Top Muskegon Blogger

Could I be the top Muskegon blogger?

Blogger has a cool feature whereby if you view a blogger's profile, then click on his city (like Muskegon) you'll find list of other people who use blogger in that city. When a person posts a new blog post or updates their profile, they move to the top of that list. So when I post this, I'm officially the Top Muskegon Blogger .... hehe

Other updates:

• Kelly is about a year away from being able to sit for her RN state exams. The classes are hard, but she's gotten good comments from instructors and coworkers. She's going to be a great nurse. She's also started making fabric crafts and opened up a shop on Etsy where you can buy things. She's really excited about it and wants to expand it further, but we're waiting for her first sale. Stop by and let us know what you think! (the address is http://tennisoncreations.etsy.com/ if the link doesn't work)

• Brooke finished up her girl scout events and meetings for the year. This was her first year and she really enjoyed it. I've been pleasantly surprised by it as well. It seems to be a really good group for her to be involved in. Next up is getting her involved in a sport or other activity. Sign-ups are happening this summer for cheerleading, but I have my reservations about that. Soccer and T-ball are also options we're considering.

• Ethan is now, and potty training. Most of the time he's good about telling us when he has to go, but some days he doesn't at all. We're also STILL waiting for him to tell us when he has to poop. He hasn't done that on the potty at all yet (and we all know how much fun those pull-ups are to change). He's also just seeming much older and more mature to me. It's like he's recently grown 4 inches and doubled his vocabulary and comprehension. Very cool, but makes me realize it's going fast!

• I'm enjoying work more lately. I'm traveling during the day about 4 days a week and home every night. I work with customers and sales agents throughout the day and enjoy it. For a while I was doing sales trainings and I really enjoyed doing that, but I'd hate the regular overnight travel that being a trainer would come with. In my spare time I've learned quite a bit about creating websites using css. There was a lot about websites that I forgot, and much has changed too, but I'm fairly with it for now ;). I'm enjoying the summer, and bicycling, and being outside. It's going too fast though! On top of its break-neck speed, all of my auxiliary interests get in the way of relaxing outside and enjoying it too...but it's who I am.

So now you're up-to-date on what's going on with Muskegon's Top Blogger ....hehe

Oh yeah, my sister is going to have a baby in December or January. It'll be strange being an uncle, though my other brothers have had that title for 7 years now. She and the baby don't have an easy road ahead, but with God's grace they can make it through.

Election 2008 - McCain vs. Obama

Photo Courtesy Dean Terry

Anyone else tired of the election yet? I'm very excited that we only have one week left! Twitter has been almost unbearable some days, especially if a debate is on.

I know who I'm voting for, but it hasn't come easily. I've had to do a lot of thinking, and consider both sides. I know that there is a clear choice for me now, but if my guy doesn't win, it'll be interesting to watch how it turns out.

I live in an economically depressed town, and that tends to sway voters a certain direction. They're looking in the wrong direction. And those who are looking at the other candidate, they're looking in the wrong direction too.

There's nothing wrong with voting. We live in a democratic society, and if we have the ability to influence who is elected to the highest office, we should partake in that liberty. But they all tell us what we want to hear. they'll all make promises they can't keep. Compromises will be made, and we won't even anticipate what's coming in the next four years. Either way, we can't look to the president to save us.

Vote for who you think the best candidate is, and then look to the only source of hope.

Biking

I like to ride my bike around town. Unfortunately that's not a year-round activity in Michigan. Though I can say that as a kid I would ride my bike occasionally in the winter. That was fun when you hit ice!

I was trying to figure out recently why I like bike riding so much. A few things came to mind:

• Health benefits - Ok, this one is obvious, but it should be included.

• No barriers between you and the world. When you're in a car, you have metal and glass separating you from everything else. It encapsulates you. When you're on a bike, you contain the bike in a sense between your legs. That leaves the rest of your body closer to, well, everything else.

• Freedom - you can access more places on a bike than you can in a car. I've found sidewalks and paths in the middle of the city I never knew about.

