Thursday, July 29, 2010
The New Camera Is On Its Way!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Uncle Don...
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
On the Market...
Monday, July 26, 2010
3... 2... 1... JUMP!!!!
Shine Brilliantly...
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
A quote from Marianne Williamson
Saturday, July 24, 2010
One Red Arm
So you may be wondering what this One Red Arm thing is all about. Back in 1997 I was a senior at
We pulled another all nighter and made it to
Anyone who drives a VW bus knows that the most comfortable place to rest your left arm is on the door with the window rolled down. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wearing any sunscreen on our trip and my arm became very sunburned.
The next day, I looked in the mirror and was astonished at how unbalanced I looked with my One Red Arm. I kept sunscreen on my left arm all week but the rest of my body just couldn’t get tan / burnt enough to match the color of my left arm. I was known for the rest of the week as One Red Arm. I was also known as bald fat guy too but that story isn’t as interesting as this one. J
Monday, July 19, 2010
DownSizing or RightSizing
This has been a life long debate for me. I've always wanted to live life so I have fun all the time. When I was growing up, all I wanted to do was have fun, travel, be with friends, play volleyball, ski and enjoy doing stuff that most people don't get to do. I followed the intended path and went to college. In college I continued to enjoy life the way I wanted and it was fun. Never did I question where I was going or what I was doing. I was free to do what I wanted and when I wanted. During college I talked about going on a one year hiatus after graduation. I would move out West in my Van Van and settle somewhere amongst the mountains. Somewhere along the line, I was persuaded to take the road more traveled. I graduated and got a job and started losing my ambition to live a funfilled life with no regrets.
Money is a big factor in choices like these. I had a student loan that I needed to pay back, $3,000 plus of credit card debt (mostly from Spring Break 1997, but also from a new mountain bike), rent and a car payment. My monthly pay covered these with little to spare. From then on, I was stuck. All I could think about was working, advancing and trying to pay off that debt. Life would have been a LOT different had I not followed this path.
Make no mistake, I have no regrets for the decisions that I've made. I've learned a Lot. I've been married now for over 9 years, I've got three beautiful boys that I adore and a wife that is a handful but in a good way. I love her deeply and that will last forever.
This brings me to the next phase in my life. We've all got choices to make. We can choose to do what everyone else does or we can make a new path through the forest. With much discussion and thought, we've made a choice to break free from the norm. I no longer have an interest in having a nice house, nice lawn, or 3 bathrooms. I don't care what neighborhood I live in. I don't care if my car is a certain horse power or has the latest stereo system. I don't care about what society thinks of me. I am going to live my life the way I want to and on my terms. I should probably say that we are going to do this, as a family, to make the most of our lives and our time together. On September 1st, we will start the process of downsizing. Maybe rightsizing is a better term. A big mortgage doesn't have a place in our lives any more. Yes, we are going to put the house up for sale. I don't know how long this will take, but we are going to try. I am hopeful that it will be less than a year before we sell it.
This is a big change for my family. The boys are on board, so that will make is easier. This is only step one of the process. Once the house is gone, we'll make some other choices that will better our lives by decreasing the burden on our collective wallet. For now, that is all I can tell you. I'll keep this blog updated on our progress and hopefully our success. God is good and we are doing this in his name. I pray that we can keep true to ourselves and our God and make this happen. Living life to its fullest to the glory of God; what could be better than that? I know He will help us achieve this dream. Thanks for reading...
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tour De France 2010
I have a very limited TV Channel lineup and it doesn't include the Versus channel. So, at lunch time, I head over to the Excercise room at work and ride a stationary bike while watching the tour on one of the many TVs there. It is actually quite fun riding while watching others race on the TV. I find that during the last 20 KM I tend to ride faster as I anticipate who will win the stage. It's a great workout.
Has anyone else been keeping up on the tour?
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Here I am...
Anyway, we have the same struggles as anyone else and I intend to use this forum to share my life as a married, middle class Father of three bright young boys. More about my history in later posts. If you decide to follow my blog, you won't be disappointed. There is always something odd going on... Slainte!