june's “extra mile” volunteer award goes to the sensational elle! she served every week on a team for almost three years! she's the vocal team leader for detonate and sings and plays on the music band. elle is the ultimate go-to girl, she's so reliable, faithful and the most amazing model of a volunteer! thanks for all you do!

what would be the first thing that you would do if you won the lottery? fly me and my family to the dominican republic

if i came to your home and looked in the fridge, what would i find? olives and strawberries

if you had to have one less finger, what would it be and why? yikes...i guess my right pinky finger because it's the one i use least when i play instruments. the other ones can make up for the little guy.

what is one thing about you that not a lot of people know, but you wish they did? i'm very fond of dark chocolate... anyone can get me some any time they want and i won't be angry at all!

if you could only take three things with you on a deserted island what would they be and why? foley (because he's flippin mcgiver - and of course is very lovely to be around), ipod (gotta have music) and my guitar (best way to get good at it, right?)

jelly beans or pickles? pickles, please (but not the sweet kind)

that was ps jurgens comment after reading through the questions that the girls had written for the panel at cherish relationship jazz. this time it was men in the hot seat! we had a panel of six guys of all different ages and walks of life who were there to answer any questions the girls could throw at them. and there were some doozies...of course lots of questions about sex, whats your favorite feature on a girl, do you like it when a girl is forward and asks you out, how do i get you to do something around the house without nagging, what do i do when a guy wants to date me but doesn't want anything to do with my kids, etc...the men brought the house down. they had practical and informative (and hilarious) answers about the 'mystery that is man.'

ps jurgen and ps andrew looking over the questions before the inquisition :)

"johnny and the aussie" rocked 'hard to handle' by the black crows.



ps jurgen got serenaded by 150 women for his birthday.

briana and becky gave away about a million presents!

thanks to our panel- ps jurgen, ps andrew, greg, mike, ben and jon for your willingness to go there and answer our questions! it was highly educational :) and super fun!

he thought he was off camera when we were filming the preview...

nathan a'bell is back from running the 100 mile race in wyoming for project m.a.d. here's the update...

so after 52 miles, the officials pulled you out of the race, even though you would have kept going! how did you feel? i felt terrible, part of me didn't care what they said and i wanted to just keep going. i didn't want to let the kids down or myself for that matter. my main concern was the ongoing nose bleeds and not being able to stomach anything which is not good when you're dehydrated and low on fuel, i just didn't want to give in and live with the defeat, but i had no choice.

up to the 52 mile mark, what was the hardest moment? the hardest moment was actually, after 30 miles i had something going wrong with my left leg and had an excruciating pain in my left knee after i had stoped for a few minutes to refuel. it went away but then after that, every time i stopped running even for a minute, the pain came back for about 15 minutes when i would start again and hurt so much that it felt like someone was hitting me in the knee with an ice pick with every step. that was mentally draining.

the photos of the terrain look ridiculous!!...was this a lot more difficult than other races you’ve done? ridiculous is an under statement. the first ascent was just over ten miles long and it was pretty steep, the second main ascent was almost as long but even steeper and i was almost on hands and knees at a few points. the descents were just as bad as going up, they were so steep that after running down for five miles or so each time, your legs were like jelly. we were running through knee deep snow on top of the mountains, through rivers and ankle deep mud. the scenery was amazing and i was truly in amazement of gods creation. it was much harder than the two other 50 milers that I have done by far.

in this photo of you listening to your ipod...what were you listening to? i was listening to hillsong united for quite a while and also a mix of heavy metal and rock music like the foo fighters, spiderbait, cutless, metallica, smashing pumpkins, creed, led zepplin, blink 182 and living end, to name a few. but most of the time i was enjoying the sounds of gods amazing creation.

so going forward now...are you thinking about tackling the race again? i would be lying if i said i wasn't thinking about it. it has been on my mind every day since. its funny cause everyone says how well i did but to me i don't get why they say that. i guess i just think on a different level and have such higher expectations of myself, i think it would torture me if i didn't try again and complete what i set out to do.