• Photography - I'm not a professional photographer or anything, but I do like taking pictures on occasion. There have been many time where I'll see something driving along, and not be able to capture it because I couldn't get to the camera, or I couldn't stop the car. But if you're on a bike, it's much easier to safely stop somewhere and get all the pictures you want!

I think it also slows me down, and creates opportunity to clear my head and even have some conversation with my wife and kids. It is a choice I make to step away from all of the screens in my house (TV, Computer, PDA (still working on turning the cell phone off)) and take in some of the natural beauty of the world.

Anyone else have a love of biking or walking or running?Technorati Tags: bicycling

Work, Twitter,

Well, I still have a job. I thank the Lord, and I also wonder why I'm still where I am.

In a way, I was thinking that God was using this reorganization to move me, because I wouldn't move otherwise. I have complete faith that He works all things together for good, but I just don't see how. I don't know why I'm still where I am. I do know I'm here for a reason. I also know I'm looking at other job opportunities.

A couple of good things have come from the whole experience. It's made me question if this is really what I should be doing. My wonderful wife bought me a book I've been wanting for my birthday. 48 Days to the Work You Love is a book by Dan Miller, and highly recommended by Dave Ramsey. I figure that Dave has really good financial advice, so his recommend on career advice may hold water :). The book asks lots of good questions, and asks me to look at what I like to do, and if what I'm doing fits that.

There is a lot more to blog about on that subject, and I'm considering airing out the answers to many of those questions on my own blog like Mindy. Could be fun ;)

In other news, I've been Twittering a lot lately. In fact, I blame that in part for my short-term disappearance from blogging. Ultimately though, Twitter is not a replacement for my blog, as fun as it may be. Why do I Twitter? Well, it's kind of like a chat room where no one expects you to respond instantly, and you can invite anyone to join your chat room that you want to. What you end up with is a place where you can find out a lot of interesting thoughts from people very easily. Of course, it's good to contribute too, so others can learn little tidbits about you too.

If you follow my Twitter Feed or follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I recently broke my unbreakable glasses. Yeaa, you know the kind that are so flexible that you can bend them around your finger? Those are the ones that snapped in half two weeks ago. Fortunately I was fitted for contacts last year and I have some left over, even though I don't wear them. So I've been wearing them for a couple weeks now until I order another pair of glasses. They work pretty well, and after I got used to looking in the mirror and not seeing glasses on my face, it was ok :).

The only disadvantage to the contacts is that they don't work quite as well as glasses. I have a slight astigmatism that the contacts can't correct. End result is that my vision is slightly fuzzier when I wear my contacts. The phenomenon that occurs is that I've been feeling fuzzy lately. Not fuzzy like a Muppet, but lacking in clarity. everyday actions have felt cloudy. Anyone else ever had this happen? Fuzzy vision = Fuzzy mental state? I'm adjusting after two weeks of contacts, but still feel it once in a while. It kind of makes me wonder, as I have before, did God make me nearsighted for a reason? Maybe I'm supposed to pay attention to small, close-up details.

Anywho, that's what's fit to print :) Talk to you later.

Certainty

I've been on pins and needles in a way the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, I came into work at my office. I normally only come to the office when I need to, and travel around my area the rest of the time, but that day I came in. I had just received my pay stub online the night before, and it wasn't quite right. See, I was supposed to get a yearly raise, and judging by my review it should have been the same as last year's raise. When I opened my pay stub, I found out it was much less.

So I decided that I was going to talk to my boss about it. In fact, my boss is new at the company, so I was going to talk to HIS boss about it. However, that was thwarted...when my boss's boss was "let go" that morning. Human Relations from a higher office came in, and explained the situation to everyone. My boss and one of his coworkers were let go as well. The real problem though, is that when HR told everyone, they all but said "there'll be more in a couple weeks".

