several others.
As Biunden began to step closer he unsheathed his large claymore. Ryden crouched on the ground recovering enough to be able to stand and he made sure his mask was still in place. He studied the large man and as he watched he noticed that Biunden had injured himself with that shield attack. His arm held the shield weakly and allowed it to suspend slightly.
The dull armor Biunden wore was scratched and dented showing the signs of many battles; the guard himself did not show the same signs of such weathering. Standing about six and a half feet tall; Biunden was not only taller, but much more portly than Ryden who was slender and stood just less than six feet himself. He had dark features, bags under his dark brown eyes and thick black eyebrows. His beard was unkempt and tangled as was his shoulder length shock of hair. The guard held up his barrel chested stature in a very scornful manner. Ryden observed his aloof attitude and thought little of it.
“With the way you run I’m surprised you fell down so easy, but I guess my power surprises myself sometimes too.” He gloated.
Ryden smirked as he thought of how great it would be to show the guard how skilled he truly was, but he couldn’t risk the chance of blowing his disguise in such a fight. As the guard approached him, Ryden finally stood, threw the sack of stolen goods over his shoulder, and made sure once more that his mask was in place and his disguise still complete.
The guard held up his claymore as he approached his unarmed victim. Ryden was silent and stood in place as he observed the oncoming assailant, -this shouldn’t be too tough- he thought to himself. The sword lunged taking the bulky arm of Biunden with it. Swiftly side stepping the wayward blade Ryden thrust his knee into Biunden’s ribs, and as he doubled over Ryden slammed his elbow down upon the back of the guard’s neck. He collapsed and barked loudly with pain then Ryden took his small opportunity to flee the scene before other guards came to their comrade’s rescue. Ducking down the alley and through a small corridor, he turned sharply and felt that he had finally eluded the king’s guards.
Making sure his mask was still secure and he could not be recognized; Ryden wiped the sweat off his brow. He stuck closely to the shadows and back alleys as he made his way through the bereft marketplace. He could hear the noise of activity towards the castle gates and figured the other thieves ran into some guards of their own. As he stepped out of the safety of the dark alleyway Ryden stopped suddenly and was shocked to see two guards staring at him from across the walkway. The two guards basically mirrored each other, both holding small bucklers in the left hand, and large broadswords in the right.
“OY; you’re not getting away tonight; the captain has offered a huge reward to whoever captures you and we are going to get It.” the guard on the left scoffed as he began to circle towards Ryden.
He gave it some thought, and then with a deeper and rougher than normal voice to disguise himself he replied, “Well if the captain offered a reward then which of you two will actually get it?”
The guard on the right glanced over at met the uncertain gaze of the guard on the left then replied, “Cap’n has already told us, all who are involved in the capture will be promoted. So we aint gotta decide nothing, except whether or not we bring you to him dead or alive!”
Ryden paused for a brief moment while contemplating the guard’s remarks and understood his clever ruse was not going to work. Before he could make another move the left guard sprung to life toward Ryden with sword held high. The guard swung downward hoping to strike the thief’s shoulder, and just as he would have been hit, Ryden suddenly dashed out of the way towards the dark building to his right. As he watched the attacking guard being carried away with the weight of his attempted blow, the right guard advanced towards their prey. Knowing he didn’t have much time to deal with both guards before their reinforcements arrived Ryden decided to take the offensive and dispose of these two quickly. Straightening his mask, he dashed towards the guard catching him by surprise, and easily disarmed him by a quick kick to the gut and wrenching his arm in a very painful way. Seeing an opportunity open up before his eyes, he pounced upon the first guard while he was recovered from his clumsy attack and landed a lunging kick to the helmeted temple of the guard.
Upon noticing his comrade being knocked unconscious the second guard moved quickly to recover his blade. Ryden saw the movement and headed off the guard’s attempt and tackled him to the ground. Not pausing for a moment, he grabbed the shield the guard had dropped and bashed it into the guard’s helmet several times. Wary of the noise it was making he moved his target from the armored head to the unprotected neck and struck the guard’s larynx causing him to begin to choke and not be able to breathe for a brief moment. As the guard coughed and struggled for air, Ryden was again on his feet and moving towards the outer edge of town.
