Dec

31

No Place Like Home For The Holidays

Post Category: Blog Posts, Family, Videos 

We just got back from Michigan after spending a week with family for Christmas. It was a fun and relaxing time.

Chloe & Emily got to spend time with both sets of Grandparents along with Aunts, Uncles & Cousins. They especially enjoyed playing with their baby cousin Giselle although Emily got a little bit of the jealousy bug. She asked me if I loved Giselle more than her. She also couldn’t understand how Grandma had enough love in her heart to love both of them the same. :-)
On Sunday we were back at Life Bridge. It was great to see friends we hadn’t seen for a couple of months and catch up with how they’re doing. One family we were close with is getting ready to move to California in January so it was good to connect with them before they left.

I hope you enjoyed your Christmas. This will by my last post for 2007 so I’ll see you on the other side in ‘08! Happy New Year!

Dec

31

Kodak V1253 Camera Review

Post Category: Blog Posts 

Kodak V1253It’s not often I write reviews for tech gadgets but I thought I would make an exception. Allow me to introduce you to the Kodak Easyshare V1253, a 12-megapixel camera that I had the opportunity to use over the holidays. What sets this camera apart isn’t its large image capacity - after all, exactly how far will the megapixel craze take us? Will we have 30 megapixel cameras by next Christmas?

What really impressed me was the identity crisis this camera has - it thinks it’s a camcorder too! I read on the box that this camera was also capable of capturing 30 frames-per-second widescreen video in High Definition (720p). I must admit that I was skeptical since every video I had ever seen captured on a digital camera was horribly inadequate for viewing on a television screen.

The video quality blew me away. I shot countless videos over Christmas and proceeded to integrate them into a DVD using iDVD. The end result was a video that impressed everyone who saw it. You could have fooled anyone into thinking it was shot on a HD video camcorder costing 3 times as much.

Which brings me to the final selling point for this camera - the price. I would have thought $220 for a 12MP camera was a good deal by itself but the ability to shoot great digital photos and high-definition video? Now that’s pretty amazing.

If you’re in the market for a great new camera/camcorder I would highly recommend this camera. Best Buy and Circuit City has them for $250 or more but the best deal I found was on Amazon. If you purchase make sure to click on the link below to purchase through my Amazon Affiliate account.

Kodak Easyshare V1253 12MP Digital Camera with 3 x Optical Zoom

Dec

27

Featured Artist: Priscilla Ahn

Post Category: Music Reviews 

I purchased a 5-song EP on iTunes before I left by a new artist named Priscilla Ahn. She’s got a whispy, melodic voices that relaxes you and draws you into the intricate lyrics of her songs.  Songs like “Dream” and “Are We Different” are standouts to me and remind me of another one of my favorite artists who’s been getting a lot more exposure lately, Ingrid Michaelson.

Check her out on iTunes or MySpace and let me know what you think.

Dec

25

Merry Christmas!

Post Category: Blog Posts, Family 

Merry Christmas from the Ruggles Family! We’re currently driving up to Michigan to visit family for the holidays. I’m blogging from my mobile phone while the kids are watching a movie on the laptop in the back seat - don’t you love technology?

Since we’re doing Christmas in Michigan today we celebrated our family Christmas yesterday. It was such a fun and relaxing day.

After opening presents we had our traditional family breakfast of crepes (with lots of cherries, peaches & whipped cream!) and then watched Santa Clause 3. Or at least Chloe, Emily and I did - Lisa fell asleep.