Which leads us to today. No one really knows when the axe is coming, but we know that more people will be let go, and we don't know when or who. Of course this creates a PERFECT breeding ground for rumours. I hate rumours. All they do is reduce productivity and raise stress in this environment. Seriously, every time I would relax and settle into my work, someone would bring up one of these rumours and I'd tense up again, and lose all focus and desire to work.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whole situation. My job is the one that provides the vast majority of our family income, so it is necessary that I work, and this job provides a very steady paycheck. On the other hand, I've had 4 bosses over the past year, so my department has not had much real leadership lately. The lack of leadership has made me question how much I really like this job. But honestly, I have really liked this job over the last couple of years. So I have a hard time telling if I'd really be happy in this job should I be allowed to keep it, or if I should move on (one way or another!).

So on one hand I'm excited to see what will happen. On the other hand, I'm scared because I don't know.

I do keep resting in the knowledge that God works all things together for good. He knows my needs, and He knows the needs of my family. It is AWESOME to be able to put faith in what He is doing. I know that I'm not here on my own. I know that the birds of the sky don't work, but they eat. I know that the fields don't work, but they are clothed. I know that God created me to work, and cares for us more than the birds and the fields. I know that He won't leave me or forsake me. Sometimes I just have to get my heart to know all of that, and to rest in Him.

One thing to think on though. If you believe what the Bible says, and you believe that Jesus is who He said He was. If you believe that Jesus is God's son, who became a man, and died on the cross for us, and rose from the dead. If you believe that, then you have to realize how great the cost was to save us all. And He did die to save us ALL, even those who deny Him and haven't yet asked for forgiveness and put their trust in Him. All you have to do is ask.

The point is though, if God paid so great a cost for ME and for YOU, do you really think that He would give up on us? Do I really think He would give up on me? No. He won't leave us or forsake us. The price was too great to do that. I'm going to learn to trust in Him more, and not in my job, and not in a paycheck. Jobs and people and money come and go. He stays.

Too Long

I once read that if you want your blog to be widely read, you should publish at least twice a week. Hmmm, guess I don't really want to be widely read.

So today was interesting. I got to spend some good quality time with my wife and kids. We watched "Brother Bear" tonight, which was fun because I haven't sat down and watched a whole movie in quite a while. Now I'm watching a rerun of House (waiting for the new episodes to start!) and waiting for the dryer to get done drying our sheets.

Other than that, I'm enjoying the weather. It's finally warming up here in Michigan, and it's GREAT! Today my father-in-law came over with his truck after work and pulled out a bush from the front of our house that we really didn't like. I mean, we've only disliked it for the 3 and 1/2 years we've lived here...so it was about time. Now we just have decide what to replace it with. Maybe I should post some pics and get your advice? I just might do that.

I'm looking forward to having campfires and grilling out for friends, so make sure you set aside a couple of weekends to come over ;)

Follow-up on life

Today was a day of good news. I'll start with the car. Last night I rented a tow dolly and drove to the town where I left my car Tuesday. My father-in-law has a truck, so that's what we used, and he rode with us. When we got the car on the dolly, he looked underneath it and asked me to recreate the noise. Then he told me to turn off the car and came out from under it with a smile. It turns out it wasn't the transmission at all, it was a broken axle!

That was actually good news, because I was bracing for an $800-$1,000 transmission, and instead had to get a $125 axle! Woo-Hoo! So we dropped the car off at the shop last night, and they fixed it before 1pm today. Excellent service.

On top of that, my wife has just completed a training course to become a CNA (Certified Nurse's Aide). She was hoping to work in a hospital, but they are hard to get in to, so most people end up starting at nursing homes. BUT, my dad works at a hospital, and knew the lady who did some hiring. He got her an interview this morning. She starts Monday! I think we both hoped she would be offered a job on the spot, but neither of us expected it at all!!!!!

On top of THAT, we got a payment for some mystery shops I did about a month ago, AND we received our church leadership kit for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University today :). We're REALLY excited to go through the course, and bring it to our church.

It was an all-around good day :)

Life and other foibles

Things have been interesting lately for me. I turn to my blog for it's original concept: a log on the web.

Yesterday I was tasked with training a new contracted employee at work. This required that we drive around to different sites, and he watch what I do, and ask questions. We had 6 sites on our plate, and everything was going pretty well...until....