Moving to the rooftops instead of risking other encounters in the street, he slowed his pace and kept his ears open to any movement. Finally deciding it might be okay to move to lower ground Ryden jumped from one building top to a brick wall that was slightly lower than the roof. He glanced around for anything that might cause another delay then hopped from the wall to the pavement below. He moved quickly down the alleyways and then began to hear some kind of slow music.
Ryden slowly crept through the shadows towards the sound and witnessed a strange scene. Lying atop a high brick wall he saw a man playing a sort of stringed instrument. Curious as to who this man was and what kind of instrument he used, Ryden paused in the darkness and listened for a moment.
Noticing the instrument was made of dark wood and had eight strings in an interesting alignment, there were four sets of two strings across the long fretted neck and body. It was a bit smaller than a traditional guitar and a lot shorter, but still large towards one end and quite thin towards the other but did not have the standard incurved sides. He knew it was a type of guitar, but one he had never seen before. He had seen plenty of musicians toting around the usual six string wooden instrument, but he had never seen one quite like this. Interested, he almost went to speak with the man but remembered what he was doing and thought better of it.
Turning around and heading back towards his previous direction he had began to ponder the previous events of the evening. “I need to stop playing around so much; one of these days they might actually catch me.” He thought out loud as he began to slow himself to a walk.
“There isn’t much they would be able to do if they did catch you, but of course you know that better than I!”
Ryden stopped dead; he looked to the crevice between two small buildings for the voice that had startled him.
A tall slender, fair looking old man came into view. He slowly slid from the shadows holding his ivory cane that possessed a bright green stone at the head. Clothed in forest green, and dull gray robes that covered his entire body with the exception of only his hands which clutched to the cane in front of him; the stranger lifted his head just enough to catch the light on his bearded face that hid beneath the green hood. Ryden beheld the weathered face that was creased with lines and withered with age. Bright blue eyes peered into his and gazed deep within, and suddenly Ryden felt very self conscious. He knew the eyes were measuring him. He also noticed thin upraised eyebrows and strong jaw and cheek bones containing a thin crooked smile. Finally Ryden recognized him as Thenir; the kingdoms local wisdom keeper.
He knew wisdom keepers were very rare these days, and were a sign of the past glory the kingdom once held. He had been told many variations of stories about the fabled figures and believed only a fraction of them. It was believed only they knew the worlds most interesting and dangerous secrets and they very rarely shared more information than was needed. Once when he was a child he listened to a story talking about a time when wisdom keepers came together and used their sorcerer skills to defeat an ancient evil. Ryden never believed in magic too much so he counted the story as an old wives tale. Most had believed that these individuals were immortals that lived forever, and that is how they knew so much about the history of the world. He tried not to believe these absurd rumors, but now that he stood face to face with Thenir, something inside him told him that he should believe the stories.
A small fear welled up inside Ryden and his heart began thumping inside his throat. Wisdom keepers were believed to be powerful beings and nobody had purposely got on their bad side. No one had actually seen anything that would prove this theory, and Ryden hoped he would not be the first.
He had a feeling that Thenir knew exactly who he was and what he was doing, but did not want to chance revealing his identity anyway. He looked at Thenir a moment then chose not to speak, but to fly into the night instead. He sprinted for several minutes and finally shook his head with disappointment at the night’s events. Ryden looked up as he had reached his destination, a small cottage with three windows and a small door on the outskirts of the city.
The weather and years past had been cruel to this disgrace of a building. All of the hinges were rusted and always creaked when they moved; the wood itself had rot and was a shameful reflection of its former glory. The windows were all streaked and barely translucent through the murky surface, and the roof showed signs of leakage as it seemed to barely hold together. The estate mirrored the other small buildings in the area and it was obvious this was in the more run down part of the kingdom. Most of the buildings in the area were inhabited by older villagers who couldn’t work any longer and moved off of the kingdoms farms to be within the protection of the city walls. These buildings had remained because the King wanted to make a place for all of his subjects and not just wealthy ones. The small structures were within the outer city walls but the King’s guard barely visited the area.