anything else you want us to know? don't really have anything else to say, i just hope that people will be compelled to find their own passion to what god has called them to do and make a diference in a world that needs god and to be loved.

if you have any questions about project m.a.d. or want to give to the cause you can email us.

we are proud to announce that the “extra mile” volunteer award for the month of may goes to TIM! he is married to the beautiful julie and has been serving as an a+ (every week) team member for over year in the first impressions team as an usher and team leader in the parking crew.

we love tim! he is 100% reliable, fills in wherever is needed. god’s house is built on people who are passionate about it and link themselves to the vision in practical ways. tim you and your family are amazing...thanks you for all you do!

what would be the first thing that you would do if you won the lottery? pay off some debt!!...i probably should have said tithe.

if i came to your home and looked in the fridge, what would I find? baby food and a lot of different sauces that should be thrown away.

what is your craziest high school memory? i don't know about crazy, but one of my favorite memories was during baseball season. our team was down to the last out and the game was tied. i was at bat and there was a guy on second. with two strikes, i hit the ball right past the pitchers head and he missed it, and the guy on second scored. and as i was running to first base my dad was jumping up and down. he hopped over to me and we were hugging and bouncing around like little kids on the playground.

what is your favorite breakfast food? eggs benedict, or is it pancakes, or is it french toast?...

what is one thing about you that not a lot of people know, but you wish they did? i don't have any secrets i don't think.

we have some super fun people in the swivel chair this month for kidz church! this is jiavani and ken (hanging out with the monkeys, frank and mimi :) from the kidz church worship band!

what do you like most about kidz church?
jia: the monkeys
ken: seeing kids smile
frank: bananas

what kinds of critters are you afraid of?
jia: my little brothers
ken: spiders

what do you want to be when you grow up?
jia: natalie williams
ken: a big daddy
mimi: a supermodel

what are your favorite snacks?
jIa: peanut butter and jelly
ken: fruit rollups

what is your favorite song?
ken: anything by hannah montana
frank: uh?

what always makes you smile?
jia: the word caucus
frank: people slipping on banana peels

what is your favorite cartoon?
jia: popeye
ken: tom and jerry

angela (top right) is an absolutely beautiful girl who is part of ccc. she and her husband matt are total all stars...he runs sound on the worship and creative arts team and she's involved in kidz church. BUT when we heard about what angela does monday-friday we HAD to tell you about it. she is a real-life modern day hero!

she works as the bilingual child life specialist at rady's children's hospital focusing on the developmental and emotional needs of children within the hospital. her job is to provide medical and therapeutic play to familiarize children with equipment, get them ready for procedures, and make the hospital stay easier emotionally.

what was your first job? my first job ever was working at a tree farm, but my first job in the child life area is my current position at rady's children's hospital

when you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up? i've always wanted to work with kids my entire life, but what I wanted to do varied from a teacher to a child psychologist

what do you love most about working there? definitely the children and the families. it is amazing to see their resilience, joy in life and ability to play despite the circumstances

what is the hardest part about your job? seeing people suffer, especially children, is the most difficult

what is your most embarrassing moment? my most embarrassing moment happened as an intern at children's orange county. i am prone to fainting when i am tired and hungry and standing for a long period of time. i was in the emergency department, providing distraction for a kiddo getting stitches in his forehead. they were finally done and the doctor was beginning to clean up and i suddenly felt dizzy...needless to say i ended up fainting, hitting my head on a door handle, and needing stitches myself :)

why do you love doing what you do? the kids are incredible. as a child life specialist, i have the opportunity to make a very scary or stressful situation easier for a child by giving them or their parents the information and support they need. i was terrified of medical situations growing up and i'd like to think that i can give kids and parents the tools they need to make it easier. i also love the nurses i work with, i can't speak highly enough of them, they are so supportive and are willing to try anything to help the child

what is the most rewarding thing about your job? gaining their trust and enabling them to successfully go through situations that had originally scared them

what has gotten you to where you are today?totally god, it was absolutely amazing how everything "fell into place" and how he used my passions to advance me in the field. i'd always loved spanish and it is what got me the internship and this job

we love you angela! you're incredible!