We got to the fifth site, and as I drove down the street immediately preceding the site, I noticed a little noise, and a strange "feel" in the steering of my car. When I turned into the parking lot, the car made a very bad sound. Ever ride a roller-coaster run by a chain? It has that kind of "clink-clink-clink" sound as you approach the top of the hill? That's what my car sounded like. Oi.

The car is a 1999, so it isn't all that old, and it only has 130,000 miles on it. And I had the transmission replaced last year. But I think it's something in the transmission making that noise, and I don't like it.

Needless to say, I was somewhat embarrassed. Here I am training someone who works for me, and my car has a fairly significant failure out of the blue. Bummer. He got a ride home from his brother who lived in the area, and I had a couple great friends make the hour-long drive to pick me up. Oh yeah, I forgot to say I was an hour from home when this happened. So my car spent the night there, and I have to figure out how to get it home today, and what shop it is going to when it gets here.

This post is more for me than you I suppose. It helps me to lay everything out and organize it mentally. Last night when I got home I could barely function. It just kind of hit me with a disappointment about the whole thing. What a silly thing to be down about. It's just a car. I'll be able to get it fixed, and it will be back on the road soon. Maybe it was just one more thing at the end of a long day for me. So while I didn't have the energy or motivation to even respond to emails or check the updates in my Google Reader, I was able to clean our family room, which was long overdue.

Do you ever notice that when things are stressful, sometimes the simple things are the best things you can do? Sometimes you just need to be able to clean, or read a book, or relax in a hammock. It gives you that small sense of control over your surroundings I think. It lets you know you can handle something at that moment, even though it isn't the big problem. Sometimes cleaning (or reading or mowing the lawn, or, or, or...) can be therapeutic. Just those simple actions.

It actually makes me slow down just a bit, and maybe that's why I'm going through this.I know things will get better, and the car will get fixed, and I'll move beyond this moment (after all, it came to pass). I just pray that I learn what I am meant to learn through this, and that I don't miss the message. I'm truly blessed to have my wife, and good friends to help me out in times like this though.






What the heck is a foible anyway? It just sounded right.

Warning: Rant Approaching

Howdy everyone. Sorry for the hiatus from blogging lately. Life happens. It's been tough lately just to keep up with reading the blogs I follow in my Google Reader, let alone actually contributing to the social blogosphere!

What gets me going today (aside from actually having an hour or so to be at the computer) is an article in my reader. The blog post that got me going was one that has been sitting unread for a while. I quickly read it once and then decided to "keep as new" so I would go back and actually comment on it.

The blog points to an article on CNN's Right on Your Money series that talks about student loans. It mentions way to "handle" your student loan debt. One of the methods is to extend your debt to up to 30 years, in order to pay it back.

WHAT!?!?!

Why in the world would you want to extend your student loan debt to 30 YEARS on purpose!? As Dave Ramsey would say, "You're keeping that thing around like it's a dang PET!" Seriously, are you kidding me?

The article says that you many need to extend it if you are in a hardship, or if you are in a career that doesn't pay very well. Ok, I understand a hardship. They happen and they are unfortunate, but because you don't make much money in your post-college career? They give you 10 years on a standard loan (as I understand it) to repay it. The article says the average graduate takes $21,000 in student loan debt with them across the stage to get their diploma. If you have 21K in debt to get a job that pays 30 grand, well that would be a BAD DEAL! But even on 30 grand you could pay that off in 10 years. Just 10% of your income would do that.

Oh....but wait. I didn't figure in some pretty important numbers into this equation. I mean, if you've just graduated and landed this awesome job, you're going to need a car. And heck, you've earned it by going through all of this schooling, so why not go get something nice. You can afford a couple hundred bucks a month, right? And you have to look good to your new co-workers.

And I forgot. You'll probably have to spend a bunch of money on clothes. You have to look good at the office. If you don't have a really nice handbag (ladies) or some great suits (guys), they probably won't think the same of you. That has to be factored in.

And lest I forget, we'll also throw in some money for eating out at lunch during the week, beers after work with co-workers, some new furniture for the possibility of having people over, and other things I might have forgotten.