-Home- thought Ryden as a peaceful calm came over his body, his muscles finally relaxed and he sighed with relief. He silently slipped through the shadows and into the small house without making any sounds; which surprised him since the hinges and wood were in such a terrible condition. Darkness had overwhelmed the kingdom as midnight had engulfed the silent city, and for the first time that night not one soul had occupied a single street or pathway within the sleeping city outside the ominous castle of Drankor.
-Finally, almost there- thought Ryden as he swiftly turned the corner. Then out of the darkness a guard ambushed, knocking him to the ground with the large tower shield he held in his left hand. The air left Ryden’s lungs and he felt a sense of panic as he began to get to his feet.
“Bout time someone stopped the shadow thieves that’s lurked these alleys, don’t think no one doubted it would be me neither,” uttered the towering guard with a hint of arrogant laughter. His rough accent was familiar, and Ryden didn’t need to see his face to know who the man was.
Just about everyone in the city knew Biunden and always tried to avoid him. He had a way of chasing away other people. Perhaps it was the low standards of hygiene, or perhaps it was his condescending attitude. Tonight it was both for Ryden, as well as several others.
As Biunden began to step closer he unsheathed his large claymore. Ryden crouched on the ground recovering enough to be able to stand and he made sure his mask was still in place. He studied the large man and as he watched he noticed that Biunden had injured himself with that shield attack. His arm held the shield weakly and allowed it to suspend slightly.
The dull armor Biunden wore was scratched and dented showing the signs of many battles; the guard himself did not show the same signs of such weathering. Standing about six and a half feet tall; Biunden was not only taller, but much more portly than Ryden who was slender and stood just less than six feet himself. He had dark features, bags under his dark brown eyes and thick black eyebrows. His beard was unkempt and tangled as was his shoulder length shock of hair. The guard held up his barrel chested stature in a very scornful manner. Ryden observed his aloof attitude and thought little of it.
“With the way you run I’m surprised you fell down so easy, but I guess my power surprises myself sometimes too.” He gloated.
Ryden smirked as he thought of how great it would be to show the guard how skilled he truly was, but he couldn’t risk the chance of blowing his disguise in such a fight. As the guard approached him, Ryden finally stood, threw the sack of stolen goods over his shoulder, and made sure once more that his mask was in place and his disguise still complete.
The guard held up his claymore as he approached his unarmed victim. Ryden was silent and stood in place as he observed the oncoming assailant, -this shouldn’t be too tough- he thought to himself. The sword lunged taking the bulky arm of Biunden with it. Swiftly side stepping the wayward blade Ryden thrust his knee into Biunden’s ribs, and as he doubled over Ryden slammed his elbow down upon the back of the guard’s neck. He collapsed and barked loudly with pain then Ryden took his small opportunity to flee the scene before other guards came to their comrade’s rescue. Ducking down the alley and through a small corridor, he turned sharply and felt that he had finally eluded the king’s guards.
Making sure his mask was still secure and he could not be recognized; Ryden wiped the sweat off his brow. He stuck closely to the shadows and back alleys as he made his way through the bereft marketplace. He could hear the noise of activity towards the castle gates and figured the other thieves ran into some guards of their own. As he stepped out of the safety of the dark alleyway Ryden stopped suddenly and was shocked to see two guards staring at him from across the walkway. The two guards basically mirrored each other, both holding small bucklers in the left hand, and large broadswords in the right.
“OY; you’re not getting away tonight; the captain has offered a huge reward to whoever captures you and we are going to get It.” the guard on the left scoffed as he began to circle towards Ryden.
He gave it some thought, and then with a deeper and rougher than normal voice to disguise himself he replied, “Well if the captain offered a reward then which of you two will actually get it?”
The guard on the right glanced over at met the uncertain gaze of the guard on the left then replied, “Cap’n has already told us, all who are involved in the capture will be promoted. So we aint gotta decide nothing, except whether or not we bring you to him dead or alive!”