Enjoy your Christmas. Give your families extra hugs. Spend time counting your blessings and pray for those around the world who are less fortunate this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
- Brad, Lisa, Chloe & Emily Ruggles

Dec

23

Chloe & Emily Singing Christmas Carols

Post Category: Blog Posts, Family, Videos 

Tonight was our Christmas Eve since we’re going to be celebrating Christmas tomorrow so we decided to let the kids open a couple of small gifts from their stockings. Before they opened them they wanted to sing a Christmas Carol in front of the tree. Watch how Emily tries to sing along but with completely different words. :-)
(click here if you can’t see the video)

Dec

22

Battlestar Galactica

Post Category: Blog Posts, Movies & TV 

If you know me you know that I’m a big fan of good science fiction books and movies. For the increasing demand for quality sci-fi it surprises me that there’s not more movies or tv shows out there. I wrote a few months ago about what is still one my favorite short-lived television shows called “Firefly.” I just recently started watching another TV show that ranks pretty high up there with Firefly called Battlestar Galactica. I’m referring to the new sci-fi channel remake of the 70’s show by the same name which had quite a following of it’s own.

The first season arrived on DVD a few weeks ago. After burning through them in just under a week I rushed to buy season 2. It got here yesterday and I’ve already watched the first 4 episodes. I like sci-fi but the challenge is finding a movie or tv show with good acting, reasonably good effects and a decent storyline. Battlestar Galactica has all three. In a month or two I’ll be caught up to the current season (3) and be ready to watch the fourth and final season which begins in March.

If you like your fair share of space battles and are willing to overlook a few technical elements (wait a minute, can you hear explosions in space?) you’ll enjoy the show. It’s a big seller still on Amazon but you can still find used copies there like I did for a reasonable price.

Dec

22

New Blog Site Design

Post Category: Blog Posts 

I’ve finally had some time to overhaul my blog and clean things up a little. If you’re on the email subscription list make sure you check out the new design at www.bradruggles.com. As I’m able to better allocate my time I’ll have more time to keep everyone posted on what we’re up to - specifically in regards to our upcoming Church Plant.

Dec

21

Christmas in Chicago

Post Category: Blog Posts, Family 

I surprised Lisa with a trip to Chicago for Christmas! We were there Saturday through Tuesday of this past weekend. What a great time! We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful time of year to visit. They had just gotten several inches of snow so the city was beautiful. Our hotel was right off the “Magnificent Mile” (Michigan Avenue).

We did a lot of walking and saw some neat little shops and galleries. We ate at some great restaurants including Giordano’s (Chicago’s world famous stuffed pizza!) but our favorite was an Italian restaurant called Quartino. It was an authentic Italian experience unlike any restaurant I’ve been to. If you’re ever there you have to try this place!

Here’s a few pictures from our trip.

(click here if you can’t see the pictures)

Dec

21

Flat World Opportunities

Post Category: Blog Posts, Church, Church Planting, Culture 

I’ve been listening to a book on CD called “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. The basic premise is that our world, originally discovered to be round by Columbus, is becoming more and more “flat” every day. Our flat world is allowing our cultures, technology, science and economies to interact with others around the world as easily as they can next door. It’s a fascinating read that explains a lot of the trends towards outsourcing and global markets we’ve been seeing in recent years.

What opportunities does this present to us as Christians? If you remember, Jesus’ last directive to his followers was to carry the life-changing message of the gospel “to the ends of the earth.” Because of the flattening forces at work in our world today we are able to fulfill that commission in ways many never thought possible.

We can now email and video-chat with missionaries and pastors on the other side of the planet as easily as we can sit down with someone in a coffee shop. Church planters can seek advice and council from experienced church leaders through online message boards and forums. Collaborations on best practices and the future of the church take place on a daily basis through countless blogs. If you want to listen to solid biblical teaching it’s as easy as downloading a church’s podcast in iTunes or watching a live video stream of their service on their web site.

The forces that are flattening our world don’t only benefit free market forces and the global economy. They are already having a huge impact on the advancement of God’s kingdom here on the earth. It’s easy to get discouraged by all the crap we see on the news or read in the paper. But I honestly believe that we are a privileged generation. We have a unique opportunity to take advantage of the tools at our disposal to share God’s love with others. We have been placed on this “flat” earth for such a time as this (Esther 4:14).

Dec

20

Our “Elf” Dance

Post Category: Blog Posts, Family, Videos 

Check out our Holiday “Elf” Dance here. It takes a few minutes to load but it’s worth the wait. Merry Christmas! :-)

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