Here's an idea: let's not try to attain or parents' lifestyle right out of college. Let's not try to make appearances to impress people who are either A:) well-established in the company and their careers, and have been where we are before or B:)are swimming in debt themselves trying to keep up with everyone else. Let's not be NORMAL. Normal is in debt. Normal has a spare room for Sally-Mae and Murphy to move in to. NORMAL is BROKE!

My wife and I got a pretty decent tax refund back. I withheld too much, and we got credits for having kids and my wife going to school. I would have LOVED to use that money on stuff. I could have easily purchased several new technology items, and she could have gotten some new kitchen gadgets (including a Kitchenaid mixer she has been wanting for a long time). We could have gone on vacation this summer and had fun with more stuff we bought. But that would defeat us in the end. We're trying to get out of debt. If I would have spent $1,000 on a new HD Camcorder, that would be $1,000 less to use to pay off the credit card. The credit card was carrying a balance of $1,100. That's a thousand bucks of STUFF that we already bought!

I know this is a crazy idea, because I wasn't thrilled about it myself. But we finally PAID for $1,100 worth of stuff we ALREADY OWN! We are finally free from the shackles of VISA!! After three or four years, we finally have paid off our credit card! It feels great! We even had extra to put on our mattress. Yes, we took out a loan on our BED. We borrowed against the thing we sleep on every night. Now we own over half of our bed. I'm nice, so I claim it's my wife's half :). I bet she sleeps better on her paid-for half :P

The point is (yes, I guess I'll finally get off the soapbox and make a point) that we have money BACKWARDS in our society. How many times have you bought something in cash (or debit card or check) that you didn't need while you carried debt? Don't we realize that one day we actually have to pay for those things we borrowed money to get? How many of you know someone who has died owing money? Do we really want to owe for the rest of our lives? Do we want to take this to the grave with us? I know we think that will never happen. "We'll pay it off" yeah, yeah, I'm sure. Then something happens. We want something new. Something breaks and needs replacing.

I will not go to the grave owing money. This nation NEEDS to get their finances under control, and quick. We can NOT continue living like this. It's starting with me and others who are finally sitting down and changing things. People who are FED UP with debt. People who want to change their family trees. People who will seriously change the world.

Work and other necessary things

Well it's "high-ho, High-ho, and off to work I go". Some would say "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go", but this post isn't about personal finance. At least not directly.

Last week was kind of a fun week for me at work. We has our annual Christmas Party on Saturday (yes, that's a Christmas Party on February 2nd) and I assigned myself to help put together the company slideshow. I say I assigned myself, because last year I had an awesome friend head up the project and do a GREAT job on it. I helped a little, but she really put in all the hard work for it. Well, she left the company to become a mommy (and doesn't look back!) so I tried to pick up the ball and run with it. I recruited a couple of friends at work and we locked ourselves in a room all of last week composing the slideshow.

Sometimes my wife can't believe I get paid for this stuff.

But it really wasn't a walk in the park, and took all week, plus a few nights, plus most of Saturday to finish it. In the end, it turned out pretty good, and I think everyone enjoyed it.

The not-so-much-fun part is going back to the normal routine this week. While it's not horrible, it definitely doesn't engage my creative side as much as last week did. But in every job, and in most of life, we have to have peaks and valleys. And sometimes, vast flatlands. Lol! anyway, my adorable son is stacking up blocks so he can have the privilege of knocking them down. Looks like fun. I'm going to join him :D

Dave Ramsey Grand Rapids Recap

I just got home from attending the largest event on personal finance in the U.S.

It was VERY cool! I was at Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover Live" Event. Dave taught for about 3 hours on his baby steps and stories and methods of getting out of debt and building wealth. There were at least 9,000 people there, but more likely over 10,000 (I'll find out the numbers soon).

What I like about Dave, is that he is a teacher. He wants to help people, and make sure they understand what he's saying. And his principles are not rocket science. He isn't here to make you "get rich quick". Instead, he wants to teach you how to spend, save, and give your money the right way. I seriously recommend that anyone with money questions or problems check him out. His website is www.DaveRamsey.com and he has a radio show and a TV show where all he does is help people with their money questions.