Ryden paused for a brief moment while contemplating the guard’s remarks and understood his clever ruse was not going to work. Before he could make another move the left guard sprung to life toward Ryden with sword held high. The guard swung downward hoping to strike the thief’s shoulder, and just as he would have been hit, Ryden suddenly dashed out of the way towards the dark building to his right. As he watched the attacking guard being carried away with the weight of his attempted blow, the right guard advanced towards their prey. Knowing he didn’t have much time to deal with both guards before their reinforcements arrived Ryden decided to take the offensive and dispose of these two quickly. Straightening his mask, he dashed towards the guard catching him by surprise, and easily disarmed him by a quick kick to the gut and wrenching his arm in a very painful way. Seeing an opportunity open up before his eyes, he pounced upon the first guard while he was recovered from his clumsy attack and landed a lunging kick to the helmeted temple of the guard.
Upon noticing his comrade being knocked unconscious the second guard moved quickly to recover his blade. Ryden saw the movement and headed off the guard’s attempt and tackled him to the ground. Not pausing for a moment, he grabbed the shield the guard had dropped and bashed it into the guard’s helmet several times. Wary of the noise it was making he moved his target from the armored head to the unprotected neck and struck the guard’s larynx causing him to begin to choke and not be able to breathe for a brief moment. As the guard coughed and struggled for air, Ryden was again on his feet and moving towards the outer edge of town.
Moving to the rooftops instead of risking other encounters in the street, he slowed his pace and kept his ears open to any movement. Finally deciding it might be okay to move to lower ground Ryden jumped from one building top to a brick wall that was slightly lower than the roof. He glanced around for anything that might cause another delay then hopped from the wall to the pavement below. He moved quickly down the alleyways and then began to hear some kind of slow music.
Ryden slowly crept through the shadows towards the sound and witnessed a strange scene. Lying atop a high brick wall he saw a man playing a sort of stringed instrument. Curious as to who this man was and what kind of instrument he used, Ryden paused in the darkness and listened for a moment.
Noticing the instrument was made of dark wood and had eight strings in an interesting alignment, there were four sets of two strings across the long fretted neck and body. It was a bit smaller than a traditional guitar and a lot shorter, but still large towards one end and quite thin towards the other but did not have the standard incurved sides. He knew it was a type of guitar, but one he had never seen before. He had seen plenty of musicians toting around the usual six string wooden instrument, but he had never seen one quite like this. Interested, he almost went to speak with the man but remembered what he was doing and thought better of it.
Turning around and heading back towards his previous direction he had began to ponder the previous events of the evening. “I need to stop playing around so much; one of these days they might actually catch me.” He thought out loud as he began to slow himself to a walk.
“There isn’t much they would be able to do if they did catch you, but of course you know that better than I!”
Ryden stopped dead; he looked to the crevice between two small buildings for the voice that had startled him.
A tall slender, fair looking old man came into view. He slowly slid from the shadows holding his ivory cane that possessed a bright green stone at the head. Clothed in forest green, and dull gray robes that covered his entire body with the exception of only his hands which clutched to the cane in front of him; the stranger lifted his head just enough to catch the light on his bearded face that hid beneath the green hood. Ryden beheld the weathered face that was creased with lines and withered with age. Bright blue eyes peered into his and gazed deep within, and suddenly Ryden felt very self conscious. He knew the eyes were measuring him. He also noticed thin upraised eyebrows and strong jaw and cheek bones containing a thin crooked smile. Finally Ryden recognized him as Thenir; the kingdoms local wisdom keeper.
He knew wisdom keepers were very rare these days, and were a sign of the past glory the kingdom once held. He had been told many variations of stories about the fabled figures and believed only a fraction of them. It was believed only they knew the worlds most interesting and dangerous secrets and they very rarely shared more information than was needed. Once when he was a child he listened to a story talking about a time when wisdom keepers came together and used their sorcerer skills to defeat an ancient evil. Ryden never believed in magic too much so he counted the story as an old wives tale. Most had believed that these individuals were immortals that lived forever, and that is how they knew so much about the history of the world. He tried not to believe these absurd rumors, but now that he stood face to face with Thenir, something inside him told him that he should believe the stories.
A small fear welled up inside Ryden and his heart began thumping inside his throat. Wisdom keepers were believed to be powerful beings and nobody had purposely got on their bad side. No one had actually seen anything that would prove this theory, and Ryden hoped he would not be the first.
