Picture Day!

Firetruck

Christmas 2006

Micah and Katie at Christmas. Katie is sporting the santa dress and new earrings. Micah is playing with his new remote control dump truck.

They both really enjoyed this Christmas.

Get Rich Scheme!

We have become nearly sold-out for a plan to get rich! We have come across some materials that lay out a detailed plan for how to use your money to gain wealth. We are very excited and have started the process to work the system in our lives. It goes beyond just money, it requires changes in our day to day lives and is causing us to reorganize our priorities. We excitedly listen to a radio program that comes on daily in which callers can lay out personal situations and the host reinforces the principles of the plan. It really helps to motivate us toward financial prosperity. It keeps us on track.

I must admit that a friend at work, who is also a Christian, told me about this guy. It all sounded very radical to me at first, but I just could not deny the numbers described in his examples. All of his principles are laid out in a book. The book takes you through the entire thing and tells you how you go about piling up the money. I know that my commitment to actually reading books is lower than most, so I looked for the book on CD. I'm in the car enough that it really helps to have that time for listening to a book on CD. Unfortunately, the book on CD was as pricey as I had imagined. So, I went searching at the public library. To my surprise, they had it! I quickly got a copy and listened to the book. I found myself making excuses to go places in the car and driving the long way home just to listen to the book. I couldn't put the book down (that's the phrase regular book-readers use). Within a day and a half, I finished the book and can't really describe the high and excitement I was feeling. It was urgent at that point to get Judy to read the book and get excited.

Why does it seem that when we are really excited and eager for something, that it always takes the other person SO LONG to come up to speed? Perhaps that is just the way it felt. Once Judy made it through the book, we began to discuss the book as a whole and the details of his process. It wasn't long before we both decided this was something we just had to do.

In short, Judy and I are excited about the possibilities shared in the book. We work each day toward the goals. Let me see if I can break down a little part of the basic idea. Get rid of debt. Okay, I think that pretty much sums it up. What do you think? Once out of debt, the fun really begins! Turns out your biggest wealth-building tool can be your income. Who knew? We'll keep you posted.

Destination Ikea

Judy and I have a favorite store for furniture and housewares. It is Ikea. Ikea is a swedish store that carries a huge selection of furniture, housewares, and more. It is really amazing. The store is about the size of a two story mall. A good bit of their furniture reflects more of a contemporary design, while they also carry some traditional items. The real catch here is that almost everything they have is very well priced. A lot of the furniture and such that you buy comes in flat-packs. This is the innovation that made Ikea popular (and more affordable). That's right, you have to do some minor assembly on many of the items. Now, let's not get confused here...This isn't exactly heirloom worthy material, but instead offers the ability for young people (or old) to furnish more of their homes with less resources. Overall, it is really a good way to do business. It certainly isn't the end-all for furniture or housewares, just a great place to start. One more catch... there aren't any local to Jacksonville. There is talk of one opening in Orlando soon. The closest for now is Atlanta, GA. If you think that seems too far, we used to drive 2 hours North of Richmond, VA to go.

Truett's Grill \ Chick-fil-a

This past Saturday I experienced one of the best treats I have had in a long time. While in Atlanta, driving on I-75, a friend and I discovered Truett's Grill. For those of you less infatuated than I am, S. Truett Cathy is the founder of Chick-fil-a. After seeing the sign on the highway, we immediately went to the internet to find the story behind this restaurant. (See back-story here) Not everyone was excited about the possibility of eating at a glorified Chick-fil-a (I won't mention any names). But, to be perfectly honest, David and I weren't asking for any opinions on where to eat dinner. We had already decided.

We arrived, and to our surprise, it looked to be a diner style sit-down restaurant. It was decorated with many items S. Truett Cathy had owned and enjoyed (car, motorcycle, bike, train, etc). As we were seated, I looked the menu over carefully. In addition to the standard Chick-fil-a menu (I made sure everything was there), they also offered hamburgers, chicken fried steak with gravy, field peas, salads, and many other delicious southern-style meals.

I ordered the Hot Brown. This was chunks of chicken served in a thick white-sauce with melted cheese, bacon, and toast. All I can really say is WOW. It was really something. I also had a side of field peas that didn't disappoint.

While we were talking to the waitress about the place, we told her this was our first visit and how excited we were to learn about it. She quickly delivered deserts for everyone at the table, free of charge! All the way around, this was one of the most exciting dining experiences I've had. I am glad to have this opportunity. There are only 2 or 3 of these Truett's Grills, all in the Atlanta area. If ever there or driving through, you must stop and see for yourself.