I can't say in this informal medium of the internet how much following the principles he teaches has changed my life, and the life of our family after only a few months. You have to listen to him, and the change in peoples' lives after they do some of this stuff! I personally think finding his program was blessing. So if you've heard about the crazy guy who cuts up credit cards, pays off debt, and tells you to sell the car with the $400 payment, but you've never checked him out, maybe now is the time!

Frustration!

I am feeling really frustrated right now. I don't usually blog about my personal moods, but this one makes me mad!

I've had a problem lately. I spend too much time on the internet. I've pared down much of the time I spend at home on the internet, but I have a tendency to get on at work for way too long. So today I've been doing better. I limited my time in the morning, and started attacking real work. I spent at least an hour typing out and composing an informational email to be used internally. It was about a topic I know very well, and I really enjoyed it and was proud of it. However, I felt it important to run it by my boss for a second opinion. You never know what the higher-ups do and do not want to tell the lower-downs...

So I gave it to my boss and asked him to look it over for me and suggest any revisions. Well, he did. Basically he recommended taking out about 50% of the useful content. I really didn't want to do that, so I talked with him about it for 5-10 minutes. He finally allowed me to at least keep the content in the email (even if he didn't see my point), but he wanted me to basically take this informational email and make it a sales pitch. I wrote the article as an informative piece to people who are fairly intelligent. I think my boss basically wants me to dumb it down and advertise to the audience instead.

It FRUSTRATES ME SO MUCH!!!! Ahh. now that I got that out of my system.

The problem really comes in when I first seek the kingdom of heaven. The Bible tells us to submit to all authority, and as I write this, I have referenced the verses that really bring that home. Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. It is kind of amazing how I get so worked up about this, and 3 minutes in the word can bring such peace over me. It's not about my boss and me. It's about God. My whole life has to be about God. There is too much at stake, to be wrong.

The part I really struggle with is that I doubt the competence of my boss. He is new to the company, and he hasn't shown himself to be the most knowledgeable source on...well, many things. Nonetheless, I view him as an authority. And shouldn't Christians be The Best workers, because we are working for Christ? Part of that would be listening to your boss.

Well, I certainly feel convicted about this, and I need to talk this over with my boss again. I usually find that when I calm down and communicate with people, things go more smoothly. Chances are, he just didn't understand my motivation behind this, and my overall goal of better communication. And I'm sure that I overreacted because this project was my kid, and he called my kid ugly. Maybe I should detach a little, huh? In any case, I will update when I have a bit more to update.


Technorati Tags: Bible Teachings, Life

Dirty Knees

To take something that the Devil has twisted and then use it for good is a great thing. I'm referring to an off-color joke having to do with the title of this entry. But it got me thinking yesterday, and I changed the joke a little to make it reflective of the Christian life. So here goes:

How do you tell who is the Senior Pastor in a church?

He's the one with the dirty knees.

Ok - ok - so maybe it's not that funny, but it is a reflection of the Christian life. When we are reborn in Christ, it's not just a one-time event. It isn't just washing yourself once and staying clean the rest of your life, because nobody can. No, it's about constantly being down on your knees, repenting of sins and asking for forgiveness.

Matthew 28:19 says "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"

Jesus sends us out into the world, and if you're going into the world, you're going to get dirty. That's why you have to go back and get clean. Regularly! In Jesus' day, people wore sandals, and the streets weren't paved. I hate dirt driveways because I track sand into my car. I can't imagine wearing sandals on dirt roads, and WALKING everywhere. So it was customary that when you came into some one's house, they would wash your dirty feet.

The foot-washing job was usually looked at as a job for the lowest slave. I mean, who would want to wash people's dirty, callused, stinky feet. Well, the bible tells a story of a time when Jesus washed his disciples' feet. They were all bickering about who was the greatest disciple, and Jesus just puts on a towel, and begins washing their feet. There is more to that story,as a topic for another blog. The point I want to make, is that we need to keep washing ourselves. We get dirty. We sin. We become angry, and succumb to the flesh. But the important part is that we come back to him, and ask him to clean us again. And we don't live in the flesh, we live with Him.

Thank God, for continuing to wash us, and cleaning the dirty knees of our pants.