He had a feeling that Thenir knew exactly who he was and what he was doing, but did not want to chance revealing his identity anyway. He looked at Thenir a moment then chose not to speak, but to fly into the night instead. He sprinted for several minutes and finally shook his head with disappointment at the night’s events. Ryden looked up as he had reached his destination, a small cottage with three windows and a small door on the outskirts of the city.
The weather and years past had been cruel to this disgrace of a building. All of the hinges were rusted and always creaked when they moved; the wood itself had rot and was a shameful reflection of its former glory. The windows were all streaked and barely translucent through the murky surface, and the roof showed signs of leakage as it seemed to barely hold together. The estate mirrored the other small buildings in the area and it was obvious this was in the more run down part of the kingdom. Most of the buildings in the area were inhabited by older villagers who couldn’t work any longer and moved off of the kingdoms farms to be within the protection of the city walls. These buildings had remained because the King wanted to make a place for all of his subjects and not just wealthy ones. The small structures were within the outer city walls but the King’s guard barely visited the area.
-Home- thought Ryden as a peaceful calm came over his body, his muscles finally relaxed and he sighed with relief. He silently slipped through the shadows and into the small house without making any sounds; which surprised him since the hinges and wood were in such a terrible condition. Darkness had overwhelmed the kingdom as midnight had engulfed the silent city, and for the first time that night not one soul had occupied a single street or pathway within the sleeping city outside the ominous castle of Drankor.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
My NFL Power Rankings
Here is a list of my NFL power rankings after week 2. This list is solely based on my opinion and few statistics are considered when compiling this list.
1. Dallas Cowboys (3-0)
2. New York Giants (3-0)
3. Philadelphia Eagles (2-1)
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1)
5. Green Bay Packers (2-1)
6. Tennessee Titans (3-0)
7. Buffalo Bills (3-0)
8. San Diego Chargers (1-2)
9. Denver Broncos (3-0)
10. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2)
11. Indianapolis Colts (1-2)
12. Washington Redskins (2-1)
13. New England Patriots (2-1)
14. Carolina Panthers (2-1)
15. Minnesota Vikings (1-2)
16. Baltimore Ravens (2-0)
17. Arizona Cardinals (2-1)
18. Chicago Bears (1-2)
19. New Orleans Saints (1-2)
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1)
21. San Francisco 49ers (2-1)
22. New York Jets (1-2)
23. Seattle Seahawks (1-2)
24. Atlanta Falcons (2-1)
25. Miami Dolphins (1-2)
26. Houston Texans (0-2)
27. Cleveland Browns (0-3)
28. Cincinnati Bengals (0-3)
29. Oakland Raiders (1-2)
30. Detroit Lions (0-3)
31. Kansas City Chiefs (0-3)
32. St. Louis Rams (0-3)
These rankings are how I feel the teams rank after week 3 and right at this moment. This does not reflect how I feel the season will end.
1. Dallas Cowboys (3-0)
2. New York Giants (3-0)
3. Philadelphia Eagles (2-1)
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1)
5. Green Bay Packers (2-1)
6. Tennessee Titans (3-0)
7. Buffalo Bills (3-0)
8. San Diego Chargers (1-2)
9. Denver Broncos (3-0)
10. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2)
11. Indianapolis Colts (1-2)
12. Washington Redskins (2-1)
13. New England Patriots (2-1)
14. Carolina Panthers (2-1)
15. Minnesota Vikings (1-2)
16. Baltimore Ravens (2-0)
17. Arizona Cardinals (2-1)
18. Chicago Bears (1-2)
19. New Orleans Saints (1-2)
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1)
21. San Francisco 49ers (2-1)
22. New York Jets (1-2)
23. Seattle Seahawks (1-2)
24. Atlanta Falcons (2-1)
25. Miami Dolphins (1-2)
26. Houston Texans (0-2)
27. Cleveland Browns (0-3)
28. Cincinnati Bengals (0-3)
29. Oakland Raiders (1-2)
30. Detroit Lions (0-3)
31. Kansas City Chiefs (0-3)
32. St. Louis Rams (0-3)
These rankings are how I feel the teams rank after week 3 and right at this moment. This does not reflect how I feel the season will end.
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